She walked over to the door, slipped on her blue shoes, and stepped out into the hallway. The door clicked shut behind her, and for a moment, everything felt quiet. The air outside her apartment was still, carrying that faint scent of floor polish and something metallic, the usual smell of apartment buildings.
Looking toward the end of the hallway, she spotted the elevators. The lights above them blinked softly, one red and one green. When she got closer, she noticed that one elevator seemed to not be working. She quickly turned to the working one and pressed the silver button. It lit up with a quiet ding, and she heard the distant hum of the elevator starting to move.
She glanced at the digital display above the door. It showed 25 → 24 → 23… The elevator was descending slowly from the twenty-fifth floor. Her apartment was on the tenth. She leaned against the wall and folded her arms, tapping her fingers lightly as she waited. As she waited, she took out her phone and searched for the real estate app and set it to download.
When the number hit twenty, it stopped for a few seconds. "Someone must've gotten in," she thought.
A few seconds later, the elevator continued its steady descent. 19… 18… 17… Bai Li sighed softly, her reflection in the elevator's metal doors staring back at her. Her blue shoes looked brighter under the hallway light, and she noticed a tiny scuff on the left one. "Should probably clean that later," she murmured.
Finally, with a soft chime, the elevator reached her floor. The doors slid open with a faint mechanical groan. Bai Li stepped in quickly without checking the inside, the air inside cooler than the hallway.
She glanced at the panel of buttons and saw that the ground floor button was already glowing red. She could feel the quiet presence of the other person in the elevator but it seemed quite rude to just turn around and take a look.
Bai Li didn't turn around and continued to stare at the metallic door of the elevator. Suddenly, her nose picked up a subtle jasmine fragrance floating within the confined space of this elevator, it was quite subtle and faint but also seemed to linger around her nose. Bai Li never liked the smell of perfumes or any other smell in an enclosed space and used to always avoid crowded elevators but now, this smell, this smell of jasmine didn't irritate her in the slightest! In fact, she seemed to feel a little light headed and comfortable feeling within her.
Bai Li was curious as to who was behind her but she didn't dare turn around to take a look for fear that the person in question would catch her being sneaky or feel uncomfortable because of her. Even though she didn't know who was behind her, she did feel that it must be a woman.
As the elevator dropped to the fifth floor, it suddenly came to a gentle stop. The door opened with a ding and Bai Li, who was looking down on the pavement below suddenly felt a burst of the same jasmine fragrance brushing her past her face like a gentle breeze.
It wasn't just faint this time; it was vivid, wrapping around her senses and making her heart skip a beat. The scent was fresh, clean, yet strangely magnetic — like a quiet whisper that reached deep into her chest and tugged at something she didn't quite understand.
Her entire nose seemed to be filled with it and she had an instinctive desire to get close to the fragrance.
Bai Li never quite encountered such an occurrence where a simple fragrance could catch her attention to this degree! She had never been the type to care much about smells, but this one was different. It wasn't just pleasant, it felt alive, personal, almost like it was calling her name. She was quite preoccupied with the thought and when she remembered to look up to see who it was.
By the time she snapped out of her daze and lifted her head, the elevator door had already begun to close. All she caught was a brief glimpse — a figure stepping out gracefully, back turned toward her.
It was just a silhouette, but Bai Li found herself staring, almost breathless.
The woman had a slender frame, tall yet elegant in the way she moved, as if every step carried its own rhythm. Her long, dark hair flowed down her back like soft silk, slightly curled at the ends, shining under the faint yellow lights of the hallway. Even though Bai Li couldn't see her face, she somehow knew, just knew, that this woman had to be beautiful. Not just pretty, but the kind of beauty that quietly steals your breath before you even realize it.
She was dressed simply but in a way that somehow made simplicity look stunning.
from the back, Bai Li could see she was wearing a fitted denim jacket, its seams neat and the light blue fabric hugging her shoulders just right. The sleeves were slightly rolled up, revealing delicate wrists and pale skin that caught the soft glow of the hallway lights. Beneath that, she wore a long denim skirt that reached below her knees, with a small slit running up the back. The skirt swayed gently as she walked, showing glimpses of her legs when she moved.
It wasn't an expensive outfit, nothing overly fancy, just a denim jacket, a white crop top that peeked out slightly when she turned, and that long skirt, yet somehow it looked perfect on her. The combination felt natural and effortless, like she didn't even try, and that only made her more mesmerizing.
The door of the elevator closed with a metallic bang as Bai Li snapped out of her daze. She was still staring ahead at the metallic door, her reflection could be vaguely seen and she could see the stupid way she was staring ahead. It made her look like a fool.
Bai Li immediately steadied herself as she thought in her heart that she must not have yet adjusted to this new world. Otherwise, how could she, a veteran soldier who has never once lost her mind in the midst of the toughest of battles become like a fool just because of a beautiful woman?
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To be continued.