Chapter 14: Check-out

The office area of the Agency in the afternoon was permeated with a stylized lethargy.

The clicking of keyboards, the occasional ring of a telephone, and low-voiced conversations intertwined to form a commonplace corporate scene.

However, this pool of stagnant water was soon to be abruptly broken by a massive rock thrown into it.

“Hey, hey, hey! Look, look! See who’s here — !”

It was unclear which sharp-eyed colleague first uttered a suppressed exclamation of excitement, like a spark falling into a pile of dry hay.

Instantly, almost every gaze on the entire floor, whether obvious or subtle, was firmly drawn to the figure who had just stepped out of the elevator.

It was Kasahana Chiai.

Today, she wasn’t wearing her flashy stage outfit, but just simple daily wear.

Yet, she still couldn’t hide her dazzling radiance as a natural-born idol.

However, the most eye-catching thing wasn’t herself, but the opaque white plastic bag she was carrying.

The bag looked quite heavy, hooked by her slender fingers.

It formed a stark contrast with her delicate and petite image, carrying an unspeakable sense of eeriness.

“Isn’t that Kasahana Chiai? She doesn’t have a performance scheduled for tonight. Why isn’t she taking a well-deserved rest instead of running back to the Agency?”

a voice whispered from behind an office partition.

“Hah, do you even need to ask?”

someone nearby immediately replied with a “you-know-what-I-mean” tone, their eyes glancing suggestively toward the new independent office at the end of the corridor.

“She’s definitely here for ‘that person.’ They’re inseparable nowadays.”

Amid the gossip, Chiai seemed entirely unaware, or perhaps she simply didn’t care at all.

With her trademark sweet idol smile, she walked lightly through the open office area as if she were on her own exclusive stage.

A somewhat bold department manager tried to strike up a conversation, putting on a warm smile.

“Oh! Look, Zhiai is here! What brings you to the company at this hour? Is there something important?”

Chiai stopped and tilted her head slightly.

Her smile was perfect, but her tone was polite yet distant.

“Good afternoon. Excuse me, is this… Big Sister Yuqing’s office?”

Her slender finger pointed precisely toward Su Yuqing’s office.

“Ah, yes, yes! That’s right, this is Su Yuqing’s new office!”

The manager nodded quickly, as if being able to point the way for her was an honor.

“Great, thank you then~”

Chiai bowed slightly, showing perfect manners, and then didn’t stay a moment longer, heading straight for her target.

***

Inside the office, Su Yuqing was falling into another layer of anxiety.

She didn’t notice the commotion outside at all.

All her attention was on her junior, the makeup artist Sakura Onodera.

“Sakura! Sakura! I’m begging you, you have to help me this time!”

Su Yuqing pressed her hands together and leaned forward, almost in a pleading posture, whispering urgently.

“Go and explain things to our colleagues in private! Tell them that Chiai and I don’t have the kind of relationship everyone’s whispering about! It’s all a misunderstanding. Those were just improvised jokes Chiai made on stage. They can’t be taken seriously!”

Just as Sakura looked troubled and was about to respond —

*Knock, knock, knock.*

Clear and rhythmic knocks sounded, unhurried yet carrying a sense of announcement.

Su Yuqing’s voice stopped abruptly, as if she had been choked.

She exchanged a look with Sakura, an ominous premonition rising in both of them.

“C-Come in,” Su Yuqing forced herself to stay calm.

The door was pushed open, and Chiai’s smiling face peeked in. Her gaze quickly swept over Su Yuqing and Sakura before finally settling on Su Yuqing’s slightly stiff face.

“Oh? Why are you here?”

Su Yuqing tried to make her voice sound natural, but a faint, undetectable tremble still leaked through.

Chiai fully opened the door and walked in, closing it behind her to shut out the prying eyes from outside.

The smile remained on her face, but beneath it, a layer of ice seemed to be freezing over.

“Oh?”

She quirked an eyebrow, her tone innocent yet sharp.

“Am I… not allowed to come, meow? Is this office some very pri-vate, very pri-vate place, meow?”

She deliberately emphasized the word “private,” her gaze pointedly scanning over the somewhat restless Sakura sitting nearby.

She took a few steps forward, casually placing the mysterious white plastic bag at her feet.

Then, with her hands behind her back, she leaned in slightly toward Su Yuqing and asked softly in a voice that was sickeningly sweet yet sent shivers down one’s spine:

“Ah~ or rather… is someone planning to do something ‘shameful’ here? Is that why you’re so afraid of being disturbed?”

“W-What could there be to hide!”

Su Yuqing raised her voice suddenly, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

She continued with a defensive excitement, “I’m… I’m just having a meal with Sakura! It’s a perfectly normal interaction between colleagues!”

“Just having a meal… together?”

Chiai’s gaze slowly shifted down, landing on Su Yuqing’s hand, which was clutching Sakura’s wrist tightly due to her nervousness.

A very subtle, cold light flashed in her glass-like eyes, yet the smile on her face grew even more brilliant.

“But~ this meow heard that there’s nowhere in this world where people eat while ‘holding hands’ like this.”

Upon this reminder, Su Yuqing suddenly realized she was still gripping Sakura’s wrist.

She let go instantly as if burned, her face turning bright red.

“Um… Senior Yuqing,” Sakura spoke up timidly, her voice as thin as a mosquito’s buzz.

“Could you… let go of my fingers now? It’s a little… painful.”

“Ah! Sorry, sorry!”

Su Yuqing apologized hurriedly, her face full of embarrassment and regret.

“I was… I was just a bit too excited just now and didn’t notice. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Sakura shook her head and stood up quickly, but for some reason, she kept her head down and didn’t dare look at Chiai.

“Then… I’ll leave you to talk with Zhiai, Senior. I won’t disturb you. I’ll head out first.”

“Hey! Wait! Sakura!”

Su Yuqing called out to her, her eyes filled with one last bit of hope and pleading.

“The thing you promised to help me with… that thing…”

Sakura paused and shot her a quick glance before swiftly glancing at Chiai, who had a meaningful smile.

She nodded hard.

“Don’t worry, Senior. I… I remember.”

“Mm-hm! As long as you remember! That’s good!”

Su Yuqing nodded repeatedly, as if grabbing onto a final lifeline.

Sakura practically fled the office. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to say a polite goodbye to Chiai.

“Then… Zhiai, see you at the next performance.”

Chiai replied with an idol-like sweet smile and a wave.

“Okay~ see you at the next performance, meow~”

The office door was gently closed.

The moment the lock clicked shut with a light sound, the brilliant smile on Chiai’s face, which had been like spring sunshine, vanished without a trace, as if a delete key had been pressed.

It was replaced by an undisguised coldness and displeasure.

She let out a soft sound from her nose.

“Tch.”

That blunt sound of contempt was like a needle, piercing Su Yuqing’s facade of composure.

“Why do you immediately put on such a sour face as soon as someone leaves, hey?”

Su Yuqing was a bit annoyed and also a bit aggrieved.

“Do you… really hate me that much?”

Chiai lifted her eyelids and scanned her lazily, correcting her.

“I need to make a correction here, meow. This isn’t called ‘hating’ — “

She deliberately drawled her words before clearly spitting out two words.

“‘Loath-ing,’ meow.”

“Fine! Fine!”

Su Yuqing’s chest felt tight from being stifled by her words.

She waved her hand irritably, deciding not to dwell on the depressing topic.

“Let’s just get straight to the point! Why did you specifically come to the office to find me today?”

Chiai didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, she walked slowly to Su Yuqing’s desk, her fingertip grazing the smooth surface.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she said in an extremely casual tone:

“Oh, it’s nothing major. It’s just… I checked out this morning.”

“Checked out?”

Su Yuqing froze, not reacting for a moment.

“Checked out of what?”

Chiai finally turned around to face her directly, a mixture of mockery and a “how can you be so stupid” expression on her face.

“Dummy~”

The end of her tone rose, carrying a cat-like laziness and an unmistakable sense of possessiveness.

“What else could I be checking out of? Naturally, the ho-tel room I’ve been living in all this time, meow~”