What If?

Chapter 35 - What If I Kiss You?

Glenn hurriedly got out of his car, letting out a vexed scoff. How on earth could he have forgotten that his wallet was left on his office desk? Frankly, even if it were lost, Glenn wouldn't give a damn. He could just get everything replaced; after all, his wealth wouldn't run dry for seven generations. Still, dealing with the bureaucracy of replacing all those cards was a massive pain in the ass.

The moment he stepped into the office lobby, Glenn scanned his surroundings. The place was already pretty dark. He noticed one or two cubicles with their lights still on and chimed in mindlessly under his breath.

"Ugh, why are they working so much overtime? Do they not have a home or something?" he muttered half-bakedly before stepping into the elevator.

As the elevator chimed at his destination floor, Glenn walked out toward his office. His brow furrowed slightly when he noticed that the lights in the Head of Audit’s room were still brightly lit. Why are the lights on? Glenn thought, bewildered.

Glenn pushed open the glass door and stepped inside. Quiet. There was absolutely no one there. However, the laptop screen on the desk was glowing brightly, displaying digital articles.

"Mr. Glenn? What are y-"

"Holy s**t! W-what the hell are you doing here!" Glenn yelled reflexively, his body jerking back in sheer fright.

His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest.

He immediately whipped a sharp glare toward the source of the voice. As it turned out, Launa had just appeared from behind the room partition, holding a coffee mug in her hand. Glenn instantly scanned Launa from head to toe, carefully making sure that the girl's feet were actually touching the floor.

The moment it clicked that she was human, Glenn instantly snapped. "What the hell are you still doing here, huh?!"

Launa blinked innocently, staring at her boss completely guilt-free. "I just... didn't feel like heading home yet, sir."

Glenn threw his hands on his hips, instantly shifting into his mindless rant mode. "Who the hell dared to assign you overtime until this hour? Tell me, so I can fire them first thing tomorrow! Besides, what are you even doing? Are you planning to crash here or something?"

Launa shook her head quickly, looking bewildered. "No, sir. Uh, what about you? Why did you come back?"

"I left my wallet," Glenn snapped. He strode over to his desk, tossed through the messy drawer, and snatched his leather wallet that was lying there. Once the wallet was safely secured in his pants pocket, Glenn jerked his chin toward the exit. "Alright, hurry up and go home right now!"

"I don't want to, sir," Launa rejected stubbornly.

"Wow, look at you being defiant. Do you want to sleep with the ghosts in this office? Get out of here, go home!" Glenn urged again.

Launa let out a soft sigh, trying to offer a logical reason. "But there are still a few files I want to finish up, sir."

"There's no such thing as working overtime under my watch! What I assigned to you can be done tomorrow if it's not finished yet," Glenn cut her off with absolute finality.

Curious about what was making his assistant so comfortable staying late, Glenn took a step closer to Launa’s desk. Without asking, his hand immediately clicked around the laptop touchpad to see what she had open. The moment the screen shifted, Glenn’s eyes locked onto it.

Launa panicked instantly and scrambled to find her voice. "I... I just wanted to look through some articles about that incident, sir."

Glenn froze instantly. He turned his head slowly, locking his eyes on Launa’s face in a deep, agonizingly long stare. The room suddenly fell dead silent, the tension thick for several seconds.

"Shut down your laptop," Glenn commanded at last, his voice suddenly dropping into a flat, undeniable tone.

"Go home right now. I don't like being questioned."

Launa’s face instantly twisted into pure annoyance. She scowled, forcefully slamming her laptop shut.

Glenn glanced briefly at his luxury wristwatch, then let out a sigh. "I’ll explain on the way."

"No need, sir. I can make my own way home," Launa snapped, still irritated about being forced to leave.

Glenn rolled his eyes lazily, then pointed bluntly at the short skirt Launa was wearing. "Don’t act all independent with me. You’re going home late at night on public transit wearing a skirt like that, aren't you even scared of getting groped by some creep on the street?"

Launa’s eyes widened in sheer shock, completely caught off guard by her boss’s overly filtered-free and dead-frontal remark.

"Hurry up! Stop wasting time!" Glenn urged impatiently, already walking ahead toward the elevator.

Left with no choice, while grumbling under her breath and wearing a heavy pout, Launa finally tagged along behind Glenn, obeying her unpredictable boss’s bizarre command.

*****

Launa cast her gaze out the window, quietly taking in the beautiful night view of the city. The glowing streetlights and the rows of luxury buildings out there somehow brought a deep sense of peace to her heart. After going through an exhausting day at the office, it felt as though all her fatigue was simply evaporating into thin air.

Ahem.

Glenn suddenly cleared his throat, breaking the silence inside the car. "How have things been so far? Are you enjoying working at my office?"

Launa turned her head briefly and offered a faint smile. "I think... it's best to just embrace it, sir. Taking things as they come."

Glenn let out a soft chuckle, glancing at Launa from the corner of his eye. "You're pretty tough. Being able to roll with it even under the pressure of an office that's such a mess."

"Why should I be afraid or feel burdened by the circumstances, sir?" Launa replied, her voice sounding incredibly calm and mature. "I’ve always believed that no position or event that comes into our lives is ever a coincidence. Everything unfolds according to its own measure of destiny. Our job is simply to face it, learn from it, and enjoy the process. After all, a storm can't last forever, right?"

Glenn was momentarily struck by her words, caught in a wave of amazement. What Launa had just said somehow felt like a slap in the face and a comforting embrace all at once. But true to his filter-free nature, he let out a mocking scoff instead to mask his admiration.

"Look at you acting all philosophical. Unreal."

Glenn fell silent for a moment, turning the steering wheel as they cut through the quiet streets before suddenly speaking in a serious tone. "You... already know why I’ve gotten you this deeply involved, right? About my mom's sabotage."

Hearing that, Launa was suddenly at a loss for words. A pang of guilt crept into her chest. "I'm sorry, sir... if I seem like I'm being too nosy. Honestly, my intentions here are completely pure, I just want to help you."

"No need to apologize," Glenn cut in casually. "In time, you'll come to understand everything clearly anyway. I'm intentionally not giving you the whole story right now so you can just follow the flow."

Launa stared at the side profile of Glenn's face, illuminated by the passing streetlights. But for some reason, that look causes her brain to reflexively replay the recording of those brutal groans from the phone call last night. Crazy, crazy, why on earth am I thinking about that now?! Launa instantly shook her head so fast her hair whipped around. Right at that exact second, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson, looking like a boiled lobster.

Glenn, noticing her frantic movements, instantly shot her a dirty look. "What is wrong with you? Are you possessed or something?"

"U-uh? No, sir! It’s nothing!" Launa replied in a panic. She tried her best to act casual and hurriedly averted her gaze back toward the side window, hiding her face which was already burning hot.

Glenn clicked his tongue in annoyance at his assistant’s increasingly absurd behavior. Without warning, Glenn suddenly slammed on the brakes, pulling the car to an abrupt stop by the roadside.

Screeech!

Launa gasped, whipping her head around in a panic. The atmosphere inside the car instantly shifted, turning incredibly awkward and intense. Before Launa could even utter a protest, Glenn suddenly leaned over, moving closer and closer toward her seat.

Launa reflexively tried to shrink back, but her back was already pressed flat against the car seat. The distance between them vanished completely until Launa could catch the intoxicating scent of Glenn's masculine cologne. Both of Glenn's hands even rested on Launa’s headrest, effectively trapping her body.

Glenn’s right hand slowly reached up toward Launa’s face. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs, feeling like it was about to burst out of her chest.

Overwhelmed by panic and suddenly holding her breath, Launa reflexively squeezed her eyes shut tight, bracing herself for the worst-case scenario.

However, all she felt next was the gentle brush of Glenn’s fingertip near her eyelid.

"Your eyelash came off," Glenn said out of nowhere, his deep voice completely deadpan.

Launa’s eyes snapped open instantly. Sure enough, sitting right on the tip of Glenn’s index finger was a single false eyelash that had fallen out. Her embarrassment reaching an absolute boiling point, Launa clumsily snatched the eyelash away.

Noticing that Launa’s face had flushed crimson all the way to her ears, a wide grin spread across Glenn's face, unable to hold back his triumphant laughter. He intentionally switched into his smug, teasing mode to push her buttons.

"Are you scared of me?" Glenn teased bluntly, staring into Launa's almond eyes with a mischievous glint. "Scared I was gonna kiss you out of nowhere, is that why you shut your eyes right away?"

Launa felt like her face was about to explode right then and there. She clicked her tongue in annoyance and reflexively yelled, "Ugh, what are you even talking about, sir! No, I wasn't! Stop assuming things!"

Glenn flinched slightly, caught off guard by the sudden spike in Launa’s voice. But instead of getting angry, he let out an amused chuckle. "Wow... look at you, getting brave enough to snap at me now?"

Realizing she had crossed the line, Launa instantly squeaked in a panic. "I-I'm sorry, sir... it was a reflex."

"Relax, will you?" Glenn said as he settled back behind the steering wheel and started driving again. "Oh, and one more thing. When it's just the two of us like this, you don't need to call me 'sir.' We're off the clock."

Launa frowned. "Huh? Then what am I supposed to call you? That feels incredibly weird."

"How on earth is that weird? Just call me by my name. When you call me 'sir,' I feel ancient, even though our age gap is barely anything," Glenn complained, completely objectingly. "Besides, you should be grateful to have a boss like me. I never force or demand anything from you, let alone ask for anything weird. Imagine if you were my dad's assistant, you’d probably be getting chewed out every single second."

"Well, I doubt it'd be that bad, sir..."

The atmosphere inside the car suddenly fell quiet for a few moments. Only the smooth hum of the car engine could be heard. However, that peace didn't last long, as Glenn suddenly spoke up again, his voice laced with a guarded curiosity.

"But honestly, I'm still curious about one thing," Glenn glanced at Launa intensely. "About that ten-second call last night. Are you seriously telling me you didn't hear anything? Because you've been acting incredibly weird ever since you left the restroom this morning."

Launa froze instantly, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs once again from being caught red-handed. "Huh?!"

****