The afternoon lecture ended with the familiar scrape of chairs across the floor.
Nobody lingered.
Students spilled out into the courtyard carrying backpacks, unfinished conversations, and expressions that suggested another two hours of lectures might qualify as a human rights violation. Someone complained about an assignment before they'd even looked at it. Someone else insisted the professor had invented half the formulas on the spot.
Summer hadn't fully arrived yet, but Hangzhou had already begun rehearsing for it.
Yè Yī crossed the courtyard without joining the flow of people.
He stopped beneath a gingko tree where an old wooden bench overlooked the central path.
It wasn't hidden.
Which was exactly why nobody bothered him.
He slipped one earbud in, opened the novel he'd been reading between classes, and quietly disappeared from the campus without leaving it.
The world became paper.
Footsteps passed.
Laughter rose and faded.
Someone nearly ran into the bench while looking at their phone and apologized to the air instead of him.
He turned another page.
A gust of wind lifted the corner before he pressed it flat again.
Nothing else changed....
...Until something landed beside him with a soft thump.
A plastic bag crinkled.
The unmistakable smell of barbecue potato chips drifted through the cold.
"...You again."
Violet had somehow appeared without him noticing.
She sat comfortably against the other end of the bench as though she'd been invited hours ago, one leg tucked beneath her, already halfway through another bag of chips.
"Mhm."
She chewed thoughtfully.
"Good afternoon to you too."
Yè Yī returned his eyes to the book.
"I wasn't greeting you."
"I know."
She reached into the bag again.
"You were acknowledging my existence."
"..."
"I'll take it."
He continued reading.
She leaned sideways just enough to glance at the cover.
"You actually read these for fun?"
"It's called a book."
"It looks like Physics ."
"You should try one."
"I prefer Literature."
He looked up.
She smiled to herself and crunched another chip.
Yè Yī decided continuing the conversation would be bad for his health.
He returned to his novel.
Across the courtyard, beside a row of vending machines humming quietly against the cold, Qiū Huà Bǐ stood waiting for coffee that tasted only slightly better than disappointment.
His headphones rested over his ears.
The music wasn't especially loud.
It didn't need to be.
The rhythm gave his mind something predictable to hold onto.
Crowds never bothered him because they were noisy.
They bothered him because they never stopped.
People thought. They worried. They regretted things.
Even without meaning to, those emotions brushed constantly against his awareness like overlapping radio stations refusing to stay on their own frequency.
He'd stopped wishing for silence years ago.
Now he simply managed the volume.
His coffee dropped into the tray.
He picked it up.
As he turned, his eyes happened to catch the bench beneath the gingko tree.
Yè Yī.
The other top student.
And...
That girl again.
The strange one from the apartment building.
She was saying something.. Yè Yī wasn't answering.
Yet somehow they still looked like they were having a conversation.
Qiū Huà Bǐ frowned.
Without thinking, his attention drifted toward them.
Nothing.
No emotional ripple.
No subconscious noise.
No scattered thoughts slipping through the cracks.
It was as though someone had erased an entire section of background sound.
He frowned a little harder.
"...Again."
That was twice now.
Strange.
He considered it for exactly two seconds.
Then he took a sip of coffee, decided the universe was probably having technical difficulties, and walked toward his next class.
If something wanted his attention badly enough... It would probably come back.
Things usually did.
Back beneath the tree, Violet had somehow finished the chips.
She folded the empty bag neatly.
"You know..."
She looked around the courtyard.
"This place is loud."
Yè Yī didn't look up.
"It's a university."
"I don't mean the talking."
He turned another page.
She rested her chin in her palm.
"Everyone looks exhausted."
"They are."
"But they still laugh anyway."
"They have to."
She watched a group of students chasing one another across the courtyard.
"...People are strange."
"They're people."
"I suppose."
A comfortable silence settled between them.
Neither seemed interested in breaking it.
Oddly enough... neither seemed uncomfortable either.
Violet stood first.
She walked toward the rubbish bin several metres away.
Without slowing down, she tossed the empty chip bag over her shoulder.
The bag spun lazily through the air, then dropped cleanly into the bin.
She pumped a fist.
"Nice."
Yè Yī glanced over.
"...You're celebrating throwing away rubbish."
"I'm celebrating accuracy."
"You need hobbies."
"I have hobbies."
"I don't think you do."
She walked back, looking strangely pleased with herself.
"You know..."
She brushed a few crumbs from the sleeve of her cardigan.
"..I found someone."
Yè Yī didn't respond.
"I think you'll like him."
"...I don't like people."
"I know."
"...Then why would I like him?"
A half-smirk appeared.
"I don't think he likes people either."
That finally earned her his attention.
"...Who?"
"A guy."
"Very helpful."
"Very."
He waited.
She let the silence stretch just long enough to become mildly irritating.
"He spends too much time inside an arcade."
"..."
"He hacks things."
"..."
"He avoids people."
"..."
"He also looks permanently disappointed in civilization."
Yè Yī closed his book.
"...You're describing yourself."
She pointed at him.
"See? You'll get along."
"I don't intend to."
"That's exactly why you will."
She started walking toward the campus gate.
After several steps she realized he hadn't moved.
She turned.
"...Coming?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I don't know him."
"You don't know me either."
"...That's not helping your argument."
"It wasn't supposed to."
She smiled.
"It was just true."
Yè Yī remained seated.
Violet folded her arms.
Then—
"Fine."
She turned as though leaving.
Three steps. Four. Five.
"...I'm buying dinner."
"..."
"My treat."
"..."
"Unless you were planning to spend another evening eating instant noodles."
He looked at her.
"...How do you know what I eat?"
"You have exactly three bowls."
"..."
"And all of them have noodle stains."
"..."
"And your kitchen has the emotional atmosphere of instant noodles."
Yè Yī sighed.
"...You make impossible observations."
"I make obvious observations."
Another pause.
Finally— He stood.
"I already regret this."
"I know."
They began walking toward the campus gate together.
Several buildings away, Qiū Huà Bǐ happened to glance through the corridor windows.
The same two figures walking side by side.
Still... Nothing.
Not a single trace of mental noise.
For reasons he couldn't explain... He found himself changing direction.
Not enough to follow them.
Just... enough to see where they were going.
Far above the city, hidden behind a bank of low clouds, two small aerial drones maintained a steady altitude.
Neither made a sound.
Their lenses tracked the pair leaving campus.
A green indicator blinked once.
Host2: "...Target confirmed."
Several seconds passed before another voice answered through encrypted static.
Host 1.4: "...Hold."
The drones continued watching.
They didn't descended.
At least.. not yet.
Somewhere below, three lives were drifting toward the same point.
None of them knew it.
One had already seen the future.
One couldn't hear the minds that should have been there.
One still believed coincidence was an acceptable explanation.
The city, however... had already made its decision.