Back on the unit floor, Mu Chen felt it right away.
Not a sound.
A change.
People weren't staring. They were pretending not to. That was worse. That meant news had already moved ahead of him, quiet and fast.
Lin Lan went straight to her workstation and started uploading the mission file. Her face was calm, but her fingers moved too quickly.
Zhou Xiao stayed near the lockers, looking between Ye Fan and Mu Chen like he didn't know where to stand.
Ye Fan didn't speak at all.
He just watched.
Mu Chen walked to his divider space, sat on the bed, and forced his breathing to stay even. He kept his hands on his knees, where the camera could see them. Empty hands. Calm posture. Nothing to record except "normal."
A message beeped on Lin Lan's tablet.
Then another.
Then another.
Lin Lan's shoulders tightened. She didn't read the messages out loud, but the color drained from her face by a small amount. She looked up once and met Mu Chen's eyes across the room.
Warning.
Mu Chen's stomach turned cold.
A minute later, Colonel Luo Wei entered the ready room.
Her steps were steady. Her face was calm.
She didn't waste time.
"Mu Chen," Luo Wei said. "Come with me."
Mu Chen stood. "Yes, ma'am."
Ye Fan's head lifted instantly.
"Colonel," Ye Fan said.
Luo Wei didn't look at him. "Major Ye Fan, stay here."
Ye Fan's jaw tightened. "With respect—"
Luo Wei turned her head then. Her eyes were hard. "That's an order."
Ye Fan didn't move.
Mu Chen followed Luo Wei out.
They walked down a short hallway to an office with a scanner door. The scanner read Luo Wei's badge, then read Mu Chen's.
Green.
The door clicked open.
Inside, the room was plain. One desk. Two chairs. One camera in the corner that looked newer than the rest of the base.
Luo Wei sat down and motioned for Mu Chen to sit.
Mu Chen sat.
Luo Wei looked at him for a long moment, like she was choosing her words carefully, as if each one had a cost.
Then she spoke.
"You are not assigned," Luo Wei said.
Mu Chen blinked. "Ma'am?"
Luo Wei's voice stayed even. "You have no fixed pairing. No long-term support plan. Your file lists you as general guide support only."
Mu Chen nodded slowly. "Yes."
Luo Wei leaned back. "Do you understand what that means?"
Mu Chen answered simply. "It means I can be moved."
"Yes," Luo Wei said. "It means you can be moved at any time. It means you can be placed under someone else's authority. It means you can disappear into a program without anyone needing to explain it to my unit."
Mu Chen felt a small tightness in his chest. He didn't show it.
"Why are you telling me?" Mu Chen asked.
Luo Wei's mouth tightened. "Because you are on my floor. And because the institute is looking at you now."
Mu Chen's fingers went cold.
Luo Wei continued. "After today's gate, your evaluation is no longer routine. They upgraded it to a full assessment."
Mu Chen kept his face calm. "When?"
Luo Wei slid a small sheet of paper across the desk.
Paper was rare here. Paper didn't leave digital footprints unless someone scanned it.
Mu Chen looked down.
A time. A room number. Soon.
Too soon.
Luo Wei watched his face. "You're still calm."
Mu Chen's voice stayed quiet. "Panic won't help."
Luo Wei nodded once, like she accepted that.
Then she said, "Major Ye Fan asked to escort you."
Mu Chen's chest tightened. "And you refused."
"Yes," Luo Wei said. "You think he can protect you. Maybe he can. Maybe he will also paint a brighter target on your back. He is an A-class sentinel. He is already watched."
Mu Chen stayed silent.
Luo Wei's gaze held him. "Listen. Lin Lan will escort you. You will answer only what they ask. You will not argue. You will not show anything you don't have to."
Mu Chen nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
Luo Wei's eyes narrowed slightly. "And if they push you?"
Mu Chen paused, then answered with the only truth he trusted. "I will survive."
Luo Wei stared at him like she wanted to know what that meant, and decided she didn't want the answer.
"Go," she said.
Mu Chen stood and left.
Back in the ready room, Ye Fan was waiting near the lockers.
He wasn't pacing.
But he was too still, like a fighter holding himself back by force.
Mu Chen walked toward his divider.
Ye Fan stepped into his path.
"What did she say?" Ye Fan asked.
Mu Chen kept his voice calm. "Orders."
Ye Fan's eyes hardened. "What orders?"
Mu Chen tried to step around him.
Ye Fan caught his wrist.
Not hard.
Just firm enough that Mu Chen couldn't pretend it didn't happen.
Mu Chen froze.
Ye Fan felt it too.
Not a link, not a bond, but close enough for Ye Fan to feel the calm under Mu Chen's skin, and for Mu Chen to feel the heat of Ye Fan's grip.
Ye Fan's eyes flashed.
He released Mu Chen quickly, like he had touched something that made him angry at himself.
Mu Chen's voice was soft. "Don't."
Ye Fan's jaw clenched. "They're taking you in."
Mu Chen didn't answer.
Ye Fan's voice went lower, rougher. "You're not assigned. That means they can move you. That means they can keep you."
Mu Chen's chest tightened for one second. He pushed the feeling down.
He met Ye Fan's eyes. "I won't disappear."
Ye Fan stared at him like he didn't believe anyone could promise that.
Across the room, Zhou Xiao and Lin Lan both pretended not to watch. But they were watching.
Mu Chen stepped around Ye Fan and went behind the divider.
He sat on the bed.
He stared at the cold lamp.
Not assigned.
Not protected.
Not owned by anyone, which should have been freedom.
Instead, it meant there was nothing on paper that could stop the institute from taking him.
Outside the divider, Ye Fan's boots moved once, then stopped.
Mu Chen heard Ye Fan's voice, low, likely to Zhou Xiao.
"Watch him."
Mu Chen closed his eyes.
This wasn't romance. Not yet.
It was something harder.
A kind of protection built from fear.
A kind of attention that could become a cage if Ye Fan didn't learn to let go.
And Mu Chen wasn't sure what scared him more.
The institute's hands.
Or Ye Fan's.