3

As soon as I walked in, I heard my brother chattering away.

"My sister's usually on time.

"It must've been something unexpected at work.

"Her boss is always making her work late…"

Honestly, this guy would say anything to score points with his future brother-in-law.

I tuned him out and looked around, and my gaze locked onto someone, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I'd heard my brother talk about him.

Brandon Elliott, 26 years old, owned his own company, and he was doing well for himself.

I figured someone like that would be more mature—probably the type who slicks back his hair with gel.

But there he was, in a simple black t-shirt, looking effortlessly stylish, like he had just walked off a fashion magazine cover. His hair was casually tousled, giving him a relaxed yet put-together vibe. His strong features had a touch of warmth, too.

It made sense that with a sister as gorgeous as Maria, her brother would be equally attractive.

In fact, he might even be better looking.

He smiled and nodded at me, and I awkwardly returned the gesture.

"Sorry for being late. Something came up."

My brother jumped up immediately when he heard my voice, pulling me over to his side.

"Sis, did you get stuck working late again?"

He gave my arm a slight squeeze, a signal for me to play along.

I didn't want to ruin his carefully crafted image in front of his future brother-in-law, so I reluctantly went along with it.

"Yeah, work stuff."

Just then, a deep voice with a hint of laughter chimed in beside me.

"You know, overworking employees is illegal. You could report him."

I was about to defend my boss when my brother interrupted.

He gave us a brief introduction.

The girl kept complimenting me on how good-looking I was. Who wouldn't love being praised by a pretty girl?

But my brother, being the buzzkill he is, stared at his girlfriend for a while and said, "Not blind, huh?"

4

"I heard you two have been dating for seven years."

I nearly choked on my soup.

Seven years? My brother is a sophomore in college—does that mean…?

I put down my spoon, trying to wrap my head around it.

Wow, he was dating someone else's daughter since he was in eighth grade?

I looked at my brother in disbelief.

He sheepishly scratched his head. "Yeah, we met online and agreed to go to the same college together."

I felt my jaw drop. I had planned to take Maria's brother down a peg if he gave me any attitude, but now…

I figured I'd let my brother dig his own grave.

I calmly sipped my soup.

Maria sided with my brother. "Brandon, why are you being so harsh?

"We're both committed to moving from campus to the altar; you can't be against it."

Brandon chuckled, "I'm not opposing anything, just asking.

"Oh, but I do need to remind you to be careful; I don't want to become an uncle too soon."

I spat my soup back into the bowl.

Why was this guy so blunt?

My brother turned red, patting my back.

The instigator handed me a napkin. I took it, carefully gauging his expression, unsure if he was offering advice or if he was annoyed.

Sure, my brother may have taken another guy's sister, but that wasn't a crime worthy of death. I still wanted to help him out. "Don't worry; our family has strict values. He's very respectful around women."

I patted my chest to emphasize my promise.

My brother kicked me under the table.

What a jerk—here I was trying to help him, and he kicked me? Maybe I should let Brandon bury him alive.

Brandon frowned, then said seriously, "I'm not worried about your brother; I'm worried about my sister going wild."

5

I blinked in confusion, watching the two of them blushing like crazy, feeling like I'd missed some critical piece of information.

The conversation drifted off course.

Out of nowhere, the spotlight fell on me.

Brandon told me we had met before.

My brother and his girlfriend both turned to look at me in unison.

Honestly, when I first saw him, I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen him before.

I was perplexed.

Brandon seemed a bit disappointed but quickly returned to his usual demeanor. He sighed lightly, "I saw you with your friend the other day at a restaurant, and you were crying. Did something happen?"

My brother's expression shifted from amusement to concern. "Sis, what's wrong? Can't you at least share when you're upset instead of hiding it?"

Seeing their worried faces made me feel a little embarrassed.

That day, I had been venting to my best friend about my cheating ex. In a moment of excitement, I accidentally wiped chili oil from my hands on my eyes. My silly friend thought I was crying over the jerk and kept comforting me. No matter how much I tried to explain, she wouldn't believe me. She even said I was the toughest one in the group.

I was trying to figure out how to explain the situation.

Should I just tell them I accidentally rubbed chili oil in my eyes?

No one would believe that story.

6

"It's just that I found out being cheated on really sucks."

"What? You were cheated on?"

My brother yelled so loudly next to me that I almost went deaf.

I thought he'd keep making fun of me since he never liked Peter Martin, always saying I was blind to his faults.

Without saying a word, he snatched my phone and started swiping through it, looking for something. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

I was completely confused.

"Peter Martin, that loser."

"He's in the trash bin where he belongs. Why would you expect me to keep him?"

"Are you sure you won't get back together?"

My brother sized me up.

Suddenly, I felt the attention on me heat up.

Looking around, I didn't notice anything unusual—except for Maria, who was looking at me with pity.

"Stop grossing me out."

I rolled my eyes at my brother.

Maria looked indignant. "Exactly! Don't gross out your sister. There are plenty of trees in the forest; why would you hang onto an old, rotten one?

"Don't be sad, sis! I can introduce you to a cute younger guy, a freshman."

Maria pouted, determined to protect my love life.

"A cute younger guy? A freshman? It never ends well."

The voice floated over, and it was Brandon.

The room fell silent.

"Dude, do you even know how to comfort someone?

"Straight guy syndrome—no wonder you haven't had a girlfriend in years," Maria mumbled.

Brandon smirked, looking quite pleased with himself. "This year, I'm going to work hard to find you a sister-in-law."

"A brother-in-law can also do the trick… Ouch… Ouch…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Brandon cut her off.

I felt a surge of excitement at the banter, my eyes fixed on Brandon until he suddenly glanced back at me, making me quickly look down and focus on my food.

"I'm not into men," Brandon quickly clarified.

"Explaining is just covering up; covering up means there's a truth," Maria chimed in at just the right moment.

I struggled to suppress a smile.

Even though there was a big age gap between the siblings, their dynamic was quite entertaining.

I fiddled with my chopsticks, absentmindedly picking at the green onions on my plate.

My thoughts drifted off somewhere else; I still felt like I recognized Brandon from somewhere other than that meal.

7

Back to the grind of my job.

I busily tapped away at my keyboard, the monotonous clicking becoming melodic in its own way.

The once-blank PowerPoint was halfway done in no time.

"Emily, I heard the boss is coming back today! Finally, we'll get to see what he looks like," Abby whispered excitedly beside me.

As a fellow intern, she was practically buzzing with enthusiasm.

I was a senior this year, taking classes only every few weeks, and I wanted to find an internship before the fall recruitment. My advisor recommended this company. It might not be well-known, but it was growing rapidly and was run by a senior from my program.

The location and benefits were great: a nine-to-five schedule, weekends off, an internship salary of $5,000 a month, and the possibility of being hired full-time afterward at around $8,000 with salary increases.

That was enough for me; I wasn't looking for luxury—just a stable, easy-going life.

Seeing my light chuckle, Abby leaned closer, her big brown eyes wide with curiosity. "Aren't you even a little bit curious?"

I shrugged and replied, "If curiosity paid, I'd be all in."

"Ahem."

At the sound of a dry cough, I turned to see a familiar face that left me in shock.

8

The boss was Brandon Elliott!

He wore a white shirt layered over a white tee with some letters on it, his face still lit up with that warm, friendly smile.

In my mind, I automatically labeled him: "A 26-year-old sunny, cheerful guy."

"Good morning!" he greeted, his eyes crinkling into a smile. His voice was cool and refreshing, like a gentle breeze in the summer heat.

I mechanically responded, "G-Good morning."

He continued greeting everyone as he walked by. "Hi, everyone!"

As I watched him disappear down the hallway, it suddenly hit me.

No wonder he looked so familiar.

Back in freshman year, I attended his lecture. The huge lecture hall was packed, and I could only catch a glimpse from the back row.

9

"Wow, I had no idea the boss was this good-looking. Now I actually have the motivation to come to work every day."

Abby seemed satisfied, but I was in despair.

I remembered my goofy little brother delivering his fiery speech in front of him, and it made me cringe.

And worse, I wasn't sure if Brandon overheard my comment earlier. I'd barely been at this internship for a few days, and I was already thinking about asking for a raise—what was I thinking?

Feeling stressed, I scratched my head and pulled out my phone, opening up his WhatsApp.

We exchanged contacts during that dinner and had texted a bit since then. The conversation was mostly about him apologizing for teasing me about some embarrassing stuff.

I figured I should clear things up with him, but I kept rewriting the message and never hit send.

I didn't want to risk sending a text now and have the boss think I'm slacking off.

Even though I kind of was… but no one's dumb enough to show it to the boss, right?

Frustrated, I switched over to my brother's chat.

If I was having a hard time, there was no way he was getting off easy.

Me: You're done for.

Me: Do you know who that "evil boss" you insulted is?

Me: Your future brother-in-law.

I sent a few smug emojis for good measure.

He replied with a "sky is falling" meme.

Him: Sis, help me, please!

Me: Sis can't even save herself right now.

Just then, Brandon's chat moved up my screen.

10

Brandon: So, that "evil boss" you mentioned... that's me?

Brandon: I don't think I've ever asked you guys to work overtime, though.

He added an adorable "sad bear" sticker, looking all hurt.

The anxiety I'd been carrying suddenly disappeared, melted away by that sticker.

I found myself suppressing a smile.

This guy, for a boss, was seriously down-to-earth.

I gave him a quick explanation.

Brandon: I've been framed!

This time, it was a "pouting bear" sticker stomping its feet.

I couldn't hold back a chuckle.

Abby glanced over at me, "Are you possessed or something?"

"I was just thinking of something funny."

I couldn't exactly tell her my boss was being super cute, could I? It was hard to admit that someone so tall and grown-up could also be... this adorable.

Me: Sorry, boss. I'll work hard to make up for my mistake.

My apology was serious and sincere.

I had a ton of random stickers—mostly of pigs doing silly things. But since Brandon seemed to really love his bear ones, I found a matching "cheering bear" sticker and sent it his way.

The chat box showed that he was typing something back, but his reply hadn't come in yet.

In the end, he just sent a simple "Good luck."