LightReader

Chapter 1 - Chapter 1 — The Wrong Number

The phone chimed softly against the wooden nightstand, its vibrations echoing faintly through the quiet of the room. Mavi groaned, not moving at first, his body aching in places he hadn't even known could ache. His face stayed buried deep in his pillow, the cool side pressed against his cheek, offering a little relief. Every muscle in his body felt like it had been twisted, stretched, and pulled out of place. His back was sore. His legs were heavy. Even lifting an arm felt like dragging a brick through water.

That day had been brutal. Not just long, but punishing in the sort of slow, grinding way that makes time feel like it's doubled. A particularly busy day, the busiest he'd had since he started his new job six months ago. And in those six months, he'd thought he'd seen hard days. But nothing quite like today.

Work had drained him to the bone marrow. He could still feel the ghost of his desk under his elbows, the phantom weight of never-ending spreadsheets hovering in front of his eyes. His boss's voice still echoed in his skull — deep, sharp, and relentless, cutting into every pause of his overworked thoughts. And outside the office, the city hadn't been any kinder. Traffic had swelled across the streets like a living beast, snarling and congested, grinding his patience down with every honk and red light.

Tonight, though — tonight was supposed to be different. He had promised himself one thing and one thing only: rest. Real, undisturbed, full-body rest.

His plan was simple and sacred. He'd pull his blanket up to his chin like a cocoon, tear open a half-eaten packet of Dorito chips stashed in the drawer, and let Attack on Titan play on his phone — only the peak scenes, of course. He knew them by heart. The kind of episodes that gave him chills even after the fifth rewatch. He'd watch until his eyelids gave up, and sleep would carry him off.

But then the phone chimed again.

With a tired grunt, Mavi dragged his hand out from under the covers and swiped across the screen. Naruto's face grinned back at him from the lock screen wallpaper — spiky hair, orange jumpsuit, and all. Naruto. My favorite anime character, he thought sleepily, smiling for half a second. Something about Naruto's persistence had always stayed with him — that stubborn, loudmouthed refusal to quit.

A WhatsApp notification blinked across the top of the screen. The number was unfamiliar. No name. No photo.

He tapped the message.

"Hello — there's a job available. They are limited so apply quickly. It's only for women."

Mavi blinked. The message read like it had been stitched together by a robot — too formal, oddly phrased, and clearly copy-pasted from somewhere generic. The tone was curt, clipped. Almost like a scam, he thought. He chuckled under his breath and replied without much thought, thumbs moving on their own.

"Well, I'm not a woman. I'm a man."

He locked the screen and tossed the phone aside, letting it land somewhere beside him with a soft thud. That should've been the end of it.

But the chime came again — this time almost immediately.

He picked the phone back up, more curious now than tired.

"Oh. Pardon me. This job is only available for women."

He stared at the message for a moment, eyebrows slightly raised. The phrasing was off again. Slightly robotic. Yet, somehow... sincere?

A normal person — a more logical one, maybe — would've closed the chat. Deleted the message. Blocked the number. Mavi, however, wasn't that kind of person. He had a thing about conversations — even the strange, spammy ones. He hated letting messages hang unfinished. Something about it just felt... wrong. Like leaving a sentence mid-air.

So, he typed back.

"That's fine. Someone has to be the company's morale officer, right?"

He smirked as he hit send, amused with himself. He expected silence this time. Maybe she — if it was a she — would finally lose interest. Or maybe it was a chatbot all along. Either way, he was done.

The pause stretched a little longer.

He sighed. That was probably it.

Then his screen lit up again.

One smiley emoji.

Then two.

And somehow, just like that, something shifted in the air. Something subtle but undeniable cracked open in the otherwise ordinary, uneventful night. The kind of shift you don't recognize until much later, when you're looking back and trying to figure out when everything quietly began to change.

Eventually, he learned her name.

Zuvi.

A short, sharp name. Uncommon. Like a spark in a dark room. It fit her energy perfectly — quick, bright, and with just the right amount of strangeness to make you wonder if you were the weird one in the conversation.

That night, instead of queuing up Attack on Titan and zoning out into a mix of chips and anime glory, Mavi found himself doing something else entirely.

He was staring at his screen.

Waiting for her replies.

And he didn't know why.

He couldn't explain it. Didn't try to.

He just knew — without knowing how — that this wouldn't be the last time her name lit up his phone.

More Chapters