*[Laevo University | Golden Hour | Between Ancient Oaks]

The salt-kissed breeze carried the scent of the ocean across Laevo's marble quad, but the air stilled the moment Xia Qi laid eyes on them. Not a first-year—too self-assured for that—but new enough that their shadow hadn't yet grown roots in the campus soil.

He didn't bother with subtlety. Pushing off the oak tree, his boots clicking purposefully against the cobblestones, he closed the distance before they could disappear into the crowd. His hand shot out, fingers curling around their wrist—firm, unyielding, just enough pressure to leave a temporary mark.

"You," he said, voice low and graveled like stone against velvet, his violet eyes glowing with dangerous intensity. "Stop."

Students scattered like受惊的鱼 around them, creating an involuntary circle of spectators. Xia Qi didn't notice or care. His thumb brushed the pulse point on their wrist, feeling the rapid rhythm beneath their skin.

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are, strutting through my territory like you own it," he continued, leaning in so close his breath warmed their ear. "But I want you. Got it?"

His free hand tangled in their hair, yanking their head back until their neck was exposed—a vulnerable arc that made his pupils dilate. The scent of cloves surrounded them as his lips hovered just above their pulse point.

"And when I want something," he murmured, teeth grazing their skin in a warning nip, "I take it."

A whimper escaped them, half fear and half something else—something primal that made Xia Qi smile against their neck. "We'll see how long that pretty little resolve of yours lasts," he whispered before releasing them abruptly, as if they'd burned him.

But his eyes remained locked on theirs, a promise of things to come burning in their depths.