For the next two weeks, the physics lab at Nanshi No. 1 became two isolated islands.

Ling Yin and Lu Shaodong occupied the same room, but they existed in parallel dimensions. Ling Yin, wearing the sleek titanium frames, was cold and sharp, burying herself in data correction without sparing him a single glance. Lu Shaodong had grown more erratic, appearing only late at night, smelling of faint nicotine and a self-destructive weariness.

Late Friday night, a sudden storm hit Nanshi.

The tension in the lab reached a snapping point. Ling Yin was conducting a high-risk laser interference experiment—a complexity she had added privately just to surpass Lu’s designs. Suddenly, the circuit board hissed, damp from the humidity, and a brilliant blue arc of electricity leaped into the air.

"Get down!"

A figure blurred across the room.

Lu Shaodong threw himself at Ling Yin, shoving her toward the safety mats. In the chaos, his own forearm grazed the searing hot edge of the laser emitter.

CRASH.

Equipment scattered everywhere. The lab fell into a haunting silence.

Trembling, Ling Yin scrambled up only to find Lu slumped on the floor, a jagged, angry burn searing his right arm. Sweat beaded on his pale forehead, but his first reaction wasn't pain—it was fury.

"Are you insane? You touched a high-voltage setup alone without my derivations? Do you want to blow yourself up?" he roared, his voice raw and raspy.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Ling Yin exploded, two weeks of suppressed agony pouring out in tears. "You kicked me off the project! You humiliated me in front of the whole school! You act like you want me dead—so why are you playing the hero now?"

"Ling Yin, you don't understand—"

"I understand that you're a coward!" She lunged at him, grabbing his collar. "You're afraid of your father, so you pushed me away. You think this self-sacrifice is noble? Look at me, Lu Shaodong! Tell me to my face that you really want me gone!"

Lu froze. At this proximity, he could smell her familiar scent; he could see the fire and love burning in her eyes behind the new lenses.

The icy mask he’d worn for fourteen days shattered.

He reached out, roughly pulling her into his chest. His injured arm trembled as he locked her in his embrace. Burying his face in the crook of her neck, he let out a jagged, broken sound.

"I don't... I'm going insane, Owl," he whispered, his voice shaking. "I watch you stay here until midnight. I watch those guys start circling you again, and I want to tear this whole building down. But my father... he’ll destroy you. He’s already cut off your uncle’s livelihood. He told me if I didn't comply, he’d revoke your right to take the Gaokao."

Ling Yin went stiff. She had never imagined the suffocating stakes he was navigating in the shadows.

"Then let's go to hell together," she murmured, slowly wrapping her arms around him. "Stop pushing me away, Lu. I can give up the competition. I can give up the university. But I can't stand you looking at me like I'm a ghost."

Lu pulled back, the dead look in his eyes replaced by a lethal, burning spark.

"Fine," he promised, his voice low and dangerous. "If he wants the gold medal, I’ll give it to him. But I’ll do it my way. And then I’ll grind everything he cares about into the dirt."

He kissed her then—not a tentative touch, but a desperate, feverish claim.

In the corner of the lab, a forgotten security camera blinked with a tiny red light. It was a remote link installed by Lu Zhengyuan to monitor his son.

On the other end of the feed, Lu Zhengyuan watched the two of them on the screen and slowly crushed his cigar.

"Since you won't listen," he whispered to the empty room, "I suppose it's time to break you completely."