Lu Yi didn’t have the energy to chat with an unfamiliar neighbor and quickly unlocked her door to head inside.
After dinner, she prepared to go downstairs to buy a few things.
The moment she opened the door and turned around, she discovered the unfamiliar neighbor crouching beside the wall, sucking on a lollipop.
The blond-haired boy raised his eyes.
Those blue-gray pupils stared at her directly, just like a curious kitten observing someone…
Lu Yi blinked.
For a split second, she almost thought she’d found her missing cat.
Ever since posting the missing-cat notice, she hadn’t received a single message.
Not even scam calls.
At this point, perhaps the kitten truly was gone.
Lu Yi deliberately shifted a little farther to the right, increasing the distance between them.
When she returned from shopping, she discovered the boy was still crouching there.
Only now several plastic lollipop sticks littered the floor beside him.
Resting his chin in one hand, he gazed pitifully at the returning Lu Yi.
Lu Yi felt there was no avoiding him this time…
Just before opening her door, she gathered her courage and turned around.
“Did you… forget your key?”
The boy nodded, then shook his head.
After thinking for a moment, he awkwardly explained:
“Biometric lock. Forgot to register myself.”
“Oh… I see.”
Lu Yi pressed her lips together and withdrew her hand from the door handle, maintaining a careful two-meter distance as she opened her wrist terminal.
“I’ll call property management for you. They should be able to fix it.”
Hermoke: …
Noticing the disappointed look in the boy’s eyes, Lu Yi softened for a moment.
But he wasn’t a stray kitten or puppy.
He was a beastman…
“Um, my place really isn’t convenient for letting strangers inside…”
The hidden meaning was obvious:
You’re dangerous.
Hermoke suddenly remembered the day she’d locked him in the little dark room.
The situations somehow felt strangely similar, making him unable to hold back a laugh.
That laugh immediately frightened Lu Yi.
…Was he crazy?
The boy stood up.
The pockets of his cream-colored hoodie appeared stuffed with snacks.
Underneath his golden hair, his slightly upturned eyes carried a rounded softness.
His straight nose added a sharp edge to his otherwise gentle face, while his smiling lips made his entire appearance especially warm.
Very handsome…
But entirely useless against Lu Yi’s fear.
She nervously swallowed.
“You…”
The blond-haired boy shoved both hands into his pockets and walked toward her.
Lu Yi froze briefly before hastily trying to unlock her door—
“Here.”
A long-packaged lollipop dropped in front of her, nearly landing on the floor.
“…?”
“A gift for my new neighbor.”
The boy’s voice was clear and magnetic, carrying a youthful confidence.
He lightly rested the candy against Lu Yi’s arm before retreating back to the corner where he’d been crouching earlier.
“…Th-thank you.”
Lu Yi’s face instantly reddened.
She’d genuinely thought the boy was about to punch her…
Folding the lollipop into her shopping bag, she contacted property management before walking over to him.
Her small hands searched through the plastic bag until she found a bottle of sweet tea and handed it to him.
“For you.”
Hermoke lifted his gaze and immediately noticed the abrasions on her wrist, causing him to frown.
Lu Yi thought he disliked it, so she quickly searched her bag again and pulled out a sweet carbonated drink.
“What about this one?”
Hermoke accepted it, then stared at her.
“Aren’t you going back inside?”
“Property management should be here soon. I’m worried they won’t find the place.”
She tucked the shopping bag behind her and awkwardly swayed while pretending to admire the scenery.
Hermoke gripped the soda bottle tightly, trying desperately not to smile.
But no matter how hard he tried, the corners of his lips kept lifting.
Silence lingered in the hallway for quite some time before footsteps finally broke it.
“Unit 1032… Is this the new resident, Mr. Hemi?”
“Over here!”
Lu Yi waved enthusiastically toward the distance before jogging over to explain the situation herself.
After verifying the information, property management logged into the system and reset the biometric lock.
“All done. You two should get some rest—it’s already late.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Good night.”
“Good night, Miss Lu Yi.”
After seeing the staff off, Lu Yi pointed toward the apartment across from his.
“I’ll head back first…”
“Mhm. Thank you.”
Hermoke rarely interacted with people unless necessary.
Now, even though he wanted to stop Lu Yi from leaving, he had absolutely no idea what to say.
Only when she was about to close her door did he finally blurt out:
“Good night.”
Lowering his head somewhat dejectedly, he returned inside and began studying the soda bottle in his hand.
So Lu Yi liked drinking beverages?
Back at the old villa, he’d never seen her drink anything besides water.
There hadn’t even been snacks in the house.
After pondering for a while, Hermoke arrived at a conclusion.
“…Did she get a raise?”
Ding dong—
The doorbell rang.
Hermoke immediately jumped to the floor and hurried over to open the door.
Outside lingered the faint scent of milk-scented body wash.
Lu Yi stood there in a nightdress with a beige cardigan draped over it.
Though she tried to hide them, faint pink abrasions beneath her collarbone remained visible.
If he’d been the one to take her away…
She wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
“I saw you eating a lot of lollipops, so I figured you probably hadn’t eaten dinner yet. I made something for you.”
Her pale hands held a soft green tray carrying freshly cooked food.
Two dishes were separated into elegant little bowls.
Black sesame seeds had been sprinkled atop the rice, and there was even seaweed soup.
It looked exactly like restaurant food.
No…
Better than restaurant food.
“…It looks delicious.”
Hermoke awkwardly reached out to accept the tray.
“Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. Eat while it’s hot… It’s okay if you can’t finish it. You can just return the dishes tomorrow.”
After giving her instructions, Lu Yi turned around and jogged back home.
The faint scent of body wash gradually disappeared, leaving behind only the delicious aroma of food.
Grrr~
His stomach growled immediately.
Hermoke shut the door and stared solemnly at the meal on the tray.
It looked way better than the meat paste made for cats…
Under Yalan’s insistence, Lu Yi took three days of sick leave.
She slept until noon, organized the tasks she needed to handle, ate lunch, and prepared to head out.
For safety reasons, she planned to resign from her tutoring job today.
That meant making a trip to the Lin family estate and then stopping by the driving academy she’d skipped due to the kidnapping incident.
Meanwhile, in District P9—
The door to the old villa opened.
The landlord enthusiastically described the crumbling building to a man, praising how “retro” and “affordable” it was…
Three minutes later, ownership of the old villa changed hands.
The old landlord left cheerfully with his payment.
Turning back once more, he saw the man in the suit jacket quietly close the door.
Inside the villa, You Min slowly inhaled.
Almost obsessively, he absorbed the lingering traces of Lu Yi’s scent…
Even though all the smaller belongings had already been moved away, her shadow seemed to reappear in every corner of the house.
You Min carefully examined every inch of the villa, vividly imagining scenes where Lu Yi had once existed.
Suddenly, his shoe stepped on a piece of discarded paper.
A crude sketch of a kitten head.
A list of descriptive words.
And an encrypted contact method left behind.
So…
Lu Yi was looking for a cat.
You Min picked up the paper, folded it neatly, and tucked it into his pocket.
When he entered the second-floor master bedroom, Lu Yi’s scent grew even stronger.
Removing his gloves, he slowly brushed his fingers across every piece of furniture she’d once touched.
Opening the wardrobe, he found it completely empty—
Except for a dark stain hidden deep in the corner.
His thermal vision swept across it.
A small trace of dried blood remained there.
Further down, beneath a cracked wooden board, something was hidden.
A fluffy pom-pom keychain.