65. Someone in the Nextdoor

65. Someone in the Nextdoor
That night, Rose, who had run away from the club, walked alone toward the bus stop. She passed through the city park, which was quiet and rather dark because not many vendors chose to sell there. She heard the voices of several men calling out to her. Her instincts immediately told her something was wrong. Knowing she could be in danger, Rose quickened her pace. And sure enough, one of the men started chasing her and grabbed her hand.

“Why the rush, pretty girl?”

“Let go of me!” Rose snapped.

“Where are you going, miss? Just stay here with us. Come hang out—we’ll make sure you have a good time,” the man said.

“Let go!” Rose struggled to pull her hand back, but more men came and surrounded her.

“Whoa, so feisty. Come on, hang out with us—it’ll be fun,” one of them said.

“Let go! Ew…!” Rose kept trying to pull her hand away, but the man’s grip was incredibly strong.

“Help!” Rose shouted.

“Relax, beautiful. We’ll treat you gently,” said a large man behind her.

“Help! Someone help! Liuz…!” Rose cried out instinctively.

“Call your boyfriend all you want—this place is empty. No one’s coming to save you. You’d better just do as we say.”

“No…! Liuz…! Help me!” Rose screamed.

One of the men tried to grab Rose from behind, but a stranger suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed the thug by the neck and hurled him to the ground.

“Who the hell are you?" Bastard!” the other thugs roared and immediately attacked the stranger.

One of them threw a punch at his face, but the man in the cap dodged swiftly and countered with a blow of his own.

Brakk!

One by one, the thugs collapsed, while one of them pulled a knife from his pocket.

“Watch out! Be careful!” Rose shouted.

Completely unfazed, the man swiftly grabbed the thug’s wrist and drove his knee hard into the thug’s stomach.

The thug immediately fell to the ground, weak and breathless.

“Still want to get hit, huh?!” the mysterious man barked.

“Stop! Don’t hit us anymore!” the thugs scrambled away, one of them even having to be carried by his friend because he had passed out.

Rose approached and bowed slightly in gratitude.

“Thank you, Sir! I’m sorry for troubling you!” she said to the masked man in a cap.

“It’s late. What are you doing wandering around?” the man replied.

Hearing his voice, Rose studied him more closely. The masked man’s voice sounded very similar to Liuz’s.

“Liuz… is that you?” Rose asked.

“You’ve got the wrong person,” he replied before walking away.

“Wait…!” Rose called out.

But the stranger who had just saved her walked off without even glancing back.

“I guess not… he’s not Liuz.” Rose let out a sigh, then continued walking toward the bus stop.

The city bus arrived right on time. Rose boarded quickly and took a seat by the window. Her gaze drifted blankly toward the cloudy, dark sky.

“Liuz should’ve given me a star telescope before he left! At least I could’ve looked at him up there! He’s really cruel… but… this is my fault,” Rose whispered, feeling both guilty and longing. Tired and unwilling, she walked from the bus stop toward the apartment she rented. She saw a moving truck parked there, and several workers were carrying furniture and boxes up to the fifth floor.

Rose didn’t ask anything, but she kept watching. When the elevator stopped on her floor, she finally realized that the long-vacant unit beside hers had been rented.

“I wonder… a family or a worker?” Rose murmured softly, though loud enough for one of the movers beside her to hear.

“A young man. I think he’s an office worker too,” the man replied, answering Rose’s curiosity.

Rose just grinned. She didn’t want to comment further and went straight into her room.

“I thought it was a family. It would’ve been noisier if there were children,” she muttered.

Slowly, Rose sank into her thoughts. It wasn’t that she was against marriage—she actually liked children, and she felt her own mother had been very loving. But something else made her afraid of starting a family.
It was separation.

When she was little, Rose’s parents divorced. She barely even remembered her father’s face; what she did remember was her mother’s endless hard work raising her alone. When she was in college, her mother passed away, and Rose had to work tirelessly just to afford the funeral expenses. Meanwhile, the man her mother had once loved never even showed up.
It all made Rose believe that marriage wasn’t something joyful.

“In this world, the most important thing is working! Money is what makes your heart happy!” Rose said.

She entered her bedroom, wanting to change clothes, and opened her wardrobe.

“Where’s my purple pajamas?” she muttered.

She opened her wardrobe doors one by one, then froze when she saw something right in front of her.
A massive extraterrestrial diamond—the one Liuz had given her.

“Oh my God, how could I forget this! It’s real! I’m rich now!” Rose squealed in excitement.

She stared at the diamond, but slowly, her emotions shifted. Her expression dimmed and tears began to fall.

“Liuz…! I miss you. You’re not my illusion—you’re real. Liuz… where are you?” Rose whispered through her sobs.

Just as she began to drown in her sorrow, loud music suddenly blasted from her new neighbor’s apartment. Rose immediately stood up, wiped her tears, and stormed out in irritation. As expected, the noise was coming from the newly occupied unit.

She banged on the door loudly.

“Excuse me! Please lower the volume!” Rose shouted.

There was no response. Rose grew even more annoyed. She knocked again, harder this time, and yelled even louder.

“Whoever’s inside, turn the music down right now!”

A moment later, the door opened, and a man stepped out. He was wearing the same clothes as the man who had saved her in the park, but this time he wasn’t wearing a hat or a mask.

His hair was red, one of his ears was pierced, his eyes were brown, and his complexion was sun-kissed as if he had just returned from a vacation. But one thing left Rose utterly stunned.

That face—
It was Liuz’s face.

“Liuz… is that you?”