The next morning, Noa felt like a zombie. She'd barely slept a wink after yesterday's disaster. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Reno barging onto the set, Ren's confused face, Mira's furious glare… and Reno, of course, flashing that smug grin as if he'd saved the day.
She trudged into the station's break room, hoping for five minutes of peace before the madness started again. But of course, Reno was already there—lounging on the couch with his feet up, munching on a leftover sandwich he'd probably stolen from someone's lunch.
"Morning, sunshine," he said through a mouthful of bread. "You look like death. Want me to draw you a new face?"
"Shut. Up," Noa snapped, yanking the sandwich away and tossing it in the trash. "You almost ruined everything yesterday. *Again.*"
Reno rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh please. The pretty boy didn't even notice half of what was going on. And besides, he needs a little competition to keep things interesting."
Noa rubbed her temples, feeling a headache bloom. "I don't *want* competition. I don't want drama. I want you gone so I can actually have a chance with Ren without you wrecking it!"
Reno pouted. "Wow, harsh. And here I thought we were bonding."
Noa glared at him. "What part of *get lost* do you not understand?"
But Reno just grinned. "Look, I've been thinking. You want to get closer to Ren, right? Well, lucky for you… I've come up with a genius plan."
Noa groaned. "No. Absolutely not."
Reno ignored her. He leaned in, eyes sparkling with manic energy. "Listen. You're always in the background, right? But if you do something dramatic, *he* has to notice you. So! We fake a workplace accident, you get 'hurt,' and boom—Prince Charming rushes to your side. Sparks fly, hearts pound, credits roll."
Noa stared at him. "That is the *stupidest* idea I've ever heard."
"Aw, come on! You're an editor, you should appreciate good drama."
"No! I am not faking an injury to get attention. That's insane!"
Reno crossed his arms, sulking. "Fine. Then we do it the boring way: slip him a note. Confess your undying love. What could go wrong?"
Noa buried her face in her hands. "Everything. *Everything* could go wrong."
---
But Reno was relentless. Over the next few hours, he followed her around the station, pitching increasingly absurd plans: faking a power outage so Ren would have to rescue her from the dark, dropping cue cards so he'd help pick them up, even pretending to faint in front of him.
"Please stop," Noa begged. "I just… I can't take another disaster. Just let me do my job."
Reno tilted his head. "Your job's boring," he said bluntly. "And it's not going to make him notice you. Trust me, Noa… sometimes you gotta cause a little chaos to find your happy ending."
Noa's heart twinged at that, because deep down she *did* want to believe she deserved some kind of happy ending. But looking at Reno—her walking, talking nightmare—she wasn't sure this was the way to find it.
---
That afternoon, while setting up mics on the main set, Noa overheard Ren chatting with Mira. He was talking about his new album, how nervous he was about going on air later that week to promote it. His laugh was soft, a little self-deprecating, and it made Noa's heart flutter painfully.
She was so distracted she didn't notice Reno sneaking up behind her until he whispered in her ear, "So… now would be a *perfect* time to 'accidentally' spill water on him."
She jumped, nearly dropping the mic pack. "No! Stop it!"
But Reno just grinned, backing away with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Suit yourself," he sang. "But you're gonna regret not taking my advice…"
---
As Noa clutched the mic pack, watching Ren laugh gently with Mira, she realized Reno wasn't entirely wrong about one thing: she couldn't stay invisible forever. Sooner or later, she had to make a move… before Reno drove her completely insane.
She just prayed she could do it *without* ending up on national TV in a complete trainwreck.