The rest of the afternoon should have been easier. Should have settled into the usual, mundane tasks that made up an employee’s daily routine. Neville had hoped that he could finally return to some semblance of normalcy.

But it didn’t.

Ethan suddenly appeared near Neville again. He seemed to have heard of the commotion in the secretarial department and brought his ’buddies’ from IT with him as an excuse. Once the commotion died, he approached Neville.

"Got some free time in the afternoon?" Ethan asked with a bright smile as if he didn’t do what he did before.

Neville felt disgusted inside but still replied with a smile, "I don’t."

Ethan acted like he didn’t just get rejected and said, "I’ll see you later."

Neville wanted to say something more, but he had to finish what he was doing and submit it on time.

Soon after, Grayson came next to him.

Instead of disturbing him at his work, Grayson just lingered and talked with Bryan, who was next to him. It was really unnerving trying to think of a reason why Grayson would approach him at a time like this.

At first, he thought maybe it was because he had ignored him earlier.

Or maybe he didn’t like his meal.

But in the end, Neville suspected that Grayson actually forgot what he wanted to say. Why? Because he just left without saying anything.

The people around him were rattled because they thought Grayson was personally inspecting the work of everyone in the department. But Grayson’s leaving was good, even though they never understood the reason why he was even there.

Not long after, Ethan came back, sending some files to someone in the department. At first, Neville thought of standing up and looking for something else to do. However, Ethan just had to be fast enough to lean against Neville’s work desk, subtly cornering him.

Neville looked around, and the workstations around him were unusually empty. It was impossible to ask for help since the others were still busily roaming around and were too far from them. In the end, Neville was forced to smile at Ethan, trying to gauge his intentions.

"I heard about the cookies," Ethan said with a friendly tone, but Neville just felt goosebumps. "I didn’t know you knew how to cook. Looking at the commotion earlier, it must’ve been good."

Neville tried to open some random file on his quantum computer to distract himself and said, "Things just...happened around here."

"You’re really interesting, Neville." Ethan moved slightly; he seemed to be staring intently at him right now. But Neville had no intention of looking back at him.

Interesting, my ass.

Neville just said, "Please call me by my surname, Mr. Goelet."

"Right." Ethan backed off slightly but didn’t go away. He continued, "You think you can send me some of those, Mr. Hope?"

"I’m already busy enough with my current work, Mr. Goelet," Neville said lightly, finally glancing up with what he hoped was a bland, harmless smile that said Please get the f*ck out of here.

"Hmm~" Ethan paused, his gaze sliding down to where Neville’s nerd glasses sat perched on his nose. "You really can’t?"

Neville’s blood ran cold. He forced himself to maintain that same expression.

He couldn’t let Ethan intimidate him like he used to.

"As I already said," Neville firmly said, looking directly at Ethan’s eyes. "I’m busy."

Ethan leaned closer, close enough that Neville could see the amber flecks in his eyes, "You’re not cute at all, Neville."

"You’re acting inappropriately, Mr. Goelet." Neville gave him a faint smile while his hands were already tightly clenched on the side.

"Hope."

Neville and Ethan both turned their faces in the direction of the voice.

Iris stood on her workstation like she had just arrived there. She looked at both of them with a scrutinizing gaze.

"I need you to compile these files and send them to Bryan an hour later." She continued and then looked at Ethan, "Mr. Goelet, I believe you have already been transferred to the IT department. If you no longer have any business here, you can see yourself out unless you want me to call your supervisor to get you."

Ethan looked at Iris for a moment and then looked at Neville.

It was a dismissal wrapped in professional courtesy, but a dismissal nonetheless.

"I’ll go ahead now." Ethan said with his usual smile and then turned to Neville, "I’ll see you later, Hope."

Before Neville could say his refusal, Ethan already walked away in large strides. He wasn’t running away, but he was walking fast. Neville exhaled out loud, his shoulders sagging slightly as the tension left him. He didn’t realize that he had been holding back his breath.

This place really takes a lot from him. How can he lose his wits and guts as time passed by in this world? Argh, comparing himself to his previous self really frustrates him.

"Thank you," he said to Iris.

"He makes you uncomfortable," Iris observed. It wasn’t a question. "If he crosses any more lines, report it immediately. I heard what happened before, but it shouldn’t happen again—your safety and comfort take priority."

Neville nodded. He was grateful and relieved that the people here really cared about him. What he learned from dramas really wasn’t helping him in reality.

Iris then said, "Mr. Maxwell asked to see you in 10 minutes."

Why? Neville slightly tilted his head. Grayson already went to him earlier, so why would he call him? Did he remember what he wanted to say to him earlier?

Minutes later, Neville found himself once again standing in Grayson’s office, a stack of reports clutched in his hands as he delivered the day’s final briefing. Grayson sat behind his massive desk, eyes fixed on his quantum computer screen as he reviewed some files. Given the slight furrow between his brows, it seemed that it was a tricky one.

"The HD account has been finalized," Neville said, keeping his voice level and professional as he placed the relevant documents on Grayson’s desk. "Legal approved all terms. They’re ready to sign whenever you have time scheduled."

"Mm." Grayson’s response was distracted, but his hand reached out to accept the papers, fingers brushing against Neville’s for a fraction of a second.

The contact shouldn’t have meant anything. Shouldn’t have registered as noteworthy. But Neville sensed something was wrong with him. That brief touch was like an electric shock, making his glands tingle with excitement.

Damn, I have to change my pheromone patch again. Should I consider injecting inhibitors? But he didn’t know how...What the hell was wrong with him?

"Is something wrong?" Grayson suddenly asked. He seemed to have noticed the change in his expression.

"No," Neville said quickly. He took a step back, putting distance between himself and the desk, between himself and Grayson’s suddenly intense gaze. "No, sir. Nothing’s wrong, sir. I just—If there’s nothing more, I would like to get back to my desk. There’s still some filing to finish before the end of the day."

He turned to leave, but Grayson’s voice stopped him.

"Hope."

"Yes, sir?" Neville turned back slowly, maintaining careful control over his expression even as he felt the heat creeping up the back of his neck.

Grayson studied him for a long moment, silver eyes tracking across Neville’s face like he was searching for something.

"The lunch was excellent," Grayson said. "Thank you, keep up the good work."

"You’re welcome, sir," Neville replied, then fled before Grayson said anything more.

He could accept Grayson’s gratitude any time of the day, but not today. Clearly, something was wrong with him. Not just him, but something was also wrong with Ethan and Grayson today. Each time he was free, one of the two would pop out of nowhere and find him to chat or just hang around him.

Between the two of them, Neville felt like he was being pulled in opposite directions. He felt like Grayson was really challenging his endurance when it came to hiding his feelings. Meanwhile, Ethan was testing his patience and endurance to punch him in the face.

Ugh, this sucks. Neville annoyingly thought to himself, I just need to maintain distance from both of them until things calm down. Then, everything will be fine!

Then, with a grim expression, Neville touched his glands in the process. This one is also causing problems. Is it really related to that mission? But how hard could it be that the system had to issue a mission?

Neville resisted the urge to bang his head against his desk. Barely.

Because Sarah popped out behind him.

"Are you free tonight?" Sarah was grinning from ear to ear.

From the looks of it, even if Neville had something to do tonight, he couldn’t.

"What is it?" he asked.

Sarah grabbed his shoulders and turned him around to the crowd.

She loudly announced, "Tonight! We’ll have our long-awaited welcome party!"

Neville’s eyes widened. Wasn’t that just a joke?

He panned his head to the side and saw Iris in the corner, nodding her head.

"Everyone, see you later!" Sarah excitedly raised both of her arms as if she had won.

Iris came to his side and said, "It’s a tradition, and there’s no more work for today. Get home and change. I’ll send you the details."

This welcome party was a big deal for these people. Neville could only nod and anticipate what was going to happen next.