In the Penthouse.
Qin Yu sat by the floor to ceiling window, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie abandoned hours ago. A decanter of aged scotch stood forgotten on the table beside him. He wasn't drinking. He was thinking. The tension from the auction still hummed low in his chest.
The moment in the elevator the eyes, the silence, the lingering glances they were too potent to dismiss. Yan Rui had a way of getting under his skin without saying a word.
How he wished Yan Rui would come a little closer...
But there was something else gnawing at him now.
He tilted his head slightly as the security alert system blinked once, then died out.
"Glitch?" he murmured. He wasn't one to be careless, but this wasn't a day to be paranoid either. He turned back toward the window. Shanghai glimmered like a jewel, and yet, all it did was remind him of power, danger, and the faces behind masks.
Behind him, a shadow passed soundlessly across the living room.
The door hadn't been opened.
No footsteps. No sound.
But the temperature shifted subtly, a change only someone like Qin Yu would notice. The way the air moved was different. He stood, slowly, calm but alert.
"Breaking into my home at this hour," he said without turning around. "That's bold, even for you."
A smooth chuckle followed. Deep. Controlled. Dangerous.
"I was curious if your security system lived up to its reputation," came the voice. Velvet, but edged with steel.
Qin Yu turned slowly to see Yan Rui standing a few feet away from him, dressed in a tailored midnight-black suit, no tie, collar open just enough to reveal a hint of ink across his pale skin-evidence of his heritage. His long coat draped like a cape, and those impossibly cold eyes were unreadable. Smirking at him?
"How did you get past my guards?" Qin Yu asked.
"Does it matter?" Yan Rui replied, voice low. "I had something to say, and I don't particularly like waiting for invitations."
Qin Yu crossed his arms, watching him closely. "You're trespassing."
"Then call the police."
"I don't call people when I can handle things myself," Qin Yu said with a small, sharp smile.
Yan Rui's lip twitched. Approval, maybe even amusement.
"I saw what you did at the auction," Yan Rui said, stepping closer. "You played it well. Very... you. I admire that."
"You didn't come here to compliment me."
"No." Yan Rui glanced at the scotch. "I came because I sent you a message, and you never replied."
Qin Yu narrowed his eyes. "You expect me to answer messages from someone I barely know?"
"You remembered me enough to ignore me," Yan Rui said simply, tilting his head. "Which means I'm not forgettable. That's something."
Hmmmm
There was something in the air between them. Maybe romantic. Maybe personal. An awareness of two predators circling the same terrain, both aware that the other was not prey.
Qin Yu said nothing. He moved to pour himself a glass of scotch and gestured to the bottle silently, but Yan Rui shook his head.
"I don't drink when I'm on business," Yan Rui replied.
"Is that what this is?" Qin Yu asked, swirling the glass in his hand.
"I came to let you know that the Spanish interference has been handled," Yan Rui said. "They won't be interrupting your shipping lines again. You're welcome."
"You assumed I'd be grateful?"
"I assumed you'd be smart enough to realize our interests are overlapping."
Qin Yu drank, watching the man over the rim of the glass. "You cleaned up a mess I was already aware of. I never asked for help."
A. But you're feeling tingling inside 😌
" But you didn't stop me either."
Qin Yu's gaze hardened. "Why do I get the feeling you don't do favors out of generosity?"
A. Of course he doesn't, he is looking for a way to be closer to you🫣
Yan Rui smiled slowly, moving to the window and staring out at the lights. "I don't. I do them to understand my enemies. Or potential allies. You're still floating in between."
🙄🙃
There was a long silence. Qin Yu set the glass down.
"You came all the way here to tell me that?" he asked.
"No. I came here because I don't trust meetings in boardrooms. Too many eyes. Too much protocol." He turned back to face Qin Yu. "This place... your domain... is more honest."
"You mean you can control the environment."
Yan Rui didn't deny it.
He moved slowly, walking past Qin Yu and toward the desk near the far end of the room. His gloved fingers traced the edges of a folder. "You're working late," he murmured.
"I always do."
"Good," Yan Rui said. "Because if you want to survive what's coming, you'll need to."
Qin Yu narrowed his eyes. "What's coming?"
Yan Rui turned back toward him, the faintest shadows under his eyes.
"There's someone in Shanghai who wants both of us gone," Yan Rui said quietly. "Someone old. Someone patient. Someone with resources but not enough to make us both disappear, but I think he thinks he can!"
"I have enemies," Qin Yu said. "But they don't usually work with ghosts."
"This one will. And he's not working alone." Yan Rui stepped closer. "Which is why I came to talk. Face to face. To say that for now I don't plan on standing in your way. And you shouldn't stand in mine."
Qin Yu regarded him in silence. "And when the common enemy is gone?"
Yan Rui's lips curved. "Then we'll see who survives longer."
It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.
He moved toward the shadows of the hallway, heading toward the door that hadn't opened to let him in.
"You don't answer messages," he said over his shoulder. "But I figured if I showed up, you'd listen."
Qin Yu remained silent.
And then Yan Rui vanished smooth as smoke, like he was never there.
Qin Yu stared at the empty space for a long moment before picking up his glass again.
"You're more dangerous than I thought," he murmured.
And somewhere, deep in his pocket, a silent phone blinked with a single unread message:
"Until next time, President Qin."