---
"i can see a great progress, heeseung." the lady said, laying back on her chair.
"i'm afraid but also glad you may not need me anymore," she joked.
heeseung smiled. "that won't happen, mrs-"
"i told you to not address me so formally. you make it seem like i'm older than you."
---
heeseung stretched in his chair. niki looked at him while turning off his computer.
"have you gotten a lot of work for today?"
heeseung rubbed his eyes, trying to ease the strain. he looked up at niki and nodded.
"yeah, i'll be here for like two more hours, and then i'll go home. jake gave me a bunch of files. you can turn off the lights when you leave. i don't mind working in the dark."
niki nodded, looking worried. "don't overwork yourself. i'll leave now."
heeseung waved him goodbye, forcing a smile. he shifted his attention back to the computer screen, where a pile of documents awaited him.
niki turned off the lights, leaving only a faint glow from heeseung's monitor. the room became dark and gloomy. heeseung was all alone in the office, but he welcomed the silence.
jake was still in his office, behind the closed door. heeseung didn't see him for the whole day. he wondered when the latter would leave.
heeseung continued reviewing and editing the files without noticing how much time went by.
while he was concentrated on his work, he heard a door open and then close, followed by a person's footsteps approaching him.
the person stopped right beside him.
heeseung turned his head on the side, noticing jake's silhouette, dimly lit by the monitor's light.
"are you going to torture me like this every day?" heeseung asked in a low tone. he checked the time, counting how many extra hours he stayed today. "i haven't even finished everything."
jake smirked and leaned closer to heeseung.
"this is for the backhanded comment from earlier."
heeseung grinned as well and rolled his eyes. "oh, that? i did mean every word, though. i didn't think it would affect you that much."
jake took a step back and looked at heeseung's monitor. "you can continue tomorrow. consider this as an extended deadline. i'm feeling generous today."
heeseung stood up, facing jake. "and what if i don't finish it in time?"
jake put his hands in his pockets, looking amused. "bad workers are usually punished."
