| Itaru | I’m so done for….. (sighs) |
| (People won’t normally go to the emergency exit stairs, and even if they do, it’s easy to tell when someone’s coming. That’s exactly why I was sure I could be alone there, and yet…) |
| I didn’t even hear a sound to begin with… |
| (I got into such a panic that I couldn’t even fake my way out of that situation like I normally would. Maybe I’m just tired.) |
| … I'm just gonna head home. |
| (Just need to grab my things from the office and…) |
| ——— |
| (... My office ID. It’s not here.) |
| (You’ve GOT to be kidding me right now. I was sure I left it in my pocket… Without my ID, I can’t get into the office.) |
| (I could have someone open it up for me, but I’ll have to pay a fine if I wanna reprint my ID after that— which is actually even more of a nuisance to me.) |
| ….. This is just the worst. Damn. Lost count of how many I already said that out loud today. |
| (Goddammit. Guess I should look for it. If I trace back my steps, I’ve been to the meeting room, the convenience store, and then…..) |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | … Oh good, you’re still here. |
| Itaru | Oh… From earlier—— |
| (... Awkwaaaard. I don’t know what it is, but this guy appears like the type I absolutely can’t deal with at all.) |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | These are yours isn’t it… Chigasaki Itaru-kun. |
| Itaru | Huh? This is… |
| (The plastic bag I had earlier…? The pizza bun… and my ID.) |
| (So I left them at that staircase? Yeesh, the bun has gotten all cold now too.) |
| (“Hey, thanks, have this frozen bun as a token of my gratitude!” ….Yeah, no, can’t make a joke like that.) |
| … Sorry for making you go through all this trouble. |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Don’t mind it. I had something to grab from this meeting room as well, so it was a coincidence. |
| Itaru | A suitcase… Did you just come back from a business trip, perhaps? You must’ve been tired from all the travelling, I apologize for troubling you further. |
| Glasses-Wearing Employee | Like I said, don’t mind it. Well then, I’ll be going. |
| Itaru | Thank you for your work. |
| (... Ah. I forgot to ask for his name.) |
| (It’s safe to assume he’s a senior employee… And since his suitcase still has that international flight tag attached to it, he must've just came back from the airport…) |
| (It’s not uncommon for us to have employees traveling overseas, but I might be able to at least know what department he’s from if I look at the meeting room’s rental log.) |
| (…I say that, but trying to involve myself even more sounds like a chore. As much as I’d like to return the gratitude, I’ll just leave it be since I don’t know his name anyway.) |
| (I’m still a lil’ concerned about what happened back at the emergency staircase But it doesn’t seem like that guy’s the type to reveal much, if anything. Not like I have proof that he is though.) |
| (... I should just forget about all the awful stuff that’s happened, get back home and do my event running ASAP.) |
| |
| |
| Colleague A | Phew… I shouldn’t be surprised that there’s so much to take care of in the founding anniversary party. But at least now we’ve taken care of the internal affairs work. |
| Colleague B | A lot of our clients are starting to come in as well. They’ve even got a media outlet in here, right? In other words, the main act is about to start. |
| Colleague C | (exhales) … This pressure is killing me. |
| Itaru | Well, all we have to do is to do what we can. As long as we don’t spoil it for our seniors, we’ll just have to do our best, right? |
| Colleague B | Chigasaki, you really are the ray of hope for us younger members~ |
| Itaru | You’re overexaggerating. |
| (... Ah crap. My mind’s not in the zone at all, I can feel a yawn coming.) |
| (And ever since that incident at the emergency staircase, I can’t play my games without this bothered feeling at all.) |
| (Worse is, I ended up losing sleep trying to catch up to rankings back home… Can I just go home already.) |
| |
| Colleague A | Hey, that CEO foreigner I mentioned before has apparently arrived. |
| Colleague B | Gotcha... (breathes) Alright, I’m going. |
| Itaru | (I’m so goddamn sleepy that I don’t even feel like securing a rank in the event… Well, first things first, I should suck it up and clear my company employee missions first.) |
