The stairwell lights were sound-activated.
The hurried footsteps sounded especially loud in the empty stairwell.
The lights on the floor below came on, revealing a figure sitting on the steps.
Light shone through his white shirt, tracing the beautiful contours of his back, hazy and enticing.
The footsteps stopped abruptly.
Ye Yizhou looked back, watching the newcomer with an indifferent expression, wariness in his icy eyes.
Ye Yizhou's face was universally acknowledged to be beautiful.
Sitting on the steps now, with his disheveled hair, reddened eyes, split lip, and blood he had not wiped clean, this battle-worn version of him was twice as beautiful, even more alluring.
Excitement and exhilaration lurked in Jiang Zhengze's eyes as he looked at Ye Yizhou, and he could not help swallowing.
"What? Planning to swoop in after someone else did the hard work and finish me off while I'm weak?"
Ye Yizhou lifted his eyes and looked the newcomer up and down, then scoffed with some disdain:
"Too bad. Even if I'm running a little low on strength, you still might not be a match for me."
"If you don't want a beating, get lost," Ye Yizhou warned in a low voice.
"N-no, that's not it. I-I'm not here to make t-trouble for you."
Jiang Zhengze denied it nervously, his voice trembling a little, unable to keep himself from stammering.
The unattainable love he thought about day and night was right before his eyes; even in his dreams, he longed to talk and chat with him like a friend.
He even fantasized about their relationship growing more intimate.
But the more excited he became, the more he stammered and stumbled over his words.
Ye Yizhou quietly watched him stammer in his awkwardness, his face flushing with anxious frustration, then spoke in an even tone: