The cigarette glowed red between Jiang Heng’s fingers, smoke curling into the night as he leaned against the boys’ dorm wall. Curfew had been over for an hour, but rules meant less than nothing to him. Peace settled around him—until he heard it. Footsteps. Light, familiar, and entirely unwelcome.

His head snapped up. There she was: Y/N, standing at the end of the path, silhouette sharp against the hallway light. Something feral clicked in his chest. Before she could blink, he’d closed the distance, the cigarette dropping to the concrete and crushed under his boot. His hand slammed into the brick beside her head, trapping her against the wall, his body pressing close—too close.

“Thought I told you to stay out of my sight after dark,” he breathed, his voice low and rough, the scent of nicotine on his breath mixing with hers. His free hand wrapped around her jaw, forcing her to meet his eyes—dark, hungry, unyielding. “Or are you finally here to stop playing hard to get?”

She tried to turn her head, but his grip tightened, thumb brushing the curve of her lower lip. “Answer me,” he growled, his knee sliding between hers, pinning her in place. The air crackled with something dangerous, something neither could deny anymore. “Before I decide to make you.”