Rain fell in heavy sheets outside the windows. The kind of rain that blurred city lights and made the air inside feel colder than it was.
Shi Mu sat on the edge of her bed, towel still draped around her shoulders. Her hair was damp, her hoodie clinging to her skin. Her mind, however, was elsewhere.
Back in Room 412.
Back at the door she'd just walked away from.
"Why did I go?""Why did I leave?"
She pulled her knees to her chest and stared at the message on her phone.
No new notifications.
Fu Yunshen hadn't messaged her.
And that silence echoed louder than any words could.
Meanwhile, in Room 412, Fu Yunshen lay on his back, one arm behind his head, the other covering his eyes. Zhou Zhi, nose-deep in a comic book, peeked over the top.
"So…" Zhou Zhi drawled, "How did the 'midnight confrontation' go?"
Fu Yunshen didn't respond.
"That bad?"
Still silence.
Zhou Zhi blinked. "Did she slap you?"
"No."
"Yell at you?"
"No."
"Then?"
Fu Yunshen sighed. "She just left."
"Oof."
"I didn't stop her."
Zhou Zhi shut his comic. "Oof… times two."
Back in her own room, Shi Mu tried to distract herself with her system panel.
[Brotherhood Value: 1,540 / 1,000,000]
[Emotional Stability: Fluctuating]
[Recommended Action: Initiate Heart-Calming Protocol]
She swiped the notification away.
She didn't need heart-calming.
She needed answers.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed.
She grabbed it too quickly.
Fu Yunshen:"Get some sleep."
Just that.
Simple.
Infuriatingly gentle.
She stared at the screen for a long moment… then typed:
"You too."
And sent it.
She set the phone down and pulled the blanket tighter around herself.
The rain continued to fall.
Soft.
Constant.
Like something trying to wash away what they couldn't say aloud.
[System Notification]
Emotional Thread Reinforced: Temporary Relief Established
Brotherhood Value +35 (Mutual Recognition of Distance)
Current Total: 1,575 / 1,000,000