Ivy straightened, brushing her hair behind her ear, then glanced at the scattered books. "You know… I'm not really used to talking to people much," she admitted softly, she hesitate "I'm usually… the quiet one. The one nobody notices."
Liam paused mid-reach for a notebook, his hand hovering in the air. "Really? I would never have guessed," he said, smiling awkwardly. "You seem… super noticeable."
Ivy let out a small laugh, the sound lighter than it had been all morning While pick up the last book.
Liam shrugs, quieter now.
"I'm usually the guy people notice for the wrong reasons. Tripping. Saying dumb stuff. Existing incorrectly."
Ivy smiles at that, something in her chest easing.
"Guess we're both kind of invisible," she says.
"Yeah," he replies. " We are not that different at all
Lvy wondering how they had so much in common already, they never said more than two words to each other, but she understood him perfectly
Ivy straightened, brushing her hair behind her ear, then glanced at the scattered books. "You know… I'm not really used to talking to people much," she admitted softly, she hesitate "I'm usually… the quiet one. The one nobody notices."
Liam paused mid-reach for a notebook, his hand hovering in the air. "Really? I would never have guessed," he said, smiling awkwardly. "You seem… super noticeable."
Ivy let out a small laugh, the sound lighter than it had been all morning While pick up the last.
Liam shrugs, quieter now.
"I'm usually the guy people notice for the wrong reasons. Tripping. Saying dumb stuff. Existing incorrectly."
Ivy smiles at that, something in her chest easing.
"Guess we're both kind of invisible," she says.
"Yeah," he replies. " We are not that different at all
Lvy wondering how they had so much in common already, they never said more than two words to each other, but she understood him perfectly
The bell had rung five minutes ago.
Students were already settling into classrooms, voices fading into the usual morning haze.
But Qin Jingze wasn't in class.
He was moving through the corridors like a shadow cutting through light.
His steps were quick. Controlled.
But his breath… that was not calm.
"Ivy," he muttered under his breath, jaw tightening. His voice was low, tight with worry he refused to name.
"Where are you?"
He checked the courtyard.
Empty.
The library.
No sign of her.
Two freshmen shrank out of his way when he stormed past, eyes scanning every doorway, every corner. His coat swayed with each hurried stride.
He passed a group of boys. One said "Is he looking for" before his friend elbowed him silent.
Qin didn't hear them.
He only heard his heartbeat.
His fists tightened.
He turned down the east wing hallway, the quietest part of the school.
Most of the classrooms here were empty.
That was when he felt it.
A presence.
A whisper of sound.
A door just slightly open.
Room HO2
A thin sliver of light spilled into the hallway.
He stopped.
For one long, quiet second, the world held its breath with him.
He reached out, fingers brushing the chipped paint.
Pushed the door open slowly.
The faint creak echoed.
Qin stepped inside.
His eyes calm at first shifted the moment he saw them.
Ivy.
Sitting at a desk, shoulders small, fragile.
Smile at someone
Qin's posture didn't change.
But something in the air did.
A quiet, cold tension filled the room, sharp as the edge of a blade.
His gaze landed on Ivy first.
Then flicked to Liam.
And though his expression stayed unreadable, the darkness behind his eyes was unmistakable unreasonable, protective, rattled by the sight of someone else near her.
"Ivy," you only smile for him, he said softly. Too softly.
A calm that did not match the storm in his chest.
She flinched.
Liam swallowed. "I was just leaving"
Qin didn't look at him.
Not once.
His entire focus was on her, as if Liam didn't exist.
"I was looking for you," Qin said quietly, stepping forward. His voice carried an undercurrent Ivy had never heard before something raw and unguarded. "You weren't in the hall. You weren't anywhere."
Ivy's throat tightened.
She couldn't speak.
Liam shifted awkwardly, heat crawling up his neck under the weight of Qin's presence.
"Ivy needed a moment to" Liam began.
Qin's eyes finally moved to him.
A single glance.
Cold.
Precise.
Enough to make Liam's words die instantly.
"This conversation," Qin said calmly, "is not yours."
Ivy opened her mouth
But Qin stepped closer.
Just close enough that she could feel the weight of his worry.
"Don't run from me again," he murmured, voice low. "Not today."
Her pulse stumbled.
She hated how her body reacted to Qin jingzer enter the room
How her chest tightened, how her breath trembled.
"How did you even know where to look?" she whispered.
His jaw flexed.
"I didn't."
A pause.
"That's why I was worried."
Ivy's breath hitched.
Liam looked between them one of them trembling, the other barely holding back something fierce and possessive and realized he was standing in the middle of something much larger than he understood.
"I'll… leave you two," he murmured, backing toward the door.
But Qin didn't look away from Ivy.
Not even for a second.
The moment Liam slipped out, shutting the door softly behind him, the silence thickened.