I Secretly Read My Boss' Diary (GL) - Chapter 5

Yan Zhao felt like crying as Manager Sun forcibly dragged her into the car. But he was her superior, and she didn’t dare protest. She could only sit in the passenger seat, picking at the drink’s packaging and stewing in silence.

Sun Yiming glanced at Yan Zhao, who was still fidgeting with the packaging, and couldn’t help but chuckle. Gripping the steering wheel with his left hand, he poked her forehead with his right and teased, “Stop picking at it! You’ll poke a hole in the cup if you keep that up.”

Startled by his touch, Yan Zhao looked up at Sun Yiming’s smiling face, frowned, and unconsciously shifted away.

Yan Zhao had stopped picking at the packaging, but she remained sullen. Sun Yiming, noticing her puffed-up, dumpling-like cheeks, fought the urge to poke them and quickly changed the subject.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy we’re going out to have some fun?”

Sun Yiming had joined the company three years ago. A graduate of a prestigious Chinese university, he had been headhunted before even leaving campus.

After graduation, he was immediately appointed Supervisor of the Operations Department. Within two years, he had been promoted to Manager, making him just thirty years old.

For such a legendary figure, gossip naturally abounded. Many single women in the company openly admired him, yet he never seemed to reject or accept their advances. Yan Zhao would often join her colleagues in gossiping about him, but the rumors always fizzled out in the end.

“No, no,” Yan Zhao shook her head, denying his claim.

She desperately wanted to say she didn’t want to go, but she was already in the car, and they were nearly at their destination. Refusing now would seem overly dramatic.

Moreover, he was her boss’s boss. As a low-level corporate drone, she didn’t want to upset someone so high up over such a trivial matter.

With a silent sigh, Yan Zhao hunched her shoulders and turned her gaze to the scenery outside the car window.

When Yan Zhao and Sun Yiming arrived at the karaoke bar, the advance party had already secured a room.

Sun Yiming made a call to confirm the room number. Turning back, he saw Yan Zhao standing awkwardly in the lobby, looking utterly lost. He reached out to grab her arm, intending to whisk her away as he had before. But just as his hand brushed the hood of her sweatshirt, Gong Muyu called out, “Yan Zhao, could you carry my bag?”

Without waiting for Yan Zhao’s reaction, Gong Muyu immediately thrust her black handbag into her hands. Then, still talking on her phone, she deftly maneuvered herself between Sun Yiming and Yan Zhao.

Yan Zhao, suddenly burdened with the bag, felt momentarily flustered. Seeing its owner stride forward, she hurried to catch up.

After a few steps, Gong Muyu noticed Sun Yiming standing motionless. She stopped, turned her head, and asked, “Which room are they in?”

Sun Yiming blinked in surprise before answering, “Ah? Oh, they’re in 403.”

Gong Muyu glanced at Yan Zhao, who was trailing behind her, nodded at Sun Yiming, and led Yan Zhao toward the elevators, leaving Sun Yiming standing alone in the lobby, staring blankly.

The elevator in the KTV was dimly lit and crowded. Yan Zhao frowned, trying to squeeze herself into a corner.

“Give me the bag.”

Yan Zhao looked up and realized that Gong Muyu, who had been standing to the side, had somehow moved in front of her, extending her hand to take the bag back.

Yan Zhao hadn’t noticed before, but now, looking up at Gong Muyu, she realized the other woman was nearly half a head taller than her. Standing so close, Yan Zhao felt almost enveloped in Gong Muyu’s embrace.

In an instant, Yan Zhao’s ears flushed crimson. She numbly handed the bag to Gong Muyu, and just as their hands touched, the elevator doors opened.

With Gong Muyu blocking the way, Yan Zhao couldn’t move. In her daze, she felt a slender hand grasp her right hand. Following the arm, she realized it was Gong Muyu holding her hand.

“It’s a bit crowded. Be careful not to get bumped,” Gong Muyu said, pulling Yan Zhao’s hand and leading the still-stunned woman out of the elevator before she could react.

Though Gong Muyu’s voice was cold, the hand holding hers was surprisingly warm. Yan Zhao’s palm pressed against Gong Muyu’s, and she could feel the dampness of Gong Muyu’s palm.

It’s October now. The weather shouldn’t be this warm…

Lost in her thoughts, Yan Zhao was led by Gong Muyu toward private room 403. Gong Muyu only released her hand when they reached the door.

Pushing open the door, they found Zhang Chi from the Operations Department clutching a microphone and belting out an old song with desperate fervor.

Yan Zhao peeked inside from behind Gong Muyu, noticing that everyone except herself, Gong Muyu, and Sun Yiming had already arrived. Just then, Sun Yiming joined them, urging the two still standing in the doorway to come in.

All eyes in the room turned to the trio. Under the intense scrutiny, Yan Zhao shrank back against the wall and scurried to join the Operations Department group.

After enduring a nerve-wracking car ride with her two bosses, Yan Zhao felt like she’d found family when she saw Dong Wan and Liu Yiyang. She bounded over to them, playfully punching each on the shoulder and scolding, “You two are so disloyal! You vanished in the blink of an eye!”

The pair had been traumatized by their ride in Gong Muyu’s car. Hearing about the karaoke outing, they seized the opportunity to escape. They’d wanted to warn Yan Zhao, but with General Manager Gong looming behind her, they couldn’t discreetly signal her. In the end, it was every man for himself.

“What more could you want? You got to ride with a beauty, even got to hug her waist and chest! And you’re still accusing us of being disloyal? You’re the one who’s having your cake and eating it too!”

Dong Wan stubbornly argued with Yan Zhao, her neck stiff. Seeing Yan Zhao so infuriated that she could only point a finger without uttering a word, Dong Wan smugly tilted her chin and turned back to her drink.

Sister V pulled Yan Zhao away from Dong Wan’s “clawing” gestures, personally poured her a glass of juice, and pressed her down onto the sofa by the shoulders.

“She’s just trying to get under your skin. Ignore her. Didn’t Sun Yiming drag you away? General Manager Mu may seem cold, but she’s actually quite decent.”

Sister V, Zhang Sheng, and the others were among the last to leave. They had initially planned to take Yan Zhao with them, like Dong Wan had. But then they realized both remaining executives had cars, so they figured the young woman wouldn’t be left behind and didn’t bother.

Sister V, a seasoned veteran of office politics, sensed something more behind Yan Zhao’s anger.

Could it be that the new General Manager and the company’s notorious bachelor had some kind of passionate encounter?

Her eyes lit up at the thought. She subtly began probing Yan Zhao for information.

“She’s alright, but she’s so aloof. Sitting alone with her in a car was incredibly stressful. Anyway, I came with Manager Sun. He has way too many fans—if they found out I was alone with him in the car, his brainless fans would probably strangle me! Luckily, I ran into General Manager Mu downstairs and came up with her.”

Dong Wan was Manager Sun’s biggest fan, practically openly infatuated with him. Hearing Yan Zhao had arrived with Sun Yiming, Dong Wan’s face immediately fell with regret. Remembering her earlier words, she wanted to slap herself.

“Manager Sun brought you here? You were alone with him in the car?” Dong Wan asked through gritted teeth, her eyes fixed on Yan Zhao’s troubled expression.

Yan Zhao nodded belatedly. Dong Wan couldn’t resist pinching Liu Yiyang’s arm before getting up and walking over to Sun Yiming by the karaoke machine.

The Operations Department staff watched with wide eyes, wondering what Dong Wan was up to. To their surprise, she strode confidently to Sun Yiming, her expression completely transforming as she handed him a drink.

Sun Yiming nodded his thanks. Dong Wan, now blushing demurely, twirled her finger and scurried back to her seat. The Operations Department staff nearly collapsed in disbelief, turning away to rub their foreheads in exasperation.

Gong Muyu was chatting with several supervisors while the others were happily playing games. Yan Zhao, uninterested in either, declined a few invitations and settled alone on the sofa, quietly reading a novel on her phone.

Just as the novel’s protagonists were getting intimate, about to reach the climax, she suddenly felt the sofa beside her sink slightly, and a faint, refreshing fragrance drifted into her nostrils. Yan Zhao turned her head and met Gong Muyu’s gaze.

The steamy scenes from the novel still lingered in her mind. For some reason, seeing Gong Muyu now made Dong Wan’s earlier teasing—”You touched her chest and wrapped your arm around her waist”—feel unexpectedly awkward. Yan Zhao unconsciously shifted away and smiled, “General Manager Mu, what would you like to drink?”

Because the private room was noisy, Yan Zhao leaned closer to Gong Muyu, worried she wouldn’t hear her. Gong Muyu, thinking the same thing, also leaned in. Neither anticipated the other’s sudden movement. When Yan Zhao’s lips brushed Gong Muyu’s cheek, both froze in surprise.

Yan Zhao noticed the subtle shift in Gong Muyu’s expression and, assuming she was angry, quickly apologized. Little did she know, Gong Muyu’s mind had gone completely blank. The side of her face, where Yan Zhao had accidentally kissed her, began to tingle slightly, and that tingling sensation gradually spread from her cheek throughout her entire body.

Everything around her seemed to fade away, leaving only the memory of that kiss as the sole reality. In that moment, she couldn’t even hear Yan Zhao’s apology. It wasn’t until a white, damp tissue was offered to her that Gong Muyu snapped back to reality.

“It’s okay,” Gong Muyu said, accepting the tissue from Yan Zhao and gently holding it in her palm. She leaned over to grab a drink from the coffee table, using the act of drinking to conceal the slight upward curve of her lips.

Seeing Gong Muyu’s ambiguous expression, Yan Zhao felt like slapping herself. Fortunately, the chaotic surroundings meant no one had noticed their interaction. Yan Zhao quietly shifted sideways to avoid any further accidents.

Support I Secretly Read My Boss’ Diary (GL)