"What's your problem?" Ling snapped. "Why are you acting like I committed a crime."
Rina leaned against the opposite locker, arms crossed, unimpressed. "Be grateful."
Ling scoffed and rolled her eyes. "For what."
Rina tilted her head slightly. "That she didn't see your wallet that day."
Ling's movement stilled for half a fraction of a second.
Rina continued calmly, "Because if Rhea had seen her picture in there, you wouldn't be standing this relaxed right now."
Ling forced a smirk. "You're exaggerating."
"Am I?" Rina asked quietly. "You keep her picture closer than your cards. You think she wouldn't notice."
Ling looked away. "She won't ever see it."
Rina watched her carefully. "And how exactly are you planning to hide the missing ring."
Ling's jaw tightened. Then she said, too quickly, "I already have a new one."
Rina straightened. "What."
Ling pulled another ring from her pocket — new, unbent, shining. "I'll bend this. Put it in her bag."
Rina stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "She'll know."
Ling shook her head. "She won't."
Rina laughed once, short and humorless. "She knows your hands. She knows how you break things. She knows the difference between accident and intention."
Ling's voice hardened. "You underestimate how much she wants to believe me."
That made Rina go quiet.
"You're counting on her trust," Rina said slowly. "After everything?"
Ling's eyes flickered. "She still has it."
Rina pushed off the locker. "Or maybe she's just tired."
Ling slipped the bent ring back into her pocket. "I'll make it look real."
Rina stepped closer. "Ling. This is messy."
Ling met her gaze, cold confidence settling in. "Everything between us is."
Rina sighed. "You're lying to her again."
Ling's mouth curved, sharp. "No. I'm protecting the story."
Rina shook her head. "You don't protect something by poisoning it."
Ling said, already done with the conversation. "Watch me."
"She's just angry," Ling said sharply, not looking at Rina. "That's it. No logic. No sense."
Rina stiffened beside her.
Ling continued, voice harsher with every step. "She doesn't even think anymore. Just pulls collars, creates scenes, behaves like some goon don trying to act tough."
She scoffed. "Emotion without a brain is dangerous."
Rina's heart dropped.
Ling waved a hand dismissively. "Honestly, she has no sense. None. Everything she does is impulsive. Dramatic. Childish."
Rina stopped walking.
Ling didn't notice.
"She keeps repeating the same nonsense," Ling went on, irritation turning cruel. "As if grabbing me and demanding answers makes her powerful. It just proves she—"
Rina reached out and grabbed Ling's arm. Hard.
"Stop," Rina said urgently.
Ling yanked her arm back. "What is wrong with you today?"
Rina swallowed, eyes flicking past Ling's shoulder. "Ling—"
Ling kept talking, words tumbling out faster, sharper. "She thinks she can corner me like that? She doesn't understand anything. She never did. She just reacts. No control. No intelligence behind it."
Rina stepped directly in front of her now, blocking her path. "Enough."
Ling frowned. "Why are you acting so weird—"
Then she saw Rina's face.
The panic.
The guilt.
The way her eyes weren't looking at Ling anymore.
Slowly — too slowly — Ling turned.
Rhea stood a few steps behind them.
Still. Silent.
Her face was unreadable — not angry, not crying. Just… hollow. Like something had finally gone quiet inside her.
The corridor felt suddenly too loud, too exposed.
Ling's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Rina cursed under her breath.
Rhea spoke first, voice calm in a way that hurt more than shouting.
"So that's what you think of me."
Ling's chest tightened. "Rhea—"
Rhea took one step back, as if Ling's voice itself had crossed a boundary. "No. Don't."
Ling's instincts kicked in — dominance, control — but they faltered against the emptiness in Rhea's eyes.
"I didn't mean—" Ling started, then stopped. She hated how weak it sounded.
Rhea let out a small, bitter laugh. "You didn't mean to say it out loud. That's all."
Rina stepped in quickly. "Rhea, she didn't know you were here—"
"I know," Rhea said softly.
Ling felt something twist painfully in her chest. "You're twisting my words."
Rhea shook her head. "You said exactly what you meant. You always do."
Ling took a step forward. Rhea stepped back again.
That movement cut deeper than any insult.
"Don't act like I'm the villain," Ling snapped, defensive anger flaring. "You started all of this."
Rhea's lips trembled, just slightly. "And you finished it."
Silence.
Students passed at the far end of the corridor, unaware they were walking past something breaking.
Rina looked between them helplessly.
Rhea straightened her shoulders. "You're right about one thing," she said quietly. "I don't think anymore. Because every time I did, it was about you."
Ling's breath hitched.
Rhea met her eyes — once — then looked away. "I won't bother you again."
She turned and walked past Ling without another word.
Ling stood frozen, the echo of her own words ringing louder than anything Rhea had said.
Rina finally spoke, voice low and furious.
"You really don't know when to stop, do you."
Ling swallowed hard. "She wasn't supposed to hear it."
Rina shook her head.
Ling stared down the corridor where Rhea had disappeared.
For the first time since all of this began, the lie she was carrying felt heavier than the truth she was avoiding.