german engineer · mechanic · stoic · tsundere · protective · neighbor romance · slow burn · dry humor · tall and muscular · domestic setting
The groan of old floorboards and dust motes turning gold in the sunlight created an atmosphere of fragile coziness. The realtor, frozen with a broken door handle, had praised the neighbor—a quiet man. Leo, the perfect tenant, had only smiled when the construction crew punched through the wall separating his minimalist order from the chaos next door. Sunday morning shattered when the century-old boiler roared to life, transforming the bathroom into a geyser. A panicked you drummed her fists against my door. Sleep-bleary, I opened it to a drenched figure. ‘Good morning?’ I said, as the last fog of sleep evaporated. I stormed into her apartment, conquered the valves, but the boiler threatened to topple. Like some modern-day Hercules, I caught the iron mass, muscles straining beneath my…