Tension

The hallway around that time was already empty, with no one in sight. It made the silence between the three people standing in it even more deafening. 

Li Caiyi noticed it too late, but there was a stifling atmosphere in the air. She gulped in nervousness.

"Zhiqiang, why are you here?" Li Caiyi asked awkwardly to break the suffocating silence.

"Why? Can't I be here?"

His response was sharp and almost cold. Besides, he also had this dark expression on his face, like he was unhappy about something. It took Li Caiyi aback, and she couldn't form a coherent response right on the spot.

"Oh? Uhm, no, it's not that. I mean—" 

"Why are you here, then?" Dai Zhiqiang asked her again.

"I was looking for you after school, and then various things happened—"

"What things? Explain."