Horror Game Developer: My games aren't that scary!

Chapter 781: Being flirted on [2]

“Come in.”

I looked up as the door opened, finding Zoey standing outside with a bag hanging from her shoulder. Her gaze moved around the office before settling on me, then lowered towards the hand I was rubbing.

“…What happened?”

“Work-related stuff, you know? Had my hand held pretty tightly.”

She looked at the marks around my wrist.

“Rather tightly, apparently… Did you get it checked?”

“Not yet. I’ve only just convinced it to let go.”

Zoey stared at me for a moment before closing the door behind her.

She looked tired, and when she lowered her bag beside the chair, she rolled her shoulder before sitting down.

Looking at her and seeing how exhausted she looked, I couldn’t help but ask, “Another raid?”

“Yes.”

“How did it go?”

“We just finished.”

“Oh, not bad. Seems like you were pretty successful with the raid.”

I mean, she looked alright.

“Right, but I’m supposed to prepare for the next one already.”

“…Oh.”

I nodded sympathetically. Finishing work only to discover more work waiting was something I understood quite well.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t particularly qualified to help. My own work had just tried to take over my body.

“How have you been?”

She suddenly asked.

I paused for a moment and raised my hand.

“…Besides the hand?”

“Yes, besides the hand. After everything at the school.”

“I’ve been doing quite well.”

Her eyes returned to my wrist.

“That happened somewhere else.”

“Right…”

She shifted in her chair, looking towards the papers on my desk before asking whether I had been resting. I told her I had, although she didn’t seem particularly convinced.

Eventually, we ran out of things to say.

Zoey looked at me, then towards the door, then back at me. I waited for her to explain why she had come, but she only adjusted the strap of the bag beside her.

Several seconds passed.

Then I understood.

“You’re flirting with me, aren’t you?”

“Huh?”

Her head turned so quickly that I almost worried about her neck.

“I see. That explains it.”

“Explains what?”

“The questions. Whether I’m resting, how I’m feeling… You looked at my hand because you were jealous, weren’t you?”

“No, that’s…. I was just asking.”

“Yes. A very common beginning.”

I nodded to myself.

“According to some dating books I’ve been reading, it first starts with the initial interest. Then, well, the interest blooms with the girl denying it before they eventually admit it, and then they hold hands and have kids.”

“What? What sort of… wait, why are you even reading dating books?”

“Reading what?”

“…..”

She opened her mouth before closing it again. I leaned back, giving her some time to collect herself.

The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced.

She was flirting with me.

“I am not flirting with you.”

Right, the denial part.

That’s where she’s at.

“Why would you think that? Do you know how many people want to date me?”

“No. How many?”

“That’s not the point.”

“You asked.”

Zoey pressed her lips together.

I waited patiently.

“…A lot.”

“And yet you’re here.”

“Because I wanted to talk to you!”

“I noticed. You’ve been making quite an effort.”

She stared at me, her fingers tightening around the strap of her bag.

“Listen. If I were flirting with you, I wouldn’t need to do all of this.”

“Oh?”

“I’d just say it.”

“Say what?”

“That I’m flirting with you. I’m-⎯”

She stopped.

I nodded slowly.

“…Thank you for telling me.”

“That isn’t what I meant!”

“You don’t have to take it back. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Seth.”

“Although a little more small talk would’ve been nice. This feels rather sudden.”

Zoey lowered her head and pressed her fingers against her forehead. For a moment, she remained like that before looking up at me again.

“The more I look at you, the more I feel like you’re turning into Team Leader Soran.”

“Ah, another one that is in love with me.”

“…..”

I brushed my hair up.

“I am handsome.”

She took a deep breath.

“The money.”

“…Ah.”

My smile faded a little.

This was considerably less pleasant than flirting.

“What about it?”

“The million I sent to Kyle.”

“…Oh, so it wasn’t all his money.”

“No, I helped him, and I’m not here to ask for it back right now.”

My shoulders relaxed.

“You should’ve started with that.”

“That doesn’t mean you can forget about it.”

“Of course not.”

I had an excellent memory when people reminded me.

Zoey watched me for another moment before her expression grew more serious. She let go of her bag, resting her hands in her lap.

“I don’t need it immediately. That’s not what’s been bothering me.”

I waited.

“Kyle asked for it while you were still inside the school. He seemed to know something, but there wasn’t time to explain, so I sent it.”

Her gaze settled on mine.

“Then the Gate appeared.”

“…..”

“I’ve been thinking about it. The timing, what Kyle said, and the fact that you eventually came out…”

She paused before shaking her head.

“I started wondering whether you had something to do with it.”

I remained quiet.

Zoey looked down at her hands, rubbing her thumb against one of her knuckles.

“Then I started remembering the past and how I often misunderstood you and jumped to conclusions on my own…”

She let out a small breath.

“…And I realised I was doing the same thing all over again.”

“So you came here.”

“Yes.”

That explained the rather awkward conversation.

Well, most of it.

“I know you have things you can’t tell me,” she continued. “I’m not asking you to explain all of them. I just want to know… if I’m imagining things. If I’m jumping to conclusions again. Did you…?”

Her eyes lifted towards me again.

“Have anything to do with the appearance of the Gate?”

“…..”

I looked at her for a while.

I mean, it was bound to happen eventually. Zoey wasn’t dumb. She was considerably smart, and she always did sniff out the truth behind certain incidents. I only barely managed to hide the truth by gaslighting her, but things continued to pile on, and I knew that Zoey wasn’t dumb enough not to know something was happening with me.

I appreciated the fact that she came to me first.

Still…

‘How much should I tell her?’

Even Kyle didn’t properly understand everything. He knew enough to help when I needed him, but that didn’t mean he understood what happened to the money or how I used it. He had a vague idea, but not a full idea.

Explaining that to Zoey would lead to other questions.

Questions I wasn’t particularly ready to answer.

I lowered my hand onto the desk.

“The money helped.”

Her fingers stopped moving.

“With the Gate?”

“Yes.”

“So you were…”

“I was behind it appearing.”

Zoey remained still, watching me carefully as I continued.

“I didn’t create it. But I had a way to trigger it, and the money helped me do that.”

“To get out?”

I nodded.

“I had my reasons for doing it that way. I can’t explain everything, but without your help, things would’ve been considerably more difficult.”

That was as much as I was willing to tell her.

For several seconds, she didn’t respond. Her gaze moved towards my wrist again before returning to my face.

Then she slowly nodded.

“I see…”

“You’re not going to ask anything else?”

“Would you answer?”

“Probably not.”

“Then there’s no point.”

She leaned back slightly, her shoulders lowering.

“I just wanted to hear it from you.”

I found myself nodding.

That was reasonable.

Surprisingly so. I had become rather accustomed to her just accusing me of things that I did. Felt like a breath of fresh air.

Zoey reached for her bag.

“I should go. I still need to speak to the Section Chief about our schedule.”

“Good luck.”

“Oh, but do you think he’s in a good mood?”

“Him? I don’t know. He’s probably tired.”

She looked at me.

I looked back.

Eventually, she sighed and stood up.

“Never mind. I’ll find out.”

She lifted the bag onto her shoulder and started moving towards the door.

“Oh, Zoey.”

She glanced back.

“What?”

“Next time, you can just ask me to dinner.”

Her shoe caught the leg of the chair.

She caught herself against the desk before turning towards me, her face contorted as she looked at me.

“You…”

I pursed my lips together and looked up.

“…To conquer a man, one must conquer its stoma⎯”

CLANK!

The door closed before I could finish my sentence.

“…..”

Silence settled over the office.

I remained sitting for a while before reaching towards the drawer with my uninjured hand. Taking out the radio, I turned it on, and a quiet burst of static filled the room.

Krrr…

I adjusted the dial before placing it beside the laptop.

With Zoey gone, my thoughts returned to Silver Lantern.

Their member that Joanna and the others had found was still in a coma, and I still had yet to rule out the possibility of VILE – 1048’s involvement. It felt like a bit of a stretch, but at the same time not.

“…I think I should go.”

I picked up my phone and looked for their contact.

It was time to arrange another visit.