The bell suddenly rings.

He Jun looks up, everything inside of him going still. There is however nothing to see because the entire apartment is now completely shrouded in darkness.

He hadn’t even noticed.

The hand holding his phone which he has been scrolling through lowers as he listens carefully, hoping that this is some sort of mistake.

Because no one should be at his door. 

Another shrill however cuts through the heavy silence, and his heart lurches.

Scowling, he gets up but nearly crumbles in the same breath because his legs have now gone numb from seating immobile for so long. He had been unable and unwilling to move, his heart heavy and his nerves in knots.

It takes a few more moments for his blood to recirculate, but whoever is on the other side of the door becomes impatient. They abandon the bell and start to pound.

Furiously!

Desperately?

However, they don’t speak.

He Jun stares at the door, now struck with the horrible suspicion of whom it might be.

It is however too hard to believe because this person… should not be here. In fact, it is expedient that they not be here.

The motorcycle racing crash he has been rewatching endlessly for the last two hours, and devouring every existing and developing piece of news on from Weibo, flashes through his mind. His hand tightens around his phone as a warning strikes his heart.

Your lights are not on.  He will eventually accept that you’re not home and leave.

This person’s banging, however, intensifies, and it is heart-wrenching.

“Open up,” he hears the low hiss through gritted teeth from the other side.

He Jun's knees trembles.

“He Jun!”

The door is pounded on again and again, and He Jun pleads internally.

Stop.

As though the person hears him, the banging ceases, and a long, wretched silence ensues.

The sniffing comes first, and then the low, quiet sobbing, and it becomes impossibly difficult to breathe. He Jun can no longer stop himself from moving towards the door, and just as he arrives, hears the defeated call.

“Jun ge.”

"Jun ge.” the voice calls again... soft and …. broken. And pained.

He’s fine, He Jun tries to reassure himself. He'll be fine.

"Just for tonight,” the person on the other side entreats. “Just for a few minutes.”

Silence.

“Didn’t you see? I could have died.” 

He Jun's gaze lifts to the ceiling, stung with tears.

“Open the door!" they pound on the door again.

“Open the fucking door!”

He Jun jumps, certain that the entire building is able to hear the violent kicks and roars. His hand closes timidly around the handle, 

“I’m broken. You’re glad, right? That's what I deserve right?”

He Jun has to move away. He can no longer remain here, otherwise, he is not going to be able to stop himself from opening the door… and facing him. 

Quiet thankfully returns.

He Jun though can still hear the boy panting, and a few seconds later, he hears something else.

Beeps from the door's keypad.

He panics, the room spinning around him until it comes to his reminder that he has long since changed his passcode. No one, not even his mother has the code to this place so there is no way this visitor will be able to get in.

Hell, even the other residents of this building are not aware of this floor’s existence. Only He Jun has the special access card that allows the elevator to ride just one floor up away from the rest of the world.

Well, only him... and this boy.

He Jun hadn't bothered taking the card back because he had not imagined that this person would even want to use it again. However here they are. Almost a year later.

Just as expected, the keypad tunes out its rejection, and once again everything goes quiet.

Despondent, He Jun turns around to leave, but then a single beep sounds.

This one beep has nothing to do with the key code, but everything to do with the device that allows anyone instant access to the apartment. He Jun has two of this, and has never given either out. It is too risky to give it out.

The gears of the lock shift, and he is in disbelief.

It can’t be.

The lock completely gives way and the handle is pulled down. He Jun spins around, eyes widening as a sliver of light sneaks in from the hallway.

Hide! his mind spits out a command, but he is no longer capable of taking instructions from anyone or anything. Even his own brain. 

The person on the other side hesitates for a bit, and then the door is fully pulled open.

He Jun very clearly makes out the dark baseball hat, oversized camouflage jacket and dark face mask covering half of this person’s face.

He freezes.

They both do.

For quite a while.

Then the boy scoffs, a corner of his mouth lifting in a way that is dispirited and disbelieving at the same time. He moves, and He Jun steps backwards.

The door is shut, and the device slipped back into the intruder's pocket.

They are both now completely shrouded by the dark, but He Jun doesn’t need the light to see… and feel this person before him.

His blood, previously cold from alarm and shock, is now simmering back to life. In no time, it will be at a full boil and then he will really be screwed.

“Leave!” he rasps.

The boy scoffs again, and then his eyes glower.

He walks past He Jun without any further acknowledgment, his shoulder bumping into his and knocking him out of the way. He Jun staggers but catches himself as he watches this person head straight to his refrigerator and jerk the door open. Bottles rattle from within, and once again there is a generous spill of light in the room.

A can of beer is retrieved, then there is a slight hiss before it is lifted to soft, plush lips. He Jun watches him drink without stopping, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down his throat. When he is done, he straightens, crushes the can, and then turns to face him.

“You really weren’t going to open up?” he asks.

He Jun has long given up on his ability to form any coherent response. Him and his body are just going to watch… helplessly.

“You saw what happened didn’t you?”

He Jun’s heart skips a beat.

“What if I had died?”

There it is- this deadly presumption again.

He Jun refuses to acknowledge it, and more than anything it makes him furious.

“What does that have to do with me?" he asks, barely recognizing his own voice. It is low and frigid and as dark as the room. "You know it's a dangerous sport but yet you chose to indulge in it. What does that have to do with me?”

Gao Zhihan glares at him.

He doesn't say a word back in response, and He Jun needs him to because no one has ever been more difficult to read than the boy standing before him.

Regardless, and from the moment they met He Jun has been gnawed with the almost desperate need to understand him. 

Eventually, Gao Zhihan does respond, and it is simply with a smile.

Bitter and vindictive.

And what it tells He Jun is that he is done for. 

He is now truly, and completely in trouble.