Julian didn't wallow for long before cleaning himself up and heading to work.

The office was as busy as ever. Five hundred dollars felt generous for a student, but a little underwhelming for working adults.

He sent the game analysis to Samuel and, for the time being, received no reply.

At noon, Admin posted an announcement in the company group chat:

Apex Capital would reimburse up to five hundred dollars for Christmas gifts, and everyone should prepare for the office gift exchange.

Julian barely celebrated birthdays, let alone Christmas.

Still, the idea of preparing a gift lingered in his mind.

Five hundred dollars was generous for a student, but for working professionals, it felt a little tight. Especially at Apex, where everyone seemed polished and effortlessly tasteful. Julian didn't want his gift to feel careless or cheap.

After researching for nearly two days, he finally settled on a gender-neutral perfume.

At Apex, appearances mattered.

Even someone like Julian—living in a cramped rental apartment and squeezing onto the subway every morning—still wore tailored suits every day and looked every bit the finance elite from the outside.

Most people in the office used perfume anyway.

And even if the recipient disliked the scent, they could always leave it in the bathroom with diffuser reeds as an air freshener.

—

At two in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, Admin called everyone down to the lobby for the exchange.

Julian brought the perfume with him.

As Luke passed by, he was carrying a brand-new iPad Pro in his arms.

"Samuel's gift," he explained casually.

Julian couldn't help feeling a little jealous.

His secondhand laptop had already survived three years and lagged badly enough to interfere with work.

If only he could draw that iPad.

Still, he only allowed himself to think about it for a second.

There were hundreds of employees in the company.

No way he'd be that lucky.

The exchange began quickly.

Samuel made only a brief appearance.

He drew a number, didn't even stay long enough to open a gift, then disappeared again because of work.

Julian ended up drawing a DJI handheld stabilizer.

Inside the box was a handwritten note:

A stabilizer for smoother shots when filming videos. Hope it comes in handy. — Leo

Julian filmed videos himself and occasionally recorded the stray cats around his apartment complex.

He hadn't won the iPad, but this gift still felt surprisingly useful.

He walked over to thank Leo personally.

Leo smiled and casually invited him to a Christmas party at his place that night.

Julian hesitated for a moment.

Then, a little excited, agreed.

He didn't really have friends in New York City.

And honestly…

He was curious.

Curious what it felt like to be included for once.

Julian also found himself wondering who'd gotten Samuel's iPad.

A quick scroll through social media gave him the answer almost immediately.

The lucky winner was Lucas, another management trainee from the same intake.

Samuel's number-one fanboy.

Lucas had already posted a nine-photo unboxing collage to his feed, his excitement practically leaked through the screen..

Of course.

Luck always happened to other people.

Julian returned to his dying laptop and continued working.

A few minutes later, a message from Leo popped up in the corner of the screen.

[Leo]: Forgot to ask earlier. How much work do you still have left? If you can't finish, I can help.

[Julian]: What time does the party start?

[Leo]: No set time. It's just at my place. People are heading over after work.

Something warm and unfamiliar stirred inside Julian.

He'd gone this long without ever visiting a friend's house.

His family had controlled him strictly since childhood.

He'd never really been allowed to wander around freely.

—

Back in high school, Julian had studied in the city and lived on campus.

Students only got to go home once every two weeks.

He remembered one weekend especially clearly.

Instead of going straight home after school, he'd gone to a park with several classmates.

There were a lot of stray cats there.

The local day students often fed them.

Winter was coming, and one calico had recently given birth.

Worried the kittens wouldn't survive the cold, a group of students decided to build the cats a shelter.

Julian had helped too.

The process was chaotic.

A bunch of clueless teenagers fumbling around with cardboard and tape.

But somehow, they managed to finish it.

And when Julian carefully lifted one tiny kitten and placed it into the makeshift shelter with his own hands, something unbelievably soft bloomed inside his chest.

How could anything be this cute?

So small.

So warm.

So trusting.

Seeing how much he liked the kitten, one of the girls laughed and nudged him.

"Top student," she teased, "why don't you adopt one? You obviously want to."

Julian didn't answer immediately.

Actually…

His family used to keep cats too.

There were too many mice in the countryside, so most families raised cats to catch them.

Julian's family had once owned a tabby named Tiger.

Lazy most of the time, but frighteningly sharp whenever it hunted mice.

The family treated it like livestock.

Julian secretly treated it like a friend.

He used to sleep with the cat in his arms every night.

Then, when Julian was nine years old, the village elementary school merged with the town school.

That same year, his younger brother was born.

His grandmother left to help raise the baby in another city, and the farmland was handed over to a distant relative.

Julian stayed behind with his grandfather and uncle.

His uncle didn't have children of his own.

He wasn't especially cruel to Julian.

But he had a terrible temper and constantly fought with Julian's grandfather.

Little by little, Julian began to hate being home.

Thankfully, he still had Tiger.

Every weekend after returning from school, the thing Julian looked forward to most was playing with the cat.

He carefully saved money from his lunch allowance and secretly bought sausage sticks to feed him.

Then one weekend, Julian came home carrying sausage as usual—

and couldn't find the cat anywhere.

When he asked his uncle about it, the answer came casually.

Tiger had been given away to relatives.

They'd killed him and eaten him because someone in the family was sick.

Julian's eyes widened.

Julian went completely still.

The next day, his uncle brought home another kitten.

Pointing at Tiger's old food bowl, he laughed and said to the kitten,

"See that? Tiger got old and useless, so he got eaten. Better catch plenty of mice if you want food around here."

Then he dumped leftover scraps into the bowl.

The starving kitten devoured them instantly.

Julian stood there frozen.

Like a hand had wrapped around his throat.

"You liked cats, didn't you?" his uncle asked with a grin, holding the kitten out toward him. "Why aren't you playing with this one?"

Terrified, Julian ran.

After that, he never dared get close to the kitten again.

That night, he called his parents.

"M-Mom…" he whispered shakily into the phone. "I don't want to stay here anymore. Can I come live with you?"

"What would you come here for?" his mother snapped immediately. "We're struggling out here too. We're not on vacation."

Julian bit his lip hard, trying not to cry.

"Then… can you come home?"

"If we come home, how are we supposed to make money? How would we pay for your education?"

"I don't need school," Julian blurted out.

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" Her voice sharpened. "Have you started learning bad habits outside?"

Julian said nothing.

His face burned with humiliation.

"What are you going to do if you don't study?" she scolded. "We can't watch you all the time. You need to listen to your teachers and focus on school. No messing around, understand?"

Julian clenched his jaw stubbornly.

"But my brother gets to stay with you."

Silence.

Then confusion.

"What?"

"Why does he get to, but I don't?"

"You and your brother are different," she replied impatiently. "If we had another choice, we wouldn't keep him here either. Your grandmother coming already costs us enough money."

"But I…"

Julian tried to continue.

The moment he opened his mouth, tears spilled out uncontrollably.

Hearing him cry, his mother finally softened a little.

"Be good, Jules. Study hard and get perfect scores. When Mom comes home for New Year's, I'll buy you new clothes."

After that, Julian never asked to leave again.

He still secretly fed the kitten sausage sticks.

But he stopped playing with it.

And he never let it onto his bed again.

Eventually, the kitten grew into a full-grown cat.

Then one summer, during the hottest months of the year, it died from some unknown illness.

His uncle thought burying it was troublesome.

So he hung the dead cat from a tree beside the river.

After that, the family never kept cats again.

Stray cats at least had kind people feeding them.

But if they followed him home…

they'd only end up starving half the time before dying like livestock.

Julian shook his head quietly.

"Sorry. My family wouldn't let me keep one either."

"That sucks," the girl sighed before crouching down to pet the kitten's head. "I posted adoption notices online. Hopefully someone replies. Until then, you guys stay safe here, okay?"

Julian watched silently.

His mood felt as gray as the winter sky overhead.

"Meow~"

Something soft brushed against his ankle.

The kitten he'd fed earlier had followed him over.

Julian froze for two seconds—

then walked away without looking back.

—

It should've been a meaningless little memory.

After helping settle the stray cats, Julian had simply gone to the bus station and returned home.

He never expected someone from his village to spot him lingering around the city.

And once that person mentioned it to his family, the news spread immediately.

Nothing stayed secret in the countryside.

By that evening, his mother had already called him.

She questioned him in exhausting detail, clearly furious about him wandering around on his own.

"From now on, go straight home after school. Don't wander around outside by yourself, okay?"

"Going out costs money too. And cities are dangerous. Too many cars. Too many bad people."

"We're only worried about you. Making money outside isn't easy for us either. You need to behave."

Julian lowered his head.

"…Sorry. I won't do it again."

And from that day on, he never stepped out of line again.

—

The year Julian got into college, his parents finally returned home.

Using years of savings, they bought an apartment in the county town.

After carefully renovating it, the family was finally reunited.

Except Julian himself was usually away at school.

He only returned during winter and summer breaks.

Like a visitor passing through someone else's home.

Over the years, his strict upbringing had prevented him from forming many close friendships.

Julian always envied people who'd grown up together.

The kind of friends who casually visited each other's homes and stayed overnight without asking permission.

And now—

for the first time—

someone had invited him too.

Julian lowered his head and typed back, unable to suppress the excitement bubbling inside him.

Thanks. I don't have much left to finish. If nothing unexpected happens, I should make it.

Then, naturally—

something unexpected happened.

Thirty minutes before official closing time, Samuel suddenly dropped a file onto Julian's desk and told him he needed it finished before tonight.

The task itself wasn't difficult.

Just painfully time-consuming.

Even working nonstop, Julian estimated it would still take at least four or five hours.

By then, the party would already be over.

Summoning all his courage, Julian asked carefully:

Does this need to be done tonight? I still have other work to finish.

Samuel replied immediately:

The rest can wait. Do this first.

Julian: "…"

Then another message appeared.

It's urgent. Finish this and your weekend's clear.

At that point, what else could Julian even say?

He messaged Leo instead.

Sorry. Something urgent just came up. I probably can't make it tonight…

Leo replied almost instantly.

Throw some of it my way. We'll finish quicker.

Julian felt too guilty to let Leo help.

Leo was the kind of person everyone liked. If Julian ruined his Christmas party because of extra work, he'd hate himself for it.

So he turned him down.

Leo sent back a crying emoji sticker and said they'd hang out next time instead.

Julian replied with an okay.

But deep down, he didn't really believe there'd be a next invitation.

—

The night grew later.

One by one, coworkers left to celebrate Christmas.

Eventually, the office fell quiet except for the sound of Julian's keyboard.

Around ten o'clock, Julian absentmindedly refreshed social media—

and saw Samuel had posted something.

A photo.

Samuel standing beside a stylish woman.

Caption:

Merry Christmas.

Samuel almost never posted online.

Within minutes, dozens of mutuals had already liked the post.

And suddenly, Julian got angry.

He was stuck in the office working himself to death—

while Samuel had time to go on Christmas dinner dates?

Julian deliberately didn't like the post.

Instead, he turned himself into a machine and kept working.

The moment he finished the assignment, he left without waiting for Samuel's response and took a taxi home.

Half an hour later, Julian was already back at his apartment.

Still no reply from Samuel.

Irritation surged uncontrollably through him.

If it wasn't actually urgent, why force him to finish it tonight?

Did Samuel really hate him that much?

The more Julian thought about it, the angrier he became.

So he changed into a Christmas dress and started filming thirst-trap content instead.

He'd barely gotten started when his phone suddenly buzzed.

Samuel had finally replied.

He'd gone through the document line by line, adding detailed comments and pointing out dozens of sections that needed revision.

Julian saw every message.

And ignored all of them.

Instead, he tossed the phone aside and began rewarding himself.

Three minutes later, another message arrived.

Julian, are you still there?

Julian still didn't respond.

Honestly, he thought he was getting pretty insane.

His boss was actively waiting on work from him—

and instead he was lying around in a skirt doing deeply questionable things to himself.

Maybe he'd been rewarding himself too often lately.

Tonight, he couldn't get into it no matter how hard he tried.

Eventually, Julian turned on some anonymous audio of a guy panting in the background.

Just as he finally started feeling something—

his phone vibrated violently.

Samuel was calling.

At that exact moment, Julian's skirt was bunched up around his knees.

One hand hidden between his thighs.

He stared at the incoming call in absolute horror.

The phone sat beside his leg, vibrating harder and harder each time he ignored it.

Every buzz tightened something in his chest.

Buzz—

Buzz—

Buzz—

Finally, under the relentless pressure of the ringing, Julian answered the call while biting down hard on his lip.

"Julian."

Samuel's deep voice sounded directly beside his ear.

"Did you see my messages?"

Samuel's voice was low and smooth.

More magnetic than the audio Julian had been listening to seconds ago.

Julian's heartbeat exploded instantly.

Like he'd been burned.

He threw the phone away in panic.

"Julian? Are you alright?"

"What happened? Answer me."

Samuel's tone sounded even sharper than usual now.

Commanding.

Demanding.

Julian tried to hang up—

but in his panic, he accidentally switched the call to speakerphone instead.

Suddenly Samuel's breathing sounded terrifyingly close.

Like he was right there beside him.

Julian's mind went completely blank.

The sudden intimacy nearly short-circuited his brain, he clamped both hands over his mouth—

and used the last shred of his sanity to end the call.