Ring! Ring! Ring!
Wen Mianmian groaned and buried her face deeper into her pillow, refusing to open her eyes.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The phone on her bedside table continued its relentless attack. Mianmian forced herself to sit up, rubbing her sleepy eyes with a small frown. With half-closed lids, she grabbed the phone and glanced at the caller's ID.
Yuqi.
She answered with a hoarse voice, "Hello… Yuqi?"
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, MIAN?!" Yuqi's furious voice blasted through the phone, jolting Mianmian fully awake.
She flinched, clutching the phone. "What's wrong with you this early in the morning?"
"What's wrong with me?" Yuqi snapped. "Mr. Yao is in a horrible mood because you're not in the office! Why aren't you here yet?!"
"Oh my god, oh my god!" Mianmian's face drained of color as she looked at the time on her phone.
9:15 a.m.
She was supposed to arrive at 8:00 a.m.
Her heart dropped. "I...I forgot to set my alarm last night! I'll be there soon!" she immediately hung up.
Twenty minutes later, Mianmian was dressed and standing in front of her mirror. She wasn't the glamorous type, but she had a soft, innocent kind of beauty, long black hair, straight bangs, and warm black doe-like eyes. She wore light blue baggy jeans and a soft pink baby tee, simple and cute, like always.
After taking the train, she rushed into the tall building of StarLight News Agency, the company she worked for. The moment she stepped inside, she felt eyes on her from every direction.
"Oh, she's dead."
"Mr. Yao is going to kill her."
"She came late again?"
Whispers filled the hallway, but Mianmian ignored them. She was used to these people talking behind her.
Ahead, she spotted Yuqi pacing in front of the elevators, biting her nails in panic.
"Yuqi!" Mianmian called out.
Yuqi spun around, ran straight to her, and smacked her arm.
"Yaaa! How could you oversleep on such an important day?!" she scolded, her pretty face scrunched with frustration.
Mianmian rubbed her arm and pouted. "Ouch! Be angry at Wen Yuhan instead! My useless little brother left early for school, he didn't even wake me up!"
Yuqi raised a brow. "Didn't you threaten to kill him last time he tried waking you up? Of course he wouldn't dare!"
"…Okay, fine, that might be true," Mianmian muttered.
"Save the excuses," Yuqi sighed. "Let's go see Mr. Yao… if you still have the courage to talk."
They both took the elevator to Mr. Yao's office. They walked to his office, Yuqi opened the door, pushed Mianmian inside, and quickly shut it behind her.
From outside, Mianmian heard Yuqi mutter softly,
"Sorry, Mianmian… you're on your own."