The door slid open.
Jin Yue stepped out first.
The corridor air felt cooler against his skin... or perhaps it only felt that way because the room he had just left had grown too warm.
Ba Ryou straightened from where he had been leaning against the wall.
He had seen Jun Kai exit moments earlier.
Not walk.
Not composed.
Run.
Lightning pulse faintly unstable around his steps before disappearing down the corridor.
Ba Ryou's gaze moved to Jin Yue.
"What happened?"
Jin Yue adjusted the fold of the scarf around his neck.
"There's nothing," he said evenly.
Ba Ryou did not look convinced.
The scarf was new.
Jin Yue did not wear scarves.
Not indoors.
Not in controlled temperature halls.
His eyes lingered on the fabric wrapped neatly around Jin Yue's throat.
"You're covering the bruise," Ba Ryou observed.
"Yes."
That was true.
Lei Fan's hand mark had darkened further.
That was not the only mark.
Jun Kai had not realized.
But when his lips had pressed there...
