POV: Lu Jinghao
From my office desk, I watched as windows blinked in response to the light across the horizon. It all felt like a conspiracy. At this time of the day, the noise should sound different, but tonight, something...just something somewhere refused to settle.
Yesterday's events were still fresh in my mind. The glowing thread and how it teased me...I couldn't get it off my mind. As if to fuel my wild thoughts, the lights suddenly flickered.
Not too much. Just once, but enough to make the hair on the back of neck rise.
I frowned, glancing at the time. The power in my office was always stable, so this flicker shouldn't have been caused by normal power.
No matter how much I tried convincing myself, the faint static in the air lingered, eerily crawling under my skin.
And...it came back. That feeling...again. The feeling I experienced yesterday. That strange pull. I could feel that golden thread guiding me somewhere beyond human reason, tightening my chest in the process.
"Jiang Rui..." I murmured, only to realize I had spoken her name out loud. The reality of it grounded me...but also interested me.
I pushed my chair away from my desk, the contracts before me blurring in the process. From the countless words on it, to my logic and control, I felt all that turn meaningless.
All of it was fading under the insistence that I needed to see Jiang Rui.
Not email. Not message. Not call. Find.
The outside city lights had dimmed, perfectly synchronizing with the pulse in my veins. I could see my own reflection in the window waver, with something glowing faintly behind it.
Uh oh. That didn't seem to be me.
I tightened my grip on my coat as I slid into the car. The drive to her studio has always been short but tonight, it felt longer than it should have.
Halfway through, rain began pouring. It was light at first, and in just minutes it turned heavy, forcing my wipers to practice a steady rhythm. How I wished it matched with my pulse.
You know how anytime something strange is about to happen it rains heavily? Yeah... that's how I was envisioning tonight.
After what I had witnessed yesterday, I promised myself not to intrude into her space again unless invited...tsk! Easier said than done.
I know how much she valued her space but she just has to carry that aura that I can't resist. Too bad for her... The many contracts that have waited for me everyday haven't been able to stop me from visiting her studio from time to time.
I was going to keep a respectable distance after yesterday, but the thought of something happening to her just made my plans irrelevant.
The streets leading to her ateliar were completely empty, much to my luck. Her magnificent building stood half lit, the rainwater beautifully streaking the glass walls.
The moment I stepped outside my car, I felt it again. The power wasn't having a malfunction but the static movements... everything felt so alive.
Inside, I immediately caught glimpses of movements coming from behind her private studio.
The light was shifting in waves, actually breathing.
I tried twisting the knob, but her door was locked. I wonder how the receptionist couldn't feel anything I was currently feeling. Her expression was way too calm.
Despite her locked door, I was able to catch a glimpse of spilling light under her door, a glimpse of gold soft light.
"Jiang Rui?"I called out, my voice coming out lower than it usually did.
As expected, there was no response.
"Jiang Rui, it's me. Lu Jinghao."
Still no response.
This was unusual.
Something deep in my chest twisted. The thought of her not being okay gnawed my heart.
I decided to do something I never expected to do. I picked her lock. It wasn't an easy process because her lock was high quality but I managed. After what felt like forever, I was able to step in.
The warm, electric and dense air hit me first. It was followed by the kind of silence that occurs before lightening strikes again.
The studio I was used to now looked different. There were shadows, glowing shadows,with strips of silk almost everywhere, as the walls seemed to sweetly hum.
I hesitated before taking a step forward. As if responding to me, the lights brightened.
And finally, I saw her.
Jiang Rui stood at the center of the ateliar, surrounded by floating fabrics. There were golden threads coiling around her wrists, looking so soft and fluid.
Her normally tied hair was loose tonight, giving the illusion that it had a halo on top.
Her ever beautiful eyes were firmly fixed on the empty air in front of her and so, she didn't see me.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe loud or even move. This was the most surreal and terrifyingly beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Who knew such beauty existed!
"Jiang Rui," I spoke again, calling her out, but this time, with a softer tone.
She gasped, clearly startled, causing yet another terrifying scene.
The entire room exhaled with her, as the fabrics fell back to the floor, while the glow dimmed.
She stumbled slightly, causing me to close the distance and catch her arm before she fell.
Her beautiful skin was warm, way too warm, that I could feel her pulse race under my fingers.
"Hey, what happened?" I asked, my eyes scanning her face in concern. "Are you...okay?hurt anywhere?"
She blinked faster than a normal being should, her breathing sounding shaky.
"Lu Jinghao...you...how did you..."
"Rui...you weren't answering your phone," I lied without batting an eyelid, knowing very well I hadn't tried calling.
Well, even if I did, she wouldn't have answered.
"I came to check on you."
Her eyes darted around the room, as if trying to take in how much I had actually seen. "I'm fine. It was just a power surge..."
I glanced around, amused at her lame excuses."Rui, we both know that power surges don't levitate fabric."
Her lips parted, her eyes confused, but not a single word came out. She awkwardly looked away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to redeem herself.
"Fine, since you are pushing for the truth," she said finally. "All this...is an experiment. A dangerous one at that, but it just got out of hand."
I didn't believe her even for a second. But I also didn't want to push her.
Despite her defensive tone, I caught something else, genuine fear. Of course, not of me, but of what she had just 'experimented.'
I stepped closer to her, carefully lowering my voice. "I think you should rest."
Her gaze lifted to mine, looking all guarded with a layer of softness. "Do you expect me to believe that you came all the way to tell me that?"
"I just came because I felt something was wrong," I shrugged as I replied simply.
For a moment, the tension between us broke. Not much. Just slightly.
Her shoulders eased, and that familiar smile graced her lips. "You...tsk...you always think you know."
"Most of the times, I do."
The light moment between us faded then for a moment the lights behind her flickered. It was not bright, but it looked deliberate, as if whatever was behind it was testing its boundaries.
The soft look on her face dissapeared, as she turned sharply, her eyes narrowing.
"What is that Rui?" I asked carefully.
Her voice dropped down to a small whisper. "I genuinely have no idea."
We both stood still as we stared at the faint glow changed into fabric that started weaving midair.
Suddenly, images started forming, an image of a woman's hand sketching, a garden of hibiscus flowers, and a little girl watching through the curtains.
Jiang Rui stepped forward, her breathing uneven. "Lu Jinghao...that's..."
She reached toward the lights but I was quick to stop her.
"Rui, don't!" My voice came out sharper and louder than I had intended. "We don't know what that is."
Her hand froze just inches away, as her reflection on the lights trembled. It was a perfect mix of her beauty and her grief.
Then, slowly, as if she had regained her rationality, she pulled her hand back.
"I...I think it's connected to my mother." she whispered, but there was something in her tone I hadn't heard before.
The woman who never flinched or caved in under criticism, who once faced betrayal and rebuilt herself, now spoke in a tone so fragile you'd think she was a child locked outside.
I found myself softening."How about not opening it tonight?"
Her eyes flicked toward me. "Why do you suggest that?"
"Rui,I have noticed that whatever this is," I replied quietly, "...reacts to you. It reacts to your emotions and the bad news is that right now, you are beyond exhausted."
She hesitated, then shocked me by nodding."Fine. I'll try some other time then."
Did... she just....listen to me?
Jiang Rui was someone who barely followed instructions, not even I can change that. The fact that she just listened to me told me all I needed to know. She was deeply shaken.
I watched as she slowly walked to her chair, picked up her shawl and wrapped it around herself. She looked so ethereal...her beauty was just too much for this world.
She didn't look like someone made for chaos but unfortunately for her, the chaos seemed to always have her address ready all the time.
"Uhh...thank you," she murmured after a while, voice barely audible. "You came...perhaps I really needed someone's presence."
I didn't respond immediately, as my eyes were still lingering on the shimmer radiating from her skin, making her look like she had been marked.
"Always."I finally replied, my voice soft.
We had a moment of silence before I said a few words of goodbye and left. Outside, the rain had already calm down, softening into a quiet mist.
I leaned against my car for a minute, glancing up at her window from time to time.
But just as I was about to get into the car, something in the air flickered and then the impossible occurred.
A golden thread appeared, running from my ring finger to the direction of her studio window. It dissapeared in a flash, causing me to stumble lightly.
I stood there, my hands trembling, pulse too fast. Whatever she was entangled with was not something light and for some unknown reason, it was beginning to pull me in.
Deep down, a greater part of me didn't want to escape it, instead, I was ready to fully embrace it.