QIN KAI'S POV
Beijing's skyline was burning gold when I reached the penthouse.
I tossed my car key onto the marble counter and loosened the top buttons of my shirt. It was too early for this much thinking, but my head had been buzzing since last night's concert.
Li Wei's guitar still echoed in my ears, though the performance hadn't been his best. He'd seemed off…missing beats, forgetting words, drifting into his own world. That wasn't like him.
"Finally," his voice came from the balcony. "You showed up."
He was leaning against the glass railing, a cup of black coffee in hand, the morning wind teasing his hair. Even half-asleep, the man looked like he'd walked out of a magazine shoot.
I walked over, setting my phone on the table beside him. "You're awake too early for someone who performed in front of twenty thousand people last night."
"Can't sleep," he said, eyes still on the view. "Too much noise in my head."
I pulled out a chair and sat. "Noise from fans or from yourself?"
He laughed under his breath. "Both, maybe."
I took the mug beside him…it was still warm. He didn't protest. That was how we'd always been. We shared almost everything. Money. Cars. Secrets. At least, we still do.
The penthouse was ours. We'd bought it two years ago…back when he started climbing the charts and I took over the Qin Group. It was our escape, our brotherhood's proof that we hadn't been swallowed by our families yet.
"So," I said after a while, "when's your next concert? Shanghai?"
He shook his head. "No plans yet. I want to stay here for a bit."
I raised a brow. "Stay? You? In Beijing? You hate the traffic."
"Yeah," he murmured, smiling faintly. "But I don't know, this time it's… different."
I studied him. There was that faraway look again…the same one I'd caught glimpses of backstage yesterday.
"Different how?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he sipped his coffee, then said quietly, "You noticed I messed up a few notes."
"Evereyone noticed that?" I chuckled. "You were flat on the second verse and zoned out on the bridge. Your manager almost had a heart attack."
Li Wei laughed softly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah. I couldn't concentrate."
"Because of what?" I leaned forward. "What's going on with you? You haven't told me anything real in weeks."
He sighed and set the cup down. "It's nothing."
"Don't give me that." I folded my arms. "Come on, man. We used to tell each other everything. What happened?"
For a moment, he said nothing. Then he gave a helpless little smile. "It's ridiculous, Kai."
"I like ridiculous."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I met someone last night."
I frowned. "At the concert?"
He nodded. "In the crowd."
I laughed. "So what's new? You meet ten thousand girls in every concert."
"This one's different," he said, looking straight at me now. "I can't explain it."
I arched an eyebrow. "Different how?"
"She wasn't screaming or waving her phone like the others. She just stood there… and when our eyes met, it was like the whole stadium disappeared."
I rolled my eyes playfully. "You sound like one of your own love songs."
He grinned. "I know. It sounds stupid. But I swear, it felt real."
"So who is she? A model? Someone from the press?"
He shook his head. "No. She's… normal. She looked foreign. Maybe a student. Black hair, brown skin. There was something calm about her. She didn't look at me like everyone else does."
That made me pause.
A foreign girl?
Brown skin?
Something flickered in my chest…too faint to name.
It reminded me of someone, though…
Her.
"Wow," I said after a beat. "So, the great Li Wei finally falls for someone who doesn't know his lyrics."
"Don't tease." He laughed, throwing a pillow at me. "You wouldn't understand."
"Oh, I understand pretty fine," I said, catching it. "You saw a pretty girl, your brain short-circuited, and now you can't stop thinking about her. Happens to everyone."
He shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's not lust, Kai. It's like she's stuck in my head for no reason. And when I think about her, I feel… calm."
Calm.
That word hung in the air like a whisper.
I leaned back, watching him carefully. "So what are you going to do about it?"
He smiled crookedly. "I already did something about it."
"Oh?" I asked warily. "What did you do?"
He looked almost guilty now. "She fainted after the concert. My security brought her to one of my suites."
I froze. "You what?"
"Relax, I didn't touch her, Although I should have…" he said quickly. "She was fine. I just wanted to talk."
"Talk," I repeated flatly.
"Yes. I thought maybe fate was helping me out."
I shook my head. "You're insane."
He shrugged. "Maybe. But she's worth the trouble."
"Worth the headlines you're going to get when people find out you kidnapped a fan?"
"She's not even a fan."
"Then what is she?"
He hesitated. "Someone I want to know."
I sighed. "Yh… whatever."
He laughed again, softer this time. "I knew you'd say that."
But something in the way he said it made me stop. There was sincerity there…raw, almost desperate.
"Alright," I said, exhaling. "Then what's stopping you? You're Li Wei. You could get any girl you want."
He shook his head. "That's the problem. She's not like the others. She didn't care that I was famous. She even rejected me."
I raised both brows. "Rejected you?"
He nodded, grimacing. "Said she's focusing on college."
I laughed so hard I almost spilled my coffee. "Oh, that's rich. The mighty Li Wei rejected by a freshman."
"Shut up," he said, grinning despite himself.
"No, seriously, that's… new," I said between laughs. "So what are you going to do now? Cry?"
"I don't cry," he said dryly.
"Then what? You planning to give up?"
He went quiet.
"Don't," I said finally. "If you really like her, fight for it. Don't back down unless she tells you herself that she's taken. Otherwise…" I smirked. "Go make her say yes."
Li Wei chuckled. "You make it sound easy."
"It usually is," I said. "Unless you're scared."
"I'm not scared."
"Then go for it."
He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "You're the best, man."
"best man? And who told you you're getting married before me?." I smirked.
We laughed.
The kind that used to feel comfortable… but now, for some reason, felt heavy.
He stood finally. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Go ahead," I said, though my mind had already drifted elsewhere.
Because the image of that girl…foreign, brown skin, soft eyes…was starting to crawl into my head too.
I didn't know why.
Maybe it was curiosity. MaybeI've missed her trouble.
I hadn't tell Li wei about my own obsession on my own mystery girl. Maybe some other day, not just now.
But as soon as the bathroom door closed, I found myself walking toward the window. The city looked magnificent.
Francesca Nuel.
I whis
pered her name under my breath, and it tasted unfamiliar…soft and dangerous at once.
Something inside me tightened.
No, I wasn't going to let go of her… she's my own obsession now…