CHAPTER 13 : LAST SEMESTERS FINAL WEEK
The last semester ran on routine and caffeine. Lily, Emma, Su Wan, Zhi Zhia, and Valeria took the long table by the library window and made it their base: chargers, highlighters, water bottles, a stack of printed cases that kept sliding off the edge.
"Tap twice if you're spiraling," Lily said on day one, half-joking. "We pull you out."
"Deal," Su Wan replied, passing her a fresh highlighter without looking up.
Zhi Zhia set two power banks in the middle. "Group playlist. No lyrics."
Valeria added almonds. "Eat. You'll think better."
They kept it simple. Before each paper they said it out loud, because saying it made it real.
"Good luck, Em," Lily whispered outside jurisprudence.
"Good luck, Lily," Emma replied. "We've got this."
"Minimal casualties," Zhi Zhia offered. Lily snorted, which helped.
"See you on the other side," Valeria said, bumping their shoulders as she passed.
The papers were long and quiet. Lily's hand cramped during evidence; she switched pens and kept going. Emma's cybersecurity practical threw a morphing packet she hadn't seen before; she treated it like a problem Situ Zu would set to be difficult and solved it. They left each hall tired, comparing answers, trading the small wins.
Results Day
Results posted on a Thursday afternoon. They gathered around Emma's laptop in the common room, standing close enough to see the screen without breathing on it.
The page loaded. Scores lined up.
Centums. Across the board.
Emma exhaled. "That's… that."
Lily squeezed Emma's hand once. "We did it."
Su Wan nodded. "Good."
Valeria allowed a small smile. "We earned it."
Zhi Zhia raised his eyebrows. "Finally."
Families Celebrate
The calls came right after.
"Lily!" Robert's face filled the screen, her parents waving behind him. "Centums. You're a menace. We're ordering food. All of it."
Lily smiled. "Tell Mom I'm fine. Tell Dad I love him."
Emma's phone buzzed. Ethan's voice was warm. "Proud of you, kid. Mom's making your favorite. Dad says don't get a big head, which is his way of saying he's proud too."
Emma smiled. "Tell them I'll be home soon. And that I love them. Even Dad."
They took screenshots of the grade page, promised dinners, photos in gowns, the usual. Relief felt like an open window.
The Club
"We're going out," Emma said that night. "One night where we don't think about footnotes or firewalls."
Lily held up a dress she hadn't worn. "This?"
"That," Emma said. "Also, safety tax." She showed two pepper-spray keychains and a card with a number. "I booked a two-person detail. Discreet. Already downstairs."
"You hired bodyguards," Lily said.
"I contracted close-protection professionals," Emma corrected, grinning. "Same thing, better paperwork."
The club was loud and crowded. They danced, drank too fast because the drinks were sweet, and tried to be twenty-something for a few hours.
"Water," Lily said at one point, pointing at Emma's glass.
"It's water-adjacent," Emma replied, deadpan.
Two men entered their orbit—sharp jawlines, practiced smiles. One offered Lily a drink she hadn't asked for; the other leaned in too close to Emma.
Lily shook her head. "We're good. Thanks."
"Come on," the first one said. "One dance."
Emma planted her feet. "She said we're good."
The second man reached for Emma's wrist, lightly, like it was a question that wasn't a question. It didn't land.
A hand closed around his forearm, professional and immovable. "She said no," a calm voice said. "Let's keep it a good night."
The bodyguards didn't make a scene; they made distance a fact. Security drifted over. The men left.
Emma let out a breath. "Best decision."
"Second best," Lily said. "First is water. Let's get water."
They did. The night steadied.
Akira
On the way to the balcony, Lily stopped.
"Akira?"
He turned—messy black hair, familiar leather jacket. Akira Noh, looking like a memory in real light.
"Lily," he said, surprised and then not. His English was careful, lightly accented. "You look well."
Emma's hand found Lily's elbow. "You okay?"
Lily nodded. "What are you doing here?"
"Exchange ended. I stayed a few months," he said, hands in pockets. "Saw the university on your posts. Thought I might run into you. Congratulations. I saw your results. You were always the brightest."
Lily's throat tightened. "Akira—"
"I don't want anything," he said quickly. "I'm glad you're okay. After everything." He glanced at Emma. "Hi. I'm Akira."
"Emma," she said. "Friend. Bodyguard-adjacent."
He huffed a laugh. "You have bodyguards?"
"She does taxes," Lily said, then pressed her hands to her face and laughed at herself.
"You're drunk," he said, fond.
"A little," Lily admitted. "Finals ended. We're celebrating being alive."
"Good reason," he said. "I'm not staying long. It's good to see you. You look lighter."
"I am," she said, surprised by how true it was. "Akira, I—"
"It's okay," he said. "We were kids. I wasn't good at being what you needed." He hesitated. "I heard about the mess with your professor. I'm sorry you went through that."
Lily's stomach dropped. "You heard—"
"Campus talks," he said gently. "You don't have to explain. If you ever need someone to just listen and not fix, I'm around. No strings."
Emma squeezed Lily's elbow. "We should get air."
Akira nodded. "Yeah. Take care of her," he told Emma, not like a claim, like a request.
They went to the balcony. Lily leaned on the railing until her hands stopped shaking.
"You good?" Emma asked.
"Yeah," Lily said. "That was a lot."
"Do you want to go?"
"No. I want to dance until my feet give out. I just needed a minute."
Professors at the Bar
Back inside, near the bar, two familiar figures stood in a pocket of calm. Alistair Thorne had loosened his tie by a fraction; Situ Zu held a glass of something clear and carbonated like he was analyzing it. They weren't looking for trouble. They were talking in that quick, clipped rhythm people use when they respect how the other thinks.
Lily nudged Emma. "Look."
Emma squinted. "Professors."
Alistair glanced up. "Ms. Zhu. Ms. Walker. Celebrating, I see."
"We are practicing poor decision-making within controlled parameters," Emma said, straight-faced, then hiccuped and ruined it.
Situ Zu's gaze flicked to the balcony doors where the bodyguards lingered without looming. "Your parameters include risk mitigation. Efficient."
Lily laughed, too loud, then pressed her hands to her cheeks. "We're okay. We're safe. We're done. With exams. With everything."
"You did well," Alistair said. "Both of you. Your results were exemplary."
"Centums," Emma whispered, like a secret. "All of them."
Situ Zu nodded once. "Predictable given input variables. Well done."
The bartender slid over two glasses of water. "On us," Alistair said.
"Thank you," Lily said. "For everything."
"Get home safe," Situ Zu replied. "Keep your parameters optimal."
Lily's Confession (and Alistair's No)
The music thumped. Lily stared at her water, then set it down.
"Professor Thorne," she said, voice lower than usual, eyes bright from the drinks and the night. "Can I say something? I like you. I've liked you for a while. I know it's inappropriate, and I'm probably not entirely sober, but I—" She stopped, steadied herself. "I admire you. And it's more than that."
Emma's hand tightened around Lily's wrist in a silent check-in.
Alistair set his glass down with care. Something cold and sharp moved across his face before he smoothed it out. Disgust wasn't at Lily; it was at himself, at the idea of allowing this, at the old story he'd been raised on: that someone from the Zhus had a hand in his grandfather's death. He didn't say any of that.
"Lily," he said, even and professional. "You are an outstanding student. You are brave, and you have a remarkable future. I cannot reciprocate. A relationship between us would be inappropriate and unprofessional, and it will not happen."
Lily blinked. "Is it because I'm your student?"
"That is part of it," he said. "The answer is no. It will remain no."
He didn't tell her the real reason. He didn't tell her that he did, in fact, feel something—quiet, inconvenient, and entirely irrelevant. That was a misunderstanding between them, and he let it stand.
Situ Zu watched, unreadable, then said to Emma under his breath, "Hydration is effective."
Emma pushed Lily's water toward her. "Drink."
Lily drank. Her hands were steady. "Understood, Professor," she said, matching his tone. "Thank you for being clear."
The music kept thumping. Lily nodded at Alistair like she'd just taken notes in class—"Understood, Professor"—and turned away before her face could do anything complicated.
Emma had her by the elbow before anyone else could notice. "Water. Air. Now."
They pushed through the crowd to the balcony. The door shut behind them and the sound dropped to a muffled thud. Cold air hit Lily's skin and the tears came—fast, quiet, no big scene. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes like that would stop it.
"He said no," she whispered, voice thin. "He looked… disgusted."
"He didn't look disgusted at you," Emma said, keeping her voice level. She put the water in Lily's hand and kept a hand on her back. "He looked like someone arguing with himself and losing. Drink."
Lily drank. The water shook. "It's fine. It's unprofessional. I knew that. I just—" Her breath hitched. "I feel stupid."
"You're not stupid," Emma said. "You were honest. That's not the same thing."
Lily wiped her face with the back of her hand and laughed once, wet and embarrassed. "Great timing, huh? Centums today, heartbreak tonight."
"Efficient," Emma said dryly, and Lily snorted despite herself.
They stood there a minute, letting the cold do its work. The bodyguards lingered a few feet away, facing the crowd, giving them space without leaving them alone.
The balcony door opened. Akira stepped out, saw Lily's face, and stopped.
"Lily," he said, soft. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head, then nodded, then gave up on answering. Emma shifted so Lily could lean on her.
Akira didn't move closer right away. "Do you want me to go?"
"No," Lily said, hoarse. "Stay. It's… it's fine. I'm fine."
He came two steps nearer, hands in his jacket pockets like he was trying not to take up too much room. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what happened, and it's not my business. But you don't have to be fine right now."
Lily looked at him—same messy hair, same careful English, same way of listening like he meant it. "I made a fool of myself," she said. "I told him I liked him. He said no. End of story."
Akira's mouth pulled tight. "He's an idiot."
Emma snorted. "He's a professor with a stickler for rules."
"He's still an idiot," Akira said, then caught himself. "Sorry. I shouldn't—"
"It's okay," Lily said, wiping her eyes again. "He was professional about it. That's… that's what matters."
Akira studied her face for a second. "You don't have to make it tidy for everyone else."
That cracked something. Lily covered her face with both hands and cried for real this time, shoulders shaking once, twice, then evening out. Emma kept her hand steady on Lily's back, not shushing, not fixing—just there.
When Lily lowered her hands, Akira offered her a tissue he'd pulled from his jacket pocket. "Still carry them," he said with a small, self-deprecating smile. "Old habit."
She took it. "Thanks."
He hesitated. "Lily… I was bad at being what you needed before. I know that. I'm not here to… I don't know, win anything. I just— I missed you. I missed how you think out loud and argue with yourself and then decide you're right. If you want someone to be around while you're… not fine, I can do that. No strings. No fixing. Just… around."
Lily stared at the tissue in her hand. "I don't want to use you to feel better."
"You wouldn't be," he said. "You'd be letting me be there. That's different."
Emma glanced at Lily, then at Akira. "You're not going to do anything dramatic, are you?"
"Define dramatic," Akira said, and the corner of his mouth lifted.
"No speeches," Emma said. "No grand gestures. She's had enough men making it about them tonight."
"Got it," he said. "I can do normal."
Lily let out a shaky breath that turned into something like a laugh. "Normal sounds good."
Akira held out his hand, not to take hers, just to offer. "Walk you to the car? Water, car, home. Very boring. Very safe."
She looked at his hand, then at Emma, then back at him. "Okay."
Emma signaled the bodyguards with a small tilt of her head. They fell in at a respectful distance as the three of them went back through the club. The music was still loud, the lights still slicing the air into color, but it all felt a step farther away.
At the exit, Alistair and Situ Zu were near the bar, talking in that quick, precise way they had. Alistair glanced over, eyes landing on Lily for half a second—flat, professional, unreadable. Lily's throat tightened; she looked away first.
Outside, the air was clean and cold. Akira kept pace with her without crowding. Emma linked arms with Lily on the other side.
"Finals are over," Emma said, like she was reminding all of them of a fact.
"Finally," Lily said, voice steadier than it had been ten minutes ago. She wiped at her eyes one last time and tucked the tissue into her pocket. "Let's go home."