Break Room: A gripping and darkly funny game show thriller from the author of the DallerGut duology by Miye Lee

Author:Miye Lee [Lee, Miye]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2025-08-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

Nine

I couldn’t fall asleep that night, of course, and stayed awake until dawn. For reasons I couldn’t fully explain, I found myself wanting to talk to Monologue. It wasn’t because I suspected him of being the mole, but rather because I felt a faint connection to him – a notion almost pathetically laughable, even to myself. Yet, at that moment, I desperately needed to talk to someone, and he seemed like the right choice.

I was certain that Monologue had figured out long before the rest of us that the break room could be accessed outside working hours, which explained why I rarely saw him there during the day. It was pure speculation on my part that he might drop by early in the morning, but nonetheless, I decided to make my way to the break room at 6am and wait for him.

The break room before dawn felt like an entirely different place, a world apart from its usual self in the light of the day. Over the past few days, everything had always been neatly tidied by the time I arrived in the morning, but now, traces of the previous night still lingered. Tumbler and Cake’s cups sat unwashed on the counter, the sink was streaked with dark stains from a soggy rooibos teabag, and while the cabinet I’d hidden in looked fine at first glance, the moment I touched the door, the loose hinge wobbled precariously. Inside, the cleaning supplies I’d knocked over in my frantic scramble to hide were still scattered untidily.

I’d just crouched down to straighten the fallen mould-prevention spray and set the bleach bottles upright when I sensed someone enter the break room behind me. It was now 6.50am.

There stood Monologue, looking refreshed.

‘Hey, Monologue, uh . . .’ I stammered, my mind racing to find the right words. ‘I wanted to talk to you about something. I figured if I came early, I might catch you.’

The words tumbled out before I could organise my thoughts. I forced my sleep-deprived eyes, heavy from the restless night, to look as casual as I sounded – or at least as casual as I was trying to sound.

‘Did you open a hint about yourself?’

Monologue’s response caught me completely off-guard. I stared at him, blankly processing his unexpected words.

‘I’m sorry you did so,’ he said. ‘But right now, we just gotta do what has to be done.’

He stood on his tiptoes and reached towards the upper cabinets, unlocking a tiny padlock with a key. My eyes widened as I noticed the lock – something I’d never realised was there before. Looking closer, I saw it was identical to those used to secure our hint boxes.

‘Why are you using that lock here?’ I asked, pointing at it.

‘There aren’t enough drawers in my room,’ Monologue replied simply, pulling out a pair of rubber gloves and a scrubbing brush from the cabinet. Without hesitation, he grabbed more cleaning supplies from the lower cabinet, and began to tidy the break room in earnest.

He tied a green apron around his waist, slipped on the bright pink rubber gloves, and got to work.

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