“You broke up with Nora?!” 

Rory’s shock and exclamation upon Bryden’s arrival forces him to remember what transpired earlier, but he simply shrugs and sits at the edge of his bed.

Rory sighs and shakes his head, clutching his face with his hand. “What in the world did you do, Bryden?”

“What do you mean? I did nothing. It’s Nora who got all jealous and upset for no reason. She even had the audacity to spill her milkshake over my head! And now I’m the bad guy?”

Rory sneers. “Did nothing? Then how do you explain Nora crying over the phone when she called me as soon as your date ended? She said you were flirting with other girls while you were on a date with her!”

Bryden’s attention has already averted away from Rory and onto the amethyst ring that he’s fiddling with. “So that’s how you heard of our breakup. You two sure do tell each other everything.”

“Of course we do. Nora’s my best friend. And I will not just stand by and watch as my best friend has her heart broken by my own roommate!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bryden mumbles, twirling the ring in his hands. “Then why don’t you two get together instead? You two are perfect for each other!”

“Have you no heart?” Rory raises his voice. “You haven’t even apologized for hurting Nora and making her cry.”

Bryden glances at his face nonchalantly, disregarding everything else that comes out of his mouth, and can’t help but think, Damn, I’ve never seen Rory this angry before. He’s usually so calm and composed like a goody two shoes…

“…And not only that, but…” Rory trails off when he notices Bryden not listening. “What are you doing?”

Bryden has been tossing the ring in the air and catching it with a grin on his face. All the words that came out of Rory’s mouth went through one ear and out of the other. “Hm? Oh, I found this ring on the street on my way over here. It looks pretty old, but I think I can sell it online for some—”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Rory sputters, at a loss for what to say. “You—” He stops himself and shakes his head, sighing. “You know what, I don’t even want to talk about it.”

“That’s cool, man.” Bryden shoots him another one of his cheeky grins. “I don’t want to talk about it either. Anyway, I’m going to go take a shower since I’ve got a milkshake spilled all over me. Later.”

After Bryden has already shut the door to the bathroom, Rory sighs again and resigns himself to collapse on his bed. That Bryden Stalling… he thinks he’s so high and mighty! He thinks every student here loves him, but actually, they all hate him. One day, he’ll learn his lesson…

Inside the bathroom, Bryden takes out the ring from his pocket and examines it once more. Wow, this thing is so filthy. I’d better wash it so that people would pay more for it. And so, he turns on the faucet and gently rinses the ring. While doing so, he can’t help but sneak a glance at himself in the mirror. Well, hello handsome. He turns off the faucet and carefully wipes the ring with his sweatshirt.

Suddenly, the amethyst begins to glow. Bryden yelps and throws the ring onto the floor, but it only glows brighter and brighter. It emits a beam of white light, to which Bryden squints and covers his eyes. A moment later, a young man emerges from the light. Sensing his presence, Bryden hesitantly brings his hands away from his eyes, which widen at the sight of the stranger in front of him. The stranger’s long, black hair falls down to his knees, with his white robes flowing naturally like a breeze. His fair skin emits a soft glow as his very being levitates in the air.

After a moment, the man greets Bryden in Chinese.