The city never truly slept. Even at midnight, distant traffic hummed like a restless tide, neon lights flickering across glass towers, and somewhere far below, laughter spilled from late-night bars as if nothing in the world could go wrong. But inside Suo Ran's apartment, everything felt unnaturally still.
He sat alone at the small dining table, the overhead light casting a pale, almost harsh circle around him. His bag rested beside his chair, quiet but heavy with everything he hadn't said out loud. Inside it, beneath folded clothes and a thin file of work documents, lay the envelope he had brought back from his hometown.His father's handwriting. It was
Faded.
Suo Ran's fingers hovered over the bag before he slowly opened it, pulling the envelope out with care that bordered on hesitation. He stared at it for a long moment, his thumb brushing lightly over the ink, tracing the curves of letters he hadn't seen in years."You always wrote like this." he murmured under his breath, voice barely audible in the silence. "Messy… but careful."
His lips pressed together.He hadn't opened it not in the house.Suo Ran wasn't sure he was ready for that.
He exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair, the envelope still in his hands. "If I open this." he whispered, almost like he was asking someone who wasn't there, "there's no going back, is there?"
Rooftop — Earlier That Night____
Wind swept across the rooftop, carrying the scent of rain that hadn't fallen yet. The air felt heavy, charged, like something was waiting just out of reach.Lian Ziho leaned against the low concrete wall, gaze fixed on the city lights below. From up here, everything looked distant and smaller. Footsteps approached behind him.He didn't need to turn."You're avoiding sleep." Lian Ziho said, voice calm but knowing."You're not asleep either." Suo Ran replied, stepping up beside him."That's different."Suo Ran huffed softly, folding his arms. "How?"
Lian Ziho glanced sideways, expression faintly tired. "I'm not pretending I can rest."
That earned the smallest flicker of a smile from Suo Ran, though it faded quickly.
They stood side by side, shoulders almost touching.Lian Ziho could feel the warmth of him, close enough to reach too far to claim.
After a moment, his voice lowered. "You found something there."
Suo Ran didn't deny it. His gaze stayed fixed on the skyline, distant. "…Old documents. Nothing important."Lian Ziho's brow furrowed slightly. "That's not nothing."
"No." Suo Ran admitted quietly. "It is."
The wind picked up, brushing past them, filling the silence that followed.Lian Ziho's fingers curled slightly against the concrete edge. He wanted to ask more. Wanted to push, just a little, past the invisible line Suo Ran kept drawing between himself and everyone else.
Instead, he exhaled softly and said, "You don't have to carry it alone."Suo Ran didn't look at him.He stared at the skyline for a long time, eyes reflecting distant lights that didn't belong to him."I know." he said.But he didn't move.Didn't reach for his bag.Didn't hand anything over.And in that quiet moment, Lian Ziho understood something that settled heavily in his chest Suo Ran trusted him.
Just… not enough.
The underground garage smelled faintly of oil and damp concrete, the air cooler, heavier. Shadows stretched long between parked cars.Cai Lang leaned against his car, one hand gripping his phone a little tighter than necessary. His gaze was fixed on the screen.
The image displayed there was grainy.
Taken from a distance.Suo Ran, inside the old hometown house.Holding an envelope.
Cai Lang's jaw tightened, a muscle ticking faintly. "You had eyes there." he muttered, voice low and dangerous.Which meant the scroll wasn't the only thing they were after.
His phone buzzed again.Unknown number.
He answered immediately, voice cold. "Who is this?""You're digging too deep." the distorted voice replied.Cai Lang's eyes darkened. "Then stop hiding and say what you want."A pause.Then "Tell him to stay away from the scroll."The line went dead.
Cai Lang lowered the phone slowly, expression unreadable for a moment.
"Tell him." he repeated under his breath.
"They're not warning me." he said quietly, something sharper creeping into his tone. "They're warning about you, Suo Ran."
He looked up toward the ceiling, toward the floors above.Toward the rooftop.Toward the man who refused to stay out of danger.
"What did you find?" he murmured, the question carrying more weight than he let on.
Back in the ApartmentSuo Ran sat unmoving for a long moment, the envelope still in his hands. The room felt smaller somehow, the silence pressing in from all sides.His fingers tightened slightly along the edge of the paper.
"Just open it." he whispered to himself, almost frustrated. "You've faced worse."
But he didn't move.Instead, slowly, deliberately, he slid the envelope back into his bag."Not yet." he said quietly.The words sounded steadier than he felt.As if delaying the truth could somehow delay everything that would follow.
He stood and walked to the window. Across the street, the city lights reflected faintly in his eyes, but his thoughts were far from the glow of neon and glass. His boss's voice echoed again, sharp and unyielding, like it had carved itself into his mind."You don't walk away from this assignment."The threat beneath it lingered heavier than the words themselves.
Suo Ran's jaw tightened slightly. He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as if trying to steady something unraveling inside him. "I'll protect it," he whispered into the quiet room, voice low but firm. "But I won't become your weapon."The silence that followed felt absolute.
Lian Ziho sat on the edge of his bed, phone in his hand, thumb hovering over the screen as if expecting something to appear.He leaned back, dragging a hand down his face, eyes closing briefly. "Idiot." he muttered under his breath, the word carrying more frustration than humor. I wasn't supposed to feel like this not for someone who looked at him with gratitude… but never longing. He thought.
His fingers tightened slightly around the phone as he exhaled, trying to shake it off. But when he closed his eyes again, the memory came back anyway Suo Ran asleep in the car. His Head resting against his shoulder.Lian Ziho's expression softened despite himself. " You looked different like that." he murmured quietly, almost like he was speaking to that memory. "Like you weren't carrying everything alone for once."
The warmth of it lingered and hurt because he knew If Suo Ran had woken then, he would have pulled away immediately.
Archive Unit 7 — 02:03 AM____
The preservation wing remained sealed, the controlled air humming faintly through vents, systems running precisely as designed. Temperature stable, motion sensors active. No human presence authorized yet the system log flickered.A brief anomaly.
Nine seconds no alarms triggered.The scroll case remained closed.But a new line appeared, blinking once before stabilizing—
TRANSFER AUTHORIZATION: PENDING
REQUEST SOURCE: CLASSIFIED
The system returned to normal.As if nothing had happened.
02:11 AM — Suo Ran's Apartment____
Suo Ran didn't remember falling asleep.
One moment, he had been sitting at the table, the envelope just within reach.The next darkness.Then a faint click.His eyes opened instantly.The apartment was dark. He saw
a shadow moved near the door. He noticed that he was watching him.Its gaze swept slowly across the room, methodical, controlled. It paused briefly at the table, then shifted toward the bag.
Stopped.Suo Ran's pulse didn't spike.
It slowed."They know…" he thought, the realization settling cold and clear.
The figure stepped closer a gloved hand reached toward the bag and stopped.
A phone vibrated softly in the intruder's hand. The faint light illuminated part of their face for less than a second before disappearing again.They checked the screen.Then, in a whisper barely audible "Not yet."The hand withdrew then figure stepped back. Another soft click.Only then did Suo Ran sit up, slow and controlled, his gaze fixed on the darkness where the figure had stood.He didn't turn on the light.Didn't rush to check the bag.Because the message had already been delivered."They could have taken it." he murmured under his breath. "…They chose not to."His fingers curled slightly."They're waiting for me."
02:14 AM — Cai Lang___
Cai Lang's phone lit up sharply against the darkness.A live security still.Suo Ran's apartment door.Time-stamped three minutes earlier.Cai Lang's expression went still, something colder than anger settling in his chest. "I didn't authorize this." he said quietly.His grip tightened on the phone.
Which meant"You did." he finished under his breath, already knowing the answer.
02:18 AM — Rooftop Camera Feed____
A black sedan idled silently across the street, engine running, lights off. Inside, a man adjusted the focus on night-vision lenses, his gaze locked onto the building."Target is active." he murmured into his headset.
A pause.Then a voice came through, calm and final "Accelerate."
Inside the Apartment Suo Ran stood slowly, the quiet around him pressing in as if the walls themselves were listening. He walked back to the table, each step measured, deliberate.He opened his bag and took out the envelope.His father's handwriting stared back at him, unchanged, as if time hadn't touched it at all.For a long moment, he just held it above the table."If I open this…" he whispered, voice low, unsteady just for a second, "there's no turning back."
His fingers tightened slightly along the edge.
"If I don't…"His gaze flickered toward the door, toward the darkness beyond it.
"They'll make sure it gets opened anyway."
Behind him, the hallway light outside flickered once then went out.Suo Ran's shoulders stiffened.The darkness beyond the door didn't feel empty anymore.He slid his finger under the seal and stopped.Three slow knocks echoed through the silence.Suo Ran froze.His breath caught in his throat, his entire body going still as somethingunfamiliar crept into his chest.A voice came through the wood."Open the door."
Suo Ran's grip on the envelope tightened, the paper trembling faintly between his fingers."That's not possible." he whispered, barely audible.Because he knew that voice.
And it shouldn't have been there.Outside, the hallway remained dark.Inside, the envelope shook slightly in his hand.And somewhere deep within the building's electrical system.
The power failed for exactly three seconds.
Long enough for every camera to go blind.
Long enough for something to change.