The scream didn't last long. It cut off too abruptly, like someone had clamped a hand over it mid breath.
Xinyue skidded to a halt before the corner, her shoes squeaking softly against the polished floor. Her pulse roared in her ears, drowning out everything else. The smell of disinfectant felt suddenly sharp, stinging the back of her throat. She didn't move forward, also didn't retreat either.
She listened. Voices followed low, urgent but controlled. Not in a panicked or chaotic way. That's made it worse, because panic was human and panic meant mistakes.
Taeyhun was already gone. She hadn't even seen him move past her. One second, he'd been walking away, the next the air itself seemed to fold inward, as if he'd slipped between moments. Xinyue swallowed, forcing her breathing to slow the way her father had drilled into her when she was younger.
"You rush in blind, you get hurt. Or worse you get someone else hurt."
She edged closer, keeping to the wall, every muscle coiled tight. The corridor opened into a service junction near the emergency stairwell. Dim lighting, no cameras she could see from this angle. The kind of forgotten space people only noticed when something went wrong.
Two men stood near the stair door. Both wore hospital visitor badges; both were too alert to be lost. One of them was on his knees. Not restrained, not struggling.
Just kneeling.
Taehyun stood in front of him, posture relaxed, head tilted slightly as if he were listening to something only, he could hear. There was blood on the tiled floor, a thin line trailing towards the stairwell, but Taehyun didn't appear injured. If anything, he looked untouched- immaculate in the way that someone completely in control could be.
The second man leaned against the wall, hand pressed to his neck, breathing uneven. His eyes flicked toward Xinyue the moment she stepped into view.
Taehyun gaze followed.
Their eyes met.
For half a second, something flared there, like sharp, unmistakable irritation. Not fear or concern. Just annoyance.
He didn't want her to see this. "Doctor" he said calmly.
"Go back".
Xinyue didn't answer. She couldn't seem to find her voice. Her eyes stayed on the man kneeling on the floor his shoulder trembling, his lips parted like he was still deciding whether to beg or stay silent.
"What happened?" she asked finally.
Taehyun exhaled slowly, like she'd asked something inconvenient rather than dangerous. "Nothing that concerns you Doc."
"That man screamed."
"Yes."
"That concerns me."
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. He turned slightly, blocking more of the kneeling man from her view. The gesture was subtle, instinctive and it unsettled her more than violence itself.
"You're shaking," he said.
She wasn't, not visibly. But she felt it in her body, a faint tremor running through her hands, her legs braced too hard against the floor.
"I'm fine," she said.
"I didn't ask if you were fine."
The kneeling man made a sound of half cough and half laugh. "She's brave," he rasped. "You always pick the interesting ones."
Taehyun didn't look at him when he spoke. "You don't get to speak."
The man flinched by his response.
Xinyue's stomach twisted. She'd seen fear before – the real fear but this was different. This wasn't terror of pain, instead this was terror of inevitability.
"Are you going to kill him?" she asked.
Those words tasted wrong in her mouth, too heavy for the sterile air of the hospital. Taehyun finally turned his head towards her fully.
"No," he said.
Relief flared for a brief second.
"Not here."
It extinguished just as quickly.
The man against the wall slid down, his strength giving out. He hit the floor with a dull thud, breathing ragged. Taehyun crouched, checking his pulse with clinical precision, then straightened.
"They won't bother you anymore," he said.
Xinyue stared at him. "That's not the answer I need"
"It's the only one you need right now."
She shook her head slowly. "You don't get to decide what I need."
His gaze lingered on her face, searching not for the weakness, but for calculation. Like, he was reassessing a variable he'd underestimated.
"Go home," he said again. "Now"
"And tomorrow?" she demanded. "What about tomorrow?"
There was a pause. Then quietly, "Tomorrow, I'll still be there."
The words settled into her chest like a weight.
'Still be there.
Not protecting you, not watching over you.
Just there…... for what?'
She didn't know why that word unsettled her more than the threat itself. While, constantly repeating in her mind.
-----
She didn't remember the walk to the parking lot.
Only fragments, Taehyun presence near her shoulder, close but not touching. The way people unconsciously moved aside as they passed him, sensing something they couldn't name. the echo of her footsteps sounding too loud in her ears.
He didn't speak until they reached his car.
"Get in," he said.
"I can take a taxi to get myself out."
"You can," he agreed. "You won't."
She opened her mouth to argue, then stopped. There was on point, he wasn't coercing her. He was stating a fact, like gravity.
She slid into the driving seat. While regretting not taking her own car to hospital.
Taehyun didn't get into the car. He stepped back, eyes scanning the structure with slow, methodical sweeps. Only when she'd buckled her seatbelt did he speak again.
"Don't take the usual route."
She blinked. "How do you…?"
"Left at the second exit. Then right, if anything feels off keep driving."
"And call you?" she asked, sarcasm edging her voice.
"Yes."
That answer was immediate.
She hesitated. "Why?"
He met her gaze full this time, something dark and intent settling in his eyes. "Because they'll be watching to see if you're alone."
Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. "And am I?"
"No, not today," he said.
She pulled out of the parking lot with a knot tight in her chest. Halfway home, she realized something. She hadn't followed her.
And yet…
Somehow, she didn't feel alone.
---
Her apartment felt different.
Too quiet, too still.
Xinyue locked the door behind her, then checked it twice more without meaning to. She set her bag down, toes curling slightly against the floor, senses straining for something she couldn't define. Totally exhausted by the day's events.
Nothing was out of place.
That was the problem.
She changed into an oversized t-shirt and shorts, washed her hands until the skin felt tight, then stopped in the middle of the kitchen.
Remembering Yuerin, she completely forgot about her, thinking of making a call to her later. Then looked to the window sensing something.
The window was open.
She was certain she'd closed it in the morning when left.
Her breathe slowed. Her heartbeat didn't.
Xinyue crossed the room carefully, peering out to outside world. Then shut the window and locked it.
Then her phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Her pulse jumped. She stared st the screen, thumb hovering above it.
Then the phone vibrated again.
Unknown: You made it home.
Her throat went dry.
She typed back before she could even stop herself.
Xinyue:How do you know? Who are you?
The reply came almost instantly.
Unknown:I told you. Someone is always there.
She stared at the message, unease crawling up her spine.
Outside, somewhere beyond the glass and steel, a figure watched the lights in her apartment go dark.
And didn't leave.