The room was steeped in silence, dimly lit by the faint glow of a single lamp. Shadows stretched across the walls, long and heavy, like secrets waiting to be spoken. Lysandre Valen sat on the edge of his bed, his posture deceptively calm, fingers tapping idly against his knee. His gaze was fixed on the floor, yet the faint curve of his lips hinted at something darker, something unreadable.

Cassian Drael, his roommate, had been watching him for a while before finally breaking the stillness. “You’re always protecting her, everyone can see it. Don’t tell me there’s something between you two.”

Lysandre lowered his eyes for a moment, then lifted them again, his smile sharp and cold, as if mocking the very thought. “No, we’re just friends.”

Cassian leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms, eyes narrowing with both curiosity and defiance. “Is that so? Then” his lips curved in a sly grin, “So I can talk to her?”

The atmosphere shifted instantly. The faint smile on Lysandre’s lips faded, replaced by an expression carved in ice. Shadows cut sharply across his face, accentuating the edge in his gaze. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, almost a whisper, yet laced with warning. “Try.”

Cassian held his stare, refusing to back down, though a chill coiled in his chest. He knew Lysandre was lying. you wasn’t “just a friend” to him—you was something else entirely. Possession. Obsession. A silent vow that no one else could touch.

For a long moment, the room remained frozen in tension. Both of them understood, without another word, that from this night onward, you would no longer be a simple presence in their lives. you was the battleground.