Ling didn't let go of her immediately.
She stayed like that for a few seconds longer than necessary, chin resting against Rhea's hair, breathing steady until Rhea's shoulders stopped shaking. Only then did she pull back—slow, deliberate—just enough to look at her face.
Rhea's eyes were red. Angry at herself. Vulnerable in a way she hated.
Ling reached for the remote and switched the TV fully off. The room fell quiet, the kind of silence that presses on your ears.
"We're not watching anything," Ling said. "You're right."
Rhea sniffed, defensive instinct snapping back. "I didn't say—"
Ling cut her off. "We're talking."
Rhea folded her arms. "You always say that like it's a threat."
Ling's mouth curved faintly. "Because with you, it is."
She shifted on the bed, turning fully toward Rhea, posture relaxed but her eyes razor-focused. "You said truth and dare."
Rhea lifted her chin. "Yeah."
Ling rolled her eyes slightly. "You're terrible at games."
Rhea smirked despite herself. "You're terrible at pretending."
Ling ignored that. "You asked your truth already."
Rhea hesitated. "You never answered."
Ling leaned back against the headboard, arms crossing now. "I will. Later."
Rhea frowned. "That's cheating."
Ling smiled—slow, dangerous. "My house."
Rhea sighed dramatically. "Fine. Dare."
Ling's gaze sharpened instantly.
"No," Ling said. "I'm daring you."
Rhea blinked. "That's… how it works."
Ling leaned forward slightly. "Listen carefully.
Rhea scoffed. "Please. You think—"
Ling cut in, voice calm but heavy. "I dare you to stop protecting me."
Rhea froze.
The air shifted.
"What?" she said, a little too fast.
Ling didn't look away. "For five minutes," she continued evenly. "No sarcasm. No deflection. No pushing me away to save me from you."
Rhea's throat tightened. "That's not a dare. That's—"
"Exactly," Ling said softly.
Rhea laughed, sharp and brittle. "You're insane."
Ling shrugged. "You agreed to the game."
Rhea looked away, jaw clenching. "What does that even mean?"
"It means," Ling said, her voice lowering, "you don't get to decide what hurts me more—staying or leaving. You don't get to pre-abandon me so you can sleep at night."
Rhea snapped her head back. "You don't know what you're asking."
Ling's eyes flickered. "Then explain it to me. That's the dare."
Silence.
Long. Suffocating.
Rhea pressed her lips together, fighting herself. "I can't."
Ling nodded once. "Then you lose."
Rhea's hands curled into fists. "And what happens if I lose?"
Ling's expression softened just a fraction. "Nothing. I just learn you don't trust me."
That hit harder than anything else.
Rhea exhaled shakily. "That's cruel."
Ling tilted her head. "You said be ruthless."
Rhea laughed under her breath, wiping her face angrily. "I hate you."
Ling replied without missing a beat, "No, you don't."
Rhea closed her eyes.
Five minutes. Just five.
She opened them again, voice low. "I'm not protecting you because I think you're weak."
Ling waited.
"I'm protecting you," Rhea continued, words scraping out of her, "because I know what happens when people love me."
Ling's jaw tightened but she stayed silent.
"They get used," Rhea said. "They get hurt. They get punished for choosing me."
Ling said quietly, "By who?"
Rhea swallowed. "By the people who raised me."
Ling leaned forward instinctively, but stopped herself, letting Rhea finish.
"I was taught," Rhea went on, "that love is a liability. That if someone feels safe with me, it's my responsibility when that safety is ripped away."
Her voice cracked. She hated it.
"So when you look at me like that," she whispered, "like I'm home… all I can think is how badly it's going to destroy you."
Ling's hands trembled slightly on her knees.
"That's why I push," Rhea said. "That's why I leave first. Not because I don't want you."
She looked up at Ling then, eyes blazing with unshed tears.
"But because wanting you feels like committing a crime."
Ling stood abruptly.
Rhea flinched.
Ling paced once, then turned back, eyes dark, voice steady but raw. "You don't get to decide my sentence."
Rhea laughed weakly. "See? This is what I mean."
Ling stepped closer. Not touching. Just close enough to dominate the space. "If loving you ruins me," she said quietly, "that's my choice."
Rhea shook her head. "You'll hate me one day."
Ling scoffed. "I already do. For making me feel this much."
Rhea's breath hitched despite herself.
Ling softened, just a little. "Five minutes aren't over."
Rhea wiped her cheeks angrily. "Fine. Then hear this."
She met Ling's gaze, fearless now.
"If I stay," Rhea said, "I won't be gentle. I won't be safe. I won't be easy to love."
Ling's mouth curved, almost feral. "Good. I don't want easy."
Rhea whispered, "And if I leave… it won't be because you weren't enough."
Ling closed the distance then rest her forehead against Rhea's.
"That," Ling said softly, "is all I needed to hear."
Rhea's voice shook. "Dare over?"
Ling exhaled. "Yeah."
They stayed like that, breathing each other in, foreheads touching, the weight of everything unsaid hanging heavy between them.
Ling murmured, almost teasing now, "Next time, I'm daring you into something worse."
Rhea let out a shaky laugh. "I'm scared to ask."
Ling smirked. "You should be."
Rhea shifted slightly, still half-trapped between Ling's legs, her back resting against Ling's chest.
She tilted her head back just enough to look at Ling from the corner of her eye. "So," she said casually, too casually, "how exactly are you planning to save me tomorrow morning from your mother?"
Ling snorted, instant and unfiltered. "Save you?" She leaned back against the headboard, stretching her neck like nothing in the world bothered her.
"Please. I'll just hide you in my room."
Rhea blinked. Then laughed. A real laugh this time, soft but sharp. "Hide me?"
Ling nodded seriously. "Yes. Problem solved."
Rhea twisted a little to face her properly. "That's your grand plan? The great Ling Kwong—terrifying ruler of the universe hiding a girl under her bed?"
Ling scoffed. "I never said under the bed."
Rhea's smile widened, wicked. "Oh? Closet?"
Ling rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic."
Rhea laughed again, openly now, the sound filling the room. "You're scared of her."
Ling's spine straightened instantly. "I am not."
Rhea turned fully, now sitting sideways on Ling's lap, one knee on either side of her thigh. "You so are."
Ling lifted an eyebrow. "Careful."