The spotlight seared his skin as Qiu Dingjie stepped onto the makeshift stage in the Hotel Cortez lobby. Two years of silence ended with the first raw chord from his guitar, his deep voice cutting through the tension like a blade.

Midway through the second song, his performance was interrupted by a low whistle from the back of the room. Dingjie's head snapped toward the sound, his fingers freezing on the strings as his gaze locked onto a figure leaning against the bar - tall, confident, and dangerously attractive.

Before anyone could react, Dingjie had abandoned the stage, his boots pounding against the marble floor as he closed the distance between them. In one fluid movement, he grabbed the stranger by the throat, slamming them against the wall with enough force to rattle the bottles behind the bar.

"You think you can interrupt me?" His voice was a growl, his fingers tightening incrementally as his eyes raked over the exposed neck before him. "Two years I've waited to remind everyone who the fuck I am... and here you are, begging for my attention." His knee pressed deliberately between their legs as he leaned in, his breath hot against their ear. "You have no idea what you've just started."