The moment they reached the second floor, the atmosphere changed.
Downstairs was family.
Voices.
Laughter.
The smell of food.
The television.
Life.
Upstairs felt quieter.
More personal.
More dangerous.
At least for Jian.
Because now Wei was entering his room.
His actual room.
Not school.
Not the library.
Not somewhere public.
His room.
Which suddenly felt like a terrible idea.
Jian pushed open the door.
Then immediately regretted everything.
The room looked exactly like it always did.
Which was the problem.
Books piled on top of other books.
A basketball near the shelf.
Three shirts hanging from the back of a chair for reasons nobody understood.
Comic books mixed between study notes.
Pens scattered everywhere.
One sock.
Nobody knew why.
Not even Jian.
The room wasn't dirty.
Just aggressively lived in.
Wei stepped inside slowly.
His gaze traveled across the room.
The desk.
The shelves.
The books.
The window.
The bed.
Everything.
Jian suddenly felt like he was being examined.
"This isn't normally—"
"It is."
Jian froze.
Wei continued looking around.
Calm.
Unbothered.
As if he had expected exactly this.
Then a small smile appeared.
Tiny.
Barely noticeable.
"Never changed."
The words escaped softly.
More to himself than anyone else.
Jian heard them anyway.
His heart immediately betrayed him.
"What?"
Wei glanced back.
"Hm?"
"You said something."
Wei looked toward the shelf again.
"Nothing."
Liar.
The thought appeared instantly.
Yet Jian didn't push.
Because the smile was still there.
Small.
Warm.
And somehow more precious than it should have been.
Wei walked toward the bed.
Then looked down.
At the floor mat.
Then simply sat down cross-legged.
Like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Jian blinked.
"Why are you sitting there?"
Wei looked up.
"The floor?"
"The bed exists."
"So does the floor."
"...That's not an answer."
"It works."
Jian stared.
Because somehow that shouldn't have mattered.
Yet it did.
A little.
Maybe because Jian knew where Wei lived.
The bigger house.
The better furniture.
The cleaner rooms.
The nicer neighborhood.
And yet here he was.
Sitting comfortably on an old floor mat without hesitation.
Without judgment.
Without even noticing the difference.
Something warm settled unexpectedly inside Jian's chest.
A feeling he couldn't quite explain.
Or maybe he could.
And that was the problem.
Wei opened one of his notebooks.
"Okay."
Jian blinked.
"Okay what?"
Wei looked genuinely confused.
"We're studying."
Right.
Studying.
That was the reason.
Officially.
Jian had forgotten.
Completely.
"Oh."
Wei waited.
Nothing happened.
Jian continued standing there.
Looking at him.
Like an idiot.
The silence stretched.
Then stretched some more.
Finally—
"We're studying."
Wei repeated.
Slowly.
As if speaking to someone with a head injury.
"Oh."
Another pause.
Then:
"Right."
Still not moving.
Still staring.
Wei closed the notebook.
A dangerous sign.
"What?"
Jian immediately looked away.
"Nothing."
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Looking at me like you've never seen me before."
The statement hit far too accurately.
Jian's brain shut down.
Temporarily.
Because that was exactly the problem.
Yesterday he had been terrified he might not see Wei anymore.
Today Wei was sitting in his room.
On the floor.
Surrounded by scattered books.
Acting like this was normal.
As if his presence didn't completely change the atmosphere.
As if Jian's heartbeat hadn't been misbehaving for two days straight.
Wei snapped his fingers once.
Jian blinked.
Reality returned.
Unfortunately.
"Are you listening?"
"Yeah."
Immediate answer.
Wrong answer.
Wei narrowed his eyes.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then what did I just say?"
Silence.
Jian looked at him.
Wei looked back.
The outcome became obvious very quickly.
"...Something about studying?"
Wei slowly closed his eyes.
The disappointment was physical.
"Unbelievable."
"I was listening."
"No."
"I was."
"No."
"I was."
Wei pointed at a pile of books.
"Bring the biology notebook."
"Oh."
Jian immediately stood up.
"Right."
"There it is."
Jian looked at the pile.
The pile looked back.
The problem became obvious.
There were approximately seventy notebooks.
And none of them appeared interested in helping.
Jian crouched down.
Searching.
One notebook.
Two notebooks.
Three comic books.
A manga.
Another manga.
A comic hidden inside a biology textbook.
Evidence.
Dangerous evidence.
Wei watched silently.
Then:
"You're weak in biology."
"I know."
"Clearly."
"I know."
Another notebook appeared.
Then another.
Then—
"Found it."
Jian held it up triumphantly.
Like an explorer discovering treasure.
Wei looked unconvinced.
Then the door opened.
Both of them froze.
A familiar voice appeared immediately.
"Ah."
Danger.
Jian knew that tone.
His sister stood in the doorway.
Smiling.
Which was worse.
Much worse.
Her gaze landed on Wei.
"Oh."
Wei looked up politely.
The little sister immediately brightened.
"So you're Wei."
Jian's soul left his body.
Because he knew exactly what came next.
And it absolutely could not happen.
Not under any circumstances.
His sister took a deep breath.
"I've heard my brother—"
Jian launched forward.
Fast.
Terrifyingly fast.
His hand covered her mouth instantly.
The sentence died a heroic death.
"Mmmph!"
"Listen carefully."
Jian smiled.
The fake smile of a desperate man.
"You wanted that shirt, right?"
His sister narrowed her eyes.
Suspicious.
Very suspicious.
"The blue one."
"Mmmph?"
"I'll give it to you."
Instant silence.
Negotiations had begun.
Wei watched.
Fascinated.
The little sister considered the offer seriously.
Then—
A smile.
The exact same smile Jian hated.
Deal accepted.
Jian slowly removed his hand.
His sister straightened dramatically.
"Okay."
Wei blinked.
That was it?
The corruption happened that fast?
"I have homework."
The girl nodded wisely.
"My job is done."
Then she started walking away.
Three steps later she stopped.
Turned around.
Looked directly at Wei.
Then pointed her thumb toward Jian.
"You know..."
Jian immediately felt danger.
"Don't."
She ignored him.
"Just hearing your name is enough."
Silence.
Wei blinked.
Jian froze.
The little sister grinned.
The grin of a tiny villain.
Then—
she ran.
"HEY!"
Jian immediately chased after her.
The hallway filled with laughter.
Footsteps.
Threats.
More laughter.
The sound echoed throughout the house.
Wei remained sitting on the floor.
Biology notebook in his lap.
Completely still.
Then slowly—
very slowly—
he smiled.
A real smile this time.
Small.
Warm.
Impossible to stop.
Because somehow...
This house already felt less like somewhere he was visiting.
And more like somewhere he wanted to stay a little longer.