Rule 1: Never Trust a Smile

Eunsol traces broken energy lines with the same calm focus she once used on a go board. At work, that gift lets her see how people trained themselves into pain, and how to lead them back out. She keeps a sealed contract, a marked badge, and a strange tablet locked away, because she does not trust what her company gave her for free. Then one quiet woman keeps showing up at the edges of her day, bringing tea, folders, and a look that lingers too long. Eunsol can read a dead hand faster than she can read that look, and it scares her how much she wants to try.