"Huh?" Ziff looked completely confused when I told him.

    By now, I had cried so hard that my vision was blurred. I had been bawling since the cake shop back at the department all the way here.

    I got the message notification as I was waiting in line to buy them cakes. When I looked at it, I was in complete shock: an intimate picture of a man and a woman lying on a bed.

    I had squinted at the picture, and recognized that it was Ziff and Susie.

    The first photo was clear—her nose pressed affectionately against his cheek.

    The ones after it were suggestive enough that I did not dare to click through them. My hand trembled so badly as tears fell. Even the sister behind the cake counter seemed alarmed; after all, I was usually all laughs and smiles.

    I still did not understand why I was crying.

    I did not even know what was going on inside my head anymore...

    "Let me see it..."

    Ziff reached into my bag without hesitation. I could not remember if I had mentioned it before, but this guy had zero manners. But with how conflicted I was feeling, I could not even muster the strength to hit him.

    "Was it on your phone or email, or what?" he asked, already pulling out my phone.

    "Whoa!" he gasped, visibly shocked.

    I thought he had seen the pictures someone had kindly sent me.

    But no—I was wrong.

    Rather than freaking out about the pictures, he got all worked up over something else entirely.

    "Did you seriously save my number as 'Heartless Scrap Metal'!"

    What’s with this guy...

    "Yeah, that’s you—the scrap metal that used to be a robot!" I answered, my tears falling again.

    Get it together, Panya. Why are you still crying?

    "Fine…we’ll deal with that later. I just have to go through this mess you were ranting about first, huh!?" he grumbled, sounding annoyed.

    Was I at wrong here?

    I felt like screaming in his face.

    He gave me a disapproving look and kept scrolling through my phone. His expression hardened as he stared at something, silent. I was so curious that I glanced up to see his face—completely tense.

    If I was not mistaken, this was the first time, Ziff wore such a look. The sight made me nervous, so I lowered my gaze.

    "Who sent you these?" he asked, his voice calm.

    "I don’t know..."

    I looked up, unsure why I felt so intimidated when I had come here with every intention to give him a piece of my mind.

    "Damn…"

    he muttered, lifting the phone to his ear.

    It seemed no one picked up on the other end, so he cursed under his breath, rattling off more expletives, his face tense. I watched him, feeling weirded out by the turn of event.

    I had started out angry, but now I was just scared of him.

    And Ziff, who initially seemed clueless, was now visibly seething.

    "I want to know who sent you these pictures,"

    he growled, clutching my phone so hard I feared it might break in his hand.

    His cold, heartless steel-eyed glare swept around the room. Then, suddenly, he stood up and yanked me to my feet.

    "Sorry, I’m skipping a few hours today—I’ll handle all the programming all by myself tonight," Ziff said flatly, not bothering to look at anyone as he spoke.

    And his grip on my wrist tightened. I could feel the heat of his anger, and I knew his friends sensed it too; no one said a word.

    "The cake’s for you guys. See you."

    Ziff’s voice was curt as he pulled me out, not caring that I was a soaking, muddy mess.

    "Hey, Panya. Dropped by for the research?"

    King called brightly, but I could not reply because self-centered Ziff hauled me past him without slowing down. All I managed was a quick wave to King as we breezed by.

    "You’re seriously rude," I muttered, stumbling along beside him as we headed for the elevator.

    Oddly enough, Ziff, who usually could not resist having the last word, stayed silent. He was so quiet that it was downright scary. If there was going to be a next person to get obliterated, it might very well be me.

    "Find out who owns this number,"

    Ziff ordered someone in a scary tone.

    I was not sure where I was. The place felt like a private hideaway, complete with all kinds of entertainment options.

    Ziff had dragged me along to meet someone—a guy with headphones on, typing furiously on a MacBook.

    Ziff sank down onto a deep-red leather couch. Feeling filthy, I just stood awkwardly beside him.

    "Hm?" his friend murmured, slipping his headphones off.

    "This number?" He took my phone from Ziff and glanced at it briefly. He then flicked his gaze between Ziff, who was scowling, and me.

    This guy was intimidating. He had a faint shadow of a mustache over his upper lip, giving him a rougher look compared to Ziff’s clean-shaven face. But like Ziff, he was handsome, with sharp features and sleek black hair contrasting starkly against his pale skin and those piercing eyes

    that seemed to see through everything.

    "You can trace a number." Ziff muttered, letting out a laugh that I did not quite understand.

    "It’s Susie, right? I saw her album on Facebook—she’s got loads of pictures of you, Ziff." His friend asked, tapping quickly on his keyboard.

    "What!"

    "And isn’t anyone going to offer her a seat? Standing for this long must be a killer. Also, aren’t you going to introduce me to her properly?"

    The focus suddenly turned to me, and with two pairs of sharp eyes on me, I felt a lump forming in my throat.

    "This is my friend, Wills. And that’s clumsy Panya, the phone owner."

    So his friend’s name was ‘Wills.’

    Wills chuckled, as if entertained by the casual way Ziff introduced us.

    "You’re worse than a scrap metal, Ziff!" I snapped, unable to contain my frustration.

    It was like I did not have even a hint of goodness in his eyes.

    "Keep going with that. I’ll save up all these insults and pay them back all at once," he said, turning his intense gaze to his friend.

    "And aren’t you going to sit down? Stop looming over," he barked at me.

    Honestly, I was starting to hate him just a little bit.

    "Can’t you see I’m covered in mud? I don’t want to dirty your friend’s couch,"

    I said, offering Wills a small, slightly embarrassed smile.

    "Is that so? Well, then..."

    Ziff gave a short tug on my arm, making me float and land squarely on his lap.

    "Ziff!" I cried out in shock.

    Unfazed, he sat there like nothing had happened, while Wills just smiled and went back to his laptop.

    "This way, the couch doesn’t get dirty. It’s a win-win."

    Ziff replied coolly in a deep voice, his warm breath brushing the back of my neck, spreading goosebumps all over my body.

    This, uh this was…

    My mind went blank. Sitting on Ziff’s lap like this, I could feel my heartbeat hammering wildly in my chest, almost leaping out of my mouth.

    "But this is..."

    Before I could finish my sentence, Ziff clamped his hand over my mouth to stop me from speaking any further, shifting back to his conversation with Wills. This was beyond rude!

    I struggled, squirmed, and finally wore myself out, ending up resting my head on Ziff’s shoulder, out of breath.

    At one point, he glanced down at me, though I could not tell what he was thinking. Wills, meanwhile, wore an amused grin.

    Were they both enjoying this? I felt like I was about to explode from discomfort, I did not understand any of this...

    I accidentally fell asleep... Oh, I could cry. 

    Yes, I actually dozed off against Ziff’s chest. This was so embarrassing. 

    When Ziff woke me up, I had no idea what might have happened while I was asleep, but he seemed to be in an unusually good mood. Wills was looking at me with an odd expression, too.

    Seriously, all of Ziff's friends had this exact same look—mischievous and cunning, like they knew something others did not.

    “Did something good happen? Why do you keep grinning like that?” 

    I could not help but ask. Ziff was still holding my hand as he walked me back to the entrance of my apartment.

    At this point, I might as well buy him some handcuffs—he seemed way too pleased with himself for dragging me around like this.

    It was not sweet or anything; it felt more like he had got me on a leash like some pet. 

    It was infuriating. 

    “Of course I’m smiling. I’ve got plenty of good things going on. Also, you should learn to stand up for yourself. Why let people hurt you like that? Susie threw water on you and shoved you, right!?” 

    Ziff’s mood swung from happy to furious in an instant. I was left dizzy trying to keep up with him.

    Honestly, I wanted to tell him that what he did hurt me far worse than Susie did. But I could not say anything—I just let him drag me along as if I were a working animal in the fields. 

    We did not stop until we reached the main doors of my apartment building. At least he did not insist on coming up; he had to get back to work on programming the watch for his project. 

    “Remember, if anyone ever tries anything with you, just say my name. They won’t dare mess with you.” 

    I frowned at his logic. Who went around teaching others to use their name as threats for self protection? When he said that, I could just picture him as a little kid.

    In kindergarten, I could imagine him going up to his friends and saying, ’Hey, don’t mess with me. Do you know who my dad is?’ 

    “Don’t let anyone lay a finger on you—your skin, your cheek, your hair, or even your fingers. If they do, tell them I’ll be there to tear them to shreds three times over.” 

    The intensity of his words felt harsh and ruthless, but the way his fingers brushed gently against my cheek was as soft as a breeze. 

    I looked at him, hardly able to believe that someone as arrogant as Ziff could actually care about me this much. 

    “Anyone who dares to hurt you—tell me. I’ll stomp them six feet under the dirt.” 

    His fingers wound gently through a strand of my hair, and I could feel my heart start to race. 

    Thank goodness I was not wearing that heart rate monitor right now. Otherwise, he would have known for sure how flustered I was because of him. 

    “There’s one person who’s hurt me.” I stared straight at him. 

    Ziff’s sharp eyes narrowed instantly, displeasure flashing across his face. 

    “Who!?” 

    “Would you stomp on him too?” I tilted my head, wanting to see his reaction from a different angle. 

    “I said, who? I told you, I’ll grind them all into dust!” 

    Ziff’s tone was like a snap of thunder with dangerous glint in his eyes. I wondered if teasing him like this was really the best idea. 

    “You. Would you stomp on yourself too?” I looked down at his hand gripping my arm, tight enough to cut off the circulation.  

    “Tch…” Ziff made an annoyed sound and let go of my arm. 

    “Oh, not planning on stomping on yourself, huh?” 

    Suddenly, I felt this strange feverish warmth, like I might actually be coming down with something.

    No... I could not afford to get sick; I still had so much work left to finish. And standing here with Ziff was making me feel even warmer by the second. If I caught a fever, it would totally be his fault. 

    Then, Ziff wrapped his arms around my waist, lifted me up effortlessly, and placed my feet on top of his own. 

    “Here! Go on, stomp...” He whispered in a tone so smooth it was almost seductive. 

    And just like that, my legs turned to jelly, completely at a loss.

    His strong arms wrapped tightly around me, warmth and some barely-there mist from Ziff seeping slowly into me. 

    “Go ahead, do as much as you want,” he said, looking steadily into my eyes. 

    “Let go. I need to go shower,” I said, gently pushing him away, starting to notice the eyes around us. 

    He did not care, but I did.

    Not everyone had skin as thick as his… 

    “I’m the only one who can do this with you, and you’re the only one who can do it with me. You understand what I mean right, Panya...” 

    .

Ziff’s talking…

    “Earlier today you were in a great mood, so how come by nightfall, you look like you want to tear someone’s throat out?” 

    Golf’s teasing voice cut through my concentration as I was writing code, so I glared over at him. 

    “What happened now?” 

    I ignored him and tried to think... of ways to keep that clueless girl from getting hurt over pointless stuff because of me. 

    “Do you think I’m a terrible person?” I tossed my pencil down and massaged my temples, trying to shake off the exhaustion. 

    “You’re awful!” 

    The chorus of my teammates spoke for itself. 

    “Thanks...” I replied with a sarcastic huff. 

    “You’re all riled up because of that ordeal with Panya this morning, right? I don’t know if you noticed, but I saw scratch marks on her neck this morning.” 

    Someone’s comment jerked me to attention. 

    “Really.” 

    That confirmation was enough to make my simmering anger flare up again.

    There had to be more to it, and I did not like it one bit. 

    “Forget about it; let’s finish this before Ziff goes on another rampage and no one ends up writing anything!”

    Ek reminded us, snapping me back to the project in front of me. 

    Gee... Ever since I met that girl, I had felt completely off balance.

    Damn it—I was going nuts. 

    “Someone, please get that bland Panya out of my head, just for a few hours.” I muttered in frustration. 

    But why could I not stop thinking about her? Why did I get so irritated whenever I did not see her around or when I spotted her with another guy? Was this karma for all the times I had been heartless with girls? 

    Maybe that was why fate threw a blank sheet of paper like her at me, a girl so untouched, so unmarked. 

    Hell… I had actually gone and thought that. 

    As hard as it was, I pulled my focus back to the task at hand. 

    We ended up working through the night. Panya was right

—I really am like some heartless scrap metal when it comes to working alone. When I was in the zone, nothing gets through, nothing distracts me. 

    Except for one girl with that wide, bright smile. The moment she crossed into my line of sight,

    I turned into a ‘regular’ guy all over again. 

    It was no joke...

    "Oh God, I think I’m dying..." came the exhausted groans of my teammates.

    I was close to passing out too.

    Pulling an all-nighter to finish coding a vital part of the program left us all beat. Finally, we gathered ourselves to go home and try to enjoy a weekend that felt nothing like a weekend.

    I stretched, rolling my neck and rubbing my chin—was that stubble?

    Lost in thought, I looked down the hallway outside the department building, and then I spotted a small figure standing there all by herself.

    “Panya!”

    Damn it… just from the back, I could tell it was her.

    “Knew it. You guys really pulled an all-nighter. I was just about to call you, because I can’t get into your department building, and then you all started coming out.” Panya beamed, holding up a plastic bag for us to see.

    Supplies again, no doubt…

    “Oh, thank God. Can you cook, Panya? I’m about to collapse here. I want something yummy.”

    one of the guys whined, and just like that, Panya, the little parrot, nodded vigorously, smiling ear to ear.

    “Alright, let’s head over to Ziff’s place and eat there…”

    Why my place?

    I asked myself, but the only answer was silence.

    Now the entire research team had gathered in my apartment, with one ever-sunny girl at the center, smiling as if surrounded by adoring bees.

    How annoying…

    "I’ll make hot spaghetti and stir-fried macaroni! Or does anyone want something else?"

    Panya chirped away in the kitchen, and I could not resist a pout and a subtle eye roll.

    “I’m going to shower. Be back soon.” I gave her cheek a quick pinch and disappeared into my bedroom.

    Leaving her to shout after me after my tiny assault.

    I stripped off my shirt and started by shaving off the stubble.

    I was so worn out... I felt like I could pass out any second.

    Splashing cold water on my face, I heard a commotion in the kitchen, sparking a strange premonition in me.

    Not wasting a second, I sprinted back to the kitchen.

    The sight that greeted me made my blood run cold.

    Panya was sitting on the floor, surrounded by two overturned pots with water spreading all over.

    The others just stood there, as if too scared to touch her.

    Probably because I went ballistic whenever someone got too close to her, but now my focus was only on her.

    “Hot water!?” I yelled, rushing forward and scooping her into my arms without thinking.

    My heart pounded so hard it felt like it might just stop.

    Right now, though, all that mattered was getting her to a hospital—fast!

End Ziff talk...