“The suffocating tension between the billionaire heir and his right-hand follower vibrated dangerously through the freezing mountain mist, but Teng’s jaw slowly relaxed as a twisted, bone-chilling chuckle escaped his handsome lips.
He fixed a piercing, icy glare directly onto Ray’s completely motionless face, his colossal pride choosing to temporarily swallow the public defiance to maintain his absolute, supreme dominance over the inner circle.
‘Fine, Ray…
if you suddenly desire to carry your own weight like a pathetic servant, I won’t stop you,’ Teng growled smoothly, his voice dropping into a smooth, sinister hiss that froze the quiet evening air around the bus tires.
‘But the rest of us aren’t going to lower our aristocratic standards for a single untouchable scholarship boy.
Jow, pick up the remaining luxury bags right now and start marching up the trail before I lose my patience entirely.’ Without waiting for a response, turned on his heel with an imperial grace, followed closely by Jay and the remaining members of his arrogant gang as they proudly marched up the steep, rocky pathway toward the high mountain camp.””The physical weight of the massive luggage pile immediately crushed Jow’s fragile frame, each strap digging deeply into his slender shoulders and sending a sharp, burning wave of agony directly across his tightly bandaged ribs.
Jow tightly clenched his pale fingers against the fabric, his long eyelashes casting soft shadows over his sweat-drenched cheeks as he forced his aching feet to drag forward onto the rough, uneven gravel.
Within half an hour, the athletic and energetic heirs had easily navigated the steep climbing road, their excited whispers and joyful cheers fading completely into the distance as they reached the camp site far ahead.
Jow, however, was left entirely alone in the pitch-black darkness of the narrow mountain trail, his steps becoming dangerously heavy and unstable as his broken body ran completely on raw adrenaline.
His vision began to fragment into chaotic dark spots under the dim amber light the stars, the freezing midnight breeze cutting through his clothes but offering absolutely no relief to his burning, exhausted lungs.””By the time Jow finally staggered into the wide, high-altitude mountain clearing, the elite heirs had already officially pitched their customized luxury tents, their loud laughter echoing cuttingly through the heavy silence of the trees.
Jow’s chest violently convulsed as a severe asthma attack ruthlessly paralyzed his compromised respiratory system, his throat tightening so badly that he couldn’t swallow the rising lump of pure panic.
He dropped the heavy luggage onto the dirt, his small frame shivering uncontrollably as his porcelain skin turned ghost-white from the complete lack of oxygen.
Desperate to survive, Jow bypassed Teng’s VIP table entirely and stumbled toward the neighboring camp setup where those powerful, protective senior boys from the pool incident were currently resting.
‘Senior…
please…
do you…
do you have an inhaler…?’ Jow stammered in a heavily trembling, breathless whisper, his dark eyes wide with absolute physical horror as his knees finally buckled, sending him crashing onto the cold ground.
‘I…
I cannot breathe…
please…'””The leader of the seniors gasped in sudden shock and panic, instantly rushing forward to drop onto his knees beside Jow’s limp frame and support his shivering shoulders with extreme care.
He quickly ripped open his emergency first-aid kit and pulled out a fresh medical inhaler, gently pressing the plastic nozzle against Jow’s trembling lips to administer two deep, life-saving doses.
Jow greedily inhaled the chemical mist, his shallow breathing gradually returning in shaky, heavy gasps as the physical horror of suffocation finally began to stabilize deep within his chest.
From the quiet shadows near the grand main bonfire, Ray stood completely motionless, his hands clenched inside his pockets as his racing heart hammered violently against his ribs while watching Jow’s near-death struggle.
Ray’s handsome features were frozen into a steel-cold mask of profound anxiety and guilt, his mind burning to rush forward and the boy, but the terrifying knowledge of Teng’s endless cruelty completely stripped him of his courage, forcing him to remain a silent, powerless witness in total isolation.””The senior boy gently patted Jow’s shoulder as his pale skin slowly regained a faint touch of color, his voice full of genuine, supportive affection as he looked at the scholarship student’s bruised frame.
‘Jow, every single student has already finished pitching their tents for the night,’ the senior whispered softly, his intense eyes shifting toward the far corner of the clearing.
‘You look incredibly weak and exhausted, so why don’t you just come and stay with our gang inside our large tent?
We will keep you safe.’ Jow opened his dry lips to respond, but before a single word of gratitude could break past his pale mouth, the heavy sound of distinct leather boots against the gravel shattered the domestic peace of the sanctuary.
Teng slowly marched into their space, his tall frame emitting a freezing, dark aura that chilled the quiet night air as his handsome features twisted into a slow,sinister smirk of absolute ownership.
‘Jow is my private bodyguard, senior, and he doesn’t have my permission to stay or sleep inside anyone else’s domain,’ Teng growled smoothly, his voice dropping into a smooth, chilling hiss that delivered an unwritten threat.
‘He belongs exactly where I put him, and he doesn’t mix with outsiders…
isn’t that right, Jow?'””Jow felt a sudden, violent wave of dark loathing flare deep within his pure soul, but his humble and polite nature kept his face a perfect, unreadable mask of absolute stone-cold calm to safely protect his hidden family sanctuary from the corporate monster.
He looked directly back into the predator’s piercing gaze, his clear, innocent eyes carrying a deep, unspoken disgust as he slowly nodded his head in quiet submission.
‘Yes, senior…
thank you so much for your kindness, but I can easily pitch a separate tent for myself tonight,’ Jow whispered back in a remarkably steady, flat voice that carried a quiet strength through the cold air.
He turned his beautiful, translucent face toward the protective senior boy, his long eyelashes casting gentle shadows.
‘But if your first-aid kit contains any advanced pain medications or fever tablets, could you please share a few packs with me?
My body is just a little sore from the long seating journey.’ The senior’s eyes widened with deep bruise across your lower waist and your bruised ribs are tightly bandaged,’ the senior protested firmly, his voice full of worry.
‘Are you absolutely sure your broken body can handle pitching a heavy tent all by yourself in this weak condition?’ Jow forced a very soft, sweet smile onto his chapped lips, his pure heart completely hardened against further fear.
‘I am completely sure, senior…
I can easily do it myself, please don’t worry.'””Teng let out a low, dark chuckle that echoed chillingly under the heavy night sky of Black Mountain, his handsome features twisting into a smug expression of supreme absolute dominance as Jow’s polite refusal directly fed his immense pride.
He stepped even closer, his tallframe casting a terrifying shadow that completely blocked out the residual warmth of the bonfire before Jow’s feet.
‘You heard the scholarship boy, senior, so stop playing the foolish hero and get back to your own rows,’ Teng growled smoothly, his dark eyes narrowing down into dangerous slits as he fixed a freezing threat onto the powerful older students.
He then turned his predatory gaze down onto Jow’s rigid profile, his voice dropping into a smooth, sinister whisper laced with an unhinged madness that cut cuttingly through the heavy silence of the hall.
‘Stop sitting idle on the cold ground and wasting my precious time, Jow.
Get your pathetic feet moving right now and finish private duties before the midnight countdown hits zero, or else your final refuge pays the price.’ Jow didn’t offer a single word of resistance, nor did his long eyelashes show a single tear; he simply packed the fresh medicine packs into his pockets, turned on his heel, and slowly walked away into the dark, freezing corners of the camp clearing to face his grueling destiny in total isolation, entirely unaware that the invisible trap of his customized living hell was already spinning completely out of control.”