The first impression that you might have had about your Cancer coworker is just how serious and straightlaced they appear. The Cancer coworker is often found observing everyone with a stony expression, diligently finishing up a task with headphones on, or deep in conversation with their desk mate with furrowed brows.

The second thing that you will learn about your Cancer coworker is that their personal life outside of work is absolutely wild. They fell in love with someone who has a secret identity and got swept up in a motorcycle gang. They’re a bestselling novelist in their spare time and all of their works feature the raunchiest sex scenes. They are well known in the clubbing world because they perform under a completely different name and persona.

What the fuck? Is it possible that the severe looking guy with the buttoned up collared shirt isn’t quite who they appear to be?

Like an onion, the Cancer coworker is a person with many layers.

With a serious face, the Cancer coworker gestures at you to please come here. You gulp, feeling like you might be in trouble. What do they want now? You’re deep in the busiest and most stressful part of your workday. As you inch closer, you see that they have a YouTube video open on their work computer. They play the video for you—a cat eating a burrito at a feverish pace. Once the video ends, your Cancer coworker nods curtly at you. “Thought you needed a laugh.”

Just when you think that you’re becoming fast friends with your Cancer coworker, they suddenly appear in front of you with a little complaint. It’s always something small. You forgot to reset the work microwave after using it and taking your food out early. You didn’t clean the bathroom at your turn. Your Cancer coworker gives you a firm and stern reprimand, taking you aback. Weren’t you two just joking around at lunch an hour ago?

You meekly apologize and discover that your Cancer coworker’s upset will instantly melt away at the slightest sign of empathy. Turns out, all they wanted was some emotional acknowledgement of whatever it was that caused their upset.

Actually, Cancer felt like they could tell you about the microwave because you bonded over the video of the burrito cat. When the Cancer coworker isn’t comfortable with you, they won’t tell you shit. Only when the Cancer coworker feels comfortable enough to open up with you will they bring their complaints to you. The Cancer coworker has many small complaints but also gets over them as long as you acknowledge their feelings.

The Cancer coworker never punishes anyone and they don’t have the power to give you trouble. Why did you think that they would? Did you think that they were your mom or something? Cancer assumes that you’re coworkers on equal footing here and that you would tell them if you’re ever upset by them too. A healthy workplace, an emotionally mature workplace, depends on everyone voicing their concerns, doesn’t it?

Yes, you might secretly look up to them a little bit because they are so deeply knowledgeable about what they do and seem to predict the actions of others with an ease that can only come from nurtured experience but they are still very much not your mother. They are a fellow coworker and, when they voice complaints, no—you are not in trouble.

You have to keep in mind that the Cancer coworker is at work because of one reason and one reason only: they have to pay rent.

Cancer cares deeply about finding a home, securing a home, and enjoying that home. At the end of a long day, Cancer tucks themselves into bed and drifts off into the highly rendered dreamworld of their fantasy life. All they need is a comfortable bed and a door that closes.

Usually, the Cancer coworker does their best to go to work, complete their tasks, and leave at the end of the day in a timely manner without causing any ruckus at all. Their most favorite moment of every single day is the moment when the workday ends and they can transform back into their true selves again. Your Cancer coworker looks forward to that moment of getting off of work all day everyday. When they are at work, they will hold themselves back because they don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize the job that provides for their home. You know that feeling you get when you say something weird at work? The Cancer coworker is actively trying to avoid that feeling.

Yes, Cancer seems so diligent and almost professional at first glance. Yes, people look up to them. Yes, other coworkers might project a sense of authority onto Cancers because they’re so skilled and experienced.

But you have to keep in mind that Cancer is trying to get through the day and go home. They’re not a standard and they’re not your parent. They are just a fellow worker. They don’t overshare because they don’t need that stress at work. They will help you when they can but they have learned, through trial and error, that it’s best to stay well boundaried at work.

Inside, Cancers are completely soft. You have to keep in mind that the workplace, as a site of selling labor, is not designed to be a warmhearted place and that Cancers can wisely intuit this. Cancer will show you their inner selves in the way that they choose if they feel like it but they also need their shell because they are aware of what work is.

If the Cancer coworker ever chooses you as their favorite coworker, then you’re in for a treat. You might just catch a glimpse of their real self, of that infamous wild side that you hear about but never quite believe due to the poised way they conduct themselves when they’re on the clock. If they don’t invite you in? Then it’s best not to pry.

The Cancer coworker is funny as hell but they refrain from cracking jokes at work until they know that they’re safe because they want to keep their jobs as worry free as possible. They’re talented as hell but they sometimes try to hide their potential because they want to keep their workload as minimal as can be.

If you have a Cancer coworker, then the best way to get along with them is to simply let them leave on time. They want to go home where they can be their true, goofy, silly selves. So don’t give them tasks in the afternoon. Let them clock out on time and they might invite you after a couple of years if they like you enough.