𝓐 𝓖𝓵𝓲𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻 𝓲𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓴 [𝓚. 𝓞𝓴𝓾𝓽𝓪]

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒪𝓃𝑒

Y/n looked down into the darkness below with her lips slightly parted in awe. A cold, eerie feeling crept from the opening in the floor, spilling into the brightly lit office. She dropped to her knees and narrowed her eyes, trying to see past the thick, dark veil. Nothing. She listened as if her senses were heightened, curiously trying to hear for anything. Again, nothing.

She rose to her feet, convinced that the door was nothing special. Yotsubashi had more money than she could ever dream to have; Y/n reminded herself that the wealthy are notorious for spending their cash on frivolous things. A secret passage, suspiciously hidden under a rug, was the very definition of throwing one's money away.

Y/n brushed off her light blue skirt. Her curiosity nagged at her in the back of her mind, swirling around in her head like a storm. Go down there. Just one little peek couldn't hurt. No one will know. Besides, wouldn't it be my job to go down there too? It technically is part of the observatory.

Her eyes lingered on the darkness for much longer than she would have liked. The door felt heavy on her grip as she came to her decision. Carefully, she closed it. Y/n sighed under her breath. "It's covered for a reason, right?"

Various cleaning supplies littered the office floor. Y/n picked up the bucket at the bottom of the mess. Her gaze traveled to the shiny metal latch that started everything. Had she not tripped over it, she wouldn't have uncovered the secret door.

Y/n studied the office in excruciating detail in anxious repetition. For the most part, everything was up to par with the standard set by the senior housekeeper. The only exception was the desk. Papers cluttered all over the wooden surface in what seemed like a hectic mess. Still, Y/n refrained from touching anything, fearing Yostubashi's rumored temper. She took one final walk through of the observatory. Her slow, cautious steps echoed off the walls as she examined her hard work.

The windows that stretched from the floor to ceiling appeared spotless. It was as if she could see Deika City in clear detail from the high vantage point. The warmth from the sun made her exposed arms tingle. A line of trophies and medals adorned a cabinet, the freshly polished metals shined in the sunlight peeking in through the observatory's many windows. The floor creaked below Y/n. She stopped and looked down. The rug sat underneath her feet.

She felt her stomach dip down as soon as she realized that the basement was right under her. Y/n couldn't shake the unnerving feeling that lurked in the darkness of the secret door. She couldn't explain why, but the unknown hiding inside scared her.

Her eyes traveled back up to the observatory. She glanced around from where she stood. "Everything looks fine, I think."

Y/n turned around and approached a set of silver doors with an elaborate diamond-encrusted border. She pushed the only button on the control panel. A mechanical whirr sounded as the doors slowly slid apart, revealing an extravagant elevator box lined with mirrors and a golden trim.

She stepped inside and watched the number on the led panel slowly decrease. Finally, the screen read one, and the doors slowly parted, revealing the tower's lobby.

Several men and women in similar variants of the outfit y/n wore were walking about. Some crowded the employee closet, retrieving their personal belongings. Others left in groups, talking amongst themselves. At the foot of a set of stairs, stood a tall, broad-shouldered man with peppered hair.

Just like everyone else, The man's outfit was similar to hers. He sported light blue slacks and a white, long-sleeved button-up shirt, and a matching blue bowtie neatly decorated his collar. Y/n approached the man and lowered her head in a bow. "I'm finished, Mr. Watanabe."

Watanabe turned around to face her. He looked down at Y/n, his sharp eyes bore into her. "Does everything meet our standards? You can't cut corners jn the observatory, you know. Mr. Yotsubashi is arriving later today and we don't want to upset him."