"Uh... let's talk this through." Gu Xin’s voice dropped like a pebble into a quiet pool.

"Sure. What would you like to drink?" Ningxin smiled, a lantern lighting a doorway.

"Coffee. One with sugar, one without."

"Alright. A waiter will bring it soon. I'll call that girl, see if she's close." She rose and walked to the stairwell, like a breeze across a veranda. She took out her phone and called Tang Coco.

Right then, Tang Coco sat in a taxi bound for the Imperial Walk Club. Outside, the sky bruised dark, clouds pressing like wet wool. Suddenly her phone rang, a silver bell in a storm.

"Hello? Sis Ning."

"Little girl, are you here yet?" Her tone brushed like a feather.

"Ugh, I told you, don’t call me little girl. I’m almost there." Her reply snapped like a rubber band.

"Good. When you arrive, take the stairs to the second floor. We’re in the booth inside; you’ll see it from the stair mouth." The directions fell like stepping stones.

"Okay, okay." Tang Coco agreed, a sigh fluttering like a sparrow. She had to see what those two were. If they were men, she’d refuse without a second thought. If they were women... she would consider.

"She’s almost here." Ningxin said, settling opposite the two women, like a calm lake facing twin peaks. The server brought two coffees, steam coiling like incense.

"Alright. We just discussed it. We can offer her some help, but not bodyguard her. And one condition—we need to meet her. If she’s got a temper and poor character, we won’t agree." Meng Yuting spoke seriously, her words set like stones on a path.

"Fine. Wait till she arrives, then decide. I believe after you see her, you’ll agree." Confidence warmed Ningxin like sun through paper screens. Tang Coco’s look and spirit made anyone want to shield her.

Ten minutes later, Tang Coco reached the Imperial Walk Club. At the entrance, unease pooled in her chest like cold rain. "Probably it’s those people from headquarters Ningxin mentioned," she thought. "Forget it." She shook her head, a willow flicking off droplets. She stepped inside, greeted busy Xiao Qiao downstairs with a nod, then took the stairs toward the second floor, her steps light as a cat.

She followed the steps up. With three or four stairs left, she used her height to scan the floor, like a crane peering over reeds. She found Ningxin at a distance, a familiar figure like a lighthouse.

"Ning—"

Snap!

A thought leaped, and her whole body froze like ice in a stream. In Tang Coco’s eyes, the room halted, time sealed like a jar. Even her breath stopped, a candle pinched out.

"No... no... impossible!" Her voice shook, a string pulled too tight. Her bright eyes widened, locked on the two silhouettes across from Ningxin like arrows pinned to a target.

"Hm?" The three women heard the sound at the stairs, keen ears like the edge of a blade. They turned together toward it, but saw only a ribbon of black hair vanish by the stair mouth, like a swallow slipping away.

Tang Coco saw them look over and ducked under the stairs at once, like a shadow falling. She trembled, then collapsed onto a step, a reed buckling in wind.

"How can this be... how can this be..." She still stared at the floor, her gaze a hole in dust.

"I’ll go check." Ningxin smiled to Gu Xin and Meng Yuting, then rose toward the stairwell, calm as morning light.

"Who’s there?" Ningxin called, her voice floating like smoke. Hearing her steps draw near, Tang Coco jerked up, stumbled, and bolted downstairs, like a deer breaking brush.

"Hm?" Ningxin heard heavy, chaotic footfalls thudding on the wooden stairs, a storm beating on boards. Curiosity swelled, so she quickened her pace, a kite tugged by wind. She reached the landing but saw no one. Only a black pair of sunglasses lay on the floor, a dropped shadow. She picked it up and headed for the first floor, her steps measured like beads on a string.

"Xiao Qiao?" Ningxin reached the first floor. The staff wore puzzled faces, like fish watching thunder, as if they’d seen something strange.

"Ah, Sis Ning, you’re here. Did something happen?" Xiao Qiao’s voice bobbed like a cork.

"Hm? I was about to ask you. Who was that making such a racket?" Her question landed like a stone in a pond.

"Huh? Sis Ning, you didn’t know? That was Tang Coco." The name flashed like lightning.

"What!" Shock flicked through Ningxin, a spark jumping wire.

"You didn’t know? I thought you two quarreled. She just ran out, and she looked really bad..." The words spilled like overturned tea.

"How could that be... I’ll call her." Ningxin pulled out her phone, hope thin as thread. She dialed Tang Coco. The call rang and rang, like rain on empty tiles, and no one picked up.

"What’s going on..." Ningxin frowned, her brows knitting like storm clouds. Maybe Coco had an urgent matter, a fire at her heels. She turned back upstairs, steps slow as tide, already weighing how to explain.