Against the Algorithm

Chapter 19: The Cost of Chaos

This was Yao.

Their girl.

Their sweet, considerate, easily flustered little analyst who panicked when someone asked her what she wanted to eat. Who used oversized mugs to hide her face. Who apologized when she caught someone yawning while she was explaining patch notes. How hard could it possibly be to get her to just... ask Rui to undo it?

They had no idea.

They approached her in formation—Ming at the lead, Lao K flanking to the right, Pang following close behind, and Lao Mao calmly prepared to deliver the final blow with his carefully rehearsed speech that he had written in his phone notes ten minutes prior.

Yao, seated at her desk in her corner of the training room, hoodie sleeves pulled over her hands, her tea still warm beside her keyboard, looked up slowly as they surrounded her like a pack of large, tired men trying desperately not to look as desperate as they felt. They tried everything. Soft expressions. Pained smiles. Subtle sighs of suffering.

Ming opened with a gentle tone, casual. "Hey, Yao, can we talk for a sec?"

Yao blinked.

Listened.

Tilted her head.

And then—without hesitation, without drama, without even looking like she had to think about it—responded in the softest, most devastatingly sweet voice they had ever heard.

"No."

The air left the room.

Ming's mouth hung open mid-sentence. Lao Mao closed his eyes slowly and exhaled through his nose, speech forgotten. Lao K stared at her, eyebrows high, expression unreadable.

And Pang?

Pang physically recoiled. "Wha—what do you mean, no ?"

Yao blinked again, tilting her head like she didn't understand why that wasn't a sufficient answer. "No, I'm not talking to Rui-ge."

"You're not even going to hear us out?" Ming recovered first, leaning in a little as he tried to inject reason.

She nodded politely. "I already did. Yesterday. While you weren't listening to Coach Kwon."

Silence.

Pang opened his mouth again—tried to salvage it. "Technically, we—"

"Did you take my work seriously?" she asked, interrupting him gently, her voice still soft, but firm enough to snap every word off like a blade.

The silence that followed was painful.

Lao Mao muttered something under his breath in surrender. Lao K looked at the floor. Ming pinched the bridge of his nose like he was trying to breathe through the loss.

And Yue, ever the loudest, finally flailed a hand. "How are you this ruthless?!"

Yao shrugged, utterly unbothered, sipping her tea as if she hadn't just denied them financial salvation with a smile.

Lao Mao shook his head slowly. "She's learning from Cheng."

Ming stood, already defeated. "She's learned too well."

Lao K murmured, "Next time we bribe her first."

And Pang?

Pang just stared, horrified, the realization dawning like a terrible sunrise. "We created a monster."