The world was too bright for the way Ayan felt inside.
Sky a spotless blue, sun spilling gold through the tall windows of the volunteer center. Students moved like ghosts in the background, laughter soft, harmless.
He sat at the end table, laptop open, posture perfect.
Mask flawless.
He'd scrubbed every trace of last night from his skin.
He was control again.
Until—
> "Morning."
The voice dragged through him like smoke over raw nerves.
He didn't look up.
Didn't have to.
Kairo's presence slid into the chair across from him like gravity, heat coiled in human shape.
> "You're early," Ayan said, tone flat as glass.
> "Couldn't sleep."
Kairo smiled, lazy and warm, but his eyes—God, his eyes were black fire under sunlight.
"Figured I'd check on you. You left the party fast. Almost like you were… running."
Ayan's fingers didn't falter on the keyboard.
> "Some of us have work to do."
> "Work."
Kairo leaned back, stretching out like a sin in daylight, voice dipping low.
"That what you call shaking so hard you couldn't stand last night?"
The words landed like a blade between Ayan's ribs.
He looked up then, slow and sharp, meeting that stare head-on.
Cold. Beautiful. Deadly.
> "You're imagining things."
> "Am I?"
Kairo tilted his head, studying him the way wolves study locked doors.
"Because I could've sworn you smelled like—"
He stopped. Smiled like teeth.
"Never mind."
Ayan's pulse stuttered, rage flaring like a shield.
> "You're wasting your time."
> "I've got plenty."
Kairo's voice dropped, soft enough that only Ayan could hear.
"And so do you. Until that little secret of yours eats you alive."
Silence slammed down between them like glass cracking under heat.
Ayan wanted to laugh—wanted to slice him open with words—but his throat locked.
So instead, he stood, smooth as ice, packing his laptop with hands that didn't shake.
He leaned in just enough as he passed, voice like frost burning skin.
> "You'll never know."
And walked away.
Behind him, Kairo smiled—a slow, sharp curve like a wolf watching the forest burn.
> "That's what you think."
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