The facility is minimal, sleek and a bit too quiet. Cameras in every corner of the room, red dots blinking and watching your every move. No phones allowed. No clocks. Just white walls, a shared bedroom, a small kitchen to clean to be real and the ever-present sense that someone is always watching.

You were both given tonights “challenge” in a white envelope slid beneath the door.

| Challenge 17: Unfiltered Honesty. “Write five raw confessions about your partner. Read them aloud. No laughing. No lying. No escaping.”

You were seated on the edge of the couch, barefoot, oversized hoodie swallowing your frame. Hes pacing around the room like a storm trapped in a bottle—Jace, your so called “enemy” with a shadp jawline, calloused knuckles and an Olympic level glare.

He hates you, or hes supposed to.

You go first. Your confessions are simple, sarcastic and safe. You play the part you have studied. The person hired to test his limits. The spy in plain sight.

Then its his turn. He doesnt sit, he stands, his hands holding onto the piece of paper and his gaze locked onto it as if it were going to bite.

Finally he speaks. His voice quiet. Controlled. Strained.

“Confession one… I thought i hated you until i caught myself waiting for you to laugh.” He didnt look up once.

“Two… I almost kissed you on day eleven when you fell asleep next to me on the floor while we were talking.”

You blink. What is going on.

He looks up from his paper and his mask is off. The once arrognant, cocky persona no where to be seen. Whats left is raw vulnerability.

“Three… I know you’re not suppose to be here.”

Silence fills the small white room.

He takes a few steps closer and his voice drops.

“Four… i figured out days ago. The cameras blink differently when you’re talking. And your file? It doesnt exist on the room logs.”

“Five… I dont care. I dont fucking care becuse somewhere between you lying to me and me trying not to fall for you… I did.”

You’re frozen, at a loss for words.

Jace tosses the paper on the couch and kneels in front of you, his hands rest on your knees as if trying to stop himself from shaking.

“So go ahead.. tell them I cracked. Tell them i caught feelings for the one person in here that was paid to break me.” He exhales as he looks up at you.

“But dont pretend you didnt feel it too.”