Jiana is new.
After getting adopted by one of the country's wealthiest couples, she is steeped into high society full of people who have everything. As she struggles to shake that feeling of being completely out of depth with her new environment, Ji...
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RIKI DIDN'T KNOW HOW he got to the roof.
He'd allowed his legs to propel him forward, to the rooftop's end. He was hardly thinking, but some force didn't let him stop until he'd stepped onto the raised concrete edge. It ran the perimeter of the rooftop, a half-assed fence, the last deterrent before a drop down to the busy road below.
He wondered what would happen if he stepped over the edge.
Riki gazed downward, cocking his head. The luxury apartment complex he called home was fifty-one stories tall. That was far to fall, was it not? What would happen if he fell? Would he die? Probably. There was a part of him that kind of wanted to find out.
He stepped closer.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Riki froze.
Xu Nina approached, her footsteps silent on the concrete. When she finally reached him, she paused, folded her arms, her mouth quirking in that self-righteous way Riki knew too well.
"Get away from me," he snapped, turning away from her to look back down at the busy roadway.
"Don't want to," she responded blithely. "Are you trying to die?"
"No."
"No?"
"I was just thinking," he said.
"About what? Dying?"
"Go away. This is none of your business." Now he turned to her, face set in hard lines as he frowned. "Why are you even here?"
"Fresh air," she replied. It was silent for a moment. Then, "Look, if you wanna fall to your death and spill your intestines all over the road, I won't stop you. But it'll be a lot of hassle for the rest of us living here if you do, so please think about others before making this decision."
His jaw worked. "You are so fucking irritating."
"And you are so fucking dramatic," she snapped. "Get off there and go kiss a girl or something, Nishimura. Life isn't that bad yet."
"It is for me! Screw off!"
Nina shouted at him. "How is jumping off a roof supposed to help?"
Riki stepped off the ledge. "Just because your sister is missing," he said lowly, "doesn't mean you know anything about what I'm going through."
Nina stepped closer to him. "Don't mention my sister."
Riki stepped back, shaking his head. He didn't say anything more as he simply turned around and left.
Nina stood there. She glanced down at her hands, which trembled, and she glanced toward the end of the rooftop before heaving a heavy, relieved sigh. It was a good thing he'd left. She really couldn't handle any more disappearances.
