Handsome Guy Upstairs, Mind Your Influence

2.

I was home, still a little shaken.

If he hadn't arrived just in time, I can't imagine what would have happened.

Still, I had to marvel at the efficiency of the People's Police.

The rustling from downstairs only lasted for half an hour before it went quiet.

Then, there was a knock on my door. I peeked through the peephole and saw the handsome guy from upstairs with another person in a police uniform, so I opened it.

He had his colleague take my statement.

"Yes, that's right. It started last month... Uh-huh, yeah, that's everything."

I told them everything I knew.

His colleague closed his notebook and nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation, miss. You helped us bust a prostitution den. An officer will be by later with a reward."

There's a reward?

But that didn't matter.

What mattered was that the people downstairs really were involved in prostitution.

It was so disgusting. My whole body felt uncomfortable. The spots where those two men had grabbed me were now itching and tingling, a purely psychological reaction.

His colleague left, and he came over to me, holding out his phone. It was his WeChat contact card.

"Add me. If anything else happens, give me a call. I'll tell you the details about the reward for the report tomorrow."

I froze for a second, then scanned the code. "But I didn't report anything."

He accepted my friend request and, as he was leaving, tossed a comment over his shoulder, "Just think of it as compensation for all the sleep you've lost because of them."

'Did he report it? Was the den busted because of 'my' report?'

I looked at the new person in my friends list. His profile picture was a beautiful landscape, and his ID was "Zane Shaw."

'It's a nice name. It must be his real one.'

I put my phone down, soaked in the bathtub, and scrubbed myself from head to toe. I only got into bed after spritzing myself with perfume several times.

Even though it was quiet upstairs, I still couldn't sleep. I just kept rubbing the spots where those two johns had touched me, over and over.

That night, I had a terrible nightmare. I dreamed that those two johns had dragged me into their apartment. I woke with a start and realized it was just a dream. But before I could even let out a sigh of relief, I saw that I had overslept by half an hour, and my heart jumped back into my throat.

I washed up and got dressed at the same time, managing to squeeze into the elevator just as the doors were closing.

Zane Shaw was inside, all by himself.

"Thank you for saving me yesterday, Officer Shaw!"

I saluted him, mimicking what I'd seen on TV.

It was my first time, so the gesture was probably a bit ridiculous. I saw the corners of his mouth lift slightly—this man who was always either expressionless or wearing an icy frown.

"That's not how you salute. And that's not what you call me, either. You watch too much TV. Just call me Zane Shaw."

"Okay, Zane Shaw!"

I smiled at him. He glanced at me. "Didn't sleep well?"

"Nope."

I'd noticed the dark circles under my eyes when I looked in the mirror, but I didn't have time to do anything about them.

"Don't worry. Those guys have been arrested. If anything happens, contact me anytime. I just live upstairs."

I guess this is the charm of the People's Police. A single sentence from him, and I actually started to feel at ease.

"Okay! Thanks, Un— Zane Shaw!"

He smiled.

A warmth like sunlight melting a glacier spread through my heart.

His smile was all I could think about, right up until the moment I stepped into the office.

'So handsome!'

My colleague, Evan Sutton, was sitting at the front desk. He must have seen my dark circles, because he came over with a look of concern. "Lucy Young, what's been going on with you these past few days? Your dark circles are so bad. Haven't you been sleeping well?"

I was about to be late and still hadn't clocked in, so I could only give him a rushed reply. "Ah, yeah, I've had insomnia lately."

I hurried off, but he chased after me. "You can't just let insomnia go on. How about I take you out to relax a bit?"

"No, thanks," I said, running ahead, but I noticed he was still chasing me.

Then he stopped. I heard another colleague, Yara Chau, say, "Well now, Evan, how come you never offer to take *me* out to relax?"

"Don't we go out all the time?"

They were close, but that had nothing to do with me.

I quickly clocked in. Phew, just in time.

Relieved to have avoided a scare, I immediately got into work mode and busied myself.

The day passed just like that.

When I got home from work, everything seemed normal, yet I felt like something was missing.

It took me a long while to realize what it was: the noise from downstairs, which I had almost gotten used to, was gone.

A relaxed smile spread across my face. I wanted to send a few messages to Zane Shaw to show off my skills with Rainbow Compliments.

Of course, it wasn't all just flattery.

'The People's Police really are efficient and reassuring!'

I opened my phone, but before I could send the long message of Rainbow Compliments I had drafted, a message from him came in first.

[Don't use the Ceiling Thumper anymore. It disturbs the neighbors.]

I laughed so hard I almost fell over.

I figured he must be feeling like he's waiting for the other shoe to drop.

To put him at ease, I deleted my Rainbow Compliments and explained instead.

[Don't worry! It was a misunderstanding. I thought the noise was coming from your apartment and I wanted revenge. It won't happen again!]

He replied in a dead-serious tone.

[Seeking revenge is wrong. However, if you run into a similar situation in the future, you can come to me.]

[Thanks, Zane Shaw!]

I sent a finger-heart emoji.

'It doesn't mean anything! I send that to everyone when I say thanks!'

He didn't reply.

I was bored, and a strange feeling was stirring inside me, but I didn't know how to describe it.

It was like... a rainbow had just streaked past me, and I wanted to hold on to its brilliant light.

[By the way, Zane Shaw, do you know any quiet workout methods?]

He sent a link, and I clicked on it without a second thought.

It was a livestream of a girl with a great figure who looked very flexible. She was teaching women's yoga.

[This is run by a friend of mine. It's guaranteed to be safe and practical. You can give it a try.]

I sent another finger-heart. [Thanks!]

Watching the girl drip with sweat made me eager to try, so I went to the bathroom to take a shower before following along.

But the moment I stepped out of the shower...

Suddenly, the entire apartment went dark!

In the utter silence, there was only an unknown darkness.

My heart pounded. I was too scared to make a sound, fumbling for the light switch. But the lights were dead, completely unresponsive.

Finally, there was a reaction, but I didn't know whether to be happy or worried.

It flashed on, blinding me for an instant.

Then it was dark again. Amidst the spots dancing in my vision, I saw a blurry, indistinct shadow.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

Someone was at the door.