--: Jay-Jay's POV: --
The first lecture of our university life felt like a fever dream. Half the time, I wasn't even listening to the professor's drone about "Economic Foundations." Instead, my eyes were glued to the back of Yuri's head two rows down. He was sitting so stiffly beside the "Red-Headed Girl" that I thought his spine might actually snap. It was a masterpiece of awkwardness; every time their sleeves accidentally brushed, they both flinched like they'd been hit by a live wire.
By the time the professor finally dismissed us for lunch, the tension in that room was thick enough to carve with a knife.
As we filed out of the amphitheater and into the sprawling, sun-drenched courtyard of LSE, the atmosphere shifted instantly. This wasn't our old high school where everyone knew to step aside when Section E walked by. Here, we were the intruders. The "Fresh Meat." Or at least, that's what the senior students seemed to think.
As we walked toward the grand cafeteria, the whispers started. They weren't even subtle.
"Is that... him?" I heard a girl hiss to her friend, clutching her designer bag. "Keifer Watson? I saw him on the cover of Business Weekly last month. He looks even more lethal—and more handsome—than the photos."
"He's gorgeous," her friend breathed, her eyes raking over Keifer's tailored suit. "He's probably richer than the entire student body combined. But wait... who's the girl he's holding?"
"Probably just some temporary distraction," the first girl sneered, her eyes turning into cold slits as they landed on me. "She doesn't look like much. Probably just a scholarship kid he's keeping around for the week."
I felt Keifer's grip on my waist tighten immediately. His jaw was set like granite, his gaze fixed forward as if he were deaf to the world, but I knew his sharp instincts missed nothing.
He didn't care about the girls' admiration, but I could feel the low, dangerous hum of irritation radiating off him at the comments directed at me.
"Ignore them, Jay," Gorya whispered, sliding up to my other side. "They're just mad they didn't get a VIP high-rise apartment and a billionaire who looks like a Greek god. Jealousy is a nasty color on them."
I tried to laugh it off, but as we entered the crowded cafeteria, the vibe shifted from "admiring whispers" to something much more hostile.
--: Jay-Jay's POV: --
We grabbed a massive table in the center—Section E, F4, the girls, and even Aries, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but in a school setting. Keifer's phone buzzed—a "critical" call from the London office regarding the merger. He stepped a few yards away to a marble pillar, his back to me as he dove into business mode.
"I'm going to grab some water," I told the table, standing up.
"Want me to come?" Yuri asked, finally breaking his "Red Hair" trance.
"No, stay. You need to keep an eye out in case your future wife walks by. You wouldn't want to miss your third 'accidental' encounter," I teased, making him turn a shade of red that rivaled a tomato.
I walked toward the vending machines at the far end of the hall. I was just reaching for a bottle when a shadow fell over me. A tall guy with a varsity jacket and a smirk that screamed unearned confidence blocked my path.
"Hey, New Girl," he said, leaning one arm against the machine. "You look a little lost. Why hang out with those intense guys when you could be with the real kings of LSE? I'm Marcus. My family owns the north district. How about a real date?"
I didn't even look at him. "I'm good, Marcus. I have a boyfriend."
"Him?" Marcus laughed, gesturing toward Keifer's back. "The suit? He looks like he's married to his phone. You need someone who knows how to treat a girl right."
--: Yuri's POV: --
I had been watching Jay-Jay from the table, my instincts on high alert even while I was pretending to listen to Ci-N. When I saw Marcus—a notorious senior prick—block her path, I didn't wait for Keifer to finish his call.
I stood up and stepped between Jay and the blonde guy before the situation could get any uglier.
"She said she's good, man. Maybe you should listen," I said, my voice hardening.
Marcus looked me up and down. "And you are?"
"The guy who's trying to save your life," I smirked, leaning in. "Do you see the man on the phone over there? That's Keifer Watson. If you keep talking to his girl, you aren't going to meet the coldest man in this city. And trust me, Marcus, he doesn't do 'mercy' when it comes to people touching what's his."
Marcus's eyes darted to Keifer. At that exact moment, Keifer turned his head. His predatory gaze landed on Marcus like a physical blow. Marcus turned pale, mumbled a pathetic excuse, and vanished into the crowd.
I turned back to Jay. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, Yuri. Thanks for the save," she laughed.
Keifer walked over, putting his phone. He looked at me, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of genuine respect in his eyes. He probably saw that I was no longer the boy who was obsessed with what is his.
"Thanks for looking out for her," Keifer rumbled, his hand heavy on my shoulder.
"She's my friend, Keifer,"I said simply. "I'd do it every time."
--: Jay-Jay's POV: --
"You guys head back to the lecture hall," I told the group after lunch. "I just need to hit the restroom. I'll be there in a minute."
"I'll come with you," Keifer said instantly.
"No! Go. I don't want people thinking we're making out in the hallways. I'll be five minutes."
He hesitated. "Don't make it six."
I rolled my eyes and headed for the restrooms. But as I turned the corner into the quiet corridor, a hand grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the emergency exit. It was Marcus—and he brought three of his friends.
"Thought you were so tough with your bodyguards?" he hissed.
They dragged me to the secluded rooftop terrace. I fought, but there were four of them. Marcus threw the first punch, catching my jaw. Then a kick to my ribs. I fell to the concrete, and that's when I saw it—the droplets of my own blood on the floor.
The sight of the red against the grey triggered it. The trauma. The memory of the Incident.
YOU USELESS BRAT!!
YOU ARE GOOD FOR NOTHING!!
Stop it..Stop itt
My eyes went blank. I didn't feel the next kick. I didn't hear Marcus's laughter. I just felt a cold, ancient rage.
I stood up. My movement was silent and blurred. I caught Marcus's wrist and snapped it. I headbutted the second guy and delivered a spinning kick to the third. I wasn't Jay-Jay anymore; I was a nightmare. I was about to strike Marcus's throat when the roof door burst open.
"JAY! STOP!"
Strong, iron-like arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me off the ground. I thrashed, growling like a cornered animal. "LET GO! I'LL KILL THEM!"
"Jay! It's me! It's Keifer!" The voice was a thunderous rumble against my back. "Look at me! It's over. You're safe. Calm down, baby. It's just me."
The scent of his cologne hit me. The fog cleared. I looked at the broken boys on the floor and then at my own bloody knuckles. I felt my energy drain instantly.
"Keifer..." I whispered, and then the world went black.
--: Keifer's POV: --
I caught her as she fainted, scooping her into a tight bridal carry. Her face was bruised, her lip split. My ruthless side didn't just wake up; it took control of my entire soul.
The group burst onto the roof a second later. They froze at the sight of the four broken boys and Jay-Jay unconscious in my arms.
"It's time," I growled, my voice echoing off the concrete. "Bring back the rule."
Aries, F4 and the girls looked confused.
"What rule? Keifer, what are you talking about?" Thyme demanded.
Yuri stepped forward, his face like stone. "The One Hit Rule?"
I nodded once, my eyes dark. "One hit. Make them regret every breath."
I looked at David and Edrix. "David, Edrix—take the girls back to the apartment now. I'm taking Jay home first."
"What about us?" Thyme asked, gesturing to F4 and Aries.
"Follow Yuri and the rest of Section E," I commanded. "They'll explain the rule on the way to the warehouse. We have trash to dispose of."
I didn't wait. I turned and carried Jay-Jay toward the cars, my heart a mix of guilt and murderous intent.
--: Yuri's POV: --
We watched Keifer walk away with Jay-Jay. David and Edrix immediately began herding Gorya, Kaning, and the other girls toward the elevators to get them safely back to the high-rise.
They didn't argue; the look on Keifer's face had been enough to silence anyone.
Once they were gone, I turned toward the four whimpering idiots on the floor. Marcus was clutching his snapped wrist, sobbing.
"Where are we going?" Kavin asked, his voice low as he adjusted his jacket.
"The old warehouse near our apartment building," I replied, grabbing Marcus by the collar and dragging him like a sack of garbage. "Pick up the other three. We're moving."
Aries walked beside me as we hauled them toward the basement parking. "The One Hit Rule... you still haven't explained it."
"It's simple, Aries," I said, my voice devoid of any humor. "In Section E, we don't believe in long, drawn-out brawls. It's messy and inefficient. Instead, every member of Section E, now all of us including you and F4, gets exactly one hit on the person who dared to touch our family. No more, no less."
"Just one?" MJ asked, raising an eyebrow.
"One," I confirmed, a dark smirk crossing my face. "But we've spent years perfecting that one hit. We make sure it's enough to put them in a hospital bed for a month. It's not about the fight; it's about the message. You touch a Watson, you pay the price."
"Let's go," I muttered, throwing Marcus into the trunk of the lead car. "LSE thinks they're ready for us. They have no idea what happens when you poke Keifer's heart."
__________
--: Yuri's POV: --
The drive to the warehouse was silent, save for the muffled thumping and occasional sob coming from the trunk of the lead SUV. I gripped the steering wheel, my knuckles white. Usually, I was the one trying to keep the peace, the one who cracked the jokes to break Keifer's tension. But seeing Jay-Jay's blank, haunted eyes on that rooftop? Seeing the blood that wasn't hers for once, but the result of her trauma-induced rage?
It changed something in me. I wasn't just a friend anymore. I was a brother protecting his own. I know I loved her, I still do, but now it feels like I'm her brother.
The tires screeched as we pulled into the gravel lot of the old Watson industrial warehouse. It was a place the public forgot existed, but Section E knew it well. It was where the world outside stopped, and our rules began.
Ci-N, Rory, Felix, and the others hopped out of their cars before they even fully stopped. Their faces were devoid of their usual mischief. They looked like statues of vengeance.
"Get them out," I commanded..
Rory and Drew reached into the trunks, dragging Marcus and his three friends out by their collars. The "kings" of LSE looked like broken toys now. Marcus's face was a mess of tears and snot, his snapped wrist cradled against his chest.
"Please... please, we didn't know!" one of the other boys wailed, his knees buckling. "We were just joking! We didn't know who she was!"
"That's the problem," Felix said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he kicked open the heavy warehouse doors. "You think you only have to be human to people who have a big name. In our world, you don't touch anyone."
--: Thyme's POV: --
I walked into the dimly lit warehouse, Kavin and MJ flanking me. Aries was right behind us, his eyes scanning the cavernous space. I've seen some things in my time with F4, but the atmosphere Section E created was different. It wasn't just about power; it was about a terrifyingly efficient bond.
The four boys were shoved into the center of the room, under a single flickering industrial light. They looked small.
"Alright, explain it again," I said, crossing my arms. "The One Hit Rule. How does this work?"
Yuri stepped forward, peeling off his outer jacket to reveal the lean muscle beneath. "No weapons. No repeated beatings. That's for amateurs. We don't want to kill them—we want them to remember us every time they breathe for the rest of their life."
He looked at Marcus, who was trembling so hard he could barely stay upright.
"Each person gets one strike," Yuri continued. "You put everything you have into it. Your anger, your loyalty, your warning. One hit to the body or the jaw. After your turn, you step back. When everyone has had their turn, we leave them for the paramedics."
MJ whistled low. "One hit. That requires precision."
"Exactly," Ci-N chimed in, stretching his arms. "And since they hurt Jay-Jay, and she's family to all of us now... F4 and Aries, you're part of the rotation. You ready?"
I looked at Kavin and MJ. We hadn't been in a real brawl since the high school days, but this felt different. This was for Jay-Jay. I nodded. "Tell us who goes first."
--: Yuri's POV: --
"I'll start," I said.
I walked up to Marcus. He looked up at me, his eyes pleading. "Yuri, please..."
"Don't say my name," I snapped.
I thought about Jay-Jay screaming 'Stop it!' to the ghosts in her head on that rooftop.
I didn't use a flashy move. I planted my feet, twisted my hips, and delivered a straight right hook to Marcus's jaw. The sound of the impact echoed like a gunshot through the warehouse.
Marcus's head snapped back, and he hit the floor like a sack of stones.
I stepped back, my chest heaving once. "Next."
One by one, Section E stepped up. Ci-N went for a devastating liver blow on the second guy. Felix and Rory and the rest handled the others. Then it was F4's turn.
Thyme didn't hold back; his hit sent the third boy sliding three feet across the concrete.
Aries was the last to step up. He looked at the boys, then at us. He didn't say a word. He just delivered a calculated, brutal strike to the fourth boy's ribs that made the whole room wince at the sound of the crack.
The silence that followed Aries's strike was heavy, broken only by the ragged breathing of the four broken boys on the concrete. The atmosphere in the warehouse was thick with a dark, satisfied coldness.
"We're done here," I said, wiping a streak of dust from my forehead. I looked at the 'kings' of LSE, now reduced to trembling heaps. "Now, we wait for Keifer. And we pray that he doesn't actually kill them when he gets here."
"He's on his way?" Kavin asked, his voice low as he adjusted his cuffs.
"He won't stay away for long," I replied, looking toward the heavy steel doors. "Not after what they did to his heart."
--: Keifer's POV: --
The penthouse felt like a tomb. I had spent the last hour in a blurred state of focus, my hands moving with a mechanical precision I didn't feel.
I had carefully cleaned the blood from Jay-Jay's knuckles and the scrape on her jaw, every wince she made in her sleep feeling like a physical blade to my chest. I had changed her into one of my softest, oversized t-shirts and tucked her into the center of the bed. She looked so fragile, a stark contrast to the 'nightmare' I had seen on the roof.
The bedroom door creaked open. Gorya, Kaning, and the other girls stepped in. Their faces were etched with worry, but they were determined.
"Keifer, you should go," Freya said softly, stepping toward the bed. "The boys are waiting at the warehouse. We're staying here with her. We won't leave her side for a second."
I didn't move. My hand was still curled around Jay-Jay's pale fingers. "I'm not leaving her."
"Keifer, look at your hands," Kaning whispered, pointing to my white knuckles. "You need to let that rage out somewhere else. If you stay here like this, you'll suffocate her. Go. Deal with the trash. We have her."
I started to stand up, my body feeling like lead, but a soft, broken sound stopped me in my tracks.
"Keifer..."
It was barely a whisper, a ghost of a sound from her sleeping lips. I dropped back to my knees instantly, leaning over her. "I'm here, baby. I'm right here."
Her eyes didn't open, but her brow furrowed as if she were still running from the shadows. I felt a surge of protectiveness so violent it nearly choked me. I was about to sit back down, to hell with the warehouse, but Gorya placed a firm hand on my shoulder.
"Go, Keifer," she insisted. "End it so you can come back to her with a clear head. She's safe with us."
I stared at Jay-Jay for a long moment, then leaned down and pressed a firm, lingering kiss to her forehead. "I'll be back," I murmured against her skin.
I turned and walked out, the demon inside me finally locking into place.
--: Yuri's POV: --
The sound of a high-performance engine screaming into the lot signaled his arrival. The warehouse doors didn't just open; they seemed to fly back on their hinges as Keifer stepped into the light.
He didn't say a word. He didn't look at us. His eyes were fixed on the four boys in the center of the room. The air in the warehouse seemed to drop twenty degrees.
"Keifer—" I started, but the look he gave me silenced the entire room.
He walked up to Marcus. Marcus tried to crawl away, his voice a pathetic whimper. Keifer didn't use the 'One Hit Rule.' He didn't follow the protocol. He grabbed Marcus by the throat, lifted him, and slammed him against a steel support beam.
CRACK.
Keifer's fist was a blur. He hit Marcus, then moved to the second boy, then the third. It wasn't a fight; it was a demolition. He was hitting them with a lethal, terrifying power that went far beyond 'one hit.' He was going to kill them. He was going to keep hitting until they stopped moving entirely.
"Keifer! Stop!" I shouted, rushing forward with Thyme and David.
We grabbed his arms, pulling him back as he prepared to launch another devastating blow at a boy who was already unconscious.
"Let go!" Keifer roared, his eyes bloodshot with a mindless, predatory fury.
"We don't have to kill them, Keifer!" I yelled, digging my heels into the concrete to hold him back. "They're done! It's over! If you kill them, you'll be tied up in legal hell for months, Keifer! Is that what you want? To be stuck in a courtroom instead of being by her side?" I yelled, digging my heels into the concrete to hold him back.
I knew prison wasn't the threat—a few phone calls would make any police report vanish before the ink was dry. But time? Time was the one thing even his billions couldn't buy back. If he ended them here, the fallout would keep him away from Jay-Jay, and right now, she was the only thing that mattered.
That thought—the idea of being separated from her—seemed to be the only thing capable of reaching him. The lethal tension in his muscles stayed for three agonizing seconds before he finally let out a jagged breath, his chest heaving as he stared at his blood-stained knuckles.
He looked at the four mangled bodies on the floor with utter disgust, as if they were nothing more than insects he'd stepped on.
"Call the cleaner," Keifer rasped, his voice sounding like it had been dragged over gravel. "Take them to the private hospital. Make sure they live, but make sure they never want to see the sun again. If they ever step foot on LSE grounds again, don't call me. Just make them disappear."
Without another word, he turned on his heel. He didn't look back at the warehouse or at us. He was a man possessed, walking back to his car with a predatory stride. He had purged the rage, and now, the only thing left was the need to be back in that penthouse.
As his engine roared, echoing like a beast's snarl through the empty lot, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Well," MJ muttered, looking at the carnage and then back at the retreating taillights. "I guess the message was sent. LSE is going to be very quiet tomorrow."
"Yeah," I said, looking at my own bruised hand and thinking of Jay-Jay's face. "But I think the real war is just beginning. We aren't just students anymore. We're a fortress."
--: Keifer's POV: --
The drive back was a blur of high speed and red lights I didn't bother stopping for. My heart didn't stop hammering until I was back in the elevator, ascending to the floor where my world was kept safe.
The penthouse felt different the moment the elevator doors hissed open. The heavy, oppressive silence of earlier had been replaced by a low, frantic murmur of voices. My heart, which had been a steady drum of rage at the warehouse, spiked with a different kind of intensity—fear.
I didn't stop to greet anyone. I pushed through the double doors of the master suite, my eyes searching for only one person.
The sight that met me was a dagger to my soul. Jay-Jay was sitting up, supported by a mountain of pillows. Gorya and Kaning were on either side of her, their hands on her shoulders, their voices soft and pleading. Even Keiran and Keigan were there, standing at the foot of the bed with bewildered, frightened expressions. They had just come back from their own school, unaware of the carnage that had unfolded at LSE, only knowing that their sister-figure was trembling and pale.
But Jay-Jay wasn't looking at them. Her eyes were wide, glassy, and darting around the room as if she were trapped in a maze.
"Where is he?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "Where is Keifer? He said he was here. Why did he leave?"
"He's coming, Jay. He just had to take care of something," Rakki urged, but Jay-Jay shook her head violently, her breath hitching in a way that signaled a looming panic attack.
"Keifer... I need Keifer..."
Seeing her like that—broken and searching for me while my own knuckles were still stained with the blood of the men who did this—tore the last of the 'demon' away. I felt a surge of pure, agonizing sadness.
"Baby," I called out, my voice thick.
The effect was instantaneous. Jay-Jay's head snapped toward the door with flash speed. The moment her eyes locked onto mine, the glassiness vanished, replaced by a desperate, raw relief.
"Keifer!"
She didn't just move; she scrambled off the bed, her feet barely touching the carpet as she sprinted toward me. I barely had time to brace myself before she collided with my chest, her arms wrapping around my neck with a strength born of pure terror.
My hands instinctively found her waist, pulling her flush against me, lifting her slightly off the ground as I buried my face in the crook of her neck. She was shaking—convulsive, jagged shivers that rattled through both of us.
"Why did you leave?" she sobbed into my shoulder, her tears hot against my skin. "You said you were here. Don't leave me. Please, don't ever leave me again."
"I'm sorry," I rasped, my grip on her waist tightening until there wasn't a centimeter of space between us. "I'm so sorry, baby. I'm never leaving again. I'm right here. I've got you."
I felt the eyes of the others on us. Gorya, Kaning, Freya—they all looked at me with a mixture of pity and relief. Keiran and Keigan looked at my bruised hands and then at Jay-Jay, the realization of what had happened finally beginning to dawn on their young faces.
Slowly, Jay-Jay pulled back just enough to look at me, her face a mask of sudden, sharp anxiety. She reached down, her small, trembling hands grabbing the lapels of my jacket.
"I did it again, didn't I?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch. "The rooftop... the blood... I started hitting them, right? I couldn't stop. Keifer, tell me... did I kill them? Are they dead because of me?"
The panic was blooming in her chest again. I could feel her heart racing against mine like a trapped bird.
"No," I said firmly, locking my gaze onto hers to ground her. "No, Jay-Jay. You didn't kill anyone. They're alive. They're in the hospital getting help. You protected yourself, and then I stepped in. That's all. You're okay. They're gone."
I stroked her hair, trying to smooth away the terror. "Calm down, baby. Just breathe with me. Look at me. It's over."
Behind us, Gorya caught the boys' eyes and tilted her head toward the door. Section E and F4 had just entered the foyer, their heavy footsteps echoing as they headed straight for the bedroom, their faces set with the need to check on her.
But Freya, Gorya and the others stepped out into the hallway, intercepting them before they could burst in.
"Stop," Gorya said, her voice quiet but commanding. "Leave them alone."
"We just want to see her," Thyme argued, his voice full of brotherly concern. "Is she okay?"
"She's with Keifer," Kaning added, firmly closing the bedroom door behind her. "She's panicking, and he's the only one who can pull her back right now. You can all see her tomorrow. For tonight, just let them be."
The boys looked at the closed door, then at each other. The tension from the warehouse was still humming in their veins, but they saw the wisdom in the girls' words. One by one, they nodded, the exhaustion finally hitting them.
"Fine," Aries sighed, glancing at the door one last time. "Tell her... tell her her brothers are right outside if she needs anything."
They turned and headed toward their respective rooms, leaving the hallway in a heavy, protective silence.
Inside the room, the world had shrunk to just the two of us. I carried Jay-Jay back to the bed, refusing to let her go, and as the moonlight filtered through the London skyline, I held the only thing that made the me worth being.
———
The moonlight spilled across the dark silk duvet, casting long, skeletal shadows against the walls of the master suite. The hum of London at night was a distant, muffled roar, but inside the room, the silence was heavy—suffocating.
I had carried Jay-Jay back to the bed, but she hadn't let go of my hand. Not even for a second. She was tucked against my side, her head resting on my chest, but I could feel the tension radiating off her. She wasn't sleeping. Her eyes were fixed on a single point on the far wall, her pupils dilated, her mind clearly miles away in a place I couldn't reach.
I reached down, my thumb tracing the line of her jaw, feeling the slight tremor that still hummed under her skin.
"What is it, baby?" I whispered, my voice thick with the remnants of the night's rage. "What are you thinking about?"
She didn't blink. She didn't move. For a long moment, I thought she hadn't heard me. Then, she let out a breath that sounded like a broken sigh.
"Will you come with me?" she asked, her voice so small I almost missed it.
I shifted, propping myself up on one elbow so I could look down at her face. "Where? Anywhere you want to go, Jay. You know that. Just name it."
She finally turned her head, her gaze meeting mine. There was a clarity in her eyes that frightened me—a raw, painful honesty that I hadn't seen since we arrived in this city.
"To the psychiatrist," she said firmly.
The words hit me like a physical blow. I felt a surge of protectiveness, a defensive instinct to tell her she was perfect exactly as she was. "Baby, you don't need to go if you don't want to. You don't have to force yourself because of what happened today. Those guys were animals, anyone would have—"
"I want to," she interrupted, her voice gaining a fragile strength. She sat up slightly, clutching the sheets to her chest. "I can't stay like this, Keifer. I can't live wondering when the next 'blank' is going to happen. I can't live in a world where I look at my hands and don't recognize the person who used them."
She looked down at her bandaged knuckles, a tear finally escaping and trekking down her bruised cheek. "I want to be Jay-Jay again. Not a nightmare. I want to be able to walk down a hallway without feeling like I'm looking over my shoulder for ghosts."
I looked at her, and the last of my own pride crumbled. She wasn't asking for a protector right now; she was asking for a partner.
"I'll come with you, baby," I said, reaching out to cup her face, my thumb wiping away the tear. "Every step. Every appointment. I'll be sitting right outside that door, or right beside you if you want me there. We'll find the best doctor in the whole World. We'll fix this. Together."
She leaned into my palm, closing her eyes as a shuddering sob of relief escaped her. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me," I murmured, pulling her back down into the crook of my arm and pulling the duvet over both of us. "Now, don't think too much. Your mind needs to rest as much as your body does. Just sleep. I've got the watch."
She nodded against my chest, her breathing finally beginning to even out. I stayed awake for hours, watching the city lights flicker, wondering if the man I saw in the warehouse mirror tonight could ever truly be the man she needed.
But as her grip on my hand finally relaxed in deep sleep, I knew one thing for certain: I would change the world, or change myself, as long as it meant she never had to face the dark alone again.
--: Yuri's POV: --
The next morning, the penthouse felt like it was holding its breath.
I was sitting at the kitchen island, staring into a cup of black coffee that had gone cold twenty minutes ago. Section E and F4 were scattered around the living area—some slumped on the sofas, others staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows. No one was talking. Even Ci-N was quiet, his usual playful energy replaced by a grim exhaustion.
The news had already broken on the LSE private forums. 'Four seniors hospitalized after "mysterious" rooftop accident.' No names were mentioned. No accusations were made. The "cleaners" had done their job well. But the underlying message was vibrating through the entire campus: Don't touch the new group.
The elevator hissed open, and Aries stepped out, looking like he hadn't slept a wink.
"How is she?" Thyme asked immediately, standing up.
"Sleeping," Aries replied, grabbing a glass of water. "Keifer hasn't left the room. But he sent a message out. He wants us to find the top trauma specialist in London. He's taking her today. She asked for it."
I felt a pang of something—not jealousy, but a deep, aching respect. I had loved Jay-Jay for a long time, and a part of me always would, but seeing the way Keifer was completely dismantling his own life to build her a sanctuary... it confirmed what I'd felt at the warehouse.
"Tell Keifer I've already got a list," Ci-N said, standing up and pulling out his laptop. "I will call my parents and ask them. And from how much I know there's a clinic in Harley Street. Private. Discrete. The best."
"Good," David nodded.
"What about school?" Felix asked, leaning against the wall. "Are we going back today?"
I looked at the group—at the bruised knuckles, the tired eyes, and the fierce loyalty etched onto every face.
"We're going," I said, my voice hard.
"We're going to walk into that universityand we're going to sit in those lectures. We're going to show them that Section E isn't hiding. We're going to show them exactly who owns the ground they're walking on."
"And Jay-Jay?" Gorya asked, coming out of the guest wing.
"She stays here until she's ready," I said. "And while she's healing, we'll be her eyes and ears. No one whispers about her. No one stares. Anyone who even thinks about laughing at what happened... well, they know the One Hit Rule now."
The boys all nodded in unison.