The One I Hurt - Part 1

The sky was still dark.

I didn't know the exact time, but the air told me it was late—somewhere between midnight and regret.

Mu Qinglan and Yifei were still asleep. Yifei clung to the blanket like a child, one leg draped over Qinglan's hip. Both of them looked peaceful.

But I only needed a few hours... so I wasn't.

Slipping out of bed, I pulled on some clothes and tiptoed toward the second floor. I didn't bother with a lantern. I didn't want light. I wanted cold. The kind that bit at your skin and made you remember you were still alive.

The hallway creaked under my steps, but no one stirred.

The doors to the balcony were already cracked open.

That was the first sign.

Then I heard it—a shift, the soft scrape of bare feet on wood. Someone was already out there.

I stepped through.