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LU CORPORATION – EVENING HOURS
Most of the lights on the lower floors had gone out. The building quieted as employees clocked out, leaving behind the ticking of digital clocks.
But on the executive floor — the light in Lu Quing's office still shone.
Yueying stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, arms crossed as she stared out at the city. Her presentation was over. The day was done. She should've left an hour ago or maybe 2 hours ago.
But he hadn't called for her.
And she hated how much she noticed that.
"Still here?" came his voice from behind.
— deep, steady,low and magnetic.
She turned slowly. "You ignored me after the meeting."
Lu Quing walked in from the hallway, having removed his blazer. His sleeves were rolled up now, forearms bare, veins trailing up.
"I was thinking."
"You do that often?"
"Only when I want to stop myself from doing something reckless."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"What kind of reckless?" she asked carefully.
He stepped closer. "The kind where I pin you against that window and ask if your heart races for me… or for Aaron Li."
Yueying's breath caught.
She forced a smirk. "You're jealous."
"I'm watching," he corrected. "There's a difference."
"Then stop watching," she whispered. "I can handle myself."
"I know you can," he murmured. "But I don't want to miss the moment you finally look at me… and realize I'm already yours."
His voice was silk and fire. Which reminded her of her biological mother.
She looked down. Her fingers were trembling slightly.
She shouldn't feel this way. Not here. Not in an office with glass walls and polished floors. Not after everything that had happened there past few days.
But she did.
Still — she backed away.
"Don't make me feel like a possession," she said, voice tight, eyes narrowed.
"I wouldn't dare," he replied. "But I can't unfeel you either."
Then he reached into his drawer — pulled out a thin folder.
"Your permanent assignment."
She blinked.
"You're putting me in a team?"
"I'm putting you in my team," he said quietly.
Her eyes flicked up. "Why?"
"Because if you're going to set this place on fire, I want to be the one holding the water… or the gasoline." He chuckled.
Yueying swallowed.
And for the first time in a while, she wasn't sure if she wanted to go against him or fall for him.
---
LU VILLA – THAT NIGHT
She sat at the edge of her bed, still in her office clothes, the folder resting unopened in her lap.
Outside, the cherry blossoms shifted gently in the wind.
Inside, her pendant throbbed against her chest — soft but constant. A pulse of ancient fire that told her to trust no one, making her have doubts with every fleeting moment.
But her heart?
Her heart whispered otherwise.
She looked up.
And in her mind — she saw his eyes.
Silver.
Eternal.
Haunted.
---
UNKNOWN LOCATION – MOUNTAINSIDE SHRINE
The silver-eyed man sat on a stone ledge, watching a flickering memory inside a hovering orb — Yueying and Lu Quing, standing just inches apart, energy crackling between them.
"She's getting close," he muttered.
Beside him, a shadow flickered.
"She'll break," the shadow said.
"Or she'll burn him, she would destroy things" the man replied, voice laced with something that sounded like envy… or fear.
---EXECUTIVE LOUNGE – NIGHTFALL THE NEXT DAY
The floor was empty now. Cleaning staff had finished. Security was rotating shifts. The executive lounge — with its black couches and panoramic city view — was bathed in warm golden light and the distant shimmer of stars through the high glass windows.
Yueying stood alone near the shelf of the many liquor bottles, her fingers trailing along a decanter she had no intention of pouring.
The door slid open behind her. Silently.
And yet… she knew.
"I should've expected you," she murmured.
"I told you," Lu Quing said, voice low. "I don't know how to leave."
She didn't turn.
"Why are you really here?" she asked.
A pause.
Then—
"I was trying not to want this," he said.
That made her freeze.
Lu Quing stepped forward, slow, deliberate, every movement like a storm biding its time.
She turned only when he was close — too close — his breath brushing her temple, his presence too large to ignore( to look away ).
"Say it again," she whispered, voice barely audible.
He looked down at her — eyes stormy, vulnerable, unguarded.
"I want you, Yueying."
The words settled in the space between them like lightning waiting to strike. The spark was there, increasing with each breathe they took.
And she—
She grabbed his collar.
Pulled him down.
And kissed him.
It wasn't soft.
It wasn't gentle.
It was fire meeting fire.
His hands gripped her waist, gripping her as her fingers buried in his hair. She kissed him like she was daring him to pull away — but he didn't. He deepened it, slow at first, then hungrily. Like he'd been waiting centuries for her lips, her taste, her flame.
The pendant between them pulsed wildly.
Magic sparked — not outward, but inward. Their bond flared, tethered tighter.
Lu Quing pulled back slightly, their foreheads touching.
" That was nice " he said as he tightened his hands on her waist.
Her breath shuddered.
"And you kiss like I'm going to slip away any moment ," she replied as she let out a chuckle.
He kissed her again — slower this time, lingering, soft and passionate.
Then stopped.
"I said I'd wait," he whispered, voice thick.
She stepped back, chest heaving.
"I didn't ask you to stop."
He smiled faintly, brushing his thumb along her bottom lip.
"But if I don't now… I won't stop." He stared at her lips.
The air between them was charged. Sparks igniting.
Still too full of unsaid things.
But her eyes shimmered with truth.
"I'm not ready to love you," she said. "But I'm not ready to lose you either."
He stepped back, one hand clenching like it was resisting a force.
"Then I'll wait."
And he left.
This time—without looking back.
Leaving her with the taste of him still on her lips.
And the fire inside her burning wildly.
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