Save me.

"It won't happen again, I'm terribly sorry, sir," Anna murmured with downcast eyes trying to appear as calm as possible. But it was hard. Her voice trembled and she couldn't shake the pressure from her chest.

He was a devil. A fucking devil, trying to break her with his passive-aggressive allusions.

The silence was unbearable, she could feel his eyes on her skin and it made it all even worse. Why him? Workers who came late for their shifts were usually scolded by Benjamin, their direct supervisor. Mister Miller never attended to -

"Anna, listen -" His mellow voice forced her to lift her gaze "I'm honestly trying my best so you could continue to work here, even when we both know you shouldn't. You are not making it any easier for me." Dean paused and flipped another page of her results from that day. Why is he holding her off so much? She will be late.

"You might go. I'll hand these in myself after checking it out properly."

Well, that was unexpected, but she didn't intend to try her luck, "Thank you, sir. Have a nice evening. Goodbye." Anna made her way to the door and disappeared, closing them a bit louder than she intended. 

But Dean didn't seem to mind. She just slept in. There is no need to be concerned, she is still all his. Unfortunately, he was a very impatient man, about to make a stupid mistake.

He was lost in his thoughts as he observed her through the office window, her figure disappearing into the distance as she tried to catch the bus.

Soon. She will surely break under his influence.

Meanwhile, Anna finally returned home, with just a tiny delay, still trapped in her sweet ignorance. Quietly crooning to herself, with a wide smile on her lips, wrapped in her blanket with a VR helmet on her head, she eagerly logged in to the other world.

It was no longer a game to her. It was much more.

Darkness enveloped her and left her disoriented for a few moments. Then, she recognized large trees and parts of the night sky sown with countless stars and wriggled a bit to get used to her body.

"Anna?" Bugak's voice resounded so close she realized he was holding her on his lap, gently cradling her into his embrace. She felt his fingers on her cheek and with a blissful smile, pressed her face into his palm.

It felt so good. The tingle in her chest made her feel so alive. 

"Did you have a good rest?" He smiled, excited to be finally able to talk to her again, but her reply concerned him. Anna just cuddled closer to him and shook her head a bit.

"You did not?" Bugak tried to make her talk a bit more, eager to hear her voice.

"I was at work the whole time. It was especially busy and demanding today, I'm so tired. It's so much better when I can be here with you." Anna sighed and straightened her sore back, before she continued in a better mood "Tell me something nice. Where are we? Did they kick us out of that inn already?" 

Her eyes were glued to his, even when it was a dark night and she was barely able to see him. She loved the way he was looking at her, it was a feeling to die for. A thousand times.

"No. I left with you before the sunset. Too many people." Bugak chucked. It was true. Many heroes tried to raid that small settlement, though they came upon much greater resistance than they were used to.

It was fun at first, but later, it became too time-consuming and he decided to wrap her into a clean bedsheet and move elsewhere to find a calmer location.