Her Work（1）

In the company, Seraphina really only talked to one colleague, Ophelia. She felt that although Ophelia belonged to a lower social class, she lacked the hypocrisy often found in the so-called upper class.

Seraphina always felt that her personality wasn't very likable. After starting work, she hardly ever initiated social interactions with her colleagues. She worked with an expressionless face, clocked out when it was time, and went home to play video games. Unless it was a mandatory work event, she never attended coworker gatherings and rarely conversed with colleagues during lunch. Yet, strangely, Ophelia was always nice to her, often initiating conversations, sharing fun stories, company gossip, and life tips.

Although Ophelia was more than a decade older than Seraphina, there didn't seem to be a generation gap between them. Ophelia was like an elder sister, and though Seraphina didn't have any siblings to compare this relationship to, she felt a special kind of care from Ophelia, something she had read about in books: affection.

What a curious word. Do modern humans still feel such emotions? Seraphina wondered if lycanthropes had similar feelings within their families, perhaps like Linden's protective sentiment toward his sister Luna, who didn't seem very likable to others. Despite that, Linden appeared unable to say a harsh word to her, instead absorbing her tantrums and still saves money to buy her treats and diligently supports her education.

But Seraphina thought such a thing as "affection" couldn't exist among the so-called high-class humans; it sounded too irrational and didn't fit their aloof demeanors.

Oh, she remembered, she was one of those aloof members too, which suddenly made everything feel dull.

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During the midday break on workdays, most employees wouldn't go home.

Firstly, the transit costs were quite high; secondly, going home didn't offer much to do and would require commuting back and forth, which was a waste of time and money.

The company provided a free lunch with a variety of foods, mostly machine-made meal boxes... not very tasty, but Seraphina, preferring convenience, often settled for these meals to have the energy to continue working in the afternoon without demanding more.

Seraphina and Ophelia usually chatted during lunch, discussing things like lycanthropes, low-tier entertainment activities in the underground second layer, and how Seraphina's pet wolf was doing lately. Ophelia was curious but never overstepped her boundaries to ask for a video call to see him.

People are possessive creatures, and one doesn't usually showcase their slaves to others.

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That reminded Seraphina to check her monitor to see what Linden was doing.

Linden had probably finished his meal by now and was sitting quietly on his bed, looking out the window at the view, his ears twitching occasionally to catch any slight noises from outside the door. Ophelia, tilting her head in confusion, commented, "He looks bored, waiting for something?"

"Maybe a phone call."

"You promised him one?"

Seraphina nodded. Ophelia's expression suggested "You upper-class folks are cold," but then she patted Seraphina on the shoulder, saying, "There's nothing else to do during the break, give him a call, it's no big deal."

Watching Linden's still and lonely figure, Seraphina finally stood up, found a secluded alcove in the corridor, and dialed his number.

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Aside from official matters, Seraphina seldom communicated with anyone else; she felt all humans... seemed to be just going through the motions. But Linden was different; he seemed genuinely excited for her call.

It didn't take long for him to gesture in the air, mimicking the gestures she taught him to answer her call.

Leaning against the wall of the alcove, Seraphina looked through the screen, seeing him visibly light up. His tail, previously still, now swept joyfully across the floor. Seraphina relaxed her expression and asked softly what he had for lunch.

"Meat from the fridge, and some nutrient powder."

"If you're bored, you can go to the gym or use the swimming pool," Seraphina suggested. "Do you need anything or want any toys? Can you order them online?"

Linden shook his head, "I don't need anything. What time will you be back?"

"Six-thirty, unless there's a dinner or I need to work overtime," Seraphina is resting her chin in her hand, complaining about her tiring week, "There's always some trouble, network issues non-stop, bugs and errors everywhere, facilities malfunctioning, everyone comes to me for code troubleshooting and fixes, ugh... it even affected the Pitaya hotline, now you can't buy pitaya anywhere on Earth... well, maybe you can still find some in the farmers' markets.I've never shopped there though."

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She became unusually talkative with him, from pitaya to recalling a task that popped up just before quitting time yesterday, which annoyed her so much she plucked several leaves off the office's potted pothos. She really hated it when work was scheduled right before the end of the day—it felt like a ploy to keep people overtime. And then there was the time she spilled coffee on her favorite shirt during a collision; the dry cleaners were so busy, she had to queue behind five people who were leisurely chatting. Uninterested in listening, she threw her shirt and undergarments in the bin and worked the afternoon in just her jacket.

Linden listened intently, his ears perked high, his eyes wide like clear glass orbs, looking very serious as he listened to each word, although Seraphina doubted he understood much. But after talking to him about so many things, she felt her mood had improved significantly.

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