Chapter 10
Shen Yu stood at the edge of the bridge for a moment, his gaze fixed on the far side where the dim outline of a figure sat beneath the shifting glow of passing headlights. The steady stream of cars rushed by between them, their engines roaring and fading in intervals, until eventually the road fell into a brief lull. Only then did he move, stepping off the curb and crossing with unhurried strides, his coat brushing lightly against his legs as the wind followed him across.
Jiang Li noticed.
Even from a distance, the change in his posture was immediate. The flush that had already settled across his cheeks deepened into a vivid red, standing in stark contrast to the faint sheen of tears still clinging to his eyes. For a brief second, it looked as though he might leave—his body shifted, his weight lifting as he stood up abruptly—but whatever resolve had pushed him to move faltered just as quickly. He hesitated, then sat back down on the cold cement railing, clutching his notebook tightly against himself as if it were the only thing keeping him grounded.
By the time Shen Yu reached him, the wind had picked up slightly, stirring Jiang Li's blond hair into soft disarray as it brushed across his face.
Shen Yu stopped in front of him.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
His dark eyes settled quietly on Jiang Li's, taking in the way they shimmered under the dim light, wide and unguarded in a way that made them difficult to look at for too long. It was Jiang Li who broke first, his gaze dropping almost immediately as though he couldn't withstand the weight of it. In his attempt to hide, his hands shifted too quickly, and the pen slipped from his fingers, clattering softly against the concrete.
The small sound seemed to echo louder than it should have.
Jiang Li panicked, his movements turning clumsy as he fumbled to pick it up under Shen Yu's steady gaze. When he finally managed to grasp it, he stilled, his fingers tightening around it as he turned his face slightly away, his flushed cheeks refusing to fade.
Distance.
Wasn't that what he had wanted?
Shen Yu remained where he stood, his expression unreadable as the thought surfaced again. He should have ignored this. He should have walked away the moment he saw him. Instead, he was here, standing in front of the very person he had told himself to forget, as though drawn back by something he had yet to understand.
The image from the phone resurfaced again—clear, intrusive, and impossible to ignore—and with it came that familiar irritation. It lingered beneath the surface, but instead of letting it spill over, he forced it down, locking it away behind a controlled, steady calm.
"You learn fast," he said at last, his voice quiet as his gaze shifted away, settling somewhere off to the side rather than on Jiang Li's face.
There was a reason for that.
Those eyes were disarming.
Every time he tried to confront him directly, something in him hesitated, the words catching before they could fully form. It wasn't sympathy—at least, not entirely—but it was enough to disrupt his thoughts in a way he didn't appreciate.
And he didn't believe Jiang Li deserved that kind of hesitation.
Someone who could follow him, lie without pause, and hide behind a harmless appearance to lower people's guard didn't fit into any definition of innocence Shen Yu was willing to accept.
"I don't… understand," Jiang Li replied softly.
His voice was almost lost beneath the distant rush of traffic and the steady movement of water below the bridge, but it carried just enough for Shen Yu to hear.
Shen Yu's gaze lowered slightly, drawn unintentionally to the side of Jiang Li's neck. Gland patches were nothing unusual—most omegas wore them when they stepped outside—but what caught his attention was the number. Layered carefully over one another, they formed a thicker barrier than necessary, as though Jiang Li had gone out of his way to suppress even the faintest trace of himself.
Shen Yu didn't comment on it.
Instead, he exhaled slowly, the cigarette between his fingers burning faintly before he took another drag and stepped forward, lowering himself onto the railing beside Jiang Li. The distance between them closed, but not entirely.
"I'm sorry about the picture."
The words came suddenly, quiet but clear.
Shen Yu didn't look at him immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the sky, dark and endless above them, as if the answer he was considering might be written there.
"It irritates me," he said after a moment, his tone even but edged with something colder, "to find something like that on your phone. A picture of me, taken without my permission, by someone I don't even know."
Only then did he turn.
His eyes had darkened, the restraint he held slipping just enough to reveal the anger beneath it.
"But what bothers me more," he continued, his voice lowering, "is that you keep lying instead of telling me the truth."
Jiang Li froze.
For a second, he didn't move at all.
Then Shen Yu noticed it—the faint glimmer along his cheek, catching the light before falling. His brows drew together slightly as he leaned closer without thinking, and only then did he realize that Jiang Li was crying silently, his shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly as he tried to keep it contained.
Shen Yu stilled.
He hadn't meant for it to escalate that far.
The frustration that had been simmering beneath the surface now felt unstable, unfamiliar in a way that irritated him even more. He turned his gaze forward again, forcing himself to look away as the soft sound of Jiang Li's quiet sniffles filled the space between them.
"I'm sorry," Jiang Li whispered. "I know I'm a horrible person."
The words were fragile, weighed down by something that felt far too genuine to dismiss easily.
Shen Yu didn't respond.
Instead, his attention shifted to the notebook resting just behind Jiang Li, partially hidden but not enough to go unnoticed. Without asking, he leaned forward and picked it up. Jiang Li tensed immediately, his breath catching as though he wanted to stop him, but whatever hesitation held him back kept his hands still.
Opening it felt… intrusive.
But Shen Yu did it anyway.
At first, it was exactly what he expected—pages filled with sketches, each one detailed with careful precision.
Then he realized.
Every single one was of him.
His fingers paused as he flipped through the pages more slowly, his expression tightening as the pattern became undeniable. Some sketches were rough, unfinished lines, while others were completed with striking clarity, capturing expressions and moments he didn't even remember being observed.
Then he stopped.
The drawing in front of him showed the bridge—the same bridge—under the same night sky. He was there, leaning against the railing, a cigarette between his fingers as smoke curled upward in soft, deliberate strokes.
It was perfect.
Too perfect.
Shen Yu's eyes narrowed slightly as he turned his head toward Jiang Li.
"Did you draw this today?" he asked.
Even as he spoke, he already knew the answer.
Jiang Li shook his head.
A quiet, breathless chuckle escaped Shen Yu, though there was no humor in it.
"So you took another picture of me," he said, his voice calm but weighted, "without permission."
He reached for his cigarette again, only to realize it was gone, discarded somewhere without him noticing. The absence felt oddly fitting.
Jiang Li didn't answer.
And strangely, this time, Shen Yu didn't feel the same sharp irritation at the silence. It had happened too often for him to expect anything different, and in a way, the lack of response had become its own kind of answer.
"You think this is normal?" Shen Yu asked quietly.
Beside him, Jiang Li let out a soft breath.
"I know it's not," he said, a faint, pained smile forming at the edge of his lips as he stared down at his hands.
It was the first time Shen Yu had seen him smile.
And it wasn't a happy one.
"But you look really good on that bridge…"
Silence followed.
Shen Yu stared at him, his expression flattening completely, the sudden compliment landing in a way that left him momentarily without a response.
Then, without another word, he stood.
The movement was abrupt enough to draw Jiang Li's attention, his wide eyes lifting to meet Shen Yu's again, uncertainty flickering through them.
Shen Yu looked down at him, his gaze steady, unreadable.
"If you're going to watch…"
Jiang Li stiffened, his breath catching as though he already sensed what was coming.
"…then stop hiding."
The words were quiet, but they lingered.
And before Jiang Li could respond, Shen Yu had already turned, walking away without looking back, leaving the space between them filled only with the fading sound of his footsteps and the restless hum of the night.