A week later, Rhea returned.
The campus felt it before Ling saw her.
Whispers rippled again — cautious, restrained, frightened. Heads turned. Phones were lowered. The air shifted the way it always did when something dangerous re-entered the space.
Ling was stepping out of her private office when she saw her.
Rhea stood near the corridor pillars, thinner, paler, posture straighter than before — like someone who had rebuilt herself carefully, piece by piece. Her movements were slower, deliberate. Healed… but not untouched.
For half a second — only half —
Relief hit Ling like a sharp inhale.
She's fine.
The tension she hadn't admitted to carrying loosened in her chest.
Then the feeling was gone.
Buried. Locked. Replaced.
Ling's face didn't change.
She walked forward with the same controlled pace, heels clicking against the floor, presence expanding until the corridor seemed too small for her. Students instinctively moved aside.
Rhea felt it.
She looked up.
Their eyes met.
Rhea's breath caught.
Ling's gaze was cold. Measured. Distant — like she was looking at a stranger who had once been familiar but no longer mattered.
Ling stopped in front of her.
Silence stretched.
"You're late," Ling said calmly, voice sharp enough to cut. "A week."
Rhea swallowed. "I was—"
"Healed," Ling interrupted flatly, her eyes flicking once over Rhea's body, assessing. Confirming. "I can see that."
Rhea flinched at the tone.
Ling noticed.
She didn't care.
"Don't stand in common corridors," Ling continued. "People talk. It's inefficient."
Rhea stared at her, disbelief mixing with hurt. "That's all you have to say?"
Ling tilted her head slightly, expression almost bored.
"What were you expecting?" she asked. "Concern?"
Her voice lowered, dangerous now.
"You're alive. Functional. That's enough."
Rhea's fingers curled at her sides.
"You knew I was gone," Rhea said quietly. "You didn't even ask why."
Ling stepped closer — invading her space deliberately.
"I knew everything I needed to know," Ling replied. "You chose absence. I respected it."
That was a lie.
A controlled one.
Rhea shook her head, hurt flashing across her face before she masked it. "You're cruel."
Ling's lips curved into something that wasn't a smile.
"No," she said. "I'm consistent."
She straightened, turning slightly as if already done.
"One more thing," Ling added without looking back.
"Don't confuse recovery with forgiveness."
Her gaze snapped back to Rhea — sharp, merciless.
"You're healed," Ling said. "That means you can take what comes next."
Rhea's heart sank.
Ling stepped away, students parting instantly to clear her path.
Only when she was out of sight did Ling's breath finally release — slow, controlled, almost shaking.
She pressed her thumb briefly into her palm, grounding herself.
You're fine, she told herself again.
That's all that matters.
But relief, once felt, never truly disappeared.
It waited.
And Ling Kwong — ruthless on the outside, burning underneath — knew the war between them had only just begun.
Half an hour later, the basketball arena was alive.
Crowds filled the stands. Noise echoed off the walls. The court lights burned bright, unforgiving. It was supposed to be just another match — another distraction.
Rhea went anyway.
She told herself it was normal. That she wouldn't hide. That she wouldn't run anymore.
Inside, her chest felt tight.
She walked toward the locker room, ignoring the way conversations dipped when she passed, the way eyes followed her longer than necessary.
As she reached her locker, she twisted the handle and pulled the door open.
Something fell.
A small doll hit the floor at her feet.
Plastic. Pale. Dressed in black.
Before she could react, a faint mechanical voice crackled from inside it:
"Get ready."
Rhea froze.
Her breath caught. She stared at the doll, confused, unsettled, not understanding why her skin prickled with sudden dread.
"What the hell…" she whispered, bending slightly.
Around her —
Silence.
The locker room had gone deathly quiet.
Girls who had been laughing seconds ago stiffened. Someone dropped a water bottle. Another stepped back instinctively, eyes wide.
Everyone knew.
Everyone.
That doll meant only one thing.
Ling Kwong.
It was her rule.
Unspoken but absolute.
When Ling wanted someone destroyed, she didn't touch them herself.
She marked them.
And once marked, everyone else did the work.
Anyone who didn't participate became the next target.
Rhea straightened slowly, clutching the locker door.
"Why are you all staring?" she asked, voice shaky but controlled. "What is this?"
No one answered.
Fear was louder than cruelty — for now.
Zifa pushed through the frozen crowd, her face pale.
Her eyes dropped to the doll.
Her heart sank.
"Oh no…" she murmured.
She grabbed Rhea's wrist immediately. "Rhea. Don't touch it. Don't say anything."
Rhea looked at her, confused and suddenly scared. "Zifa, what is going on?"
Zifa leaned in, voice low and urgent. "You need to hide. Now. Before more people see."
Too late.
Someone whispered, barely audible:
"It's hers…"
Another voice followed, trembling.
"She marked her."
A third, harsher:
"If we don't do something, we're dead."
Rhea felt the shift — like a wave turning against her.
She pulled her hand back. "Marked? For what? I don't understand."
Zifa swallowed hard. "Ling Kwong doesn't warn twice."
She bent down quickly, trying to scoop the doll up and shove it into her bag.
"Please," Zifa whispered. "Just come with me."
But eyes were already everywhere.
Phones were half-raised. Messages already typing. Fear spreading faster than fire.
One girl backed away completely, crossing herself under her breath.
Another muttered, "I'm not getting expelled for her."
Rhea's pulse thundered in her ears.
"Ling wouldn't—" she started.
Zifa cut her off sharply. "You don't know what she would do anymore."
Rhea went still.
The doll lay between them now, its glassy eyes staring upward, silent again — message delivered.
Rhea suddenly understood one terrifying truth:
Ling hadn't needed to raise her voice.
Hadn't needed to touch her.
Hadn't even needed to be present.
She had already moved.
And the room — once full of teammates — no longer felt safe.
Zifa tightened her grip on Rhea's arm. "Listen to me. Smile. Act normal. And don't be alone."
Rhea nodded faintly, throat dry.
As they turned to leave, Rhea felt it — not just fear.
Betrayal.
Cold. Calculated. Public.
Somewhere else in the arena, Ling Kwong was already on the court.
Dominating.
And without looking back, she had declared war.