yujme_2

The rain began as a whisper against the laboratory windows, then swelled into a steady percussion that drowned the hum of computers and the rustle of papers. By the time they had shut down the equipment and stepped outside, the sky had already broken open. Sheets of water poured over the street, blurring the neon lights into trembling brushstrokes. Ethan Scotch pulled his hood tighter, though it was useless—his hair was already plastered to his forehead, droplets tracing cold paths down his neck. He glanced sideways at Le Minh Hoang, who seemed oddly unfazed. Hoang walked with the same calm precision he carried inside the lab, shoulders square, eyes steady, as if the storm were nothing more than background noise. “Shouldn’t we wait under the awning?” Ethan asked, raising his voice above the rainfall. Hoang glanced at him, water streaking his face like melted ink. “It could last all night. Better to just walk.” Ethan let out a half-laugh, half-groan. “You say that like we’re waterpr