"Ah!"

Just as Miura Yumiko pushed open the emergency exit door to run out, the tall figure of a man suddenly appeared in front of her.

With no time to avoid him, Yumiko could only watch helplessly as she collided toward him.

However, the expected impact never came.

The man in a black suit took a step back just as Yumiko was about to crash into him and slightly turned his body to avoid the collision.

Then, he extended his right arm, wrapped it around Yumiko's slender yet resilient waist, and pulled her back.

"Are you alright?"

Once the girl in his arms regained her footing and showed a frightened expression, the man let go and stepped back a few paces, putting some distance between them while displaying a concerned expression.

"I'm f-fine..."

Yumiko, who was desperate to escape, originally intended to thank the man quickly and continue running.

But when she looked up and clearly saw the man's handsome face, she froze in place.

How could there be a guy even more handsome than Hayama?

Seeing Yumiko stunned by his appearance, the man showed a confident and slightly smug smile.

But that smile quickly faded and was replaced by a curious and worried expression.

"Did something happen to you? You were running so fast just now... You know it's easy to get hurt like that."

"Ah, right!"

Prompted by the man's words, Yumiko snapped back to her senses.

That strange head was still chasing her! How could she be swooning over a guy at a time like this?!

No, wait...

Just as Yumiko was about to take off running again, she suddenly realized something.

From the moment she almost bumped into the man to now, when her infatuation ended, at least ten seconds had passed.

With the speed of that head, it should've caught up with her by now. Which meant...

Her body started to tremble uncontrollably.

Suppressing the fear in her heart, Yumiko turned her head to look behind her—and her eyes went wide.

"Nothing there...?"

Seeing the empty doorway, Yumiko began to doubt herself.

Was that giant head just a figment of her imagination?

No wonder that middle-aged man earlier had looked at her so strangely...

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Just as Yumiko started to feel relieved, believing what happened was only a hallucination, a cold hand suddenly touched her forehead.

"What are you doing?!"

She quickly stepped back and looked warily at the man, who still had his hand raised.

"Sorry..."

The man, caught off guard by her reaction, quickly apologized and explained, "You looked completely dazed, so I just wanted to check if you had a fever..."

"Are you a doctor?"

Hearing the reason behind his action, Yumiko's expression softened a bit, but she still kept a cautious distance while speaking to him.

After all, touching a stranger's forehead without permission—especially a woman's—definitely came across as overly familiar!

"No, not yet. I'm currently studying medicine at the University of Tokyo..."

The man gently shook his head and denied her assumption.

"T-Tokyo University?! In the medical department?!"

His answer made Yumiko lose her composure.

Are you kidding?! A med student at Tokyo University is more impressive than many actual doctors!

"Then why are you here?"

Looking the man up and down—young, handsome, and a med student at Tokyo U—Yumiko grew curious.

After all, even though Chiba is near Tokyo, it still takes time to get here from the university.

"Because I live here. And it's Friday today."

The man maintained a warm expression as he answered her calmly, in a reassuring tone.

"I see..."

Yumiko forced a smile and inwardly scolded herself for being so dumb—how could she forget it was Friday and people were off work and school?

"By the way, was something chasing you? You were running like mad..."

After a few simple exchanges, the man suddenly showed an interested look.

After all, Yumiko's desperate escape from earlier had left a strong impression.

"Ah, well..."

Yumiko's smile froze, and she suddenly didn't know how to respond.

She couldn't very well tell him she thought a giant head was chasing her from her apartment on the 18th floor all the way to the lobby.

If she said that, this guy would definitely laugh at her!

"Well, if it's hard to talk about, that's okay too..."

The man, noticing Yumiko's discomfort, kindly let it go and continued, "My name is Inoue Yasutaka. As I mentioned, I'm a med student at Tokyo University. If anything happens, you can come to Room 6 on the 18th floor to find me."

"You live on the 18th floor too?"

Yumiko was stunned again.

How could it be such a coincidence? Her apartment was Room 5 on the 18th floor—Inoue Yasutaka was her next-door neighbor!

"Is there something wrong?"

Seeing Yumiko's surprise, Inoue looked puzzled.

"No, nothing wrong at all... I just think it's quite the coincidence. I live on the 18th floor too, Room 5..."

After speaking, Yumiko felt her face flush red.

She didn't even know why. Clearly, she was just having a normal conversation with him, yet her heart wouldn't stop fluttering. Then she started to feel shy...

Even though the one she liked was Hayama, she'd never reacted this strongly around him. Why was she so flustered in front of Inoue Yasutaka, someone she just met?

"Oh? Then we really are quite fated, aren't we?"

Inoue was slightly surprised by her answer, but then smiled meaningfully.

"Y-Yeah, I guess so... what a coincidence..."

Looking at his smile, Yumiko's heartbeat quickened even more.

Unable to stay any longer, she awkwardly said goodbye and hurried into a nearby elevator, riding it back up to her apartment.

"What a cute little girl…"

Watching Yumiko's panicked escape, Inoue Yasutaka stood quietly, observing her disappearing figure.

Once the lobby was empty except for him, he stepped into the doorway Yumiko had come from.

There, in the shadows, he looked at the trembling, cowering head—and his eyes turned cold.

"I told you to behave yourself lately, didn't I?"