“So, you’re pretty satisfied with your new boyfriend, huh?” Song Nanyin tilted her head, wedging the phone between her shoulder and chin, finished typing the last sentence of the manuscript in her hand, clicked save, and let out a long breath.

This was her fourth day of overtime, and the final day of this year’s countdown. The whole year was about to end, and the passage of time only felt real in these last few days before the new year.

Around this time every year, most companies would put together some boring New Year’s Eve party. No one liked attending, no one wanted to attend, yet everyone had to put on a smile of forced harmony, pretend to be chummy with the colleagues around them, and show up at the annual event.

Some people were lucky enough to win the grand prize; some people performed hoping to gain attention but got nothing. Good or bad, it all got thrown into the baggage of the past on the last day of the year, becoming the past.

As Song Nanyin chatted with Chai Yue about her new boyfriend, she also absentmindedly thought about her own heart-stopping experiences in the latter half of this year. Song Nanyin had always known she wasn’t the center of the world. Apart from having decent looks, even if you put her in a novel, her experiences and existence would definitely make her a background character.

Lately, though, her encounters made her feel like she could just tidy herself up a little and go be a novel’s female lead. And possibly, the kind who gets tricked into bed…

“Hey, where’s your mind wandering? I said I’ll be back in a while, and when I am, you can help me give him the once-over. Speaking of which, you haven’t had a boyfriend in a long time, have you? What, gone ascetic lately? Want me to buy you a few little toys and bring them back?”

Chai Yue heard the listlessness in Song Nanyin’s voice and assumed she was just too tired from work, shifting the conversation from herself to Song Nanyin. When she heard Chai Yue offer to introduce her to little toys, Song Nanyin sighed inwardly.

As for Liu Zhaoran, Song Nanyin naturally had no intention of telling Chai Yue. Back in college, she and Chai Yue had been close, and Chai Yue knew she and Liu Zhaoran didn’t get along. Openly or behind her back, the two of them had trashed Liu Zhaoran plenty of times.

From her looks to her affected manner, anything related to Liu Zhaoran made Song Nanyin unable to resist getting a few digs in with Chai Yue. If Chai Yue knew now that she’d ended up in bed with Liu Zhaoran, Song Nanyin couldn’t bear to imagine how shocked she’d be.

Song Nanyin was still wanting to shoot the breeze with Chai Yue when a few knocks sounded at the door. Hearing Liu Zhaoran’s voice, laced with a smile, Song Nanyin ended the call with Chai Yue and said, “Come in.”

Liu Zhaoran pushed the door open. In her high heels, her steps seemed a little light. Song Nanyin watched her put her hands behind her back, close the door, and lock it. The crisp click struck Song Nanyin as a little off. This woman isn’t thinking of doing something in the office, is she?

“What are you doing?” Song Nanyin stared at Liu Zhaoran with some wariness. Seeing her look as if she were guarding against a thief, Liu Zhaoran smiled and leaned against her desk.

Liu Zhaoran was dressed very normally today. A cinched-waist blazer, a pencil skirt, a simple, sharp all-black outfit. No matter how you looked at her, it was thoroughly ordinary workwear.

But the “normal” was in the eyes of most of the colleagues. Song Nanyin knew very well how this woman had lounged in bed this morning, making Song Nanyin pick out her bra and panties for her. When Song Nanyin refused to pick for her, the damned woman threw a tantrum, saying that if she didn’t pick them out, she’d go to work commando today with no panties at all.

It wasn’t until Liu Zhaoran had actually put on her blouse and pencil skirt, ready to head to work in that state, that Song Nanyin hurriedly dragged her back and picked out a set of underwear for her, which was how Liu Zhaoran had become the “normal” person she was now.

At the moment, the Black-Hearted Lotus leaned against the desk, her long legs casually crossed.

So annoying. A figure that good, and a scent that’s damn pleasant too.

“So, what are you here for?” Song Nanyin glanced at Liu Zhaoran. As a director, the woman ought to be even busier than she herself was these days. How could she possibly have time to come over for small talk?

“One good piece of news, one bad piece of news. Which does Team Leader Song want to hear first?” Liu Zhaoran said with a smile, twirling her long black hair around her finger, a pair of pure black eyes sweeping over Song Nanyin.

She must be plotting something bad again, Song Nanyin muttered inwardly.

“Whichever. I’ll hear both anyway.”

“Oh, then I’ll start with the good news. There’s a recent project that calls for a business trip to Japan. Zhang Kai and I were originally the ones going, but something came up for him at the last minute, so I suggested you come with me. This way, it counts as our second company-funded trip.”

When Song Nanyin heard Zhang Kai’s name, impatience flickered across her face. But the words “company-funded trip” did make her raise an eyebrow. Though she certainly wasn’t short of the damn travel money, thinking of spending Zhang Kai’s money while getting to go with Liu Zhaoran turned it into twice the pleasure. Song Nanyin was more than happy to do it.

“So, what’s the bad news?” Song Nanyin leaned back in her chair, her mind pondering whether the bad news might also be related to this trip. But Liu Zhaoran suddenly leaned close, parted her legs, sat down on her lap, and kissed her.

Song Nanyin’s office was private, but the window had blinds. If anyone glanced this way, they might very well see what she and Liu Zhaoran were doing through the slats.

Song Nanyin’s body trembled at Liu Zhaoran’s audacity. Instinctively, she tried to push her away. But Liu Zhaoran had already guessed her move and pinned her hands down in advance, not letting her move.

Song Nanyin was forced to accept the kiss, her resistance disappearing in an instant. She closed her eyes, somewhat lost in the kiss, her head spinning with wild thoughts.

Surely no colleague would be bored enough to look, right? Or rather, even if they did see, what could they do? She was just kissing Liu Zhaoran. No one had a rule saying they couldn’t kiss, did they?

“Mmm… mmm…” Song Nanyin panted softly, letting out pleasure-tinged little breaths because her lips and tongue felt so good being held and sucked. She had no experience kissing anyone else, but she felt that if kissing skill had a rating, Liu Zhaoran would probably be at the very top of the pyramid.

She tasted good, her lips were soft, and she knew exactly how to stir up that itch. Every time they kissed, Song Nanyin felt a tingle spread from where she’d been licked all the way through her body. Her brain went numb and fuzzy, unable to produce any response.

She became an apostle of the kiss, knowing only obedience.

When the kiss ended, Song Nanyin’s cheeks were flushed. She gently wiped the lingering moisture at the corner of her mouth and instinctively looked toward the blinds. A few scattered colleagues were all in the office, buried in work, seemingly having noticed nothing.

“Hey, what madness are you pulling again? What if someone saw us?” Classic Song Nanyin, all hindsight. After the kiss, after the pleasure, she turned around and blamed Liu Zhaoran. Hearing her ask that, Liu Zhaoran licked her lower lip like a cat reluctant to part with its food, clearly wanting more.

“But Team Leader Song didn’t refuse me either, did she? Your lipstick looked really good today. I couldn’t help myself, so…”

“Then you should have at least given me a heads-up. If anyone saw us, it wouldn’t take an hour for it to spread all over the forum.”

“So what Team Leader Song means is, as long as I ask in advance next time, I can kiss you here?” Liu Zhaoran asked seriously, as if she were genuinely weighing that possibility.

“No. Be normal, Black-Hearted Lotus.” Song Nanyin pushed at the half-smiling Liu Zhaoran, trying to shove her off her lap. Liu Zhaoran smiled, stood up, took a few steps back, and moved to a relatively “safe” position.

“Alright, I won’t kiss Team Leader Song anymore. No need to push me away in such a hurry. Just now a colleague saw you pushing me. I bet that within 10 minutes, the forum will be full of rumors that we don’t get along. Hmph.”

After saying this, Liu Zhaoran’s voice even carried a small hmph at the end. She rarely spoke that way, so much so that the hmph sounded almost coquettish. Song Nanyin’s ears went soft and tingly, puzzled as to why she’d hum so prettily.

“I think this is the normal way for us. Anyway, in everyone’s eyes, we don’t get along.”

“But… I really like Team Leader Song. If only someone had seen us kissing.”

Liu Zhaoran said it with a perfectly grave air. Song Nanyin listened, incredulous. She glanced at Liu Zhaoran, somehow feeling that what she’d said couldn’t be true. If the two of them were seen kissing, photographed, and posted to the forum…

Just thinking about that possibility made Song Nanyin’s back run cold, let alone daring to imagine what it would be like if it actually happened.

“Team Leader Song, I’ll head back first. We set off tomorrow.” Liu Zhaoran smiled and patted Song Nanyin’s shoulder, the gesture looking just like ordinary colleagues exchanging a few words.

Only, as she lowered her head and leaned in, she said one sentence softly into Song Nanyin’s ear.

“Let’s go to the supermarket together tonight and buy some things we’ll need for Japan.”

Song Nanyin heard this, her ears turning faintly red, and hurriedly backed away.

What was that supposed to mean… as if they were a couple about to go off traveling together.

The two of them finished speaking and simultaneously looked up at the blinds. Sure enough, they saw several colleagues’ startled, probing gazes again, as if they were afraid the two of them would start fighting in the office the very next second.

This time, the thing about them not getting along was truly confirmed after all…