The lights on the 39th floor hallway buzzed softly as Xia Yuwei stirred from a very uncomfortable nap - if you could even call it that. Her back felt like she'd been run over by a filing cabinet and her mouth was dry like she'd been snoring into the floor.
She blinked, groaned, and slowly sat up. "Where... what time is it?" she muttered, brushing her hair out of her face.
Then she noticed it.
Something was wrapped around her.
A coat. A heavy, warm, rich-smelling coat that screamed 'I earn more than you in a day' energy.
She looked down at it in confusion. This wasn't part of her cleaning supplies.
"Okay, definitely didn't bring this from home," she said to herself. She hugged it closer, feeling the warmth still trapped inside it. Someone must have placed it on her while she slept.
"But who...?" she whispered, looking around. The hallway was empty. Just her, her mop, and a mysterious coat that smelled faintly of citrus, cedarwood, and heartbreak.
Curiosity got the better of her. She checked the inside tag.
Chen Exclusive - Tailored for Y. Chen
Her eyebrows flew up so fast they nearly launched off her forehead.
"No. No. No way."
She turned slowly, her eyes locking onto the nearby frosted glass office door.
Yuxuan Chen - Financial Department Head
The name hit her like a cold splash of water. She clutched the coat like it had suddenly turned into a live animal.
"HE put this on me?!" That iceberg???? she gasped. "Out of everyone in this building, it had to be him?!"
Just as her brain was preparing to implode from overthinking, the elevator behind her dinged. She whipped around like a cat caught stealing fish.
Out strolled Zhao Lei, humming like the world owed him nothing and coffee owed him everything. He sipped his overpriced latte like it was infused with confidence and denial, then halted mid-sip when he saw her on the floor.
"...Well, well, well," he began, voice dripping with amusement. "Look what the hallway dragged in."
Yuwei glared. "Don't. You. Dare."
"Oh, I'm just saying," Zhao said, dramatically circling her like a wildlife documentary narrator. "Sleeping Beauty, now available in Limited Edition CEO Couture. Fancy."
Yuwei stood up, clutching the coat like a suspicious artifact. "I didn't ask for this, okay?! I closed my eyes for two minutes! TWO! And now I look like I passed out during a stock market crash."
Zhao sipped his coffee louder. "Well, this is awkward."
She narrowed her eyes. "You know something."
Zhao blinked innocently. "Me? I just work here. I don't even know my own blood type."
"Don't play dumb. This is Chen's coat. YUXUAN CHEN's coat."
He peered closer, squinting dramatically. "Oh? Ohhh! Wait. Is that the sacred dragon robe? The Legendary Layer of Lord Yuxuan the Cold?"
"Zhao!"
He clutched his chest. "I'm shocked, Yuwei. I mean, he wouldn't even let me TOUCH that coat last winter when I was coughing like a tuberculosis patient!"
"You were literally wearing fingerless gloves in January."
"Exactly!" Zhao pointed. "So if you're wearing it now... I mean, wow. Wow. That's... romance drama level Episode 9 plot twist."
"Zhao Lei."
"Look, I'm just the messenger of fate. Don't shoot me." He stepped back cautiously, eyes twinkling. "But also-office group chat saw. You're already trending under the hashtag #CoatedAffection"
Yuwei's jaw dropped. "What?"
"There's even a meme where someone Photoshopped you into Titanic holding the coat like Jack."
Her eye twitched. "Do you all even work?!"
"Nope." He sipped cheerfully.
That was it.
She launched the coat at his face like she was in the Olympics of passive-aggression. "Take it back to your boss. And tell him next time, he can use it to cover his own cold heart."
Zhao muffled a laugh behind the folds of cashmere. "Noted."
Yuwei huffed, adjusted her hair like a warrior tying her battle ribbon, and stormed off down the hallway - mop in one hand, dignity in the other.
Her mind snapped back to her original plan - her mission. Right. That thing she was actually here for.
Not coats. Not exes. Not Yuxuan's weirdly woodsy scent lingering on her sleeves.
"Focus, Yuwei," she muttered under her breath. "You're not here for the coat. Or the man. Just the mission."
She walked away.
But her cheeks were still red.
To be continued