The next morning, the rain had stopped, but the tension hadn't.
Shi Mu moved through her morning routine with robotic precision—brush teeth, wash face, tie hair back. Everything was normal. Neat. Controlled.
Everything except her thoughts.
They were loud.
Too loud.
Back in Room 412, Fu Yunshen was similarly quiet. He sat at his desk, staring at his open textbook without reading a single word. Zhou Zhi watched him carefully from his bed.
"You didn't sleep, did you?" Zhou Zhi asked.
Fu Yunshen didn't answer.
Zhou Zhi sighed and tossed a wrapped candy at him. "You know, for someone who avoids people, you sure do spend a lot of time thinking about one."
That got a reaction. A glance. A breath.
Fu Yunshen caught the candy but didn't unwrap it.
Meanwhile, in the corridor between dorm buildings, Shi Mu found herself walking slower than usual, her bag slung over one shoulder, hoodie sleeves pulled over her hands.
She passed by Room 412 and paused.
Just a heartbeat.
Long enough to wonder if he was inside.
But she didn't knock.
She kept walking.
At lunch, they saw each other across the cafeteria.
Not across a battlefield.
Not across a table.
Just across distance.
Their eyes met—just briefly.
And in that glance was everything they weren't saying.
Later that evening, the school announced a maintenance sweep in the west dormitory.
Shi Mu was told to temporarily move back into Room 415.
Back into shared space.
Back into proximity.
Zhou Zhi was ecstatic.
"Yes! The trio is reunited!"
Fu Yunshen said nothing—but he shifted slightly when Shi Mu entered, as though something inside him had clicked back into place.
She walked in with quiet footsteps, placed her things neatly, and sat on the edge of her bed without looking at either of them.
Silence stretched.
Then she finally spoke.
"I'll only be here two nights."
Zhou Zhi frowned. "That's it?"
Fu Yunshen didn't speak at all.
But when Shi Mu looked up again—just once—he was already watching her.
And that look…
That silence…
Spoke louder than words.
[System Notification]
Emotional Shift: Physical Proximity Reestablished
Brotherhood Value +40 (Unspoken Tension – Mutual Acknowledgment)
Current Total: 1,615 / 1,000,000