Chapter 8 Setting the Heart to Private Mode

          As noon approached and the PR department employees began packing up to head down for lunch, a massive black pop-up window with a red border suddenly flashed right in the middle of Lalita's computer screen.

[System Administrator Message] Come down to my office on the 15th floor. Right now. It's time to update your system, Lalita.

Lita's eyes widened. She stared at the utterly dictatorial command that had bypassed every single chat application to broadcast directly onto her screen.

Did he seriously just use the company's internal network to demand she keep her promise about lunch?! What a power-crazed dictator!

"Lita, let's go eat! Je is craving that spicy salad in front of the building," Je Mod-Daeng leaned over to invite her.

"Uh... I can't go, Je. IT just urgently called me down to update some system. It'll probably take a while."

Lita hastily clicked the 'X' to close the message window, grabbed her small handbag, and practically sprinted out of the department, leaving Je Mod-Daeng standing there frowning in confusion.

When the elevator arrived at the fifteenth floor, the atmosphere drastically shifted from the vibrant life of the PR department to the freezing, dead silence typical of IT. Several male employees in thick glasses looked up from their monitors, staring in stunned awe as the beautiful PR girl strutted into their territory.

Lita walked straight toward the glass-walled office at the very corner of the floor. The plaque by the door read: 'Phakin S. - Head of IT Department'.

She peered through the clear glass. Bhakin was leaning back in his large leather executive chair, talking on the phone with a stoic expression. However, the moment his piercing eyes flicked up and caught her standing at the door, he immediately hung up the call. He gave a curt nod, granting her permission to enter.

"Lock the door."

That was his very first greeting the second the young woman stepped into the room. Left with no other choice, Lita complied. She crossed her arms and walked over to stop right in front of his massive desk.

"Well? Where's the laptop or equipment I need to update? I only have a one-hour lunch break, Khun Head of IT," she said, feigning a serious, demanding look.

Bhakin didn't answer her question. The tall man reached out and pressed a small switch on the control panel beneath his desk.

Flick!

In the blink of an eye, the clear glass walls surrounding the office—which previously offered a crystal-clear view of the employees outside—instantly frosted over, turning completely opaque and milky white.

Lita gasped, her head whipping left and right as she stared at the sudden transformation in sheer shock.

"Smart glass," Bhakin replied deadpan. "An electrochromic glass system. I had it specially installed just for my office, for absolute privacy when I need to concentrate. Or... when I don't want anyone outside to see what I am doing with the employee inside."

His deep, low voice and the dangerous, predatory glint in his eyes made Lita's face burn hot all the way to her ears. The spacious IT Head's office suddenly felt suffocatingly small the moment the glass turned opaque. The atmosphere instantly shifted into a locked-room scenario, trapping just the two of them alone.

The tall man stood up to his full height. He walked around his desk toward her, gently grabbing her slender wrist and leading her to the leather guest sofa in the corner of the room. On the glass coffee table in the middle, a takeout bag from a luxurious five-star Italian restaurant was already waiting.

"Sit down. This is your lunch."

"Did you really just use a system update as a front to force me to eat lunch with you?"

She shot him a playful glare, even though her heart was secretly pounding at his smooth, dictatorial ways.

"I didn't use a front. I really am updating a system."

Bhakin unpacked the containers, handing her a box of squid ink seafood spaghetti and a salmon steak.

"I'm updating your digestive system so it isn't left empty, which would cause you to get irritated and blindly lash out at everyone else."

"Such an excuse," Lita mumbled, but she obediently took the fork and twirled the spaghetti into her mouth anyway. The premium taste of the food, combined with her hunger, had her chewing away with her cheeks puffed out, completely forgetting herself.

Bhakin didn't start eating his own portion. Instead, he propped his chin on his hand against the sofa's armrest, tilting his head to watch the young woman eat. The usual harshness in his gaze had softened considerably. The corner of his deeply cut lips curled up slightly, as if he were watching his favorite pet enjoy a meal.

"What are you staring at? Do I have spaghetti stuck on my face or something?" she paused, finally registering the intense, unwavering gaze locked onto her.

"No."

"Then why are you staring? It's making it hard to eat."

"I'm running an evaluation."

Bhakin shifted his body a fraction closer. His clean, masculine cologne hit Lita's senses, making her subconsciously hold her breath.

"I was just thinking that when you uninstall your hot-girl mask and sit here eating quietly like this... you're much more pleasant to look at than when you strut around handing out smiles to all those men in other departments."

Cough... Cough...

Lita choked lightly, quickly grabbing her glass of water to drink and hide her embarrassment.

"When have I ever handed out smiles? I was just being friendly. It's the standard PR style. You're the one overthinking things."

"I'm not overthinking," Bhakin fired back instantly. "This morning, that salesman was staring at your cleavage so hard his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. If I hadn't been there, do you really think he'd just be inviting you to eat, or inviting you to do something else?"

"Wait, are you actually jealous right now, Khun Bhakin?"

She decided to turn and meet his gaze head-on. Her plump lips curved into a drippingly sweet smile, deploying her seductive skills once again as a firewall to hide her flushed cheeks.

"My, my... If you're jealous, just admit it. No need to act tough and use work as a front."

Instead of denying it or avoiding her eyes like a typical proud man, Bhakin stared straight into her soul. He slowly straightened up, then leaned his face in so dangerously close that Lita had to lean back until she was pressed flat against the sofa. His strong arms came down on either side of her slender frame, completely trapping her within his embrace.

"Yes. I'm jealous."

His blunt, uncompromising confession and the husky voice whispering right against her lips instantly crashed Lita's processing system. Her large eyes widened. Her heart pounded as wildly as a drum solo.

"A-A deadpan guy like you... actually knows how to be jealous?" she asked, her voice trembling faintly.

"I am a programmer. Not a robot, Lalita."

Bhakin raised his right hand. His slightly calloused thumb gently brushed against the corner of her mouth. The scorching heat of his touch sent a violent shiver through her entire body.

"You have squid ink sauce on the corner of your mouth," he murmured, his gaze remaining fiercely locked onto her brick-orange lips.

In that second, Lita thought he was going to grab a tissue to wipe it off, or at least use his thumb. But instead, Bhakin did something that made her heart practically stop beating.

The tall man leaned down. His deeply cut lips brushed feather-light against the corner of her mouth. Slowly and agonizingly deliberately, he used his own lips to sweep away the stain. The touch was soft, demanding, and so profoundly hot that it completely obliterated the PR queen's sanity.

Lita squeezed her eyes shut, her body going rigid. Both hands gripped her skirt so tightly it wrinkled in her fists. She had never been touched by any man in such an intensely steamy, deeply intimate way in her entire life.

Bhakin pulled his lips back slowly. His scorching breath still lingered against her skin. He stared down at her flushed cheeks and tightly shut eyes with immense satisfaction.

"It's clean now," he stated in a perfectly flat tone, acting as if what he had just done was the most normal thing in the world.

Lita opened her eyes, looking up at him with a face that was flushed crimson all the way down to her neck.

"W-What the hell are you doing?! There's a tissue right there! Why didn't you use it?!"

"Using personal hardware processes data much faster and more accurately than relying on consumable resources."

That deadpan, IT-style excuse—slipping straight out of the mouth of a man who had just seized the opportunity to steal an indirect kiss—left Lita's jaw hanging open. She desperately wanted to punch that broad chest of his, but her body had stubbornly lost all its strength.

"Opportunist. You shameless, deadpan jerk," she mumbled under her breath. She ducked her head, entirely too flustered to meet his eyes, staring down at her plate of spaghetti that probably tasted sickeningly sweet by now.

Bhakin finally pulled back, sitting properly in his seat, completely hiding a triumphant smile. The tall man opened a bottle of mineral water, poured it into a glass, and handed it to her.

"Finish your food quickly. You have another PR team meeting this afternoon, don't you?" he reminded her, abruptly flipping the switch back to work mode.

The young woman took the glass and downed half of it in one gulp to quench the burning heat in her throat. She then continued eating in silence, not daring to utter a single word of argument for the rest of the meal.

Trapped behind opaque frosted glass in the freezing office of the Head of IT, Lalita finally realized the truth: she was the one having her entire heart's system completely updated.

And it seemed that she had already fully consented to letting him write the code to lock the password to her life.