Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I own a bespoke suit shop.

We don’t get a huge amount of foot traffic, but we do have a steady base of regular clients.

Over the past couple of years, more and more young women have started coming in to have suits made, and somehow, word of mouth has slowly spread.

By now, the ratio of male to female clients is nearly one to one.

Sometimes the girls come in with two or three friends. Tall, striking, every one of them looks so sharp in a suit that gender starts to feel irrelevant.

And when they leave, they never forget to tease the boss. “Boss, you’re so handsome. Are you taken? Do you like boyfriends or girlfriends?”

I keep up my professional smile. “I’m terribly sorry, but the boss is not among the products sold in this establishment.”

My honored customers always burst out laughing on their way out.

That day, after closing up shop, I went back to my apartment.

I had just stepped into the elevator when someone else came in behind me.

A tall man, dressed all in black, holding a large box that looked seriously heavy. The taut lines of his forearms proved as much.

The veins on the backs of his hands stood out clearly, giving him an unmistakable sense of strength.

“Sir, do you need me to press your floor?” I asked.

He glanced at the lit floor button and replied, “No need. Thank you.”

The elevator doors closed, and we began to rise.

I was a little confused, but in the end, I didn’t say anything else.

Not until the elevator reached my floor and I stepped out.

To my surprise, I heard someone else getting out behind me. He was following me.

When I stopped in front of my own door, he walked past me, carrying that big box, and stopped in front of the other unit on this floor. With the sound of the lock opening, he went inside.

I stared at the door after it closed again, stunned for a moment. Then I suddenly remembered seeing quite a few pieces of furniture piled up in the hallway a couple of days ago.

A new neighbor had moved in next door.

That quiet, distant man from earlier was my new neighbor.

I didn’t think much of it.

But there are only two units on each floor, so it was inevitable that I’d notice some of the movements coming from next door.

I would run into him in the elevator when I went out for my morning exercise. Aside from that, late at night, I would occasionally hear him passing by my door when he came home.

At first, I tried making small talk with him. As neighbors, it never hurt to get to know each other a little.

But my new neighbor was excessively taciturn. All I managed to learn was that his name was Wen Shuo.

That kind of personality, one that kept everyone at arm’s length, wasn’t exactly endearing. But he was truly pleasing to look at. Aside from his face, the signs of training on his body were also eye-catching.

He would look very good in a suit.

My shop was short on models like him.

As August approached, the weather became unbearably hot.

That day, I went out to choose new fabrics and was busy until late at night before returning home.

The moment I got back, I went straight into the bathroom. I was covered in sweat, and I couldn’t stand it.

Then, while my head was still covered in foam, the water stopped.

After checking all the equipment and finding no problem, I called the property management office as well. They said they hadn’t received any notice about a water outage.

“…”

So it was just my place being unlucky?

After a brief struggle, I looked toward the front door.

Based on his usual schedule, my silent neighbor should already be home by now.

In the end, I simply wiped the foam from my hair and the water from my body, wrapped myself in a bathrobe, went out, and knocked on my neighbor’s door for the first time.

A moment later, the door opened, and my eyes met the man standing there bare-chested, in the middle of pulling a black tank top over himself.

There was a black tattoo at his waist, visible for only a fleeting second.

I smiled at him. “Sorry to bother you. The water’s out at my place. If yours hasn’t been affected, would it be convenient for me to borrow your bathroom?”