At the call center, Karina stretched her arms, glancing around at her coworkers as the shift wound down. The place was the same as ever—phones ringing, stressed-out agents trying to calm down irate customers, and Elias… well, Elias was being Elias.
The guy had a golden parachute in the form of his family’s business, yet he still chose to stay here, snoozing his way through life. He wasn’t even pretending to work anymore, and his negligence was starting to show in the company’s slipping numbers.
Karina flicked a fry at him. “Elias, you do realize that if this place shuts down, you won’t even have a job to nap in anymore, right?”
Elias barely cracked one eye open. “Mmm. Sounds like a problem for future me.”
Serena snickered from her desk while Karina shook her head, exasperated. Letting Elias be Elias, she pulled out her phone and typed out a message to Camille:
"Hey, some rich friend of mine booked a hotel and invited us to their wedding. You in?"
She smirked as she hit send. If Camille knew who this wealthy friend was, she might’ve had a much stronger reaction—but Karina wasn’t about to give that away just yet. Let the surprise come naturally.
Meanwhile, across town, Marco was on the same mission—rounding up their old classmates.
"Hey," he texted their group chat. "An old friend of ours is throwing a big wedding. Fancy place, all expenses covered. Should be fun. Who’s coming?"
The responses flooded in immediately.
"Who’s getting married?"
"Why so mysterious?"
"Free food? I’m in."
Marco smirked but didn’t answer the first question. They’d find out soon enough.
The Freaking Machine
While Karina and Marco handled invitations, Julian was busy at the track—pushing his body through yet another grueling training session.
Or, well… grueling for most people.
For him? It was nothing more than a warm-up.
His coach stood at the sidelines, arms crossed, watching with a mix of admiration and disbelief. Nearly an hour had passed, and Julian still ran as if he’d just started, his pace unwavering, his breathing controlled. It was unnatural—almost robotic.
“Damn,” the coach muttered under his breath.
Julian finished his lap and jogged toward him, grabbing a water bottle. Before he could take a sip, the older man smirked.
“You know, kid, with stamina like that, you won’t even need any ‘performance enhancers’ on your wedding night.”
Julian choked.
He coughed violently, nearly dropping the bottle as he stumbled forward—the always-composed, always-in-control Julian, completely caught off guard.
His coach burst into laughter, doubling over as he wiped a tear from his eye. “Oh, man! That was the first time I’ve ever seen you stumble!”
Julian wiped his mouth, glaring. “Coach, I’m training. Maybe save the wedding jokes for later?”
The older man only grinned. “Nah, this is important training. With endurance like that, you should come with a warning label. Poor girl’s not gonna know what hit her!”
Julian exhaled sharply, rubbing his temple. “I should’ve never told you I was getting married.”
The coach clapped a hand on his back, still chuckling. “Too late, kid. Now, get back on the track. We need to make sure you’re really ready for the big night.”
Julian groaned but jogged off—already regretting every life decision that had led him to this moment.
He forced himself to focus, his mind clearing as he slipped back into rhythm. Steady pace. Controlled breathing. Absolute focus. That was what mattered.
And then—
“Freaking warhorse! Good luck—this time, it’s for real!”
Julian’s foot caught on the track.
For the second time that day, he stumbled. Not much—just a slight misstep—but for someone like him, even that was enough to be noticeable.
His head snapped toward the source of the voice.
Sophia stood near the edge of the track, arms crossed, that infuriatingly smug smile playing on her lips. The sun hit her hair just right, making her look effortlessly radiant—like she belonged in the center of attention, as she always did.
The coach, still recovering from his earlier joke, let out another laugh. “See? Even she agrees with me!”
Julian exhaled through his nose, regaining his stride as he jogged back toward them. “You’re both relentless,” he muttered.
Sophia tilted her head, her amusement only deepening. “Oh, I know you’ll be fine. That new suit of yours fits perfectly. You haven’t even broken a sweat. But seeing you actually stumble?” Her smirk widened. “Now that’s a rare sight.”
Julian rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to refocus. He was fine. Completely fine.
It was just Sophia teasing him. Nothing unusual.
And yet…
As he started running again, something flickered in his chest. It wasn’t nerves, wasn’t unease—just a quiet shift, something subtle but undeniable. A whisper behind the ticking of his watch.
He shrugged it off. He had more important things to focus on.
For now.
The Memory That Started It All
From the sidelines, Sophia watched Julian run, her eyes following the steady rhythm of his movements.
Unbidden, a memory surfaced.
She was the one who had made the first move.
It had been at the Imperial Orion Grand Hotel, a place of grandeur and quiet ambition—where powerful men sealed deals and where, unknowingly, she had sealed her own fate. She had stepped into Julian’s world just as he was piecing himself back together, walking straight into the path of a man whose resolve was as unyielding as steel.
That meeting had been the spark. The beginning.
The year that followed had been anything but easy. Building a business together was a relentless struggle—budgets stretched too thin, failures piling up like weights on their backs. Every step forward felt like two steps back.
And yet, they had stayed the course.
They had stayed side by side—two rooms apart, always dining together, always teasing, never growing tired of the game they played.
Her lips curled into a small, knowing smile.
Some things never changed.