Kun paused to look up at the grey building with the black door with an old bronze plate engraved with 221B in bold. He checked his phone. This seems to be it. He rang the bell and waited for an answer. An old lady, likely in her 70s opened the door. “This must be Mr. Qian, come in, come in” she said, in a slightly quivering voice as she let him in.

“Delighted to finally meet you in person, Mrs. Hudson” Kun said, with the brightest smile, as he extended his hand to greet the older woman. She smiled in return, already impressed by the neatly dressed well-mannered young man in front of her. Quite a rarity from youngsters these days, she thought.

“Like wise, Mr. Qian, please, take a seat” she said.

“Thank you, oh and here’s a little something for you, hope you like it” Kun said, extending a small basket filled with half a dozen of muffins fresh out from the bakery down the road, he was happy it was still warm in the unkind London weather. Along with it was a small bouquet of carnations, which he got from the hospital gift store.

“Thank you, oh, thank you so much Mr. Qian” said Mrs. Hudson fondly. She was already impressed by him over the two or three conversation they had on the phone. Well spoken, young doctor looking for accommodation and didn’t have many demands, who wouldn’t be impressed. But meeting him in person made her even more pleased, to the point where she would feel guilty for not mentioning about her other tenant. Kun had that effect on people, he radiates warmth and comfort. 

“Everything is as we discussed before, but I do have to tell you this. Your roommate…. Well…” she paused. How does one even explain that man.  “He’s rather peculiar” 

Kun looked at her, with slightly furrowed brows. He usually didn’t like any form of gossip, specially about a person he was going to be living with. 

“He is a good man” Mrs. Hudson added immediately. Despite everything, she had grown to care of her long-term tenant. And she didn’t want to scare away the new tenant. At the same time, she didn’t want to send this poor boy in without preparation. “It’s just that, there are things…”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Hudson, I’m sure we can sort things out. I’ve lived under compromising circumstances before, I’’ll take my chances” he said lightly, with a reassuring smile. He wasn’t lying. He had lived under tedious and harsh conditions, environments that could both physically and emotionally push a person to the limit. So he doubted a two bedroom apartment in the heart of London, managed by a sweet old lady would be something he couldn’t handle.

“You seem like a fine young man, that’s why I’ve been warning you Mr. Qi- I mean, Kun.”

Kun lets out a small laugh. “And I appreciate that very much, Mrs. Hudson. But seriously, how bad of a roommate can a guy be”

“You’re the sixth roommate he’s had…” her voice trailed off.

“This year?”

“This month” she replied with a sigh.

“Oh…”

“I’ll introduce you, follow me” she said, as she stood up.

Kun put his back pack on, and collected his suitcase before following Mrs. Hudson up the stairs. They creaked a little as they walked, the place was old but seemed to be maintained just enough to pass the safety protocols. Still a catch, considering the low rent and location.

The staircase led to a small area which served the combined purposes of a kitchen, living & dining areas. there was a small stove and a fridge along with a pantry just enough to store the basic utilities, and two stools by the counter space which doubled as a breakfast bar. Or so Kun thought. By the looks of it, the kitchen seemed unused.  There was a fireplace in the ‘living area’ and two comfortable looking arm chairs with a small table. They were right by the window which showed the view of grey and gloomy London skyline. Still, it’s a view.
“your room is that one” she pointed to one door that was to the right of the common area. “and that would be the bathroom” she pointed at the door on the opposite side. He would be sharing it with the roommate. The she waked over to the other door, and knocked on it three times. 

From the other side of it came a quiet yet sharp voice. “it’s unlocked”  

She opened the door and Kun followed. It was small room, just enough to accommodate a bed a table a chair and a rack that contained so many odd things along with some books. The table was messy, with all sorts of drafts and newspapers, the chair was occupied by a man, slim framed, clad in oversized clothes focused intensely on a beaker with a blue solution.  Before Kun could collected what else was going on, he heard Mrs. Hudson go “Mr. Lee, I would like to introduce you to your new roommate.”

The man looked up. He looked like he was about the same age as Kun, had silky black hair that framed his cheekbones, a sharp pointed nose, and bright eyes. 

“Mr. Lee, this is Mr. Qian Kun and Mr. Qian, this is your roommate, Mr. Ten Lee” she said briefly and her heal. “I’ll let you get settled then” she said as she exited the room. Kun nodded thankfully and watched her walk out before turning to his new roommate who had already turned back to his beaker. 

He cleared his throat. “hey” he said with his best customer service voice. Ten looked up but didn’t say anything. “Ten, right? You can call me Kun. I’m -”
He was interrupted mid-sentence by Ten. 

“Qian Kun, born on the first of January, twenty-eight years old, surgery resident just got placed in  Duke’s memorial hospital, trained, and served in the air force as a doctor, deployed overseas for about two years before discharge, not necessarily proud about it but does have some memories that are dear to the heart. Practical, popular among ladies but single, and gay, not interested in the dating scene at least for the time being, loves cats but do not own one, cooks on the regular and likes jazz music”. 

Kun blinked. “wh-what?” he blinked again. “how did you-”

Ten stood up and walked over. Kun took a step back.

“you look like you’re in late twenties, the lock on your suitcase is unlocked, the eight digit code for it is set at 01011996, easy to remember, seems more likely it’s your birthday, hence the age and birthday. An employee key card peaks out of your jacket pocket with the Duke’s memorial hospital logo, the color code indicates you’re a doctor. You’re wearing Dansko clogs, mostly worn by those who are standing long hours, ergo most likely to be a surgeon. Just started because you are looking for a place to live, meaning you are not given accommodation at the facility maintained by the hospital since it’s at capacity and seniority is prioritized. Given the age and the fact that you are hoping to live in this apartment you obviously haven’t worked that long, otherwise you could afford a much better place with a surgeon’s salary, thus a first year”. Ten said in one breath, in the most monotonous voice ever.

“what the-” Kun breathed, frantically looking at the lock of his suitcase, his shoes and back at his future roommate. 

“Your posture, the stance screams military, given the age it is more likely you enlisted and was trained as a medical cadet, the color and the quality of the backpack is distinctive to the 9th brigade of the air force, you have removed the logo attached, hence you do not want to flash around the ex-military status, meaning not necessarily proud of it. But you still keep this bag, thus practical, and the key chain seems to be one third of a tag, possibly shared with 2 other soldiers who you worked with, friends with even, so memories with them, you hold dear to heart. Deployed, since that’s the air force did with most of the new medics and there’s a tan on your face and hands but not above the wrist, which proves that they weren’t from sunbathing but from constant exposure to strong sunlight, unlike the one you get here.”

“…?”

“You managed to impress Mrs. Hudson as a nice young gentleman, she is one of the hardest women to impress.  It took well over twenty minutes from the moment you rang the doorbell to the moment she introduced me to you, that never happens, she looked at you in a kind adoration, both of which are unprecedented events in the five years I’d lived here, and if you were in the good books of hers, you surely do well with any other woman. Gay, because no straight man fixes the collar like that, although that might be the only giveaway.  Not married, you’re not wearing a wedding ring, nor do you have tan lines of removing a ring. There’s a napkin sticking out of the pocket with a phone number written on it.  It’s a napkin from the bakery down the road, git their signature blue and yellow stripes in the corner, and the handwriting so distinctively belongings the handsome server there. But judging by the creases you stuffed it in the pocket rather hurriedly, just to be polite.  Given the charismatic nature and the dashing looks it’s highly unlikely you weren’t interested in him because of the looks or character, so it’s more likely you are not looking for dates or hook ups in general. Most probably because you want to settle with the new job before you started dating.”

 Ten was speaking in the most monotonous voice as if he’s speaking about the weather, while Kun felt like he was being dissected under a microscope. 
“Cooks on the regular, because there are small marks of oil spills and little cuts, old and new, found on anyone who frequents kitchens, rather than possible old battle front injuries or accidental injuries in the medical field. There’s a little bit of cat hair stuck to the left leg of your trousers but no animal fur anywhere else in your clothing, most likely you pet astray cat on the way, thus you like cats but considering the timeline, you never had the time or space to have a pet. Likes jazz because when your phone screen lit up when you got a message, it showed a paused track which was on a playlist named jazz classics. Did I miss anything?”

“I… no…. just… wow” Kun stammered.

Ten looked at Kun momentarily and turned his attention back to his work.  Thousands of questions were flooding Kun’s head and he didn’t know where to start. He was also still tired from travel, all he wanted to do was to take a nice long shower and nap, well, that was before every detail of his life was analyzed by a stranger he’d just met.

“um… I’ll see you around then” was the only answer he could muster out of him, before turning around.
“Nice to meet you, Kun” he heard Ten say faintly as he closed the way out. 

Ten started at the closed door after Kun’s footsteps trailed off. Well, that was a first. He thought. He meant it when he said it was nice to meet Kun, it was nice to meet someone who didn’t call him a freak, or a sociopath when he did his usual analysis like this, or storm out yelling obscene words that made poor old Mrs. Hudson shudder, or accused him of being a weird stalker. 

Kun went to his room, still confused, fascinated, and exhausted. That was a lot to process. But first, he needed to shower, eat a something, unpack and fix the place a little and go to sleep. He has an early morning tomorrow.  So that’s what he did.