Against the Algorithm

Chapter 54: Given, Not Owed

Summary: What begins with pastries and jet lag unfolds into a series of quiet, world-shifting revelations. She didn't mean for it to be a spectacle. She just remembered what people loved and gave it to them. No fanfare. No expectation. Just love, folded into steel and motion. And by the time the dust settles, it's clear: Yao isn't just part of the family. She's the heart of it.

Notes:

Author's Note: Dramatic Shenanigans over silent gifts.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Morning came too early for Yue.

Which, in fairness, was true of most mornings.

He trudged into the hotel lobby like a man personally wronged by time itself, hoodie slung over his head, travel pillow strangling his neck, and muttering a steady stream of half-coherent complaints under his breath. Something about ungodly hours. Something about never sleeping again. Something about his blood being replaced by rage and regret. "I can feel my organs shutting down one by one," he grumbled, rubbing at his eyes as they waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor. "Who books a flight before the sun even wakes up? This should be illegal. I should file a complaint with—"

Smack .

Yao, perfectly calm, moved without looking. She took the soft, flaky pastry in her hand—still warm from the breakfast box she had barely taken two bites from—and shoved it into Yue's open mouth mid-sentence with unerring precision.

He gagged.

Then blinked.

Then slowly chewed.

The elevator went dead silent.

Sicheng, standing just behind Yao with both of their bags slung over his shoulder and her padded travel safe resting securely against his back, blinked once. He hadn't even flinched, just shifted slightly to ensure her shoulder didn't jostle when she'd made the strike.

Lan raised an eyebrow, faintly impressed.

Yue stared at her, still chewing, wide-eyed.

Yao dusted her hands on a napkin and muttered, "You'll survive."

Mouth full, Yue mumbled around the pastry, "You assaulted me with carbs."

"You needed it," she said simply, brushing her hair back into place as if she hadn't just weaponized flaky sugar like a seasoned assassin. "You've been whining for the last seven minutes. I'm tired. We're all tired. Eat something and suffer in silence."

"That's my girl." Lan nodded slowly, like a general watching a junior officer earn their stars.

Yue groaned. "You're all monsters."

"You're alive. Which is more than I can say for the last soldier who tried to talk before I finished my morning coffee." Sheng said mildly as he joined them at the elevator entrance with his hands tucked behind his back.

The elevator chimed and opened.

Sicheng gestured Yao forward first, guiding her in with one hand lightly at the small of her back before stepping in behind her, his expression unreadable but his eyes filled with that particular gleam that meant he was very proud and not going to help Yue.

Yue shuffled in after them, still chewing. "I'm going to remember this. Betrayed. Stuffed like a turkey."

"You looked like you were going to start sobbing into the elevator carpet," Yao said, deadpan with a look that said gone was flustered shy bunny and in place? A bunny that was done with his antics this morning before she even had a coffee. "You're welcome."