The glowing seam in the wall waited like a mouth that wanted a promise. Su Mei stood right in front of it, her black eyes calm and empty, her lips one inch away. The tunnel felt like it was holding its breath.
Wei Chen felt it too. The air was tight. The stone was listening. Even his black sun brand seemed to pause, like it wanted to see what he would do.
Behind him, the copy's fingers clutched his sleeve. The copy leaned close and tried to speak his true name again, sweet and sharp. "Chen—"
Lin Xue moved like ice snapping. Frost flicked from her palm and pinned the sound in the air before it could finish. The half-word froze into a glittering ice-letter that hung between them.
"Choose, Chen Wei," Lin Xue whispered, shaking. She held his wrist like it was the only real thing in the world.
Wei Chen turned to her first. He always did, even when fear tried to drag him. He lifted her chin gently. "Rules," he said, low and steady. "Stop means stop. You choose."
Lin Xue's throat moved. Her cheeks were red from anger, fear, and the way he looked at her like she mattered more than survival. "Stop means stop," she whispered. "And I choose you. Save us."
Wei Chen's mouth softened. He kissed her—slow, deep, steady—like a vow you could feel in your bones. Lin Xue clutched his collar and pulled him closer, not forced—chosen. Her cold breath met his heat, and the bond rope between them flared warm, bright enough to push back the pull in his ribs for one clean heartbeat.
Wei Chen broke the kiss just enough to ask, "Do you want me to stop?"
Lin Xue shook her head fast. "Don't stop," she whispered. "Don't you dare stop."
Wei Chen's roguish grin flickered, human and wicked at once. "Then hold me," he murmured near her ear. "If I slip, I want to feel your hands first."
Lin Xue pinched his side hard. "Idiot."
"Ow," Wei Chen breathed, then kissed her again—shorter, stronger—before turning his head toward Su Mei.
Su Mei's black eyes watched them without blinking. Her mouth curved in a small smile that didn't feel like hers.
Wei Chen stepped toward her and kept his voice calm, because panic made bad choices. "Su Mei," he said. "Do you want me to kiss you to seal the exit?"
Lin Xue stiffened beside him, jealousy flashing hot through her cold. Wei Chen felt her grip tighten on his wrist, but she didn't pull him away. She just watched, jaw tight, eyes shining.
Su Mei's black eyes flicked to Lin Xue, then back to Wei Chen. "Yes," she whispered.
Wei Chen didn't move yet. He asked again, clear. "If I do this, you stop when I say stop?"
Su Mei's lips parted. For one heartbeat, the real Su Mei showed—pain, pride, something raw. Then the black calm returned. "Stop means stop," she said softly.
Wei Chen nodded once. Then he looked back at Lin Xue. "You choose," he told her gently. "Are you okay with this?"
Lin Xue's throat worked hard. It hurt her to say yes. It also hurt more to say no. She forced the word out anyway, because she was brave like that. "Yes," she whispered. "If it saves us."
Wei Chen's chest tightened. "Good," he murmured.
He stepped in and kissed Su Mei.
It was quick at first—just enough to count as choice—then deeper, hotter, like he was pouring fire into a broken lantern. Su Mei's breath caught. Her fingers grabbed his robe for one second, gripping like she didn't want to fall. Violet qi rose between them like silk, and Wei Chen felt his Nine-Suns heat answer it, bright and hungry.
The tunnel drank it.
The seam flared brighter, as if it tasted devotion and liked it. The stone around the exit shivered, and the mouth of light widened, ready to close.
Wei Chen pulled back and said, firm, "Stop."
Su Mei stopped. She stayed close, breathing hard, black eyes locked on his mouth like she wanted more. But she didn't chase. She just stood there, trembling.
Lin Xue exhaled, shaky. Her eyes were sharp, but her hand reached and pressed to Wei Chen's chest anyway—right over his black sun brand—like she was checking if he was still his own.
Wei Chen leaned into her touch and whispered, shameless even now, "Touching me like that… you're going to ruin your cold image."
Lin Xue's cheeks flared. "Later," she hissed, but she didn't remove her hand.
Behind them, the copy screamed, furious. It lunged toward the seam, trying to slip through as the exit formed. Its mouth opened again, ready to throw Wei Chen's true name like a knife.
Wei Chen snapped his fan open and slammed it across the copy's throat line—not cutting flesh, but striking the black thread that fed the lie. Lin Xue struck at the same time, frost lancing forward and pinning the copy's jaw in place with a thin sheet of ice.
The copy thrashed, eyes too empty now. "Let me—" it tried, but the sound cracked and froze.
Su Mei lifted her palm, violet qi flickering weak. "Now," she whispered, voice too calm.
The seam began to close.
Not slowly. Hungry.
Lin Xue grabbed Wei Chen's wrist and pulled him toward the light. "Move!" she snapped.
Wei Chen ran with her. At the edge of the exit, he turned back, because he couldn't help it. He looked at Su Mei.
"Come," he ordered, voice rough. "That's an order."
Su Mei's black eyes widened. For one heartbeat, something in her face softened like the real her heard him. She stepped forward.
And then Wei Chen's black sun brand pulsed.
Cold stabbed his ribs. The crack that Su Mei had sealed didn't open wide, but it knocked from inside like a fist. A whisper slid into his mind, close as breath.
Key… stay.
Wei Chen's body jerked backward.
He stumbled, half in the light and half in the tunnel, like someone grabbed his spine. Lin Xue screamed and wrapped both arms around his waist, trying to pull him through with her whole body.
"Chen Wei!" she cried. "Say my name. Stay real!"
Wei Chen's throat burned. He forced it out through the pull. "Lin Xue!"
"Again!" she demanded, sobbing now.
"Lin Xue!" Wei Chen shouted.
The bond rope flared warm—then flickered—like the tunnel bit it.
Su Mei grabbed Wei Chen's sleeve from the other side, black eyes blazing. "Open," she whispered, voice wrong, and the seam snapped tighter.
The copy, still pinned and screaming, reached one frozen hand toward Wei Chen's chest like it wanted to grab the brand and finish the job.
The exit mouth narrowed.
Wei Chen's fingers slipped in Lin Xue's grip.
He leaned forward and kissed Lin Xue—one last fierce, chosen kiss—right on the edge of light and dark. "I choose you," he breathed against her lips. "Don't let go."
Lin Xue's voice broke. "I won't—!"
The seam closed like teeth.
Stone slammed shut.
And Lin Xue stumbled forward into cold air—alone—while the tunnel behind her went silent, as if it had swallowed the sound of his name.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025
All rights reserved.