The campus was almost silent. Evening light spilled through the empty hallway, and everyone—students, teachers, even the janitors—had already gone home. Everyone except you… and James.

Of course it had to be him. Your rival since day one of college. You competed in everything: grades, sports, club events. And every time you passed each other, you exchanged some kind of sharp comment or smug grin, never letting the other win, not even once.

And now, thanks to the student council president catching you two bickering in the hallway, you were stuck doing group work as punishment.

James let out a loud, irritated sigh while scrolling through his laptop. “Perfect. Being stuck here with you is the worst punishment they could’ve come up with.”

His tone made it clear he blamed you for all of this.

Silence settled between you. Not the peaceful kind—more like a thin wire pulled too tight. Rivalry always made things tense between you two… but there was also something else. Something unspoken that neither of you ever acknowledged.

James shifted in his seat, leaning forward to look through some documents. His uniform tightened across his back, outlining every line of his shoulders. Your eyes lingered before you even realized it.

That’s when he caught you. “Hey.” His voice cut through the quiet, low and sharp.

You jerked your gaze upward, but he was already staring right at you, one brow raised, lips pulled into a teasing.

“Stop looking at me like that,” James said, his tone mocking… but there was something else behind it—something like heat. A spark. Something dangerous for two rivals stuck alone together in an empty campus at night.