The clock on Yu Lin's nightstand read 12:47 AM. Nine cats were scattered across the bed in various states of repose, Mochi, the fat orange tabby, was curled directly on Yu Lin's chest, his purrs vibrating through the thin fabric of his oversized sleep shirt. Zizi was draped across his legs like a furry scarf, while Yinny and Mao had claimed the pillows on either side of his head. The remaining five cats were tucked into various corners of the bed, their bodies forming a living blanket of warmth and contentment.
Yu Lin's white hair was splayed across his pillow in a messy halo, his makeup long since washed off, his face bare and soft in the dim light. He was deep in the kind of sleep that came from physical exhaustion—the cafe had been busy today, and he'd had to do the moe moe beam routine at least thirty times. His body was heavy, his limbs loose, his breathing slow and even.
Then his phone rang.
The sound cut through the peaceful silence like a knife, shrill and insistent. Yu Lin's eyes snapped open, his body tensing, his hand instinctively reaching for the phone on the nightstand. The cats stirred around him, Mochi letting out an indignant meow as he was jostled.
Yu Lin squinted at the screen, his vision still blurry with sleep. The caller ID read "Ice Queen's Office - Budget Department." His stomach dropped. Nothing good ever came from a call at this hour, especially not from the budget department.
He answered, his voice rough and thick with sleep. "Hello?"
"Umm," the voice on the other end stammered, clearly nervous, clearly not wanting to be the one making this call. "Mr. Yu Lin? This is... this is the budget department. I'm afraid I have some difficult news."
Yu Lin sat up, the cats scrambling to adjust their positions. His heart was already pounding, his mind racing through possibilities. "What kind of difficult news?"
"Effective immediately, the Ice Queen has terminated the freelance contract. You're... you're fired."
Yu Lin's body went rigid. His jaw dropped. His eyes went wide with a mixture of shock and disbelief. "WHAT?!" His voice cracked, rising to a near-shriek. "What do you mean I'm fired?! What the hell is the issue?! I've been doing this job for months! My success rate is 100%! I've never failed a single mission! What the fuck happened?!"
The budgeter's voice was apologetic, almost pleading. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the details, Mr. Yu Lin. The decision came directly from the Ice Queen herself. I'm just the messenger. I'm sorry."
"Ughhhhhhh!" Yu Lin cut the call, his hand shaking with barely contained rage. He threw the phone onto the bed, where it bounced off Mochi's side and landed in a tangle of sheets. He flopped backward onto his pillow, his arms spread wide, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. The cats swarmed him immediately, sensing his distress, pressing their warm bodies against his sides.
"This is ridiculous," Yu Lin whined, his voice carrying the petulant tone of someone who'd been denied something they were entitled to. "The Ice Queen gig was so easy! All I had to do was flirt with one target and report his location! One target! And now I have to go back to flirting with old, fat conglomerates who can't even get it up without taking four different pills! Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Mochi headbutted his chin, his purrs rumbling like a tiny motor. Zizi licked his ear, her tongue rough and insistent. The other cats piled on top of him, a living blanket of fur and warmth, trying to comfort him the only way they knew how.
Yu Lin rolled his eyes, his hand coming up to scratch behind Mochi's ears. "Fine. Fine. I get it. I'll calm down. But this is still bullshit." He let out a long, heavy sigh, his body relaxing into the mattress. "Ugh. I need to take the day off from the cafe. I can't deal with the moe moe beam tomorrow. I just can't."
He closed his eyes, the warmth of the cats slowly soothing his frayed nerves. Mochi settled back onto his chest, his purrs vibrating through his ribs, and the other cats curled into their previous positions. Within minutes, Yu Lin was breathing deeply again, the weight of his cats pulling him back toward sleep.
---
In a converted factory that had been repurposed as a Black Hawk holding facility, Nergui was sitting in his sparse, utilitarian room. The space was bare except for a cot, a desk, and a single chair. His bandaged face was still healing from Tòumíng's brutal knee strike, the white gauze covering most of his features, leaving only his blank, sightless eyes visible. His fingers were wrapped around a cup of tea, the warmth seeping through the ceramic, grounding him in the present.
The phone on his desk rang. He reached for it, his movements precise and unhurried, and brought the receiver to his ear. "Yes?"
The budgeter's voice was even more nervous now, if that was possible. "Mr. Nergui? I'm afraid I have some difficult news. The Ice Queen has terminated the freelance contract. Effective immediately. You're... you're fired."
Nergui's expression didn't change. He took a slow sip of his tea, the heat spreading through his chest, and set the cup down with the same measured calm he applied to everything. "I see."
"You're not... you're not upset?"
Nergui paused, his blank eyes staring at nothing. Then, slowly, a smile spread across his bandaged face. It was a small smile, barely visible beneath the gauze, but it was genuine. "This now means I don't have to tolerate the relentless abuse. Finally." He let out a long, slow breath, the tension leaving his shoulders. "Peace at last."
The budgeter stammered something unintelligible, clearly confused by this response, but Nergui had already hung up. He sat in the silence of his room, his tea cooling beside him, and for the first time in months, he felt something that might have been contentment.
---
Across the city, in a different high-rise entirely, Chesqo Dong was pacing the length of his penthouse living room. The space was obscenely large, with floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a panoramic view of the glittering city below. The furniture was all sleek, modern, expensive, the kind of stuff that cost more than most people's houses. But Chesqo wasn't appreciating any of it. His phone was pressed to his ear, his jaw tight, his free hand clenched into a fist at his side.
"How long," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "is it going to take until you kill that brat?"
Jin Chan's voice came through the speaker, smooth and unbothered. "Patience, Chesqo. There are multiple things to get out of the way first. This isn't something you rush."
"I don't care!" Chesqo's voice rose, cracking with barely contained rage. "I don't care about your plans or your timeline or your 'multiple things'! I just need that brat dead! Dead and gone and out of my life! He's been nothing but a thorn in my side since he showed up, and I'm tired of it! I want him eliminated!"
Jin Chan sighed, the sound carrying the weight of someone who'd dealt with impatient clients before. "I understand your frustration, but acting rashly will only make things worse. Tòumíng has connections you don't fully appreciate. The Ice Queen is protective of him. If we move too quickly, we risk exposing ourselves."
Chesqo stopped pacing, his hand gripping his phone so hard his knuckles went white. "I don't care about the risks! I just want him gone! He's taken everything from me! He's taken her attention, her affection, her time! She looks at him like he's the only person in the world, and I'm just... I'm just background noise!"
He started pacing again, his footsteps echoing through the empty penthouse. "Do you have any idea what that's like? To be in love with someone who doesn't even see you? To give her everything, money, gifts, power, influence and have her treat you like a servant? And then some nobody miner shows up and she's fawning over him like he's the second coming of Christ?!"
He stopped, his chest heaving, his breathing ragged. "So I don't care how long it takes or what you have to do. Just kill him. Kill him so I can finally have my darling Ice Queen to myself."
Jin Chan was silent for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was careful, measured. "I'll handle things on my end. You focus on keeping your relationship with the Ice Queen stable. Don't do anything rash. Don't give her a reason to suspect you. Understood?"
Chesqo let out a shaky breath, his shoulders slumping. "Understood."
"Good. I'll be in touch."
The line went dead. Chesqo stood in the middle of his penthouse, the phone still pressed to his ear, and stared out at the city below. The lights blurred through his tears, the skyline shimmering like a sea of stars. He was so close to everything he wanted. So close. And yet, the thing he wanted most was slipping through his fingers like smoke.
He threw the phone across the room. It shattered against the wall, pieces scattering across the marble floor. Then he sank into his chair, his face in his hands, and let out a long, broken sob.
---
Somewhere across the city, Tòumíng was asleep in his trauma room, the Ice Queen's words still echoing in his ears. He had no idea about the machinations happening around him, no idea about the fired agents, the relieved blind man, the jealous lover plotting his death. He was just a nineteen-year-old miner with supernatural powers and a healing factor, trying to survive one day at a time.
But the night was far from over. And the morning was going to bring more chaos than he could possibly imagine.