Familiar Gaze

"What? Jinny's still not in today?"

"Yes, Mr. Sato."

Eli's brows scrunched together after hearing this. It had been nearly one week now since Jinny had been absent from work. Knowing the young woman's bubbly and always on top attitude, he was surprised to hear she wasn't there.

Something must have happened.

Eli sighed and decided to call to check up on her. As Eli walked away back to his office, two female employees, Nian Yanyi and Jia Liqin also, Jinny's desk mates, glanced at one another silently.

"You don't think Jinny got upset because of what happened with Senior Su do you?" One whispered to the other.

"It's possible. You know how sensitive Jinny is in regards to Senior Su. It's kind of annoying."

"Yeah, that'd be pretty low of her to miss work because of something like that. We're not in high school, she shouldn't be so sensitive about those things."

The other nodded her head in agreement and the two gossiped more, unaware of the dark dressed figure listening to their conversation with perked ears. Giggling quietly to herself, Mimi places the phone she had in her hand in her pocket and walks away.

Inside Eli's office, the young man couldn't help but sigh helplessly. After calling Jinny's home number three times, the woman still hadn't answered.

Maybe he was overthinking it.

It could be possible that she was sick. Despite telling himself this, Eli knew Jinny would have called in, had that been the case. Troubled on what to do, the sound of his door opening was heard.

By entering his office uninvited, Eli could already guess who it was. "Mimi? Do you need anything?"

With her usual deadpan expression, Mimi walked over to Eli's desk and stared down at the man.

"Did Ms. Ming answer your calls?"

Surprised by her unexpected question, Eli stared at Mimi wide-eyed.

Was…Was she showing concern?

Already guessing the man's thoughts, Mimi's brows twitch but she made no move to correct him.

"Uh, no. I called her home number three times and she didn't answer."

Mimi nodded as if expecting such an answer. "Give me her work for these past few days."

Once more, Eli was surprised by Mimi's straightforward yet charitable words. Why did she want Jinny's work? Don't tell me she planned on doing it for her?

When she saw his look of being touched, Mimi frowned. "I'm going to her house to give it to her. If she plans to slack off, the least she can do is complete some of her work to make it easier for the rest of us."

Eli coughed and held back his urge to laugh at her snarky remark. Of course, he should have known. However, recalling her words, Eli's brows furrowed.

Shooting her a look he asks, "How did you find her address?"

Mimi shrugged her shoulders. "The internet."

Eli was speechless. The internet? Does that mean she just looked up Jinny's address and found it?

It was obvious she played a few tricks to find Jinny's address which only made Eli even more impressed and slightly terrified of the girl's abilities. She could even find his address if she wanted to.

As if hearing his thoughts, the girl's flat voice said, "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of looking up the address of a magnanimous person."

Laughing clumsily, Eli scratched the back of his neck. "Haha, right…Well, since you offered, I can give you all of her work from today and the last few days. You can go after your done with everything."

Nodding her head, Mimi turned and left the man's office without another word. Sitting back in his seat, Eli smiles crookedly and laughs to himself.

Strange child.

…

Shortly after Mimi completed all of her tasks for the day, she gathered Jinny's work from Eli and left the company. Calling a cab, Mimi stood on the side and waited for her ride to arrive.

While waiting, Mimi played a game on her phone, completely immersed in the small screen. Suddenly, she shot her head up with narrowed eyes and glanced around her.

Mimi's sharp eyes scoured the streets and sidewalks - there was no one there.

Could it have been her imagination?

She felt as if a pair of eyes were looking at her. That gaze and chill she felt…it was familiar.

Before she had the chance to think into it, her cab arrived. Shaking her head, Mimi entered the car. It was probably her imagination.

As Mimi's car drove away, a pair of eyes watched the girl's figure – a wide smile spread across their thin, red lips.

"You've sure grown, little one."