Mud beads

Echizen kissed her deeply, stripping away all tenderness and leaving only a chilling ruthlessness. His tongue deftly pried open her teeth, chasing and entwining her tongue, giving her no chance to escape.

Everything happened too fast and too quickly, and Yu Zhu soon fell into a hazy state of oxygen deprivation. Her hands were still instinctively pressed against his chest, but like a herbivore whose throat had been bitten by a wild beast, she had forgotten how to struggle.

Koshima Toru's teeth gently ground against her lower lip until she felt a stinging pain and gasped for breath. Only then did he reluctantly release her, panting as he asked, "Has he ever kissed you like this?"

Yu Zhu's mind went blank.

Her mind was still filled with the applause, the aster Liang Dong handed her, and the soft click of the Polaroid camera spitting out the photograph. She breathed heavily, her chest heaving, and a corner of the silver foil at the corner of her eye was damp with sweat.

Echizen's kisses slid down her neck, his nose lingering on the skin below her collarbone.

He suddenly opened his mouth and bit her.

A sharp pain shot through her, and Yu Zhu groaned, instinctively shrinking back. She then came to her senses, but her hands were already pinned behind her back by Yue Jianche's hand.

"How about this?" He looked up, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Did he do it?"

The emergency lights on the stage hung high, their green light shining obliquely down from above, bathing the curtain, the blue ocean, and the cardboard crown in a light that resembled old water.

Yu Zhu belatedly struggled, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break free from his grasp. She saw the green light fall into his narrow eyes, igniting two flickering will-o'-the-wisps.

"Yuejian Tetsu, please let me go." Yu Zhu softened. "I'm begging you, okay?"

This was on stage, behind the curtain, where she had just been singing for Asteria's indomitable spirit. But reality came much faster than Zeus's divine punishment, and she did not have the courage to abandon everything and jump into the sea.

Everything she has is the result of countless hours and injuries.

"That's not how you acted on stage just now." Echizen looked down at her for a while, then suddenly released the hands that were holding her face and behind her back.

Yu Zhu felt the restraints disappear and instinctively ran off the stage, but before she could take two steps, Yue Jianche pulled her back—

She lost her balance and fell backward.

The fall was not completed.

Echizen reached out and put his arm around her waist, turned her around, and brought her back under the light.

He leaned down and pressed her into an elegant legato line.

"You fled from the thunder, your skirt still stained with the fire of the god-king," he suddenly spoke. "Asteria, do you think the sea can wash away your fate?"

Yu Zhu's heart skipped a beat.

This is a line from Perseus.

Just now on stage, the boy playing Perseus recited the words with uprightness, firmness, and force, like fate offering a powerful hand to a fugitive. But when the same words came from Echizen Toru's mouth, those words inexplicably sprouted thorny flesh and blood, burying a deeper allure and a colder destiny.

"A star that falls into the sea will never return to the sky." Tetsuya Echizen stood behind her, supporting her waist with one hand and slowly lifting her chin with the other. "She will sink, change her name, form alliances, and give birth to the daughter of the night."

Yu Zhu was forced to look up at the dark lamppost above. Her skirt wrapped around her legs, and without any support, her entire weight rested in Yue Jianche's arms.

She trembled uncontrollably.

"It's your turn." He leaned close to her ear, his tone patient and gentle. "Say your lines."

Koshima Toru's lips were just inches away from hers; she could feel his breath, each beat of his heart, spraying onto her face.

Her gaze fell on his drooping eyelashes. He looked so peaceful and solemn. The dim light illuminated the top of his head, and she could even see the fine downy hair on his face.

He is not Perseus.

Yu Zhu refused to speak.

Echigo smiled and kissed her again, tracing the corner of her lips.

Love is scarce, threats abound.

Yu Zhu turned her head away, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth as she said, "If names are chains, I'd rather be forgotten by the gods..."

Echizen Toru smiled with satisfaction.

He pulled her back, held her in his arms, and ran his long fingers through her hair, gently stroking it.

"Can you feel it? This is Asteria's true emotion."

After saying that, he cupped her face in his hands.

Yu Zhu still had makeup on her face, and the lipstick on her lips had been kissed beyond the lines. The silver foil at the corner of her eye had scattered like crystal teardrops, spreading down her cheeks.

"Admit it, Yu Zhu," he whispered, "admit you love me."

Yu Zhu was stunned.

There was an almost cruel beauty about Toru Koshima. His appearance was clean, his collar was neat, and even his loss of control carried an air of disciplined upbringing.

She had indeed loved him. Loved him so deeply that it fueled such hatred, and even now, as he held her, old wounds still festered within her. But she also understood that what Yuejian Tetsu wanted was not her true love—he wanted her to possess him, to submit to him, and to be devoted to him until death.

She now has something healthier and more important than his so-called love.

"I love you." Yu Zhu suddenly relaxed.

She saw Echizen Toru's eyelashes tremble slightly.

"If this will make you let me go, I'll say it as many times as I want."

She stared intently into Echizen Toru's eyes, her tone turning cold: "I love you. I love you. I love you—"

As the fifth repetition fell, Toru Echizen reached out and covered her mouth.

Yu Zhu didn't know what the expression on his face meant.

Disappointment? Indifference? Ridicule? Or perhaps a genuine wound in one's heart?

She had no desire to touch his soul. All she knew was that, at this very moment, someone was still waiting for her at the school gate.

In the brief silence, Toru Echizen suddenly released his grip.

He turned and walked towards the side door for exiting. His foot lifted, then fell, crushing the silver crown that had fallen to the ground.

The door was pushed open, and a short sliver of white light from the outside corridor peeked in before disappearing instantly as the door closed.

Darkness descended once more.

Yu Zhu stood still, not moving immediately.

She slowly squatted down and picked up a small piece of the crown from the ground.

She looked at it for a few seconds, then closed her palm and clenched it in her hand.

Moth

Echizen's driver had been waiting downstairs for a long time.

The driver didn't ask him why he was so late; he simply opened the car door for him. Echizen Toru sat in the back seat and loosened his collar. The car was blasting air conditioning; the leather and fragrance blended together, creating a clean, almost bland atmosphere.

The car went around the back door of the auditorium, passed the fountain in front of the administration building, and then drove towards the school gate.

The campus was still quite crowded at this hour. The drama festival had just ended, and students were walking out in twos and threes, carrying program lists and flowers. Under the streetlights, Liang Xia stood by the school gate scrolling through her phone, while Liu Zhengyang squatted on the edge of a flower bed, studying a Polaroid photo, muttering something to himself.

Liang Dong stood to the side.

He didn't check his phone or join the chat. The bouquet of aster was still in his hand, the wrapping paper slightly creased from his grip. He occasionally glanced into the school, waiting for Yu Zhu to emerge from the auditorium.

As the car approached the door, Toru Etsuma raised his hand.

The car window slowly rolled down.

A night breeze blew in, carrying the smells of grilled sausages and fallen leaves from the school gate. Neither Liang Xia nor Liu Zhengyang noticed the car; only Liang Dong looked up.

Echizen sat in the shadows of the back seat, half his face illuminated by the streetlight. He gestured with his chin toward Liang Dong, as politely as they had been during their handshake backstage.

Liang Dong did not move.

The car window was lowered halfway down, then slowly rolled back up.

In those few seconds, he saw a small piece of silver foil stuck to Echizen Toru's chin.