Chapter 28: Seen

Her body pressed against mine.

Her breath warm, her fingers trembling—not from shyness, but restraint.

And I remained still beneath her. Calm. Passive. Like the quiet boy she loved.

Because that's who I was supposed to be.

Even now—half-undressed, skin warm from her kiss—I wore the mask.

The bashful, sensitive version of myself that flinched slightly at intimacy, but never denied her affection. I let my voice shake ever so slightly. Let my fingers hesitate on her hips. Let my eyes soften like I was nervous.

She bought it every time.

Or maybe she didn't.

Maybe she only pretended to believe it because she wanted it to be true.

Because the alternative—that the boy she loved was nothing more than a reflection, a crafted performance—would shatter her.

Her hands slid under my shirt again. Her forehead rested against mine.

"I love you," she whispered.

I kissed her softly, my voice low, uncertain.

"I love you too."

And for a moment, she stopped trembling.

But her grip on me never loosened.

Later That Night

I sat alone in my room, lights dimmed. The performance had ended for now. The mask was still on, but only loosely.

My thoughts were already back in the deeper places—the sigil, the veil, the empire beneath my control.

I had no reason to worry about Minako. I hadn't led her on. Hadn't messaged her. Hadn't said anything suspicious.

Still…

Ping.

The sound came from my phone, screen lighting softly.

[WeChat: Minako] – "Still awake, mystery boy?"

I didn't answer.

I didn't react.

I simply looked at it, head slightly tilted, eyes flat.

Another variable.

Another piece on the board that didn't realize she'd stepped onto it.

I moved to dismiss the notification.

But before I could—

Knock knock.

Three soft taps.

The window.

Of course.

She never trusted silence.

I turned, carefully reassembling my expression as I approached the window.

The shy boy returned.

Ren, the gentle one. The boyfriend with hesitant hands and downcast eyes.

Airi stood outside, framed by moonlight.

And even before I opened the window, I knew:

She had seen it.

The message.

The look in her eyes—soft, sweet, dangerous—said everything.

I let her in like always. Like someone harmless.

She smiled. Asked me softly who it was. Sat on my bed like a girl in love.

And as she took the phone from my hand and scrolled through the messages, I stayed perfectly still. Like someone afraid of upsetting her. Like someone too innocent to hide.

She deleted the message quietly.

Then turned to me and said, "You're mine, Ren."

I nodded.

"I know."

Because that's what she needed to hear.

And because anything else would shatter the persona.

She kissed me slow—claiming, warning.

And I kissed her back.

Not because I felt it.

But because he would have.

Ren, the quiet boy.

The one who belonged to her.

[Minako – Day After]

When I first saw Ren, I thought he was like every other "quiet top student" type.

Too polite. Too reserved. Always alone, always still.

But the longer I watched him, the more I felt it.

He wasn't shy.

He was measuring.

Every glance. Every movement. Every answer — calculated to be someone, not reveal someone.

And yesterday, he slipped.

Just once.

During Chemistry, I leaned in to ask him a question I already knew the answer to — and his eyes flicked to my hand before I touched the table.

Fast. Sharp.

Like a predator tracking a motion.

He smiled a second later, soft and polite, as if nothing had happened. But my heart had already skipped.

Because that wasn't normal.

That was training.

And last night, when I sent him a playful message — just to test his temperature — his reply never came.

But someone read it.

I know they did.

Because two minutes later, his online status vanished.

Gone.

Not offline. Not busy.

Just vanished.

Deleted.

I've tested enough people to recognize a silent retraction when I see one.

Today

He was the same in class.

Same calm posture. Same neutral smile. Same soft voice.

But I saw the shift in his eyes when Airi leaned too close during lunch. I saw the faint twitch in his fingers when she whispered something to him and gave me that razor-sweet smile over her shoulder.

Airi.

She was something else entirely.

Pretty. Polished. Soft-spoken.

But her eyes were wild underneath. Not unhinged—but feral.

Possessive.

I'd seen that look before. On girls who thought love meant ownership.

It didn't scare me.

It just meant the game was real now.

After School

I didn't go home.

Instead, I circled around the block near Ren's house.

I wasn't stalking. Not really.

I was investigating.

Because something about him wasn't right. The way he held himself, like a prince pretending to be a peasant. The way Airi guarded him like a dragon with its treasure.

And the way my gut whispered, There's more to him than this world.

At exactly 7:43 p.m., a light on the second floor of his house flickered twice.

And then never turned on again.

That was weird.

Who flickers a light and never follows up?

A signal?

Or a habit?

I scribbled it down in my notebook and headed home, pulse quiet but thoughts racing.

Ren was hiding something.

And I was going to find out what.