The next morning, Lin Xiaoyu woke up with the same sentence replaying in her head:
“You’re doing good work.”
She stared at the ceiling.
Was that real encouragement? Or corporate politeness?
Her roommate yelled from the kitchen, “You’re smiling at your phone again! Did your boss text you?”
Xiaoyu choked on her toothpaste. “Of course not! He’s my boss, not my boyfriend!”
Yet, ten minutes later, she checked her WeChat.
No message.
Tragic.
At work, she tried to act normal. That lasted four minutes.
As soon as Li Junhao walked into the office, tall and crisp in a grey suit, every neuron in her brain screamed don’t stare!
Mei Ling whispered, “You’re staring.”
“I’m not!”
“You’re smiling while staring.”
“I’m practicing gratitude!”
“For his face?”
Xiaoyu glared at her best friend. “I need professional help.”
📱 WeChat: Operation Boss Crush 🫣💔
Xiaoyu: He said I did good work. Do you think that means anything?
Mei Ling: It means you work there. 😂
Xiaoyu: What if he secretly admires my dedication and sense of aesthetics?
Mei Ling: What if he secretly thinks you spill too many beverages? ☕
During lunch break, Xiaoyu caught a glimpse of Junhao sitting in the corner café downstairs, typing on his laptop. Alone.
Her heart started doing that thing again — the dum-dum-dum-don’t-you-dare dance.
Mei Ling nudged her.
“You should talk to him. About, I don’t know… marketing?”
“Marketing what? My death wish?” Xiaoyu hissed.
Before she could escape, Junhao’s eyes lifted.
Their gazes met.
He raised his coffee cup slightly — a silent greeting.
Xiaoyu’s brain blanked. She accidentally waved with both hands. Like a malfunctioning robot.
He smiled — smiled! — and gestured for her to come over.
Mei Ling mouthed, Go! GO!
Xiaoyu took a deep breath and walked over, praying her legs wouldn’t betray her.
“Morning, Director Li,” she said, clutching her cup.
He looked up, voice calm but warm.
“Just Junhao outside the office. Sit down?”
She blinked. “O-oh. Okay… Jun—Junhao.”
He chuckled softly at her awkwardness.
“You don’t usually come here for lunch.”
“I, uh, was in the neighborhood.”
In the neighborhood of my own building. Genius, Xiaoyu.
He nodded, stirring his coffee.
“I read your draft for the client proposal. You have a unique perspective. I’d like you to present it next time.”
Her spoon clattered against her cup. “Me? Present? In front of clients?”
He smiled faintly.
“Why not? You’re the one who wrote it. Don’t hide behind your team again.”
Her heart did that exploding confetti thing.
She nodded too quickly. “Yes, I’ll do it! I mean, of course! I’ll… try not to faint.”
He laughed quietly — a sound so rare that everyone in the café turned to look.
“Don’t faint. That’s not in the company handbook.”
She blushed crimson.
That night, her WeChat pinged again.
Xiaoyu: He asked me to call him Junhao! 😳
Mei Ling: OHHH he’s definitely into you.
Xiaoyu: No, maybe it’s just “professional equality.”
Mei Ling: Equality my foot. He laughed at your joke. That’s love in corporate language. ❤️
Meanwhile, in his apartment overlooking the Bund, Li Junhao leaned back on his couch.
Chen Yifan, his business partner, was on video call.
“You’ve been smiling like an idiot lately. Who’s the lucky intern?”
Junhao shot him a look. “She’s not an intern. She’s… different.”
Yifan smirked.
“Ah. Different. That’s code for I’m doomed.”
Junhao sighed, glancing at his phone where Xiaoyu’s contact sat pinned at the top — he hadn’t messaged, but her status read:
‘Don’t spill coffee on your crush twice.’
He smiled.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “I think I am.”
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