After eating cai Lang took the bowl from Suo Ran's hands before he could say anything.
"I'll wash dishes" cai Lang said.
"It's dark," Suo said.
"I can see well enough."
Suo hesitated, then turned on his phone flashlight and held it up, directing the light toward the sink. Cai rolled up his sleeves and started washing, water running softly.
Suo leaned against the counter, watching him without realizing it.
Cai noticed. "What?"
Suo blinked. "Nothing."
A pause.
"…Mosquito," Suo added awkwardly.
Cai let out a quiet scoff.
Just then, the lights flickered.
Once....
Twice....
Then the apartment filled with light.
"Oh," Suo said softly.
Cai turned off the tap.
"Looks like it's back."
He dried his hands, grabbed his jacket, and headed toward the door.
"Thanks," Suo said. "For staying."
Cai nodded. "Get some rest."
"Bye."
"Good Night."
Cai left, and the door clicked shut.
Strangely enough, things felt… okay.
Later, Suo lay in bed, replaying the power cut in his mind the hug, the quiet, the way Cai had stayed without making it a big deal.
His phone rang.
He went in living room to pick up phone.
"Hello?" Suo ran answered.
"Suo ran ," Lian Ziho's voice came through clearly.
"I'm going out tomorrow. Want me to buy you anything?"
Suo ran smiled faintly.
"No need."
"You sure? Snacks? Drinks?"
"I'm fine, really."
As he spoke, the door beside him opened.
Cai Lang stepped out of his apartment and without warning, reached over and took Suo's phone straight from his hand.
"Hey !" Suo ran protested.
Cai brought the phone to his ear. "Where are you?"
Lian blinked on the other end. "Cai lang? Why are you answering?"
"I've been calling you,"
Cai Lang said. "Why can't I find you?"
"I was busy."
"And you have time to call suo ran and not me ?"cau lang said.
"You are buying something for suo ran? Cai Lang said.
Cai continued flatly. "So why are you buying something for Suo? You never buy me anything."
Suo stared at him in disbelief, mouthing give it back.
Lian laughed awkwardly.
"I just… felt like I should."
"Since when?"
There was a brief pause.
"…I don't know," Lian admitted. "I just thought of him."
Then quickly, "Anyway did you eat?"
The subject changed too fast.
Cai Lang noticed.
He handed the phone back.
Suo glared at him. "You can't just snatch my phone!"
"You were standing in the hallway," Cai replied calmly.
"That's not an excuse."
"Be more careful," Cai said. "Anyone could hear."
Suo ran crossed his arms.
"You're unbelievable."
Cai paused, then said, "I'm going grocery shopping."
"Isn't late to go? " Suo ran with confused face.
"Why, are you scared? " Cai Lang smiled.
"…okay, I need a few things too," Suo replied after a moment.
"Then come."
They walked out together, still mildly annoyed, still side by side neither realizing how naturally they'd fallen into it.
Cai Lang knew it was wrong.
The way his eyes kept drifting to Suo Ran and Lian Ziho walking a step ahead of him.
The way Suo leaned in when Lian spoke.
The way their laughter came easily too easily.
Since when are they this close?
Cai Lang clenched his jaw.
He told himself it was nothing. Just friends.
Just convenience.
Then why did it bother him so much?
Lost in thought, he stepped forward
A sharp horn blared.
"Cai lang !"
Something grabbed his arm hard and yanked him back.
A scooter shot past where he'd been standing, missing him by inches.
Cai lang's heart slammed violently against his ribs.
Suo Ran was gripping his sleeve, chest rising and falling fast.
"What's wrong with you?!" Suo snapped, eyes wide with anger and fear.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Cai Lang blinked, still stunned.
"I..."
"You weren't even looking," Suo continued, voice shaking now.
"What were you thinking?"
Their faces were close.
Too close.
Cai met Suo ran's eyes and felt something twist painfully in his chest.
You.( In mind)
I was thinking about you.
But he didn't say it.
Instead, he straightened.
"I'm fine."
Suo Ran scoffed. "You almost got hit."
"It's Nothing," Cai Lang said too quickly.
Suo ran glared at him. "You call that nothing?"
Cai Lang looked away.
That was when he felt it.
The shift.
The air thickening.
A presence watching.
He glanced across the street and saw it a figure lingering too long, phone raised slightly, gaze fixed on them.
Not random.
Not curious.
Danger.
Cai Lang 's hand tightened into a fist.
"Let's go," he said sharply.
The figure across the street moved first.
Too fast.
"Get down!" Cai Lang shouted.
Everything happened at once.
The man lunged not with a gun, not with a blade, but with intent sharp enough to cut.
People screamed. A second figure appeared from the alley, blocking their path.
Suo ran froze.
Cai Lang didn't.
He shoved Suo ran backward instinctively.
"Move!"
The impact came hard.
Cai Lang staggered as something struck his side metal against flesh.
Not deep enough to kill, but enough to drop him to one knee.
"Cai Lang! " Suo ran yelled.
Blood seeped quickly through Cai Lang's jacket.
Cai Lang's vision went red.
He moved without thinking grabbing Suo ran by the collar and yanking him behind a parked car, then turning back with lethal calm.
"Stay Here."
The attackers hesitated.
That was their mistake.
Cai disarmed the closer one in seconds, twisting his arm until the weapon clattered to the ground. The second tried to run.
Didn't get far.
Sirens wailed in the distance someone had already called it in.
The men vanished into the crowd.
Silence fell hard.
Cai Lang was sitting on the ground now, breathing hard, trying and failing to joke.
"Guess… I shouldn't have skipped breakfast."
Suo knelt beside him, hands shaking. "Don't talk. You're bleeding."
"I'm fine," Cai Lang said, teeth clenched.
"Just hurts like hell."
Suo ran ripped off his own jacket, pressing it firmly against Cai Lang's side. "Idiot," he muttered. "Why did you jump in?"
Cai Lang looked up at him, surprisingly clear-eyed.
"Because of you "
The words hit harder than the blow.
Cai Lang and suo ran didn't argue.
He couldn't.
Suo's hands trembled as he held the pressure in place. "This is my fault," he whispered.
"No," Cai Lang said softly. "It's not."
But Cai lang knew better.
This wasn't random.
This wasn't coincidence.
This was connected to the scroll, to his father's warning, to Suo ran.
And now Cai Lang was bleeding because of it.
As the sirens grew louder, Cai Lang looked at Suo ran really looked at him.
Fear. Guilt. Resolve.
Danger hadn't just returned.
It had chosen its target.
And Cai Lang was done pretending he could keep everyone safe by staying distant.