NS had always been good at staying quiet.
Not the shy kind of quiet. Not the gentle kind either. His quiet was a choice. A skill. A way of watching without being seen, a way of collecting rooms and people the way other boys collected achievements.
If someone asked, he could say he was calm.
If someone pressed, he could say he was tired.
If someone demanded, he could smile and make them feel like they were the one being dramatic.
That was the trick.
He didn't raise his voice.
He raised doubt.
And doubt, NS learned early, could outlive any truth.
He remembered the day it started with a clarity that made his stomach twist even now.
The shy kiss.
Campus-2.
A window.
A moment that was supposed to be private.
NS had told himself he didn't care. That he was just looking through the glass because he happened to walk by. That he wasn't the type to get jealous over someone else's feelings.
He had believed that version of himself for exactly two seconds.
Then he saw it.
XH's hand lifting, slow, almost hesitant. Kitty's face tilted up with that quiet softness she rarely showed anyone. The kiss wasn't deep. It wasn't dramatic. It was brief, shy, almost clumsy.
That was what made it cruel.
It looked real.
NS remembered the exact feeling in his chest when he saw it. It wasn't a sharp stab like in movies. It was a slow sinking, like his stomach had dropped and decided to stay down there.
It wasn't only jealousy.
It was humiliation.
Because Kitty hadn't even looked at him like that.
Not once.
Not when they sat together.
Not when he made jokes.
Not when he tried to be gentle.
Kitty laughed at him. Kitty teased him. Kitty leaned on him sometimes when she was tired.
But Kitty didn't soften for him.
Kitty softened for XH.
And in that moment, NS understood something about himself that he did not want to admit.
He had wanted her.
Not as a trophy. Not as a rumor. Not as a passing crush.
He had wanted her to choose him the way she chose XH in that quiet second.
And she didn't.
So NS did what he always did when he lost something he felt entitled to.
He swallowed it.
He swallowed it so well that no one noticed.
He walked back into the hallway, face neutral, mouth relaxed, breath steady. He met XH later that night and talked about something stupid. A match. A joke. An assignment. He acted normal so convincingly that even he almost believed it.
Almost.
But inside, the kiss stayed there.
It lived behind his ribs like a small stone.
Every time XH laughed, the stone pressed.
Every time Kitty smiled at XH, the stone pressed harder.
Every time Kitty looked at NS and called him bro, the stone pressed until he felt sick.
NS did not want XH to know.
That part mattered more than the crush itself.
Because XH was not just his teammate. XH was the center of their circle. The one people naturally followed. The one who got chosen for things without trying. The one who could sit in silence and still feel important.
NS hated that about him long before he hated him for Kitty.
So NS decided he would not give XH this victory too.
He would not let XH know he had taken something from him.
NS turned jealousy into discipline.
He turned it into patience.
He told himself, it's fine. Let them date. Let them do whatever. It will fade. She will get bored. XH will mess up. He always messes up because he can't choose.
That was the first seed.
XH can't choose.
NS watched it happen in real time.
XH tried to make Kitty official, and Kitty brushed it off, smiling, telling him to stay friends. Kitty was playing her long game. Kitty liked being the queen of their small circle. She liked knowing she could keep someone close without fully giving herself.
NS saw that and felt something that looked like satisfaction.
Not because Kitty was hurting XH.
Because it meant XH was not winning cleanly anymore.
Then June appeared.
At first, NS thought June was just another pretty face the campus would talk about for a week and then forget. But June didn't arrive like a temporary spark.
June arrived like a shift in weather.
June didn't beg for attention.
She collected it.
Her posture was straight. Her eyes were calm. Her voice had that clipped confidence that made even teachers listen. She walked like she was already used to being watched.
NS noticed XH noticing her.
He saw the way XH's attention changed.
It wasn't lust. It wasn't obsession.
It was curiosity mixed with caution, like XH felt something pulling him and didn't know whether to follow it.
NS watched June too.
He watched how Kitty reacted.
Kitty smiled and welcomed her, played friend, played sister, taught her little tricks, gave her advice.
But Kitty's eyes sharpened the moment June and XH shared a look.
Kitty pretended she didn't care.
NS saw everything.
And somewhere in the middle of that triangle forming, NS felt his heart shift.
Not away from Kitty, not fully.
But toward June.
June was different.
June felt like a challenge.
June felt like power.
And if NS couldn't win Kitty cleanly, maybe he could win something else. Maybe he could win the game XH kept refusing to finish.
XH kept standing in the middle like time belonged to him.
Kitty wanted him.
June wanted him.
NS wanted to see what would happen if someone forced the middle to collapse.
He didn't start with big moves.
NS never started with big moves.
Big moves were loud. Loud got punished.
NS started with small positioning.
Standing closer to Kitty when XH was distracted.
Asking Kitty if she ate.
Offering Kitty his jacket when the air turned cold.
Not flirting in obvious ways. Just being present.
A constant.
A quiet option.
He did the same with June.
He helped June with notes once, not because she needed it, because he wanted a reason to talk to her without it looking suspicious. He asked her questions that made her talk about herself. He listened. He remembered details. He gave her the kind of attention that felt safe.
June liked attention that looked respectful.
NS gave it to her.
He didn't tell her he wanted her.
He didn't tell her he wanted to use her.
He just stayed close enough to feel her orbit.
The Water Festival came, and NS thought, this is where things will crack.
Big events made feelings loud.
Big events made people careless.
He watched XH and June during that arc. The crowd, the water fights, the hand touches that lingered too long. The misunderstandings. The jealousy sparks. He watched Kitty's face tighten when she saw June and XH too close.
Kitty tried to laugh it off.
NS saw the pain anyway.
And NS felt that old stone behind his ribs press again.
He told himself, I should comfort Kitty.
He did, in small ways.
But the truth was uglier.
Kitty's pain pleased him.
Not because he wanted her to suffer.
Because her pain meant XH was failing.
And if XH failed, it meant NS wasn't losing alone.
Then the Dota tournament happened.
Wings Gaming.
Hover your wings.
The underdog story.
The crowd screaming.
The girls hugging in pure joy.
The moment XH held both Kitty's and June's hands and thought it was the warmest touch he'd ever felt.
NS remembered that day like a bruise.
He remembered June's voice in the booth, crying, begging them to come back.
He remembered Kitty's scolding, sharp but caring.
He remembered the way both girls looked at XH like he was the center of their universe.
NS was part of the win.
He was part of the comeback.
He was part of the team.
But the cameras didn't want him.
The cheers didn't say NS.
They said XH.
That did something to him.
It wasn't just jealousy anymore.
It was resentment.
Resentment was calmer than jealousy.
Resentment lasted longer.
Resentment turned into plans.
The field trips made it worse.
The monastery nights.
The drinking.
The brother vows.
The laughter that felt like home.
NS almost forgot his resentment there.
Almost.
Then the king sash happened.
NS hadn't expected to win it. He had joked about it. He had treated it like a game. But when the sash was placed across him and the crowd cheered, something inside him woke up.
Power tasted good.
Respect tasted even better.
And then, the rain kiss.
He saw it from far.
June running out after the queen results, makeup starting to smear, pride cracked open. XH following her, jacket lifted over both their heads, shielding her from the rain like he was made for that scene.
NS stood under the palace lights with the king sash across his chest, watching them through sheets of rain, and felt something in his throat tighten until he could barely breathe.
It wasn't just jealousy.
It was rage.
Because it looked like destiny.
Because it looked like XH was finally choosing.
And NS realized, with a sick clarity, that if XH chose June fully, Kitty would have nowhere to go.
Kitty would either fade, or suffer, or cling.
And NS couldn't stand the idea of Kitty fading from his reach.
Not after everything.
So the plan shifted.
He couldn't stop XH by competing fairly.
He had to destabilize him.
He had to make XH doubt himself.
He had to make XH look unstable enough that Kitty and June would hesitate.
NS didn't invent this strategy alone.
He didn't need to.
He already had a channel.
A private message app.
Encrypted.
Clean.
Not used by normal students.
Used by people who believed they were above normal rules.
VT's circle.
NS had known VT's circle long before this institution. Not close friends in public. Not handshakes. Not photos together. But in the way rich boys and powerful boys stayed connected even when they pretended they weren't.
NS had access because his world overlapped theirs.
NS had access because money made doors.
VT hated XH for a simple reason.
XH didn't bow.
XH didn't fear him.
XH had a kind of stubborn dignity that made junta boys feel insulted without being touched.
NS fed that hatred carefully.
Not with obvious lies.
With updates.
Little observations.
XH is the captain.
XH is close to both girls.
XH won't choose.
XH makes the crowd love him.
XH makes you look less important.
NS knew how to talk to boys like VT.
He knew the language.
He knew how to make it sound like strategy instead of obsession.
When the move to the junta school happened, VT's circle promised NS something.
Not written.
Not spoken loudly.
But understood.
We'll take him out.
Not kill him, not openly.
Take him out.
Ruin his aura.
Break his image.
Make him a joke.
Make him less.
NS told himself he didn't want XH harmed.
He told himself he just wanted to win Kitty.
He told himself he just wanted XH humbled.
But when you push stones down a hill, you don't get to decide how far they roll.
The cafeteria fight changed the plan.
NS remembered that moment too.
VT's crew pushing too far.
Kitty trembling.
Tears on her face.
NS felt something in his chest twist, something older than resentment.
Protectiveness.
Not noble protectiveness.
Possessive protectiveness.
He couldn't stand seeing Kitty cry for XH.
He couldn't stand seeing her body react like she belonged to XH emotionally.
So NS jumped in that day.
Not because he had abandoned the plan.
Because the plan had to stay believable.
A snake didn't survive by being openly evil.
A snake survived by being useful.
That was the rule NS lived by.
So he fought.
He stood beside XH.
He made the crowd believe they were brothers.
He made Kitty see him as safe.
And then, later, he returned to the shadows.
He tipped XH off about the gym.
It wasn't dramatic.
Just a small message through someone else.
A tiny location drop.
A timing hint.
NS didn't have to say, go hurt him.
He just had to open a door.
VT's circle did the rest.
And now, standing on the day before Game 7, NS felt the story tightening again.
June had posted.
Kitty had commented.
Rumors had grown.
XH had looked at NS like he wanted to tear his face apart.
NS should have felt guilty.
He didn't.
He felt tired.
Tired of waiting for XH to decide.
Tired of watching XH collect loyalty without earning it.
Tired of watching Kitty soften for someone who didn't even know what he wanted.
Tired of seeing June's pride cracked by someone who refused to claim her.
NS sat on his bed later that night, phone in hand, screen dim.
The encrypted app was open.
A message from VT.
Two words.
"Tomorrow ends."
NS stared at it for a long moment.
His thumb hovered.
He didn't reply.
He didn't need to.
He already knew what tomorrow was.
Tomorrow was Game 7.
Tomorrow was the trophy.
Tomorrow was the cameras.
Tomorrow was the stage where NS could pretend to be brother and still be the knife.
He thought about Kitty.
He thought about June.
He thought about XH's face when he saw the DMs.
He thought about the rain kiss under the jacket.
He thought about the way XH always looked like the main character even when he was silent.
NS exhaled slowly.
In the dark, his calm felt honest for once.
He whispered, so quiet nobody could hear.
"You don't get to keep everything."
Then he locked his phone, lay back, and stared at the ceiling.
No rain tonight.
No forecast.
Just silence that felt like a held breath.
And inside that silence, NS smiled faintly, the kind of smile that didn't look like joy.
It looked like a knife waiting to be used.