Just as Shanley was wallowing in his mncholy, the closed door suddenly swung open again. Juniper had returned, walking straight up to him.


    "Forget something?" Shanley asked.


    His expression had returned to normal, but Juniper easily caught the flicker of disappointment in his eyes.


    "Yeah." Juniper stopped in front of him and gently bumped her shoulder against his. Tilting her head back, she looked up at him with a serious expression. "I forgot to say goodbye."


    The gloom in Shanley''s heart instantly evaporated. Excellent! He did have a ce in her heart after all. He was satisfied.


    "Message received," Shanley said, lowering his head to rub his nose against hers, fighting the overwhelming urge to kiss her. "Goodbye, Juniper."


    But after she''d spoken, Juniper didn''t leave. She just stared intently at him. The next second, she stood on her tiptoes and nted a swift kiss on the corner of his mouth before quickly turning and dashing away.


    By the time Shanley came to his senses, her scooter was long gone.


    "Heh." Touching the lingering warmth on his lips, Shanley couldn''t help but smile. This was the second time Juniper had initiated a kiss. If the first time was impulsive, this time she had been perfectly calm. The girl was falling more and more in love with him.


    At that thought, Shanleyughed out loud, and at the same time, his body betrayed him with an involuntary reaction.


    "Boss, the car is ready," Felton said, respectfully, as he walked through the door.


    "Hold on, I need a quick shower." Shanley pressed his lips together and strode towards the bedroom.


    A shower? Felton was thoroughly confused. He was sure the boss had already showered this morning. Had he remembered wrong?


    ...


    On her scooter, Juniper fanned her flushed cheeks and shook her head in annoyance.


    Tsk. Her original n was just to say a simple ''goodbye'' to Shanley. She had no idea she was going to suddenly kiss him.


    Ultimately, it was all Shanley''s fault. If he hadn''t looked so damn handsome this early in the morning, tempting her, she wouldn''t have been so impulsive.


    Lue was right. She just made a mistake any girl in her position would make. Yep. It wasn''t her fault.


    At the entrance to the WKL eSports arena, the streets were gridlocked with cars and swarming with people.


    On her way, Hattie had texted her several times, needing confirmation that she was actuallying before she could rx.


    Hattie: [Our ssmates woke up morning convinced that the tickets were all a dream. Seriously, up until a second ago some of them still thought they were hallucinating.]


    Right. The entire ss was having a collective hallucination. After all, something this


    good happening to them was about as likely as winning the lottery.


    Juniper smirked and texted back. [Gate 2, right? I''m on my way now.]


    When she arrived at the designated meeting spot, she spotted her ssmates immediately. It wasn''t that she recognized their faces, but the hodgepodge of homemade banners and photos they were holding was impossible to miss.


    Even more ridiculous, someone had somehow dug up a photo of her from apetition years ago, blown it up, and made it into a fan. In the picture she was dressed in all ck ck shirt ck hat even a ck mask. It was cringey enough to make her vision go dark just looking at it.


    Pretending not to see it, Juniper averted her gaze. "Is everyone here?"


    "All here!" Hattie replied. "We got here an hour early, just in case.”


    Everyone was dying to know how they were supposed to get inside without any tickets.


    Just then, Ferdinand and Ynda walked toward them. They spotted the group, paused in surprise, and then broke into sneering smiles.


    They couldn''t get tickets, so the entire ss decided to camp outside? How embarrassing!