Chapter 2 The Conference Room
The second the door opened, a blast of AC hit me in the face.
The long table was packed with people in suits.
My entrance snapped every pair of eyes toward me.
The man in the main seat facing the door lifted his head and looked at me too.
It was Ji Yanli, who I had not seen in eight years.
I froze on the spot and forgot what I was even there to do.
Time was a hell of a thing.
Back then he had been a kid in a school uniform, sweating it out on a basketball court.
Now he wore a dark suit cut to fit, and the gaze behind the Gold-Rimmed Glasses was as still as water.
The hand holding his pen stalled in midair.
A pricey watch showed on a wrist with clear-cut knuckles.
"Hey, why did you go into the conference room?"
The girl from the front desk caught up, out of breath, and scolded me in a low voice.
"I said the first room on the right. You went the wrong way!"
I snapped back then and took two clumsy steps backward.
I caught sight of a small room to the right with a Break Room sign on it.
"Sorry, sorry. I'll go over now."
I apologized over and over, grabbed the jugs, and left.
I was so rattled the jugs slammed the doorframe with a dull thud.
The girl from the front desk yanked the conference room door shut.
In the last second before the crack closed, I saw Ji Yanli out of the corner of my eye, still staring at me.
He stared long enough to make the back of my neck crawl.