Lian Ziho had replayed the moment a hundred times in his head.
Suo Ran standing too close.
The faint crease between his brows when he was thinking too much.
The way his shoulders relaxed when Lian was near as if, without realizing it, he trusted him.
They were walking together again, late afternoon turning the city amber. The air felt heavier than usual, charged with something unsaid.
"You've been spacing out," Suo ran said quietly.
Lian glanced at him. "So have you."
Suo ran smiled faintly. "Guess we're even."
They stopped near a small convenience store. Suo ran leaned against the railing, arms folded, eyes distant.
"Lian ziho," he said suddenly.
Lian's heart skipped. "Yeah?"
"…If one day I disappear for a while," Suo ran began, then stopped.
Lian ziho turned fully toward him. "Disappear how?"
Suo ran shook his head. "Forget it."
"No," Lian ziho said immediately. "Don't do that. Don't say something like that and then pretend it's nothing."
Suo ran hesitated.
"I just mean," he said carefully, "if things get… complicated. I don't want you thinking it's because of you."
Lian ziho stared at him.
The words came dangerously close to the surface.
Tell him.
Say it now.
"I..." Lian ziho started.
Suo ran looked at him expectantly.
Lian's chest tightened. He saw, all at once, how tired Suo looked. How much he carried alone. How fragile this moment actually was.
If he spoke now...
If he confessed ..
It would change everything.
And what if Suo wasn't ready?
What if it became another weight on his shoulders?
Lian ziho swallowed.
"…I trust you," he said instead.
Suo ran blinked, surprised. "That's all?"
Lian ziho forced a smile. "That's enough, isn't it?"
Suo ran studied him for a long moment, as if sensing something unfinished but he didn't push.
"Yeah," he said softly. "It is."
And just like that, the confession that almost existed dissolved into the evening air.
Cai Lang didn't believe in coincidences.
Not anymore.
The pattern was too precise. The timing too clean. Every attack related to the scroll had been surgical meant to pressure, not eliminate.
Someone wasn't trying to steal it recklessly.
They were managing it.
Cai Lang stood in front of a digital board filled with data, photographs, intercepted communications. His jaw tightened as the pieces aligned into something ugly.
Supply routes.
Private security contracts.
Shell companies.
And one name that kept resurfacing like a stain that wouldn't wash out.
His father.
"No," Cai Lang muttered.
He ran the search again.
Same result.
The men who had followed Suo ran. The false civilian fronts. The clean disappearances afterward.
All tied back to one organization.
His father's.
Cai slammed his fist against the desk.
You promised you were done with this.
Anger burned hot in his chest not just professional rage, but something personal.
Something betrayed.
Suo ran wasn't collateral.
He grabbed his jacket.
The attack came faster than expected.
Cai Lang barely had time to react.
He was crossing a narrow street when movement flickered in his peripheral vision. A flash of steel. A sharp impact.
Pain exploded across his side.
He stumbled, catching himself against the wall as blood soaked into his shirt.
"Wrong target," a voice muttered nearby.
Cai Lang forced himself upright, eyes blazing.
"Tell him," Cai lang said coldly, "that if he wants a message delivered, he should do it himself."
The attacker hesitated then fled.
Cai leaned heavily against the wall, breathing hard.
His father wasn't just watching.
He was escalating.
Cai Lang went straight to his father's house.
No call.
No warning.
The guards stiffened when they saw him, but no one stopped him.
His father was in the study, calm as ever, pouring tea like this was any other evening.
"You're bleeding," his father observed mildly.
"You ordered the attack," Cai lang said flatly.
His father didn't deny it. "I authorized pressure."
"You targeted Suo Ran."
"I targeted the problem," his father corrected.
"You're too close to see it clearly."
Cai laughed sharp and humorless. "You don't get to decide that."
"You're emotional," his father said. "That's dangerous."
Cai Lang stepped forward. "You used me. You used him. And you lied."
His father's expression finally hardened.
"Everything I do is for control. Without it, people like Suo Ran become liabilities."
"He's not a liability," Cai snapped. "He's a person."
"That's where you're wrong," his father replied coolly. "And that's why you'll lose."
Silence fell.
Cai lang's s hands shook not from fear, but fury.
"You won't touch him again," Cai Lang said.
"If you do, I won't protect you from what comes next."
His father studied him for a long moment.
Then, quietly: "You don't have the power to stop this."
Cai turned away before his resolve cracked.
He walked out.
And for the first time in his life, he knew exactly how trapped he was.
It was late when Cai Lang returned.
Too late.
Suo Ran was sitting on the couch, lights dimmed, phone in hand. He looked up immediately when the door opened.
"You're back," Suo ran said, relief flashing across his face before he masked it.
Cai Lang froze.
He hadn't expected Suo to be awake.
"You're hurt," Suo said, standing instantly.
"It's nothing," Cai replied automatically.
Suo ran moved closer, eyes sharp. "You're bleeding."
Cai Lang turned slightly, putting distance between them. "I said it's fine."
Suo ran hesitated, then nodded.
"…Okay."
But the worry didn't leave his eyes.
"You came back late," Suo ran said quietly.
"Work," Cai Lang replied.
A lie.
Suo ran knew it but he didn't challenge him.
"I made something," Suo ran added. "If you're hungry."
Cai Lang looked at him.
At the restraint.
At the way Suo ran worried without demanding.
At the way he chose silence instead of accusation.
Something twisted painfully in Cai lang's chest.
"I'm not hungry," Cai lang said.
Suo ran nodded again.
Neither of them mentioned the blood.
Neither of them asked the questions that hovered between them.
Suo ran watched Cai lang disappear into the bedroom, unease settling deep in his bones.
Something's coming, he thought.
And whatever it was. ..
It was already hurting them.
Inside the Apartment___
The silence inside was suffocating.
Cai Lang leaned against the door, eyes shut, breath unsteady.
"…Idiot," he whispered to himself.
He could still see Suo Ran standing there.
Still hear the quiet confusion in his voice.
Every instinct in him had screamed to explain.
But explanation meant involvement.
Involvement meant danger.
And he had already seen what danger looked like.
Blood on his hands.
Fear in Suo Ran's eyes.
He dragged a hand over his face.
"If you hate me," he muttered, "you'll be safer."
Outside in the Hallway____
Suo Ran stood motionless.
The hallway felt colder now.
He stared at the closed door, trying to understand what had just happened.
Nothing made sense.
Inside his darkened apartment, Cai Lang's phone vibrated.
A single message.
Unknown Number:
Good. You're learning.
Next time, don't hesitate.
His expression hardened.
He deleted the message immediately.
But one thought refused to disappear:
If distance was protection…
How long before Suo Ran stopped trying to come back?
Elsewhere, Lian Ziho lay awake, staring at the ceiling.
His almost-confession echoed in his mind.
I trust you.
Coward's words.
He clenched his fist.
One day, he promised himself.
When the danger eased.
When Suo wasn't carrying the world alone.
One day, he would say it properly.
For now....
He would stay.
Even if it hurt.