Su Yao practically threw herself out of the 48th floor elevator the moment it opened, stumbling into the hallway like someone escaping a hostage situation. She didn't even wait for the doors to fully slide apart. She squeezed through the gap and nearly clotheslined herself with her own lanyard.
She didn't even breathe until she was safely back on the 23rd floor, pressing her back against the wall like she had just outrun a wild animal.
Shanshan spotted her immediately.
"You survived!" she gasped, clapping dramatically. "You're alive! You're in one piece! You didn't get fired! Did he eat you? Did he glare at you? Did he freeze you into an ice sculpture? What happened??"
Su Yao pushed her hair back, dazed. "Shanshan… he asked me… if we've met before."
The entire office fell silent.
A pen dropped somewhere.
Someone choked on their tea.
Chen Wei stopped walking mid-step, turned around, and stared like he misheard.
Shanshan blinked at her. "I'm sorry. He WHAT?"
"He… asked if we've met."
"As in… 'met met'? As in… 'have I seen you before' met??"
"Yes!"
"THAT'S EVEN WORSE THAN HIM SMILING AT YOU!"
Su Yao groaned and slapped her hands over her face. "I didn't ask for this! I just delivered a stupid USB! I just want to work quietly! Why is he like this?!"
"I don't know," Shanshan whispered. "Maybe you remind him of his ex?"
"What ex?! That man doesn't look like he has emotions. Or a dating history. Or a childhood."
Shanshan frowned. "You know what… actually… you're right. He does look like he was born at age 25 in a boardroom."
Chen Wei finally regained his voice. "Did… did something else happen?"
Su Yao gulped, thinking of the weird, quiet way he'd stared at her wrist. "He looked at my bracelet."
"Bracelet?" Shanshan leaned over. "Let me see."
Su Yao raised her wrist.
It was nothing special — just a simple string bracelet with small wooden beads. She'd bought it at a street stall years ago because it reminded her of something she couldn't quite remember. Something warm. Something small. Something from a long time ago.
Shanshan stared at it. "What's so special about this? Did you buy it from a temple? Maybe he thinks you're into superstitious stuff."
Chen Wei suddenly shook his head. "No. He doesn't care about that. But… bracelets…" He paused, realizing he was saying too much. "Forget it."
Su Yao narrowed her eyes. "Wait. No. Chen Wei, tell me."
He cleared his throat. "It's just a rumor."
"We love rumors."
"We feed on rumors," Shanshan added.
He sighed. "Fine. Years ago, someone said that CEO Xiao used to keep a little box on his desk. Inside it was a broken handmade bracelet. Something from his childhood."
Su Yao blinked. "A… bracelet?"
Shanshan gasped. "Oh my god! What if you look like his first love?! Like a childhood sweetheart?! Like—"
"STOP." Su Yao grabbed Shanshan before she spiraled further. "He probably just thought my bracelet looks tacky."
Chen Wei shook his head again. "No. The bracelet from his childhood wasn't tacky. It meant a lot to him. He doesn't talk about it, but… some of us overheard his father once. Apparently, the girl who gave it to him saved him when they were young."
Su Yao's heart jerked unexpectedly.
Saved him?
From what?
She suddenly felt a flash of cold wind, a memory she couldn't fully grasp. A small hand holding hers. A voice crying somewhere. A smell of damp earth. Winter.
Her head throbbed.
Shanshan waved a hand in front of her. "Yaoyao? You okay?"
She shook the thought away. "I just… need water."
Or maybe a brain reset.
Or a time machine.
The rest of the afternoon passed with Su Yao functioning like someone who had seen the face of destiny and decided to ignore it aggressively. She processed emails, cleaned data, organized files — all mechanically, all while trying not to think about the man who kept popping into her mind with that quiet question:
"Have we met before?"
By the time work ended, her legs were jelly. Shanshan dragged her out of the office before she could collapse.
"Hotpot?" Shanshan asked.
"No… I need to lie down… or evaporate."
"Okay. Call me if you dream about him."
"I WILL NOT."
That night, Su Yao lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Her wrist felt warm. Too warm.
She stared at the bracelet.
Why did he look at it like that?
Why did he look at her like that?
Why did she have a headache when she tried to remember anything from her early childhood?
She rolled over and hid under her blanket.
"Nope. Not thinking about it."
But she thought about it anyway.
Meanwhile, in his penthouse overlooking the river, Xiao Le stood by the window, looking down at the lights of Shanghai like he was searching for something hidden beneath them.
Tang Yichen placed a folder on the table. "These are tomorrow's meeting notes."
Xiao Le didn't answer.
Tang Yichen hesitated. "…CEO Xiao?"
A slow breath.
"Yes."
"You seem distracted today."
Xiao Le's jaw tightened. "She… looks familiar."
"Su Yao?"
Silence.
Xiao Le didn't deny it.
Tang Yichen frowned. "You don't mean—"
"I don't know," Xiao Le cut him off. "I'm not certain."
The assistant hesitated before speaking again. "You've never said that about anyone before."
"I know."
"And the bracelet?"
Another silence. A deeper one.
Xiao Le's eyes lowered. "It's the same style."
Tang Yichen straightened. "Then—"
"No." Xiao Le's voice dropped. "The girl I knew… she's gone."
Tang Yichen didn't respond. He knew better than to poke old wounds.
Xiao Le looked at his reflection in the window — hard features, calm expression — and yet something in his chest felt like it was unraveling.
Nineteen years.
He had searched so long that part of him stopped believing. He told himself the memories had faded, that the winter day had become a blur, that the girl with the small hands and warm voice was just a ghost in the cold.
But then he saw Su Yao.
Her eyes.
Her voice.
Her awkward panic.
Her bracelet.
It wasn't certainty.
But it was close enough to haunt him.
He closed his hand slowly, as if trying to hold onto something that kept slipping through his fingers.
"Tomorrow," he murmured.
Tang Yichen blinked. "Sir?"
"I want her reassigned to my project."
Tang Yichen's mouth parted slightly. "Are you sure? People will talk."
"They always talk."
"Still—"
"It doesn't matter." He walked away from the window. "I want her where I can see her."
Tang Yichen bowed his head. "Understood."
When he left, Xiao Le stood alone again.
He didn't believe in coincidences.
And something about her…
Something was waking up inside him he thought he buried years ago.
Something that whispered: Little Bean.
The next morning, Su Yao stepped into the office, yawning, clutching her breakfast bun like it was emotional support food. She waved at Shanshan, plopped into her seat, turned on the computer—
And her email pinged.
[Internal Notice]
Employee Su Yao has been temporarily reassigned to CEO Xiao's special project team.
She stared at it.
Her soul left her body.
Shanshan shrieked.
Chen Wei dropped his pen.
Even the printer made a noise like it was shocked.
Su Yao stood up so fast her chair rolled backward and hit the wall.
"No. No no no no no NO—"
Shanshan grabbed her shoulders. "OH MY GOD YOU'RE DOOMED."
"I'M DEAD. THIS IS DEATH. THIS IS MY FUNERAL NOTICE."
"WHY IS HE DOING THIS?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!!!"
And then—
And then someone cleared their throat.
Everyone froze.
Su Yao turned slowly.
Xiao Le was standing at their office entrance, hands in pockets, expression unreadable.
His eyes landed on her.
Firm.
Certain.
Possessive in a way she couldn't understand yet.
"Su Yao," he said quietly. "Come with me."
And the entire floor exploded in silent screams.