Night had sunk deep over Orion University.
The acacia trees swayed lazily beneath the dim yellow lamps, their shadows spilling long across the cracked pavement. Li Wen sat hunched on the low concrete wall outside the dorm, phone clenched between both hands. The bluish glow from the screen washed over his pale face, making the hollows under his eyes seem darker. Notifications blinked one after another—pings, emojis, messages—but none of them stuck. His mind kept looping in the same corner, heavy and gray. The air carried that strange in-between chill, the kind that came when the rain refused to fall but the heat hadn't yet returned.
Footsteps broke the quiet.
"Still glued to that thing, Wen?" Xiao Yu's voice came teasing from behind. He leaned over Li Wen's shoulder, grinning. "Dude, it's Saturday night. Prime time! You really gonna rot here scrolling through texts?"
Li Wen startled, blinking up. "Huh? Oh… hey, Xiao Yu."
"Movie night," Xiao Yu announced, his grin widening under the streetlight. "New superhero flick dropped. Everyone's talking about it—explosions, lasers, insane CGI. Come on, man, it's therapy for the soul."
Li Wen sighed, shoulders sagging. "Would love to, but I'm broke. My parents' transfer's late again. You know how it goes."
Before Xiao Yu could reply, Lin Feng came strolling out of the dorm, flicking an empty snack wrapper into the trash can like a basketball shot.
"No excuses," he said. "My web-novel royalties just cleared. I got you covered—tickets and popcorn. You in?"
Li Wen raised an eyebrow. "Already? That fast? Didn't you say they usually take weeks to pay?"
Lin Feng smirked. "Sometimes miracles happen when you stop sleeping."
He slapped Li Wen's shoulder. "Come on, man. You need some real air, not Wi-Fi."
Li Wen stared at his phone for a moment, then finally locked it and shoved it into his pocket. "Fine," he muttered with a soft laugh. "I'm in."
"That's the spirit!" Xiao Yu whooped. "I'll grab an Uber—front seats, full 3D immersion!"
The car sliced through Orion's restless traffic. Streetlights smeared streaks of gold across the windows. The night smelled like fried food, motor oil, and damp pavement. Li Wen leaned against the glass, watching the city roll by—neon signs flashing, vendors shouting, motorcycles buzzing like hornets—but the heaviness in his chest stayed. A dull ache, leftover from the mess that morning.
By the time they reached Orion Mall, the theater was alive—laughter echoing, sneakers squeaking on the floor, the buttery smell of popcorn thick in the air. Lin Feng had already paid before Li Wen could even open his wallet. They grabbed front-row seats just as the trailers started rolling. The red glow of the exit sign pulsed like a slow heartbeat on the wall.
Then the lights dimmed.
Music thundered to life—drums, strings, bass deep enough to shake the floor. Li Wen sank into it. The chaos, the noise, the colors—it all drowned everything else. For a while, he wasn't at Orion University. For a while, Zhao Yan didn't exist.
But somewhere beneath the roar of explosions and engines, a whisper slithered through the dark.
"Boss," someone muttered from the back row, "that's Li Wen and his crew, right?"
Zhao Yan's voice followed, smooth and venomous. "Of all places… he really dares to show up here."
Chen Bo cracked his knuckles one by one. "Want me to teach him a lesson?"
"Use your brain for once," Zhao Yan hissed, eyes flicking over the crowded rows. "You wanna get caught on camera and tossed out by security?"
Wang San clicked his tongue. "So what's the move, Boss?"
A cold glint flashed in Zhao Yan's eyes. "We don't get our hands dirty. Call the Tigers. Let them handle it."
Wang San grinned. "Good thing I've got their leader on speed dial."
"Perfect," Zhao Yan murmured, the corner of his mouth curling. "Make it clean. No mistakes."
Down front, Li Wen shifted uneasily.
He couldn't hear every word, but something in the air changed—a ripple of tension that crawled down his spine. The laughter from the audience felt too loud now, the explosions on-screen too close. He pressed his palms against his knees, trying to steady his breathing.
Xiao Yu leaned closer. "You okay, man?"
Li Wen forced a smile. "Yeah… yeah, just zoning out."
But his eyes flicked back over his shoulder, to the shadowy figures two rows behind them. He saw one of them lower a phone, whispering. Another smirked. That same dull weight in his stomach turned sharp.
Behind them, Zhao Yan spoke quietly into his own phone. "They'll be out in two hours. You know the drill—no noise, no mess. If anyone records it, I want that footage gone."
Chen Bo grinned. "Relax, Boss. Tigers don't leave fingerprints."
"Don't overdo it," Zhao Yan warned, his voice soft as smoke. "We want pressure, not blood. They should walk away scared, not broken."
Wang San chuckled low. "Got it. A little reminder who runs this campus."
Li Wen's pulse quickened.
He tried to focus on the screen—heroes fighting, cities burning, triumphant music swelling—but every flash of light made his heartbeat louder. He glanced at Xiao Yu and Lin Feng, both lost in the movie, unaware of the storm quietly circling them.
Xiao Yu nudged him again. "You sure you're fine?"