Yuxi slowly stirred, her head pounding with a dull, relentless throb. The room around her was unfamiliar, bathed in soft golden light from the early morning sun filtering through luxurious curtains. The sheets beneath her were silk, the kind of indulgence reserved for the elite. She blinked, trying to clear the fog from her mind, but the dizziness only intensified. Where was she? What had happened?
Her thoughts felt scattered, like pieces of a broken puzzle. She remembered the gala, the drugged drink, the suffocating sense of helplessness as she fell into Gu Zeyan's arms... then everything went dark. Now, here she was, in a room that looked like it belonged to someone who lived in a world far beyond hers.
Her gaze flickered to the side, and there he was—Gu Zeyan—standing by the window, his back turned to her. His figure was a stark silhouette against the soft light, his posture rigid, his expression unreadable. The tension in the air between them was thick, an unspoken distance that neither could cross. His presence alone felt like a storm, an impending clash of forces she wasn't sure she was ready for.
"Yuxi," his voice broke the silence, cold and controlled, "do you understand how reckless you were?"
Her breath hitched in her chest at the sound of his voice, and instinctively, she tried to sit up. A wave of dizziness threatened to pull her back, but she managed to steady herself. The words hung in the air, biting at her. Reckless? She hadn't asked for any of this. Her mind was still foggy, but the anger stirred within her. She wasn't going to apologize for something she hadn't done.
"I didn't go looking for trouble," she said, her voice weak but defiant. "I was set up. You know that."
Gu Zeyan's back stiffened, and his jaw clenched. Without turning to face her, he spoke again, his voice laced with an edge that cut through the air. "Naive. You think you can just waltz through this world without protection? That you can just wade through the muck and come out clean on the other side?"
His words sliced into her, the harshness of his tone leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. He was angry—furious, even. But there was something more beneath that anger, something she couldn't quite place. It was as though he was trying to hold something back, something raw and dangerous. She felt it, the weight of his emotions pressing down on her, but she wasn't sure what they were.
Yuxi's heart raced, her chest tightening as she struggled to find her breath. "I didn't ask for any of this!" she snapped, her voice trembling. "I didn't want to be here, didn't want any of this mess that keeps coming for me. And you—" Her words faltered for a moment as she caught herself. "You're not helping me. You're just… pushing me away."
Gu Zeyan finally turned to face her, his dark eyes piercing through her with a look that made her skin prickle. His gaze was hard, colder than ice, but there was a storm brewing in the depths of his expression—something turbulent that she couldn't understand, something that scared her.
"You don't get it, do you?" he said, his voice dangerously calm now. "I'm trying to protect you, Yuxi. And you're making it damn near impossible."
Her chest tightened as the words sank in. Protect her? Was this what it was all about? His anger, his distance—it was all for her protection? She couldn't understand it. Couldn't make sense of how his methods felt so suffocating, so overpowering. He wanted to control everything, to shield her from harm, but in doing so, he was shutting her out.
"I don't need you to protect me like this," she muttered, her voice a mixture of frustration and exhaustion. "I don't need anyone to control me. I can handle myself."
At that, Gu Zeyan's eyes darkened. The temperature in the room seemed to drop, and his features hardened with the intensity of his emotions. He took a step forward, closing the space between them in an instant. Yuxi's breath caught in her throat as she watched him approach. There was something primal in his movements, something raw and unrestrained that unnerved her.
Without a word, he slammed his hand against the wall beside her, the sound of the impact echoing through the room. The force of it made her flinch, her heart racing in her chest as she recoiled. His face was dangerously close to hers now, his breath warm against her skin, but he didn't touch her. He didn't kiss her. His presence was overpowering enough, though—so close, so consuming—that Yuxi struggled to breathe.
Her pulse quickened as she stared into his eyes. There was a storm in them—something fierce, something wild—and for the first time, Yuxi felt a real fear take root in her chest. It was as though she was looking into the eye of the storm, a place where everything was torn apart and remade, and she was powerless to stop it.
"I'm trying, Yuxi," he whispered, his voice almost too soft, too low to hear. "But you make it impossible."
She swallowed, her throat dry. Her eyes fluttered, trying to focus on him, trying to understand what he was saying. But there was something about the way he said it—the weight of the words, the intensity in his gaze—that left her speechless.
"I never asked you to try," she replied, her voice hoarse but defiant. "I never asked for any of this."
His eyes flickered with something unreadable—something dangerous—and for a moment, Yuxi wasn't sure if he was going to pull away, or if he would lose control completely. She held her breath, her body taut with anticipation.
But then, as quickly as the moment had escalated, it stopped. Gu Zeyan stepped back, his expression hardening once again, the storm within him still simmering just beneath the surface.
"Stay here," he said coldly, his voice once more under his iron control. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be back."
Yuxi watched as he turned, his footsteps heavy as he left the room. And as the door closed behind him, the room seemed to hold its breath, the silence deep and suffocating.
She leaned back against the pillows, her mind racing. What had just happened? What was that… connection between them? She didn't know how to feel. But one thing was certain—she was in deeper than she'd ever realized, and the storm inside Gu Zeyan was far from over