YURI

CHAPTER TWELVE

my voice barely more than a whisper, and for a moment, we just stood there—silent, the cool night air filling the space between us.

Finally, I found enough courage to speak. “So… will you be staying for the weekend?”

He didn’t rush to answer—just watched me with that unreadable expression of his before giving a slow, deliberate nod. Hands still tucked into his pockets, like he was keeping them there on purpose, as if letting them out would reveal more than he wanted to.

I wasn’t sure if the nod made me relieved or nervous… maybe both.

“Grandma told me you’re an art/architecture major?” he asked, his voice calm but carrying that subtle weight that made it linger in my ears.

I waited, thinking maybe he had more to say, but when the silence stretched, I finally answered, “Yes! I am.”

And before I knew it, the words just spilled out of me. “I actually got an internship in New York… for a company called Kord, but I haven’t accepted yet.” I didn’t even know why I was telling him this—maybe it was the way his eyes seemed to listen even when his mouth didn’t move. There was something unspoken there… understanding, maybe even empathy.

Before my brain could catch up with my mouth, I blurted, “You don’t talk much, do you?”

He just smiled—slow, like he knew exactly what I was thinking—and replied, “No. I don’t.”

And for some reason, that made me want to know everything he wasn’t saying.

It was as if the air between us shifted—thicker, heavier, charged with something I couldn’t quite name. We were just standing there, staring at each other, and neither of us seemed willing to break the connection. His gaze was steady, almost uncomfortably so, but not in a way that made me want to pull away. If anything, it made my skin prickle with goosebumps, my pulse quicken.

I didn’t know what to do, only that I needed to get out before I did something incredibly stupid—like step closer.

“Hmmm… goodnight, Killian,” I managed, my voice lower than I intended.

I turned on my heel and walked so fast it almost looked like running, not daring to glance back. I didn’t even wait for his reply—if he had one—before I was safely behind the door to my room.

Only then did I release the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it echoed in the quiet room.