Who Is This Guy Calling Himself My Boyfriend?

That one message threw my mind into chaos. Distracted, I pricked my finger on a rose thorn I had been trimming, and blood immediately welled up.

The sharp pain brought me back to reality. I couldn't bear to look at my phone, so I hurried to clean the wound. When I returned, the phone was still buzzing nonstop with messages from Susan.

"It's because Felicity got rejected that she kept messing with you afterward. To deal with the mess, Jason worked late every night for a week, often until dawn. Didn't you know?"

She added, "I've gone and said too much. Don't let anyone know it was me! Thanks for the flowers!"

I stared at the phone, lost in thought. Could that really be true? I only remembered that last year, there was a period when Jason had indeed worked extra shifts for several days.

During that time, he broke his usual habit of leaving the office with me. Every day, he insisted I go home first because he had to work late. I couldn't leave him on his own, so I went down for some instant food and returned to sit beside him while he kept working.

He typed so fast it was like the keys were on fire. Between bursts of furious typing, he muttered complaints about his boss without pause. The strange rhythm of his swearing and tapping was hypnotic, and I soon found myself dozing off next to him.

When I opened my eyes, Jason's jacket was draped over me. The sun was just appearing over the horizon outside the huge windows. He was still typing, though now with a softer, slower rhythm.

His swearing had stopped, and his gaze was fixed on the screen. In the reflection, I saw a rare seriousness on his face, so unlike the carefree Jason I usually knew. For some reason, it made him look kind of handsome, and I couldn't tear my eyes away.

With my brain in a fog, I reached out and tapped his face. That poke seemed to cut through the pretense he had so carefully built.

He grabbed my hand quickly, paused for a second, then flung it away with mild annoyance. "You promised to stay and work with me! You just sat for a bit and fell asleep. Buddy, that's not fair of you."

His usual animated, chaotic self was back. For once, I didn't argue with him. Instead, I held my finger in front of his eyes, pointing straight toward the window. "Look, the sunrise."

He slowly turned his head, as if afraid my finger might touch his cheek.

The moment he turned, the sun fully emerged over the horizon.

"Damn it," Jason muttered under his breath.