I couldn't sleep.

Because downstairs, it started again: "Ah... ooh... mmm..."

It's one thing to go at it seven days a week, but thirty days a month without a break? Doesn't she ever get her period?

Unable to take it anymore, I knocked on my upstairs neighbor's door.

A handsome guy wrapped in a bath towel, showing off an eight-pack, opened the door with soaking wet hair.

"Can I help you?"

I tossed him a bottle of Stamina Boost Pills.

"Be careful you don't wear yourself out!"

Timid Corporate Drone VS. Righteous Police Officer

1.

The handsome guy squeezed the bottle of Stamina Boost Pills, his eyes narrowing as he looked at me.

I muttered, "Why be a person when you can act like a dog in heat all day?"

The handsome guy called me a psycho, tossed the Stamina Boost Pills out, and slammed the door.

Fine!

Tit for tat. I may not have a man, but I've got my own tools!

I went home, took out my newly delivered Ceiling Thumper, and decided we'd see who could outlast whom.

'You can moan and groan, and I'll just go BANG BANG BANG. Neither of us is getting any sleep.'

I don't know if my gadget worked, but the rest of the night was actually quiet. I hugged my blanket and slept soundly, feeling completely satisfied.

After so many sleepless nights, it was rare to get such good rest. My alarm went off three times before I finally woke up.

With my hair down and a piece of toast in my hand, I rushed toward the elevator, shouting, "Wait, hold on!"

I dashed into the elevator and thanked the tall man who'd held the door for me. When I looked up, I froze.

The man was wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. Broad shoulders, narrow waist, long legs... wasn't this the same guy who opened the door last night?

But damn, this guy was undeniably gorgeous.

'His dark circles are a little heavy, though. Makes sense. Overexertion gives you dark circles.'

'It's a terminal case.'

The man had clearly recognized me too and pointedly moved away.

I couldn't be bothered with him either. The moment the elevator doors opened, I shot out ahead of him.

After a long day as a Corporate Drone, I came home exhausted, only to have to revise a proposal. At eleven-thirty, I was just about to go to sleep.

The man-made "soundtrack" started right on time.

I gritted my teeth, set up the Ceiling Thumper, and declared war.

Just as I was putting in my earplugs and cranking the Ceiling Thumper to its maximum frequency, there was a knock at my door.

I opened the door to find the handsome, broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted guy with the dark circles standing there.

"Miss, have I done something to offend you?"

I stared at him, dumbfounded. "Aren't you... at home with your girlfriend, you know...?"

He looked even more stunned. Just as he was about to speak, that ecstatic soundtrack got even louder.

The man's brow furrowed. He suddenly understood the whole situation, and his face instantly turned red.

"It wasn't you?" I was so embarrassed.

"I'm single!" The man rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So, you caused all this ruckus to get revenge on me?"

'Awkward. So the noise wasn't from upstairs.'

He stressed the word "me" so heavily, as if afraid I wouldn't realize I'd misunderstood and targeted the wrong person for revenge.

I put on a goofy grin, because it was the only way to make things less awkward. "Right, I'm so sorry! I misunderstood!"

"It's fine," he said, rubbing his brow again. "Just don't do it again."

"Okay! Take care! Good night!"

I shut the door with a huge smile plastered on my face, which vanished the instant it was closed.

I was so pissed!

I'm the one who's been suffering as the unwilling "audience," yet I'm the one who ends up looking pathetic!

Ugh, this concert has been giving me insomnia, and I went and blamed the wrong person with such self-righteousness!

And I spent a fortune on a Ceiling Thumper, only to use it on the wrong person and disturb an innocent, handsome guy!

Such a hot guy, single, living right above me... I might have had a chance at a beautiful encounter... but now, it's all just a phantom, like a popped bubble!

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. I puffed out my chest and marched down to the floor below.

I knocked on the door of the apartment directly below mine. The heavy, rapid THUD THUD THUD conveyed my determination!

'May the one who started all this be cursed to have no children!'

The person who opened the door was a woman in a silk nightgown with a cigarette dangling from her lips. Her flushed face still held a seductive look, broadcasting her unfulfilled desires.

The woman looked me up and down with heavily made-up, smoky eyes, then tilted her head up arrogantly. "Who the hell are you? What do you want?"

I noticed that the moment she opened the door, the sounds stopped.

'Looks like I came to the right place!'

My confidence surged. I met her gaze without fear. "Hey, can you keep it down? You're wailing all night long. I've heard eighteen different versions of your moans already. That's a public nuisance, you know? You may not want to sleep, but other people do!"

She laughed contemptuously, took a drag from her cigarette, and blew the smoke into the air in front of my face. "Why sleep on such a fine spring night? Only women without men sleep. Oh, you must not have a man, right? Are you jealous of me? Hehehe... Well, if you're that lonely, why don't you join us? Knocking on a door this late at night, you must be pretty interested, right?"

Blood rushed to my head. For the first time in my life, I had the urge to hit someone. I wanted to claw that face of hers, caked in cheap makeup, to shreds.

So, I put my hands on my hips and unleashed a lifetime's worth of finely-honed insults.

"I'm talking to you, woman! Were you born without a mother to teach you any manners? Did your mom give you that body just so you could trash it like this? Do you think every woman is just like you?"

I didn't know if she was actually a prostitute.

To be honest, I didn't want to curse her out like this, but she started it.

I'm no saint. I can't just take an insult without fighting back.

I got more and more worked up as I cursed, my mind full of insults, but my voice slowly trailed off. At some point, two tall, burly men had appeared behind her. They were wrapped in bath towels from the waist down, staring at me with a look that was both confused and greedy.

'I knew it. How could she go at it all night, every night?'

'Turns out there's more than one leading man.'

One of the men stroked his chin and gave a nasty smile. He reached out and grabbed my arm. "Well now, this girl's not bad. Is she a new one? So pretty, and young, so fresh... C'mon, little sister, come play with us!"

I was scared stiff. I didn't have the strength to break free. All I could do was struggle to back away while widening my eyes, trying to look fierce.

The other man grabbed me too. I was completely overpowered. Just as I was about to be dragged into the room, with the woman watching with a provocative and eerie smile...

Suddenly, a hand steadied me and pulled me back.

I was already drenched in sweat.

I turned my head. It was the handsome guy from upstairs.

He shielded me behind him, his cold, sharp gaze sweeping over the three people in front of us.

The three of them were obviously not happy. One of the men spat. "Who left their fly unzipped and let you out? What kind of punk are you, daring to ruin my fun?!"

Having just escaped disaster, I started to worry. Sure, the handsome guy was in great shape and a head taller than the other two, but those guys were so fat and flabby they looked like they could fracture my bones just by sitting on me.

'Is he any match for them?'

And then, he gave me a perfect demonstration of what it means to "subdue the enemy without a single fight."

He pulled a folded ID from his pocket and flipped it open. The two words "People's Police" nearly blinded me.

He was a cop!

I had the sudden urge to call him "Uncle." Yes, even as a grown woman, seeing a police officer still makes me want to call them "Uncle."

"Right now, I have reason to believe that illegal prostitution is taking place here. Open the door immediately and cooperate with my search."

He stood in front of me like a mountain, and this mountain was crushing the three people opposite us with its immense, imposing presence.

The trio, who had been so belligerent just moments ago, were now as docile as rabbits, not daring to breathe too loudly as they stepped aside.

He turned to look at me, his face cold. His expression startled even me.

'I'm a law-abiding good citizen!'

"You go back upstairs. I'll stand guard here. I've already contacted my colleagues; they'll be here soon."

"Okay."

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.

: A Terrifying Night

3.

I was so scared my soul nearly left my body. Large beads of sweat dripped down my forehead.

"Who's there?"

After my voice echoed into the darkness, a strange, dead silence fell.

Just as I was fumbling around, about to change my clothes, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

The knocking started again!

This time, I froze, half-sprawled on the bed, all my courage to open the door and check completely gone.

'Who knew if what I'd see would even be human!'

Then, the knocking stopped again.

After a moment, it started up again, each time more forceful than the last.

With trembling hands, I opened my phone and placed a voice call to Zane Shaw.

"Hello?"

Hearing his voice calmed me down considerably, but I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. "Zane? Quick, you have to come over!"

He paused for a few seconds on the other end. Then I heard the door knock again, and his voice came through the phone. "Don't be scared. It's me."

I used whatever I could grab onto for support and made my way to the entrance to open the door.

When I saw the hallway light illuminate his face, I breathed a sigh of relief and went limp, leaning against the door for support. "Just now, my power suddenly went out," I stammered. "The lights were flickering, and—and someone was knocking on my door."

It was terrifying.

Those few short seconds had felt like an eternity.

Zane Shaw glanced at the scene inside my apartment. "You didn't see anyone else, did you?"

His question sent another chill down my spine. "No!"

He pointed to the ajar circuit breaker box on the wall. "Good. When I came down, I noticed someone had tampered with your breaker. Don't worry, this was definitely intentional. I'll go check the surveillance footage in a bit."

As he spoke, he had already flipped the switch on the breaker, and the lights in the apartment finally came back on.

The weight in my chest finally lifted. I wiped the tears from my face. "Thank you, thank you so much. Why don't you… why don't you come in and sit for a while?"

'I just wanted to invite him in for a glass of water, nothing more. I'd just feel a lot safer with him here.'

He looked like he was about to say something, but hesitated. Following his gaze, I realized I was still just wrapped in a bath towel.

My face flushed red. "It's fine if it's not convenient."

"You go get changed first. I'll go check the security footage. Don't worry, there won't be any more trouble."

'That's what he said, but I'd just been scared half to death. I'd finally found a living, breathing person, and I wasn't about to let him get away.'

"Zane! Officer Shaw, wait, don't go yet!"

He gave a resigned smile. "Alright. Go get changed first."

I let him in and closed the door, then went to my bedroom to change. When I came out, he was still waiting there.

I let out a sigh of relief. "I don't think I can sleep here tonight. I'll just go to my best friend's place."

He nodded in understanding. "Okay. Where does your friend live? Do you need me to drive you?"

Normally, I would have refused, not wanting to bother someone so late at night.

But now, staring out at the inky blackness, I couldn't help but wonder what other unknown things were waiting for me out there…

"She lives in The Orchard Gardens in Belhaven."

Zane Shaw frowned slightly. "That's too far."

It was a bit far—a two or three-hour drive.

I lowered my gaze. "It is a little far. I already feel bad for bothering you this late. It's okay, you can go get some rest. I can get there by myself."

He pressed his lips together and shook his head. "It's not that I think it's a hassle. I'm just saying, you have work tomorrow. After a scare like tonight, who knows how long it'll take you to fall asleep, and then you'll have to get up extra early…"

'Hearing him lay it out like that just made my situation feel even more pathetic.'

"Forget it. How about this? Why don't you stay at my place tonight?"

'Stay at his place?'

My eyes widened as I stared at him.

He cleared his throat. "Don't get the wrong idea. I have two bedrooms."

I couldn't help but laugh.

'When did I ever get the wrong idea?'

'Well, except for that one time I misunderstood and thought he was playing… 'indecent music' in his apartment.'

'But you can't blame that entirely on me, right?'

'It was just my rotten luck.'

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Officer!"

I grabbed my toiletries and followed him upstairs.

His apartment layout was pretty much the same as mine. Since the entire building was full of rentals, the interior design was nearly identical too.

The only real difference was probably that, as a police officer who likely spent most of his time on cases, he didn't have many personal belongings at home.

"Relax. I've already notified Building Management to check the security footage. Get some sleep."

He led me into the guest room. "If you're still scared, it's okay to leave the light on."

'Of course, I couldn't do that.'

'This is his place, how could I just waste his electricity?'

Besides, being in a different place with someone else around, I had calmed down a lot. I don't believe in ghosts or spirits to begin with; tonight's 'supernatural' event was probably just someone playing a prank.

'And Zane Shaw is a cop. Who would dare mess with him?'

So, even though I had been scared to death just a short while ago, I fell asleep quickly.

But my dreams were far from peaceful. In my dream, I was in total darkness when I heard that knocking sound again. I opened the door, and a man in a clown mask pulled out a sharp knife, about to stab me…

I woke up.

Even though it was just a dream, I was still badly frightened.

I got out of bed and, navigating from memory, went to the kitchen for some water. But then I saw a figure moving around inside.

"AH!"

I pointed at the figure, my limbs trembling. "Who—who are you!"