"I don't know why I said that," Nikolai said. He laughed nervously, rubbing at his mouth with a shaky hand. "Please, just ignore me."
"No."
That wide-eyed gaze turned helplessly up at him, looking betrayed. It was like he had his Nikolai back, even when this one still didn't seem to remember what their mission was about. It was either that, or he was taking this roleplaying business far, far too seriously.
"What do you mean, "no"?" Nikolai asked, squinting up at him. "Are you going to pick a fight over something so small?"
"Who said I'd pick a fight?" He tapped an impatient foot to the ground. Nikolai, like his usual Nikolai, seemed to take it as the signal that it was and stood up after him. As they began walking for the door, he added, "I'm not ignoring it because I'd rather you stick to that kind of honesty. I don't need you holding back with me."
"You just said so much in one breath that I'm shocked you're not combusting into flames."
He looked over at Nikolai in that exact same moment that the man looked away.
This man, he really was entertaining without even trying to be.
"Just like that," he said, huffing out a laugh as he turned away to open the door leading to the hall outside. "Keep that sharp tongue on you. And—"
He stood in front of Nikolai before he could go any further, stopping the man in his tracks as he held out his unlocked phone to him.
"What's the phone for..?"
He raised a brow. Surely, he's not that dense? "Your phone number, obviously. Put it in."
Nikolai blinked, then squinted askance at him. One would think he was being harassed from the way he's acting. "Why?"
"Why not?"
"You're from a different department, and you're not even a hiring manager," Nikolai explained. "We have no business with each other."
Malic already had an inkling from when they were working together, and it seemed it might be true that Nikolai was the type to rationalize anything and everything in relation to himself. As if the world would implode off its axis if he simply accepted a good thing in his life, while being the exact kind of hypocrite who expected other people to just accept his good will without question.
"You don't need my phone number to message me for anything work-related either. We have the corporate messaging app for that," Nikolai added later, bringing Malic back to his thoughts.
He struggled not to roll his eyes. Ridiculous. It was no wonder Nikolai found the apocalypse as a relief from real life, if he was exactly like this before the System messed everything up. "I'm not going to talk to you about work."
Nikolai took his bullshit a step further when he said, "Are you going to bully me? That's illegal, you know."
Bullying? Only pathetic fools would engage in such behavior.
"Are you an idiot? I'm asking for your number so we can talk without having to go to each other's offices. I don't intend to incriminate the both of us by chatting frivolously using the work app either."
"But why?"
"Why else? I've had it with dealing with people who can't keep up," he said, impatient as he nudged his phone into Nikolai's chest. "And you seemed to be just as tired in dealing with those fools. I'd rather talk with someone who understands that than have to tolerate talking with those bastards forever."
Nikolai gawped at him. "The mouth on you. Are you really like this with everyone?"
He smiled.
That seemed to be even more of a shocker that Nikolai's already-large eyes widened even further. He blurted out, "You can smile? I thought you were physically incapable."
"You'll see a lot more of that in time, so get used to it. Now, your number."
Nikolai looked down at his phone, then up at his nose, then down to his phone again. It took a beat of a second before he finally took it in his hands, nimble fingers typing his number and name quickly on his phone screen. As he was typing, he said, "I'm only doing this because I'm interested in seeing how crazy you actually are."
Malic scoffed, "Coming from the person working in the HR department?"
"It's a given to be insane by at least fifteen percent in our department, but I'm interested in seeing the difference from someone in Sales."
A bark of a laugh escaped him. "You're not joking."
"I'm being perfectly serious," Nikolai said, smiling as he returned the phone to him. "Being a little unhinged comes with studying psychology. If you're not even a little bit weird in an obvious way, that's even scarier."
"That explains things."
"Ha ha," laughed Nikolai, the sound dry and unamused from his mouth. He tucked his hands into his pants' pockets, thumbs hanging out, and looked up at his eyebrows. "Crazy recognizes crazy, so don't talk if you don't want to be called out."
"I don't care."
"You're..."
Nikolai looked at him then, a keenness to his bright eyes as he stared right at his face, seeming intent to discover all of his unspoken secrets with how hard he was looking at him.
"...actually a weirder guy than I expected, now that we're talking like this."
"Is that so."
"Not in an entirely bad way either," the man added, flapping a hand in something that felt like dismissal. "You're much, much funnier than I thought you'd be. Honestly, I," he swallowed, rubbing at his nape as he looked away, "I had the wrong impression that since you're so popular, you'd be much more of a jerk. You still are, but not the kind I want to throw into an incinerator."
"You're rather violent, aren't you."
Nikolai smiled, soft and sweet and utterly deceptive. "That was me being tame, Agcaoili."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Please do." He passed around him then, head bobbing in a short nod as he went. "Then, I'll see you around."
As was the usual from the time Malic had known him, when that man wanted to do something, he'd do it unhesitatingly. It didn't matter how rude his behavior was; if he wanted to leave, he'd leave.
As Nikolai went, he called out, "Don't hide from me or I'll make a scene just to find you."
A laugh came out in response, and Nikolai waved a hand without looking back. "I'll be looking forward to it."
Funny bastard.
He watched as Nikolai left, then activated the mission window again.
Unchanged, it read:
[ Mission: Story Revision
Category: Main
Difficulty: B
Clear conditions: The world might have gone to apocalyptic hell, but to some others, that hell is more like heaven when compared to their daily life.
Rewrite the story of Nikolai Canlas, and give him the happy ending he desires.
Reward: 900 coins
Penalty for Failure: ??? ]
That fox of a System didn't appear with it. Had the mission window not appeared, Malic would think the whole apocalypse was a dream and he'd been an office worker all along—even when he knew he'd never have bothered with such boring work of his own volition, even with the threat of death.
The shit he'd do just to save the people he cares for.
He huffed out a breath.
No use whining about it. It wasn't like anyone asked this of him; it was purely of his own choice that he became the System's plaything to carry their shitty story through to the end.
Once he was done with everything, he'd make damn well sure to beat up that fox bastard and the assholes behind it. If that meant fighting god himself, then so be it.
For now, though, he had to return to the others to discuss what else they could do to finish this mission.
"You got his number? That quickly?"
He nodded, having shown them his phone screen with Nikolai's number as proof. When Rhiannon held out an expectant hand, he just raised a brow and tucked his phone back into his pocket. "I'm not giving you his number. Ask him for it yourself."
"You stingy bastard?"
He rolled his eyes. "Do you think he'd appreciate it if he found out I gave his number away to just anyone? Use your brain, fool."
"...tch. You've got no right to call me a fool, you fool. But I'll concede that you have a point."
"How bad is it, Nikolai's office life?" Renato said suddenly, breaking through the argument that was just budding between him and Rhiannon. His expression was worried, brows upturned by a hair and upper lip worrying at his lower lip. "That even the System would interfere like this, making it out like we have to save him from something...I can't help from worrying."
"We either figure it out by investigating, or—"
"We can just ask," Malic interrupted. "He's been forthcoming enough in talking with me. If anything, it might damage his trust further if we pry in places he doesn't want us prying into."
Renato looked over at the both of them, his gaze lingering over him for a moment.
Then, he smiled. A wistful thing, the way it couldn't hide its bitterness.
He said,
"Let's just hope it's not as bad as my worries are."