Something unspoken pressing against Rhea's chest like it wanted to spill out if she stayed one second longer.
She swallowed.
Her fingers tightened on the chair's armrest, then slowly released.
"I think…" she started, voice quieter than she intended, "…I think I should go."
It sounded reasonable. Calm. Casual.
But Ling heard the shift instantly. Tension.
The kind that builds when someone is standing too close to something they want… and can't trust themselves around it.
Ling understood.
And because she understood…
She leaned slightly closer instead of stepping away.
"No," Ling said softly. "What's the hurry?"
Her tone was smooth. Mild. Almost conversational.
"Stay. Let's talk."
Rhea stood very still.
Ling's gaze didn't leave her face.
"Or," Ling added lightly, a hint of teasing slipping into her voice, "maybe you can teach me more things."
That did it.
Rhea's composure cracked just slightly.
Her shoulders stiffened. Her breathing lost rhythm.
"N... no," she stammered, shaking her head quickly. "I… I mean… I have to go."
Ling raised one brow slowly.
"Oh?"
Her voice softened but the softness only made it worse.
"You were very confident a moment ago."
Rhea stood up halfway… then sat again… then stood properly this time, movements awkward and rushed.
"I just... I... I have work… things… somewhere... "
Ling tilted her head, watching her unravel with quiet fascination.
"Miss Noir," she said gently, "you walked in without permission. Interrupted my schedule. Fell into me intentionally. Provoked me repeatedly."
A small pause.
"And now suddenly you must run?"
Rhea pressed her lips together tightly.
Ling took one slow step closer.
Rhea stepped back instantly.
Ling stopped but her smile deepened.
"Interesting," she murmured. "You provoke… but can't endure."
"I can endure!" Rhea snapped immediately.
"Then stay."
Silence.
Rhea's mouth opened.
Closed.
Her eyes darted toward the door… then back to Ling… then away again.
Her heartbeat was too loud. Her skin too aware. The room too small.
Ling watched every flicker of panic. Softly amused.
Rhea took a breath, then another, trying to steady herself.
"I... I really have to go."
Ling studied her face for one long second.
Then finally…
She stepped back.
"Alright," she said simply. "Go."
Rhea blinked.
Ling moved aside slightly, giving her full path to the door.
Rhea didn't waste it.
She stood up so fast the chair scraped sharply against the floor. She grabbed her bag, turned...
Then paused.
She turned back suddenly.
Before Ling could react before she could even register the movement Rhea stepped in close, grabbed her collar slightly for balance…
…and bit her neck.
Hard.
But enough to sting. Enough to mark. Enough to shock.
Ling froze completely.
Rhea pulled back instantly, eyes blazing breath uneven but victorious.
"Don't try to be over smart," she said quickly.
Then she turned...
And ran.
Actually ran.
Out the door. Down the corridor. Gone before Ling could even lift a hand to stop her.
Silence fell in the office.
Ling stood exactly where she was.
Completely still.
Her fingers slowly rose… touching the spot at her neck where warmth lingered… where the faint pulse of sensation still spread outward.
A mark of rebellion.
A mark of escape.
A mark of her.
For a long moment, Ling didn't move.
Then...
Slowly…
Her lips curved. Something softer. Something deeply satisfied.
"She runs," Ling murmured quietly to the empty room… fingers still resting over the place Rhea had bitten…
"…but she always leaves something behind."
Her smile deepened slightly.
By the time Ling Kwong reached her classroom, her expression had fully returned to its usual unreadable calm.
She pushed the classroom door open.
And immediately sensed chaos.
The students were too trained for that but the kind of sharp tension that cut through air before words even registered.
Voices overlapped.
Chairs scraped.
A small crowd had formed near the middle row.
And at the center of it...
Rhea Noir.
Of course.
Ling stepped inside fully.
The room went silent almost instantly.
"What is happening?"
A girl standing opposite Rhea stiffened immediately. Her posture shrank. Her voice, which had clearly been raised seconds ago, disappeared entirely.
"N... nothing, Professor," the girl stammered quickly.
Ling's eyes shifted slowly to Rhea.
Rhea stood there with her chin slightly lifted, arms crossed, expression unapologetically confident.
"We were discussing something," Rhea said evenly.
Murmurs rippled faintly across the class.
Discussing?
That did not sound like the heated argument they had just witnessed.
Ling's gaze sharpened slightly.
"Discussing," she repeated.
"Yes," Rhea replied calmly. "She accused me of copying her assignment. I told her if she's insecure about her grades, that's not my problem."
The girl gasped softly.
"That's not what I said... "
Ling raised one hand.
Silence returned immediately.
She turned to the other girl first.
"Did you accuse her of plagiarism?"
The girl swallowed.
"I just said… our answers looked similar."
"And?"
"I thought maybe... "
Ling's expression did not change.
"And you confronted her publicly."
The girl went pale.
"Yes, Professor."
Ling nodded once.
Then she turned back to Rhea.
"And you responded… how?"
Rhea didn't hesitate.
"I told her to mind her own work," she said clearly. "If she's insecure, that's not my responsibility."
A few students inhaled sharply.
No one spoke to Professor Kwong like that.
Not casually.
Not boldly.
Certainly not with that tone.
They were already imagining detention. Suspension. Public humiliation.
Ling stood still for a long moment.
Her eyes rested on Rhea's face.
Rhea held her gaze without blinking.
There was no fear in her.
The rest of the class looked between them like they were watching someone step into fire willingly.
Ling finally spoke.
"Miss Noir."
Her voice was neutral.
"Yes, Professor?"
"You will submit both your assignment and your draft notes to me after class."
Rhea nodded once.
"Sure."
Ling then turned to the accusing student.
"And you," she said evenly, "will refrain from making academic allegations without evidence."
"Yes, Professor," the girl said immediately.
Ling stepped toward the front of the classroom.
"That will be all. Take your seats."
Chairs moved quickly. No one wasted time.
Within seconds, everyone was in place.
Ling began her lecture as usual voice steady, precise, composed.
But halfway through explaining a concept, her eyes flicked briefly toward Rhea.
Rhea was already watching her.
Not defiant now.
Just… watching.
Ling held her gaze for one second longer than necessary.
Then continued speaking.
The class noticed.
Of course they did.
Whispers would spread later.
About how Rhea argued openly.
About how Professor Kwong didn't crush her.
About how there was something different in the air between them.
But for now...
Only one thing was clear.
Every student in that room feared Professor Kwong.
Except Rhea.
After class ended, the hallway slowly emptied. Students drifted out in clusters, their conversations fading into distant echoes.
Inside her office, Ling Kwong sat reviewing a document, her expression steady, posture composed the quiet efficiency she always returned to after teaching.
A knock came.
"Come in."
The door opened, and Marley stepped inside.
She approached the desk and placed a small velvet box in front of her.
Ling's pen paused.
She looked up.
"…What is this?"
Marley slid the box gently closer.
"I bought it for you," she said simply. "I meant to give it earlier, but I didn't get the chance."
Ling opened the box slowly.
Inside lay a delicate chain simple, elegant, understated. The kind of jewelry chosen with intention rather than impulse.
Ling looked at it… then at Marley.
"But why?" she asked honestly. "I mean…"
Marley didn't hesitate.
"I think," she said calmly, "we should be friends. Or… maybe more than that. We can start by understanding each other. We're both mature. We work together. It makes sense to build something stable."
Her tone was practical.
Measured.
No dramatic confession. No emotional pressure.
Just… reason.
Ling closed the box gently, fingers resting over the lid as she considered the words. Her expression didn't reveal much but there was a faint shift in her eyes. Thoughtful. Careful.
She was about to respond.
The office door opened again.
No knock.
Rhea Noir stepped in.
She walked forward without asking permission.
Ling barely had time to register her movement before Rhea reached out, took the chain directly from Ling's hand, turned, and placed it back into Marley's palm.
Smooth. Direct. Final.
"She's occupied," Rhea said evenly.
The room went still.
Marley blinked once, clearly not expecting that level of interruption. Her fingers closed slowly around the chain again.
Then her expression hardened slightly professional composure returning like armor.
"I think you're forgetting something, Miss Noir," Marley said coolly. "A professor is speaking. There's no need for a student to interrupt."
Rhea crossed her arms lightly and looked at Marley with steady calm.
"I didn't interrupt," she replied. "I clarified."
Ling leaned back slightly in her chair, silent observing both of them carefully. She hadn't stopped this yet. Hadn't intervened.
Marley noticed.
Her eyes flicked briefly toward Ling perhaps expecting correction, discipline, authority.
None came.
So Marley returned her attention to Rhea.
"This is not your place," she said quietly. "Professional matters don't concern you."
Rhea tilted her head slightly.
"Personal matters do."
A pause.
The meaning settled clearly between them.
Marley's gaze sharpened.
Ling still said nothing.
Marley inhaled slowly, regaining composure.
"This was a respectful gesture," she said, lifting the chain slightly. "An adult conversation. Something based on understanding, stability, and future planning."
Rhea's lips curved faintly not amused, not mocking. Just… certain.
"That's good," she said. "Then you'll understand when I say she's not available for that."
Marley's patience thinned.
"You don't get to decide that."
Rhea didn't raise her voice.
"I didn't decide," she said simply. "I know."
Marley turned to Ling then directly, firmly.
"Is this how you allow your students to behave?" she asked. "Interrupting, speaking over you, making claims about your personal life?"
Ling's fingers rested loosely on the desk.
Her expression remained composed.
But her gaze moved slowly from Marley… to Rhea… and back again.
Then she spoke.
"Miss Noir."
Rhea looked at her immediately.
Ling's voice was calm neutral but precise.
"You entered without permission. And you interfered in a conversation that did not involve you."
A small pause.
Rhea held her gaze.
Waiting.
Ling's eyes remained steady.
"…Next time," she finished quietly, "you will knock first."
Silence.
Marley blinked surprised.
That was it?
That was the reprimand?
Rhea nodded once.
"Fine."
Ling then turned to Marley.
Her tone remained polite. Measured.
"I appreciate the gesture," she said, lightly tapping the velvet box with one finger. "But I cannot accept it."
Marley's shoulders stiffened slightly.
Ling continued calmly.
"I don't build relationships based on convenience or logic alone."
Marley held her gaze, searching for something hesitation, uncertainty, doubt.
She found none.
After a long moment, Marley closed the velvet box again.
"…Understood."
She turned and walked toward the door. Paused briefly.
Then left without another word.
The office grew quiet again.
Ling and Rhea stood facing each other.
Rhea spoke first.
"You took long enough."
Ling raised one brow slightly.
"You interfered before I could answer."
Rhea didn't look guilty.
"Good."
A beat of silence.
Ling studied her face carefully the certainty, the tension still lingering beneath it, the protective edge she didn't bother hiding.
Then Ling said quietly...
"You don't get to claim territory like that."
Rhea met her gaze evenly.
"I don't claim," she replied. "I protect."
Ling held her eyes for a long moment.
Then just barely...
Her lips curved.