Mei stepped out of the elevator onto the executive floor ten minutes early.
In her world, if you were on time, you were already late. First impressions mattered, even if the man she was meeting seemed like the type to pretend he didn't notice.
The 25th floor; the space was quieter than the lower floors. Cleaner. The air felt thinner, expensive. There were fewer people, wider gaps between the minimalist oak desks, and glass offices lining the perimeter like a series of architectural statements.
This was Yan Jing's floor, his team, her team.
She let her gaze move, taking it all in. She expected two workstations set up for the new recruits.
One was already occupied. She saw a name tag resting on the monitor: LEO. He was already hunched over, looking overwhelmed by the sheer amount of processing power at his fingertips.
The other workstation, hers, wasn't there.
Mei paused. Just for a second. She felt a slight prickle of unease at the back of her neck, but she smoothed her charcoal skirt and walked forward. Her heels were soft against the designer flooring, her eyes scanning again, slower this time.
One desk. One chair. One setup for a recruit. Not two.
Maybe the second hasn't been delivered yet, she reasoned. Possible. Logistics fail sometimes.
She approached the workstation area anyway. Leo did not notice, his eyes locked on his screen. He looked like he was trying to merge with the hardware.
"Excuse me," Mei said, her voice even and professional. "This is Team Yan Jing?"
A beat. A man sitting at what would be the reception's desk, glanced up. He gave her a quick, clinical assessment.
"Yes."
"I'm assigned here. Mei Lin."
Another pause. The man didn't look back at his work. "You should check with HR."
"I already have my assignment," Mei said, her chin tilting up just a fraction. "I received the confirmation on Friday."
"Please check with HR."
Something in his tone, casual, final, landed wrong. Mei held his gaze for a second longer than necessary, searching for a crack in the dismissal. Finding none, she turned.
No rush. No visible reaction. Just a slight tightening at the edges of her mouth.
HR was three floors down.
By the time she stepped out of the elevator on the lower level, the air felt louder. Busier. People moving, talking, typing, the normal chaos of the hive. She walked straight into the HR department, her file gripped firmly in her hand. Grounded.
She walked up to the first available desk.
"Hi, I am one of the new recruits," she said, placing her file down on the laminate surface. "There seems to be a mistake with my floor placement." She recounted what she had found upstairs, the single desk, the missing setup.
The woman behind the desk smiled. It was a polite, practiced smile that Mei recognized from her trainee days, the we have bad news smile.
"Name?"
"Mei Lin."
A pause as the woman typed. Then, a flicker of something in her eyes. Gone quickly, but Mei had been trained to read faces for a living. She saw the shift.
"I'm assigned to Team Yan Jing," Mei continued, her voice calm and steady. "But there's no space for me on the 25th floor."
Another pause. More typing. Then the woman looked up, her expression carefully neutral.
"You've been reassigned, Miss Lin."
Just like that. The world shifted an inch to the left. Mei blinked once.
"I'm sorry?"
"Your placement was updated this morning."
"To where?" Mei asked, her heart beginning to thud a slow, heavy rhythm against her ribs.
"To" the woman glanced at the screen, "—Madame Shen."
Silence.
The words didn't land immediately. It was like they existed in a different language, a different reality.
"That's not possible," Mei said. "The placement was finalized on Friday."
"Yes, it was."
"And now I'm not with the Chief Architect?"
"That is correct."
Mei stared at her. Still. Calm. Her idol training was the only thing keeping her hands from trembling. "Why?"
The polite smile returned. The kind that meant absolutely nothing. "Team placements are determined based on internal criteria and the needs of the firm."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"I'm afraid we can't disclose the specific reasoning behind executive reassignments."
Mei let out a quiet breath through her nose. "What?"
"Placement decisions are handled collectively by the department heads."
"So no one is accountable," Mei countered, her sarcasm sharpening.
"We ensure all recruits are placed where they can best develop their specific skill sets."
"That's not what I asked."
Another smile. Softer this time. Firmer. "That's all the information I can provide, Miss Lin."
A beat of pure, cold silence. Mei picked up her file.
"What floor is this new team?" Mei asked, her voice like ice.
"The Heritage Wing," the woman replied. "The 12th floor"