The sterile brightness of the hospital cafeteria felt oddly distant, like a half-remembered dream. Trays clattered, nurses murmured in low tones, and the scent of burnt coffee lingered in the air. Naya stirred her tea absently, eyes flicking toward the entrance every few seconds. Her shift had ended, but her mind was nowhere near rest.
She wasn't just waiting for a break. She was waiting for clarity. For answers. For Nian.
And then he walked in — tall, resolute, his white coat draped over one arm, his eyes scanning until they landed on her. Relief softened his expression, but there was something else too — tension in the set of his jaw, the faintest hesitation in his steps.
"Mind if I sit?" he asked, voice low, threading through the ambient noise.
Naya nodded slowly. "You always ask like I'd say no."
He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I like to pretend you have a choice."
They sat in silence for a beat, two hearts ticking like time bombs. Naya finally sipped her tea.
"Nian," she said carefully, "who is Jun?"
The question sliced the air between them like a scalpel. His fingers tensed around his cup.
"He's… someone from the past."
"I figured." She paused. "But the way he looked at you. The way you looked at him—"
"Don't," he cut in softly but firmly. "It's complicated."
Naya set her cup down. "I deserve to know what I'm stepping into."
He looked at her, eyes deep with shadows. "Jun and I… we were something once. Years ago. Before I came here. Before I knew who I really was."
A gasp lodged in Naya's throat. She didn't say anything, didn't flinch — just watched him, her heart cracking in unfamiliar places.
"You were…?"
"I loved him," Nian said quietly. "And he destroyed me."
The cafeteria buzzed around them like a forgotten movie. Naya leaned forward, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Why is he here now?"
Nian looked away. "Because he knows me. He knows how to get to me. And he's not done."
---
Jun wasn't just a shadow from the past. He was a storm brewing beneath the surface.
After the cafeteria, Naya tried to focus on her duties, but Jun's name clung to her thoughts like smoke. Her fingers trembled as she inserted an IV for a post-op patient. She could still see the way Jun moved — like silk and fire — through the hallway earlier that day, his voice like honey-dipped venom as he exchanged niceties with the head nurse.
She hated how magnetic he was.
She hated even more that Nian had once loved him.
She stepped out into the corridor, only to see Jun leaning casually against the wall across from the staff lounge. His tailored black coat hugged his lean frame, and those glasses — dark-rimmed, intentional — made his sharp jaw and angular features even more unforgiving. He looked like a man carved from elegance and arrogance.
He straightened when he saw her. "Naya, isn't it?"
She didn't answer.
"You know, I can see why he likes you." Jun's smile was slow and dangerous. "You have that… pure-heart look. Like someone who still believes love is enough."
"What do you want?"
He pushed off the wall, stepping closer. "Just visiting. And making sure Nian remembers what he walked away from."
She held his gaze. "You don't scare me."
"You should be scared," Jun whispered, voice dipping like velvet. "Because I'm not here to take him back."
"Then why—?"
"I'm here to ruin him."
---
Later that evening, Nian stormed into Naya's apartment, his eyes burning.
"He said that to you?"
Naya nodded. "He's dangerous, Nian. He knows how to push you."
"I know what he's capable of," Nian muttered. "He's already called my hospital board. Sent 'anonymous' concerns about my license back in China. The man doesn't fight fair."
Naya touched his arm. "Why now?"
Nian turned to her, his expression unreadable. "Because for the first time in a long time, I'm happy. And Jun? Jun doesn't believe I deserve that."
Naya stepped closer. "What are we going to do?"
He cupped her face gently. "We stay ahead of him. We don't let him in."
But Jun was already inside — not their home, but their story. A ghost in every glance, a doubt in every silence.
---
The next day, a commotion erupted in the cafeteria. Naya rushed in to find a small crowd gathering near the bulletin board. Someone had posted photocopies of old love letters — in Mandarin, but unmistakably intimate — between Nian and someone named Jun.
Naya's blood ran cold.
Nian burst in moments later. His eyes fell on the pages, and the color drained from his face.
"I didn't even know I kept these…" he murmured.
Naya grabbed his arm. "He's not just here to ruin your career. He wants to ruin us."
A sudden silence fell as Jun appeared in the doorway, expression unreadable, eyes gleaming behind those trademark glasses. He looked at Naya, then at Nian.
"Secrets make the best foundations," he said smoothly. "Don't you think?"
The crowd murmured, confused and intrigued.
Nian's jaw clenched. "You crossed a line."
Jun tilted his head. "I haven't even started."
And just like that, the predator turned and walked away, his coat swirling like ink in water.
---
That night, Naya sat beside Nian in silence. They had no answers. No promises. Just each other.
But outside, in the hospital parking lot, Jun sat in the back of a black car, speaking quietly into a phone.
"Plan B. Leak the Henan incident. Let's see how well our dear doctor handles ghosts."
The person on the other end said something.
Jun smiled.
"Of course she doesn't know. But she will. Soon."
Inside the apartment, Naya stirred. A storm was coming. And they had no idea just how much it would cost.