The neon lights of the pedestrian street cast colorful shadows across Zhuge Dan's face as I finally spot him. Five hours since our fight about his stupid acting major, and here he is - my twin brother, leaning against a hotel sign, making a mockery of himself by pretending to solicit passersby. The July heat clings to my skin, but a chill runs through me at the sight of him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

He smirks, running a hand through his hair - longer than mine now, since he refused to go to the barber with me last month. "Standing on the street. What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're embarrassing yourself. And me. And the whole family."

"You said I should just disappear if I wasn't going to choose a proper major," he says, voice rising. "You said the family should disown me! So here I am, making my own way."

"That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Then what did you mean?" He steps closer, our identical faces inches apart, his eyes blazing with that familiar defiance that always used to make us inseparable as children. "Either you buy me, or you leave me here to my fate."

The crowd moves around us, oblivious to the family drama unfolding, but I'm acutely aware of every eye. I grab my wallet from my pocket, pulling out every bill and coin I have until my wallet is empty and his hands are full.

"Fine," I hear myself say, the words feeling foreign in my mouth. "I'll buy you. For one night."

His smirk softens into something I can't read - something dangerous and promising. "Then take me somewhere we can be alone, gege."

The honorific sounds like a caress, and suddenly the night feels infinitely more dangerous than I'd thought.

"Where should we go?" I ask, my voice catching in my throat.