Her fingers moved across the keyboard on autopilot. She typed bullet points for a presentation she didn’t believe in, then deleted them. Typed again. Deleted. Her screen filled with ghost drafts and red-underlined grammar suggestions that felt more alive than she did.

Slack pinged.

[Team Lead – 9:14 AM]:
“Quick sync in 15 mins. Please come with updates on Q2 goals :)”

She closed the window. Just reading that smiley face drained her further.

The beige walls of her home office felt closer every day. Even the K-pop posters she used to adore now hung like tired wallpaper. Her once-vibrant bullet journal lay unopened beside her, its pages stuck together by forgotten intentions.

She got up, walked to the kitchen, and made coffee—not because she wanted it, but because it was the next thing. The rhythm of boiling, pouring, sipping gave her the illusion of movement, but inside, everything was static.

Back at her desk, she clicked through emails without reading them, marked unread reports as “Reviewed,” and muted the upcoming sync.

Then she opened her browser.

Reddit. YouTube. That fanfic site she swore she’d stop checking at work.

What am I doing?

She asked the question daily now. Not just about work, but about life.

Masti closed her laptop. Just for five minutes. She curled into her chair, eyes drifting to the corner where her manga collection leaned like old friends waiting to be remembered.

Maybe, she thought, she’d reread one later. Maybe that would stir something.

But first—another coffee.