Su Wan rushed into Lu Corporation headquarters clutching a stack of revised design drafts as the rain poured down in buckets.
At six in the evening, the elevator lobby was packed with white-collar workers heading home. She lowered her head to send a voice message to her mentor: "Sis Lin, I've got the drawings. I'll make sure they're delivered to the pattern-making factory before seven—"
Before she could finish her message, a security guard suddenly stopped her: "The 88th floor is under temporary lockdown. Employee elevators are out of service. Miss, you'll need to take the freight elevator over there."
"Freight elevator?" Su Wan glanced at her watch and gritted her teeth as she squeezed into the rusty, creaking shaft beside her.
—After all, the Lu family was paying an astronomical fee for the pattern making. She couldn't afford any delays.
...
88th floor, the top-floor executive office.
The empty corridor was carpeted in deep gray cashmere, swallowing every sound of her footsteps.
The lights were too bright, forcing her to squint as she searched for "Design Director's Office." Turning a corner, she stumbled upon a half-open double door. The nameplate gleamed coldly in gold lettering: Executive Office.
"This must be it..."
She didn't hear the trickling water inside. Holding the drawing tube in one hand, she pushed the door open with the other—
A wave of steamy heat hit her face.
Behind the glass bathroom wall, a man stood with his back to her. Tall and long-limbed, he wore only a towel below the waist. Water droplets rolled down his muscles, splashing tiny ripples at his ankles.
Su Wan's brain went blank.
The blueprints scattered with a rustle across the floor.
The sound of water ceased.
The man turned his head, his dark eyes cold and piercing, locking onto her face through the damp mist—like a wolf sizing up its prey.
"Finished looking?"
His voice was low and magnetic, carrying the lazy hoarseness of someone fresh from a shower.
Su Wan snapped back to her senses, scrambling to gather the papers as her tongue stumbled. "I-I'm sorry! I took a wrong turn—"
She turned to flee, but the doorknob was seized before her hand could reach it.
"Click."
Locked.
Her spine stiffened as his damp palm seized her wrist, forcing her to turn.
Inch away, the man's minty scent mingled with his hot breath, like an invisible net.
"When did Lu Corporation start hiring petty thieves?"
"I'm not a thief!" Su Wan's eyes reddened with urgency. "I'm from the design department, delivering drafts—"
"Name."
"...Su Wan."
The man towered over her, his gaze sliding from the rain-soaked ends of her hair, to the roll of drawings she clutched against her chest, then settling on her collarbone, rising and falling with her flustered breaths.
One second, two seconds.
He suddenly released her, picked up the internal phone, his voice as cold as ice: "Design Department, run a check—Su Wan, intern?"
Whatever came back, he responded with a curt "Mm" before hanging up.
When he looked up again, his eyes held no trace of emotion.
"Give me the blueprints."
Su Wan clenched her fists. "This is what our team stayed up all night revising. It needs to go to Director Lin first—"
"Lin Man was in a car accident ten minutes ago. She's in the hospital."
Su Wan's face drained of color.
The man took the blueprints, flipping through a couple of pages casually. His gaze lingered momentarily.
The paper depicted a men's formal gown, its collar embroidered with a soaring crane in subtle threadwork—sharp yet elegant, eerily reminiscent of the shadow that haunted his dreams.
He closed the scroll, his voice devoid of emotion: "Leave the drawings. And you. Stay."
"...Huh?"
"Lin Man is absent. I will personally take over her project." He leaned closer, his lips brushing her earlobe. "Miss Su, starting today—"
"...you fall under my jurisdiction."
His scorching breath made her ears burn crimson.
The next moment, the bathroom door swung open again. A gust of wind swept through, propelling Su Wan into the steamy mist.
"My assistant will bring clean clothes in ten minutes."
"Now, take them off."
"—Or do you plan to wear these wet clothes to the meeting?"
Su Wan crossed her arms protectively over her chest, her heart pounding like a drum.
The man turned away, his back like a cold wall. Before closing the door, he glanced sideways:
"Oh, by the way, my name is Lu Tingchen."
"The 88th floor is my territory."
"Next time you knock, remember to breathe first."
The door slammed shut.
Su Wan's legs gave way, and she slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
She didn't know—
Outside the door, Lu Tingchen lowered his head, his fingertips tracing the tiny signature on the corner of the blueprint: Su Wan.
A faint curve touched his thin lips.
"Found you."