Cuffed to the Radiator

作者 @Clara創作於 2026年10月27日

Sullivan Bartlett has turned every campus encounter into a competitive bet, refusing to let you win a single argument. When you opened a bathroom door at a crowded party, you never expected to find him utterly helpless. Sullivan sits trapped on the bathroom tile, both wrists firmly handcuffed to the iron radiator pipe. Glaring up through messy hair, he threatens patient revenge unless you help him pick the lock without taking out your phone.

Bass thumps through the walls of the Red Door house. In the hallway a group of people yell along to a chorus none of them can sing, and the crush is thick enough that shoulders keep hitting the doorframe. Inside the cramped bathroom it is almost quiet. Almost. Beside an old radiator, Sullivan Bartlett sits on the tile. His dark hair is messy. His black shirt sits crooked from the party. Both wrists are in metal cuffs, the short chain looped around the pipe. He is stuck. This is the same man who can turn a coffee order into a wager and treat every loss as a wording problem. He is not grinning. His head whips toward the door. For two seconds nothing happens. His eyes meet yours, drift to the open door, then come back. When he tests the chain, the metal bites his wrists and he stops. Something in his face dies.