’Angry...’
"I’m not angry," Gu Ning said. "I’m..."
Scared.
Gu Ning wrote the word on the paper, sharing it honestly with Alex.
She already understood the rules of this world and the reason why Beastmen detested Mimic Mixed Species. How could she really blame Alex?
Back then, they both had their reasons, things they couldn’t bring themselves to say.
Now that everything was out in the open, and with her current situation being relatively clear, she had a more defined goal. She wasn’t dwelling on the matter anymore.
But upon reflection, she did feel a certain awkwardness deep down.
’So, am I angry with Alex?’
’I don’t think so, but I can’t explain this awkward feeling, this constant urge to avoid Alex’s gaze.’
When Alex saw the word Gu Ning had written, "Scared," it felt like a heavy blow to his heart.
He gripped Gu Ning’s hand tightly, about to write something. But just as he made the first couple of strokes on the paper, he heard her ask, "Alex, you... have you been busy these last few days?"
"Not really," Alex replied, mulling over the meaning of her question as he looked at her. "Why do you ask?"
Gu Ning was still trying to form a sentence in her head when Alex added, "Did you miss me?"
Alex watched her pensive expression, realizing she probably hadn’t fully understood. Just as he was about to write the question down for her, a sudden knock echoed from the door.
The office door was pushed open.
The atmosphere between them shattered.
"My apologies." Cyril saw the two of them sitting closely together. "Am I interrupting?"
Cyril glanced at Alex, whose expression had visibly chilled, then turned his gaze to Gu Ning. He held out the item in his hand. "Miss Gu Ning, I’ve brought the items you requested."
Gu Ning saw the bag in his hand and quickly stood up, walking over to him.
"The clothes are clean."
Cyril opened the bag to show her. Inside was a complete formal suit: a shirt, trousers, jacket, and a tie.
"Thank you." Gu Ning gave it a quick glance before taking the bag.
"Do you need anything else?" Cyril asked.
Gu Ning didn’t quite understand. Just then, Alex moved to her side and said, "Adjutant Cyril, she doesn’t need anything else for now. Thank you."
Cyril’s gaze shifted between Alex and Gu Ning, and he asked her again.
Gu Ning managed to understand a little and said "thank you" again.
’I can’t help but feel a little anxious,’ she thought. ’I really need to improve my listening and speaking skills quickly, or communication is going to be a huge problem.’
Cyril’s gaze lingered on Gu Ning’s face for a moment. He turned to leave, but then paused and turned back. "I almost forgot. Miss Gu Ning, we need to go over some work-related matters."
Gu Ning gave him a polite smile, then turned to shoot Alex a pleading look. ’I don’t understand a thing!’
Alex gently patted her back and said to Cyril, "You can send the work details to Gu Ning’s terminal."
A faint smile touched Cyril’s lips. "Miss Gu Ning is right here. Isn’t it a bit redundant for me to communicate with her via a terminal?"
"It would also lower my work efficiency," Cyril added, looking at the young female.
Gu Ning struggled to process his words, but they were speaking too quickly. She only caught a word or two.
She had no choice but to type a message to Cyril on her terminal: *Is there anything else?*
The day before, when Cyril had taken her and the little fox back, he had taken the initiative to add her contact information, saying it would make communicating for work easier.
Andrew had already told her that Cyril would be in charge of her work, so she had accepted the request.
Cyril saw the message pop up on his terminal. After a moment of silence, he asked Gu Ning, "Miss Gu Ning, is now an inconvenient time to discuss work?"
As he spoke, he glanced at the wolf standing beside her.
Gu Ning caught the word "work" and quickly typed on her terminal: *Is this about work?*
Cyril saw her new message. He thought for a second, and considering their previous method of communication, he seemed to understand something. He replied on his terminal: *Yes, it’s about work. Is now a good time to talk?*
Gu Ning replied: *Yes, it is.*
’Still...’
’It feels a little strange, standing face-to-face at the door and talking through our terminals.’
Cyril sent a message: *May I come in?*
After sending it, he lifted his gaze to look at her.
Gu Ning immediately stepped aside.
Cyril looked at Alex, who hadn’t moved. "Is there something else you need?"
"Yes," Alex said.
The two men were impassive, their gazes clashing in a silent, brief confrontation before they both turned to look at Gu Ning.
Gu Ning was speechless. ’Why are they looking at me like that?’
She gestured for Cyril to enter.
Cyril seemed about to type something else to her in the chat, but seeing that Alex had no intention of giving them privacy, he swept his gaze across the office and walked toward the desk.
Gu Ning followed him.
Cyril stopped in front of the desk, pulled out a chair, and looked at Gu Ning. "Come, Miss Gu Ning. I’ll properly explain your work duties to you."
Seeing his business-like posture and expression, Gu Ning didn’t want to cause any delays, so she went over and sat down.
Alex rounded the desk to stand on Gu Ning’s right. He picked up a pen and paper from the desk, ready to write down what Cyril said for her.
"Go ahead," Alex said coolly to Cyril, his hand resting on the back of Gu Ning’s chair.
When Gu Ning looked up, she was met with two somewhat serious faces staring down at her.
"..."
’Why is it so stressful just sitting here?’
Cyril tapped his fingers on the back of his chair. Without saying anything more to Alex, he began to explain the work to Gu Ning.
Alex leaned over, quickly transcribing Cyril’s words onto the paper. At the same time, he spoke to her in a way she was used to, using simple, easy-to-understand phrases to help improve her listening comprehension.
Gu Ning didn’t dare pull out her terminal to translate in front of Cyril, since she didn’t know him well. She could only focus with all her might on what Alex was saying.
Cyril watched the way they communicated, noticing that the young female’s attention was almost entirely on Alex. She was barely listening to him at all.
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t stop his explanation. Instead, he simply slowed his pace of speaking.
More than half an hour later, Gu Ning’s brain felt like a pile of mush.
Although she could understand most of what Alex was saying, there was a huge gap between hearing the words and truly comprehending them.
’In the future, I’ll just ask Cyril about work matters on my terminal beforehand,’ she thought. ’This is just exhausting.’
"That’s all for now."
Cyril glanced at the several pages Alex had filled on the desk. He reached out, took the pen from Alex’s hand, and wrote on the paper in front of Gu Ning: *Miss Gu Ning, I hope we have a pleasant time working together. There is a work-related gift for you in the bag.*
After writing, he pushed the bag containing the suit across the desk toward Gu Ning, gently patted her shoulder, and turned to leave.
Gu Ning watched him leave the office. Her gaze fell to the note he had just written, and she opened her terminal to translate it.