Chapter 09
"Out of sight, out of mind."
It had become something of a quiet mantra in Shen Yu's head, repeating itself often enough that it should have worked by now. Under normal circumstances, it would have. He had always been skilled at discarding what he did not want to dwell on, letting things fade without effort until they no longer existed in his thoughts.
But this time, it refused to fade.
Every so often, without warning, his mind would drift back to that moment in the car—the way Jiang Li had stepped out without looking back, his honey-brown eyes glistening as though he had been forcing himself not to cry. The image lingered stubbornly, replaying itself with an unwanted clarity that Shen Yu could neither justify nor erase.
And just as he had wanted, the boy disappeared.
For two days, there had been nothing.
No flash of blond hair slipping through crowds, no hesitant gaze following him from a distance, and no trace of that soft, winter-rose scent that used to wrap around him before he even noticed its presence. Jiang Li had drawn the line cleanly, retreating exactly as Shen Yu had implied he should, leaving behind a silence that should have been convenient.
It wasn't.
Because the absence only made the thoughts louder.
The warmth of the black coffee in Shen Yu's hand did little to ground him, its heat fading unnoticed as his fingers tightened and loosened around the cup. His other hand dragged absently through his already disheveled hair, pushing it back only for it to fall forward again in uneven strands, mirroring the restless state of his thoughts.
"Sir… sir, am I going to prison?"
The voice cut through his distraction, trembling with poorly concealed panic.
Shen Yu lifted his gaze slowly, his dark eyes settling on the boy seated across from him. He looked young—barely nineteen, perhaps—and unlike the defined sharpness common among alphas or the softer delicacy of omegas, there was nothing particularly distinctive about him. A beta, Shen Yu concluded almost immediately, his posture relaxed but his expression carrying a weight that made the boy shrink under it.
Shen Yu exhaled quietly, his thumb brushing along the rim of the coffee cup.
"What exactly did you do?" he asked, his tone flat, almost bored.
The boy stared at him, confusion flickering across his face before realization set in.
"…You don't remember?" he asked, incredulous.
Shen Yu didn't respond.
The silence stretched just long enough for the boy to understand that he wasn't joking.
"I was arrested at a club," the boy said quickly, his voice tightening. "There were drugs there—but I swear, I didn't take anything. I'm clean, I promise."
He even raised his hand slightly, as though the gesture alone might convince Shen Yu of his sincerity.
At the mention of a club, something in Shen Yu's expression shifted, almost imperceptibly. His thoughts flickered, uninvited, toward that night—the dim lights, the haze of smoke, and the omega hidden behind a silver mask whose presence had lingered longer than it should have.
The irritation came just as quickly.
It wasn't the situation itself that bothered him—it rarely was—but the insistence, the repetition, the way the boy in front of him kept speaking as though raising his voice would make a difference.
"Sir…?"
"Sir, are you still listening? Am I going to prison?"
Shen Yu's patience snapped.
"Be quiet," he said coldly, the sharpness in his voice enough to freeze the boy mid-sentence.
At that moment, the door opened.
Shen Yu's gaze shifted slightly, catching sight of Lin Yushen as he stepped into the room. The omega carried himself with quiet composure, his black hair tied neatly into a ponytail that exposed the clean line of his neck, a gland patch resting discreetly against his skin. There was something naturally gentle about his presence, a contrast to the tension that lingered in the room.
"Ge," Lin Yushen greeted softly, offering a small smile as he approached. "Here's the information on him."
He gestured lightly toward the boy, his tone dismissive in a way that made it clear where his attention truly lay.
Then, as his eyes settled on Shen Yu more closely, his expression shifted.
"Are you alright?" he asked, concern threading through his voice.
Shen Yu blinked once, then rubbed the bridge of his nose as if to steady himself.
"Ask Hua Yong to have him tested," he said after a moment, his tone returning to its usual calm detachment. "If he's clean, let him go. We don't have evidence that he was involved."
He pushed his chair back as he stood, the faint scrape of its legs against the tiled floor breaking the quiet.
"And if not," he added, already turning away, "then it's the police's problem."
"Where are you going?" Lin Yushen asked, a note of hesitation in his voice.
Shen Yu glanced back briefly, offering a faint, almost absent smile.
"I need some air."
He didn't wait for a response.
---
The moment he stepped outside, the shift was immediate.
The glass doors slid open, and fresh air rushed in, brushing against his face and threading through his hair as though trying to clear the weight pressing against his mind. Shen Yu inhaled deeply, his eyes closing for a brief second before he began walking.
There was only one place he went when he needed quiet.
The bridge.
By the time he reached it, the city had already settled into its nighttime rhythm. Cars passed in steady streams, their headlights slicing through the darkness as the wind swept across the open space, tugging lightly at his coat. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, the small ember glowing faintly in the dim light as he took a slow drag.
Smoke curled upward, dissolving into the night air as he exhaled, his gaze drifting toward the water below where the reflection of the moon rippled with each passing current.
For a moment, everything felt distant.
His thoughts scattered, restless and uncontained, like leaves caught in a shifting wind.
Maybe that was why he couldn't let it go.
Maybe it was because he had started to suspect the truth—that the timid omega who couldn't meet his eyes and the bold, masked stranger from that night were the same person.
The idea lingered, unsettling in its clarity.
And then—
Without warning, Shen Yu felt it.
Not a scent.
Not a sound.
Just a pull.
A quiet, instinctive urge to turn around.
When he did, his breath caught.
At the far end of the bridge, partially hidden by shadow and distance, sat a familiar figure. Blond hair stirred gently in the wind, catching faint strands of light as passing cars illuminated the space in brief flashes. Jiang Li sat there with his notebook in hand, his posture slightly hunched, his pen trembling faintly between his fingers.
His honey-brown eyes were fixed on Shen Yu.
They glistened, heavy with unshed tears.
For a moment, Shen Yu simply stared, something sharp and unexpected tightening in his chest.
There was no scent.
No trace of those soft, rose-tinted pheromones that used to give him away before he could even be seen.
Nothing.
Realization settled in slowly.
A quiet, almost incredulous breath left Shen Yu as a tired chuckle followed.
So that was it.
The boy hadn't stopped.
He had simply learned how to hide.