Qing Jue climbed into the low-slung driver's seat of his car. Through the windshield, he caught a final glimpse of a silver cab as it merged into the midnight traffic and disappeared.
Exhaustion finally settled into his bones.
He reached up, loosening his tie with a sharp tug before leaning his head back against the leather headrest.
His eyelids felt heavy, his long lashes fluttering shut for a short moment of reprieve.
He had only landed back in Shanghai that morning after a grueling business trip, and the last thing he'd wanted was to spend his evening in a dim bar. But Yuan Feng had been relentless, pestering him for days.
"I'm bringing a few friends to the Pavilion," he had insisted. "You've been away from Shanghai for a year. Don't be a hermit."
A year. It felt longer.
He opened his eyes and checked the dashboard clock.
It was barely past midnight, and the bustling energy of the Bund was finally beginning to thin.
The streets were growing sparse, the neon lights reflecting off the asphalt in long, lonely streaks.
Starting the engine, he gripped the steering wheel.
The quiet hum of the car filled the cabin as he pulled out of the parking space.
He drove home in silence, the memory of a pair of curious dark round eyes staring back at him surfaced briefly.
~
It was the tail end of autumn. Exam week was finally gasping to a close, and the campus library felt like a pressure cooker. Yu Ning sat holed up at a long wooden table, flanked by a lanky boy on her left and a girl with pin-straight hair on her right.
Laptops clicked in a frantic, uneven rhythm as the three of them rushed to polish the final slides of their common core presentation. Condensation slid down a large plastic cup of bubble tea.
Song Yan picked it up, the straw making an aggravating, hollow sucking sound as he reached the bottom.
"Quit it!" Shu Hua hissed, yanking his hand away as she snapped her laptop shut.
Yu Ning didn't look up.
Her fingers flew across the keys. The deadline was 6:00 PM; the digital clock in the corner of her screen had just flipped to 5:45. With a final, decisive tap, she hit the submit button.
The three of them slumped in their chairs simultaneously.
Around them, the library was packed with students in various stages of mental collapse, the air practically reeked of caffeine and deadline-induced depression.
"Let's get out of here," Song Yan muttered, tugging at his sleeves. He shouldered his backpack and pulled up a map on his phone.
"I heard there's a new bar over on Anfu Road. Want to go have a look?"
"Won't it be crawling with tourists?" Shu Hua asked, her voice laced with reluctance.
"It's a Thursday," Yu Ning added, packing her things. "It shouldn't be too bad."
As they turned into the subway station, Shu Hua's stomach let out an audible growl.
"Can we get proper food first? I'm starving." Her long pants swept the floor as she walked, a stark contrast to Yu Ning's long yellow sun dress.
They settled on a Western-style café in a nearby mall. Yu Ning slid into the inner seat of a booth, with Shu Hua on her right and Song Yan lounging opposite them.
He tossed the menus toward the girls with a careless flick of his wrist.
"Anything Aglio Olio for me," he stated, checking the time on his phone.
The girls browsed the menu leisurely, the relief of finishing exams finally starting to kick in.
Suddenly, as if a thought had just struck him, Song Yan looked up.
"Hey, Yu Ning, I haven't seen Zi Xuan around lately.
Yu Ning's posture stiffened for a fraction of a second before she looked up from the menu.
Between the mountain of assignments and the exam rush, she hadn't found the right moment to debrief them.
"We broke up," she said. Her voice was casual, as if she were simply reading a dish off the menu.
The table went dead silent.
Song Yan and Shu Hua froze, their eyes widening in unison.
"When was this?" Shu Hua exclaimed, leaning in.
Yu Ning did a quick mental calculation. "About... seven weeks ago."
Shu Hua frowned, a look of guilt crossing her face as she remembered a missed call from Yu Ning on a night she'd been too busy to pick up.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Song Yan asked.
His usual carefree demeanor was gone, replaced by an uncharacteristically stern tone.
Yu Ning sighed, pretending to focus on the pasta options. "I didn't want to make you guys worry during finals."
"We're friends, Ning Ning," Shu Hua lectured, her voice softening.
"I've known you since grade school. You're supposed to tell me everything."
"If I see that guy around, I'm going to beat him up," Song Yan muttered under his breath.
"I'm fine, really," Yu Ning reassured them, giving them a small, genuine smile. "It's been a few weeks. I've had time to process it."
After dinner, they walked toward Anfu Road. The neighborhood had a chic, quaint energy. Low-rise houses, trendy clothing boutiques, and a growing number of upmarket stores decorated the streets.
As they walked further, the atmosphere shifted, the air began to smell of expensive perfume, and luxury storefronts began to line the street.
"Song Yan, I thought you said this was a trendy bar?" Shu Hua eyed the luxury logos. "Why is it in the luxury district?"
"It's trendy among the rich," he said, flashing a boyish grin then adjusting his designer leather bag.
Song Yan's parents were well-known surgeons, a plastic surgeon mother and a neurosurgeon father—and Song Yan was, by all accounts, a spoiled brat.
Shu Hua scowled. "This is why we rarely let you pick our hangout spot. How much is this place?"
Yu Ning felt the same flash of disdain. She had just paid her rent, and while she was doing okay, she hated spending money recklessly. Zi Xuan had been that way, wasting his grandparents' money on extravagant gifts she never asked for.
Sensing the mood was about to sour, Song Yan winked at Yu Ning. "Relax, little sisters. Drinks are on me tonight."
He dragged them through a narrow alleyway until a two-story bar appeared. Pink azaleas hung over the second-floor balcony, and the street was alive with a mix of locals and expats.
They climbed to the second floor, snagging a corner table that overlooked the bustling neighborhood below.
Beside them, a table of influencers were busy posing, their movements calculated as they took turns photographing one another.
The colorful cocktails on their table remained untouched, the ice melting until the drinks looked pale and diluted.
Shu Hua scanned the QR code on the table.
A menu of aesthetic drinks and side dishes popped up on her screen. After picking out a few of the prettiest options, she handed the phone to Yu Ning.
"Pick whatever for me," she said, before twisting around to snap a photo of the sunset.
The sky had begun to glow in a deep, melancholic blue. The sun hung low over the estate, casting long shadows against the cream-colored houses of Anfu Road.
"So," Song Yan said, his voice deceptively casual as he leaned back.
"You still haven't told us why you broke up."
Shu Hua immediately reached under the table and kicked him.
"Ow!" He let out a pathetic yelp, rubbing his shin.
Yu Ning looked at both of them, the blue light of the evening reflecting in her eyes.
"Let's just wait for the drinks," she said quietly.
She didn't have to wait long.
Less than half an hour and several rounds later, the heavy atmosphere of the library had been replaced by the heat of alcohol.
The story had come out. The infidelity, the night of the breakup, and the weeks of silence that followed.
Song Yan was now the one struggling. His face was flushed a deep pink, and the alcohol had stripped away his usual carefree filter, leaving only a chaotic protective streak.
He tried to stand up, but the two girls had to cling to his arms to keep him in his seat.
"I'm going to kill him," Song Yan announced to the entire balcony, resisting their grip. "I'm actually going to kill that bastard."
"Sit down, you idiot!" Shu Hua hissed, though she was giggling as she pulled on his sleeve.
Thankfully the noise from the bar masked his shrieking demeanor, letting his outburst blend into the general roar of the crowd.
The alcohol had done its job. For the first time in seven weeks, Yu Ning didn't feel the dull ache of betrayal anymore.
She giggled as she watched her two friends bicker for a moment, then laugh.
She felt a genuine, lighthearted warmth spread through her chest.