❝ PLAYFUL SUFFERINGS ❞

14

"Y/n! You're finally back."

Mask was the first to greet you as soon as you entered the office.

"Hi, I'm sorry I didn't get to attend for the last three days." You immediately apologized for the burden as you scratch the back of your head.

"Ah it's fine, I have something for you." He said as the both of you walked into his cubicle.

"Wait—" Your words were cut off as soon as you saw the organized stack of papers on your desk.

"What are these? Don't tell me..." You squealed as your eyes shone in surprise, mask finished all of your work in just four days.

"No problem. I heard Sir Ran told that you had a small injury, so that's why I did all your work." He said. Your eyes widen as you looked at him.

"Ah... y-yeah minor injury. My leg is still recovering from it." You forced out a laugh.

"What happened though?" He asked.

"I slipped down the stairs." You quickly made up a reason.

"Must be bad. You should eat first, you missed breakfast, right?" He asked as he faced his table.

"How'd you know?"

"Just a guess." Mask shrugged.

"I mean, you're right, though." You chuckled.

You and Mask have been getting along well so far for over a week now. In fact, he's the only one who has made you feel comfortable in this vicinity last week, despite the fact that you haven't seen his face. He would lend you his phone sometimes, and you would have contact with the outside world. He would offer you his meals and help you with your paperwork. You're grateful to have him, but there was one thing you never told him, and that was about your parents and your stepmother.

You can never trust anyone, they say.

Mask only knew about Draken, and when you told him that, his reaction was different, but he claimed that the name was just familiar and that it may be one of his old friends, so you shrugged it off.

While you and Mask are talking, you're unaware that someone was watching you both from afar through the semi-opaque glass door near the office.

Rindou walked off after watching you two laugh. His face kept phlegmatic despite what he saw.

"Can I use your phone again, mask? I'm going to check if the series I've been watching has a new season." You muttered as you cast a sidelong glance at him, and you heard him laugh under the mask.

"Yeah sure," he said as he gave you his phone.

"Thank you," you muttered, but as soon as you saw a familiar number on his contacts, your brows furrowed.

"Um, how did you know my number...?"

Mask fell silent, he sighs as he faced you. "The higher-ups like Boss Manjiro have contacts to all of us in here."

"Oh..." You slowly nodded, feeling suspicious since you knew that only your stepmother, old colleagues, and Draken only has your number.

"Anyway, aren't you going to check the series?" He cleared his throat.

"Right," you mumbled as you hurriedly searched for the series until you heard footsteps getting louder and nearer.

Looking back, you saw Rindou enter the office. You hurriedly shoved the phone into Mask's pocket as he was startled and turned around as well.

You sighed, thankful that Rindou didn't see you. "That was close." You whispered to Mask.

"Why is he here, by the way?" You asked quietly.

"I don't know, it's rare for the higher-ups — executives to enter such office." He answered. "You know, when you're still not here before, they wouldn't even bother to come in here."

"Are they guarding me or something?" You joked, but your joke was cut off as you felt a presence behind you.

"What was that?" You heard Rindou ask in a low voice. You slightly flinched as you immediately grabbed the papers, pretending that you were doing work, you whistled as you side-eyed mask.

"Not going to answer me?"

You still ignored Rindou. After what he said the last day, you never bothered to look in his direction, he said that you were a nuisance, right? Hell, you'll never step in his vicinity ever again after he dropped those words.

Rindou clicked his tongue when you didn't respond, and you sighed with relief until you noticed the stack of papers thrown on your desk.

"What?!" You gasped, almost like shouting after you saw the stack of papers, these paper works will take weeks as if you're back in college again.

"I finally get you to speak." Rindou smirked at your reaction, your brows furrowed as you looked at him with furious eyes, while he only smiled playfully.

"I hate you so much." You mumbled as you grabbed the stack of papers in each folder and began working on them.

"That's what disobedient employees get." Rindou said as he walked off.

"Finish all of that within the day, until 12 a.m. later, don't you dare get out of this office until you're done with that." Rindou spoke loudly, clearly intending for everyone to hear as he embarrassed you.

You heard the other employees mumble and the office fell silent. You knew Rindou left the office as you heard the glass door shut.

"I'll help you, Y/n." Mask said, but you took the papers back and smiled at him.

"Hey, it's okay. This is alright. I can finish this." You reassured, and you don't want to include Mask in this.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep! I can finish all of—" You took another worried, fear-filled glance at the paperwork. "-these... today..."

"Okay then... I'm worried about your injury still, your physical health isn't stable, can't afford that mental health as well." He said.

"Pfft! Mental health went down just seeing your bosses' faces." You said as he laughed.

"Well then, I need to finish these before twelve. I need to work in another cubicle for more space." You sighed as you stood up and collected the papers.

"Oh and also, thanks for letting me watch the series on your phone!" You smiled, looking back at him and waved.

"Fuck this."

You groaned as you slammed your head on the desk, scattering the stack of papers on the desk.

It's already quarter to nine at night, and you barely finished half of the papers.

Luckily, you convinced mask to turn on the lights in the office, because you had a big fear of the dark. You were now alone in the office, and you were a little afraid at first, but the stress and exhaustion overcame you.

"Okay, maybe this job offer is as bad as him." You complained as you rolled your eyes.

You yawned and your stomach started to churn from hungriness. "I should've eaten lunch earlier." You whined as you held your stomach and laid your head on the desk.

"I hate you, Rindou Haitani." You cursed him, even though he's not here with you.

"I hope your toe breaks, I hope your charger works in one angle, I hope your phone falls in the toilet, I hope your face will land on the stairs when you trip." You repeatedly said, at this point, you can almost sense a flame of anger behind you.

"I wouldn't be even surprised if I knew that Ran and Rindou aren't actually brothers, they are so different." You rolled your eyes.

You tried to type on your computer, but your eyelids kept fluttering shut.

You coughed as well as you felt cold, rubbing your hands together as you blew on them.

"Fuck, don't tell me I'm catching a cold that easily." You coughed once more as the ache in your head increased; you exhaled, stretching your arms as you blinked and rubbed your eyes as you returned your focus to the documents and computer.

At this point, your head was starting to hurt, but you forced yourself to finish them, and as soon as exhaustion set in, you lay your head back on the desk, closed your eyes, and fell asleep.

Oh gosh, you were aware that this was one of Rindou's acts, knowing he was doing this on purpose.

"Yo," Sanzu entered their lounge, noticing the two brothers, he placed the drink on the table. "Goddamn, paper works are fucking tiresome these days. Glad I ain't the one handling those, tho'. Good luck to Kokonoi, oh and yeah, those employees working, including Y/n. Talking about her, where is she?"

"Working." Rindou nonchalantly said as he sipped one of the wines.

"At this hour?" Ran raised his brows, sitting at the couch.

Rindou only shrugged and check his wristwatch.

"I'll go check on her." Sanzu sighed as he stood up. "Man, we offered a timeout for the rest of the employees, and you left her there? Hell nah." 

Rindou slumped back on the black leather couch that matched his gloves. He rubbed his temples as soon as Sanzu and Ran left the room.

Rindou sighed, his intentions were really initially clear. He disregards Y/n because she's simply a burden to their organization. He doesn't want to risk a person's life again that was close to him. At some point, his profound thoughts and feelings eventually overtook him.

"Ah damn, Manjiro's going to fucking kill us." Ran groaned as Sanzu and he are rushing back to the room while he called an employee for Y/n.

"Screw your brother, bro." Sanzu commented.

After some minutes of deep thought, the door opened, showing Sanzu and Ran in a hurried state.

"Y/n's has a high fever!"