Pact

9

You stretch, looking up from your laptop. The room was empty, Sakusa had left hours ago. So, you've been hard at work with your new novel. And by that, I mean you've been writing, editing, and deleting things every couple of minutes. No matter what you wrote, you felt like it wasn't your best work. You knew you could do better, but you still needed more inspiration. It hasn't been too long since you first started the book. You were only on the first chapter at the moment. But how were you going to write a story about a normal girl that met and fell for a famous volleyball player, who knew her from school and had loved her for years? How do you even start with that kind of plot?

And then, suddenly, it came to you: just use your life as experience.

You met Sakusa, and now you have a relationship with him (even if it's only a deal to make people think you two are in a relationship). So why not take a little bit of real life, and turn it into a novel? Of course, the concept will be different from your current situation, but you can make some similarities within the book.

You smile as you start writing the chapter again, hoping to make a good story for all the readers that expect something amazing from you. Maybe, even Sakusa will read your book and enjoy it. Then again, you weren't sure what genre he liked reading. That was one thing he never said. In fact, he never said anything specific about which novels of yours he liked the best. You knew nothing of his tastes, nothing aside from his favorite food.

A knock sounds on your door, distracting you from your hard work. "Come in." You don't look up to see who's entering your office.

Your boss slowly walks in, a worried look on his face. "Um, just wanted to let you know that the article was just published a few minutes ago."

"Oh, that's good."

"Yeah." He shifts his weight from foot to foot. "Listen, L/n, I know you and Sakusa-san are dating, but... well, what do you think it might say about our publishing firm? People might take things the wrong way once they find out you two are dating."

You hum, eyes still focused on your screen as you try to continue writing the plot out. "If people ask, I'm willing to explain the circumstances. In my defense, Kiyoomi asked me out. If the public needs that information, I'm willing to come out with it." You pause your typing, looking up at the man. "Is that all you came here for?"

Your boss shakes his head. "That's not all. I know you usually don't take too long, but we need your next novel to come out sooner than expected."

You raise a brow. "How much sooner?"

"We need it within the next three months."

"What?!" You stand up, slamming your palms on your desk. "I barely just started writing! You usually give me half a year to two years! That's unreasonable!"

"I'm sorry, but a rival company is trying to push their main author's newest book next month. We need to get something out sooner, to try to steal back attention to our company. You usually get things done ahead of time, I trust you can do this." He quickly leaves the room, closing the door behind him before you could open your mouth again.

You groan, nearly screaming. You flop back into your chair, slumping down. You look at your screen. "How can I finish so soon when I just figured out how to do this?"

You stand abruptly, walking to the door of your office. You open the door and walk out, going to the cafe within the building. You order several coffees, hoping you would have enough caffeine to get you through until around midnight. You were going to start needing to work even later than usual in order to finish on time with this new deadline. You angrily get back to your office, slamming the door behind you with your foot. You set the coffee down on the desk, sitting back in your chair.

You release a sigh, getting to work once again. You would take a few seconds to quickly drink some of the coffee. Boy, were you in for a long couple of months.

***

Sakusa glares at his teammates. "Did you really need to come with me?"

Atsumu grinned. "Course we did! We also wanna see the person that wrote that amazing article!"

Bokuto nodded eagerly. "They made it really good!"

Hinata jumps up, spreading his arms and legs out into the shape of a star. "L/n-san made us seem really awesome! I bet more people will watch us and be our fans!"

The black haired male sighs, walking into the building. "Just don't get in the way. I'm only picking them up for dinner."

The four guys walk onto your floor of the building. They catch the attention of everyone working, causing murmurs to ripple throughout the floor.

Sakusa walks right to your office, opening the door. "You ready to eat?"

"Sorry, can't go with you for the next few months. I need to work late to finish this novel that I pretty much just started. The deadline is three months from now."

He hums, closing the door quietly and walking over to your desk. He walks around it, then sits on top near your laptop. "So how late are you working?"

You remain focused on your work, continuing your process of editing while working, occasionally deleting things here and there. "Probably until midnight."

"What do you plan on doing for dinner?"

You shrug. "Might not eat anything tonight."

Sakusa releases a breath. "I'm gonna get you some food you can eat while you work. And I'm not leaving you until you're safely inside your apartment." He walks out of the room, heading out to get something for you to eat. "They like (favorite meal)... where's the nearest restaurant that serves it? Could I get it delivered here?" He walks to the lobby on the first floor of the building, going on his phone to search for places that can bring food to him, so he can make sure you eat tonight.