The Detective of Noble Boys' Academy, Part 15

15

Campus BBS

Top Posts...

Thread: ...Looks like the campus beauty and Li [redacted] made up again. (sobbing) (sobbing)

0L: For some reason I'm kind of disappointed. Couldn't they just stay broken up forever?! (sobbing) (fists clenched)

1L: I saw it too. The campus beauty and Li [redacted] were eating in the same Restaurant, and they were making eyes at each other at least a hundred times!! (furious) (furious)

2L: So this time it wasn't a breakup MV. Li [redacted] and the campus beauty stayed in the Art Studio together all afternoon, then even had dinner together that night. So after all that, were we just part of some little couple's playtime???? (sobbing) (sobbing)

3L: Li [redacted], someone like the campus beauty is too much for you to handle!! Stop while you can!! (gnashing teeth)

4L: Latest update: Li [redacted] got dumped again. (hand-over-mouth laugh) (hand-over-mouth laugh)

5L: [Image]

6L: Wow, first time seeing the campus beauty riding a bike. He looks so youthful and adorable! When is he going to wear a sailor uniform and go cycling? (hot) (hot) (tongue out)

7L: Is that a flower field behind him? What a beautiful scene... wait, doesn't that look like Yan [redacted]'s Greenhouse?..

8L: Nooo, what's the campus beauty doing at the Greenhouse? Is he taking advantage of the nice weather to go on a date with Yan [redacted]?? (sobbing) (fists clenched)

9L: ...Why is there a potted flower in the bike basket? Don't tell me the campus beauty was planning to give it to Yan [redacted] as a gift??? (furious)

11L: As everyone knows, Yan [redacted]'s hobbies are plants and the campus beauty... isn't this basically delivering himself right to his door? Campus beauty, don't let him trick you. (sobbing) (sobbing)

12L: They're not actually about to get together, are they? Please no... (losing it)

13L: I believe Li [redacted] will stop them. (hand-over-mouth laugh) (hand-over-mouth laugh)

-------

[So far, the higher-level System hasn't sent any more warning notices.]

The System let out a long, heavy sigh of relief.

Ji Yue had just finished class and was walking down the steps.

He asked the System, 'Do you think Li Xihe believed it?'

[Maybe! Li Xihe believes you like him the way a mouse loves rice.]

'You're an optimistic System.'

[Next, your task is to deepen the impression! Make Li Xihe sick of you, make him throw himself into the top student's arms!!]

'Too much trouble.'

[Detectives in the old days even helped catch mistresses!]

In fact, Ji Yue had other thoughts. He meant to tidy things up and verify something for himself.

'Aren't you curious? Why didn't Yan Min go to the awards ceremony last time? Why was he alone in the garden planting flowers?'

[The original novel never said anything about that! You suspect him?]

'I'm going to take a look at the Greenhouse.'

[Oh? Weren't you avoiding meeting Yan Min before?]

'This is a new line of investigation for the detective. We need to look at this case from another angle.'

[???]

'Ding-dong—'

The doorbell rang.

The instant Yan Min opened the door, the first thing he saw was a pot of lisianthus.

It was in terrible condition. The drooping leaves looked as if they'd been through a flood, forgotten in water for far too long; the wet leaf edges were already turning withered yellow.

Then his gaze shifted, and from behind the listless lisianthus poked out a clean, pale face.

Most of that face was hidden by black hair. Delicate, fair, with a faint flush over the cheeks and lowered lashes.

Like... a shy boy come bearing a confession gift.

The boy hugging the flowerpot stepped forward and lifted it for him to see. 'This is the flower you gave me last time. It's almost dead. Save it.'

Behind Ji Yue stood a brand-new green bicycle, bright in the sunlight like a piece of sweet bubblegum.

Yan Min said nothing. Through the gaps in the leaves, he looked at Ji Yue.

He had known Ji Yue would come again.

Ji Yue had come once before, hurriedly, and left before staying long. This time he had pedaled all the way here on that green bicycle, huffing and puffing, transporting this pot of flowers with him.

Was it because he'd been caught stalking before and felt too embarrassed to do it again, so he'd finally found an excuse? Using the lisianthus Yan Min had given him as a pretext to come to the door and see him.

When you like someone, there's no hiding it.

'Can I put it on the table?'

Cradling the nearly dead lisianthus, Ji Yue stepped inside.

Yan Min remained where he was, his gaze moving from the flowerpot to Ji Yue himself.

Ji Yue explained the cause of the flower's impending death with airy indifference. 'I don't know how it ended up dying.'

The lisianthus was set on the table. Yan Min took a pair of scissors and snipped off several yellowed leaves, his movements quick and rough. His heart wasn't in it; there were things more important than flowers and greenery.

'Do you want to consider changing to a different potted plant?'

Yan Min asked as he trimmed.

'It can't be saved? Then I'll just give it back to you.'

The boy's voice drifted over from somewhere farther away, apparently rummaging through a wardrobe in one of the empty rooms.

'Keeping plants is troublesome.'

Yan Min meant that it was beyond saving. Ji Yue was very obviously a plant killer. That wasn't surprising. He didn't look like someone who would know how to care for flowers, or for people. He looked more suited to being kept, shut away and raised by someone else.

Later, he'd replace it with a new one. A prettier one. He'd put it in front of Ji Yue's window.

At that thought, Yan Min turned around—only to find that at some point the black-haired boy had already walked up behind him. The tip of Ji Yue's nose was nearly brushing his chest, and a pair of blue eyes was fixed quietly on him.

In a formal tone, Ji Yue said, 'Do you have time? I want to interview you now. A few questions.'

Yan Min stilled.

A confession?

He set down the scissors. 'Ask.'

'Please sit down, Yan Min.'

With a swish, the boy somehow produced a thick hardbound notebook from who knew where, as if by magic. Even the pen he was holding was decorated with a white feather, bobbing as he wrote.

Ji Yue found himself a seat first. He scribbled down a date in the notebook and asked, 'What do you think of Noble Boys' Academy?'

The two of them sat facing each other on the sofa, a tea table between them. A robot set down the teacups and, as if sensing the ambiguous mood in the air, quickly slipped away.

'Most of the people around me graduated from here, so I came too.'

'How is your relationship with the other F4?'

'Average.'

'Which one are you closest to?'

'None of them.'

'Have you been paying attention to the top student lately?'

'No.'

'But the top student just won the competition championship.'

'I'm not interested.'

'What are you interested in?'

'Things that help me relax. Music, flowers, river water, being interviewed by you.'

'If the top student approached you, what would you think?'

'Disgusting.' Yan Min smiled. 'You asking questions like that... I'm not sure if you've misunderstood something.'

Was he jealous?

Ji Yue looked at him in puzzlement. 'Misunderstood what? But why are you disgusted by the top student?'

'No reason. Just my first impression.'

Those answers were plainly colored by personal feeling, even with a hint of mockery. From another angle, they also showed that Yan Min really was quite familiar with the top student. Who feels disgust toward a stranger?

[Relationship unclear. Pending.]

Ji Yue was still rapidly taking notes in his notebook, while on the other side the System had already exploded into fireworks.

[Oh my god, why is he disgusted by the top student???? Shouldn't he be in love????]

'This is important evidence.'

[Evidence for what?]

'I think they all have problems.'

[You mean their character settings?]

'In any case, the F4 and the top student in reality aren't the same as they are in the original novel.'

If they were different, did the client know that? What exactly was the client commissioning him to do?

That was the real question the detective needed to solve.

Yan Min waited with his teacup in hand for a while, but Ji Yue didn't continue. Just now he'd kept asking about Yan Min's relationships with others, what he thought of the top student, whether he was familiar with those people—as if probing for something without any clear purpose.

Did Ji Yue like the top student, or one of the F4?

All of them?

'Ji Yue, why are you asking me all this?'

'I had some questions about you.'

'And now they've been resolved?'

'Not yet.' He shook his head.

Yan Min glanced at the time and neatly brought the conversation to a close. 'You can come here often from now on. During the holidays, you can also come to the capital to find me. I'd be very happy to welcome your next interview.'

[What is this guy doing? I seriously don't understand him. He's even inviting you back to his hometown in the capital! Is he planning to kidnap you there?!]

Under Yan Min's name, Ji Yue drew a question mark and added the note: He doesn't like the top student?

He'd said disgusting, so that should mean he didn't like him, right?

[Not necessarily!] The System still made one last struggle. [You know how twisted love is for the people in this book.]

Human love really was complicated.

Ji Yue sank into thought, and then heard Yan Min's voice from across from him.

'Is it my turn to ask now?'

There was some interest in his tone.

'...'

[Tsk tsk. If F1 asks about your identity, or all the suspicious things about you, what are you going to do?]

The first question came very quickly.

Yan Min asked, 'You're in a relationship right now, aren't you?'

'No.'

A cold, crisp answer.

As though he weren't lying at all.

...True enough. He was only entangled in ambiguous affairs with those men; he wasn't formally dating any of them. Thinking this, Yan Min set a flower stem he hadn't finished arranging into place and said, 'Not dating right now is for the best.'

'Best how?'

'It's easy to be deceived.'

Who exactly was being deceived here?

[Anyway, it isn't you!]

Without warning, Ji Yue thought of Yuwen Qing in one of his rabid fits.

Even though Yan Min was calm and normal right now, unlike that golden retriever, Ji Yue still thought of a certain possibility.

The System had once screamed at him: Could it be that all of the F4 think you're pursuing them?

But I'm obviously a detective...!

Ji Yue couldn't be bothered to guess. 'Yan Min, do you have feelings for me?'

'Yes.'

Ji Yue felt a little troubled. These people would probably interfere with the investigation.

Even so, he still had to brush it aside.

'I can't tell.'

'Because of certain things, I can't be very direct right now.'

'What things?'

'I can't say,' Yan Min replied, getting up and walking toward the worktable to pick up two flower stems. 'You'll know in the future too.'

[?]

'I want to know right now.' Ji Yue stood up and followed close behind him. 'Tell me. Hurry.'

Even with the boy at his back trailing after him everywhere like a cat begging for food, Yan Min remained silent. He knew Ji Yue liked this sort of thing, and only wore this expression for things that interested him.

So he would definitely come to the Greenhouse again.

[The F4 in this world are terrifying. How could they fall for a hidden detective! Ah—] the System howled at the sky like an ape. [Now the higher-ups are going to knock us on the head again.]

Ji Yue realized F1 was not going to explain anything to him, so he stopped in his tracks at once, his face returning to its usual blank calm.

...He really wanted to beat Yan Min up.

And on Yan Min, just like on the other F4, there was definitely something a detective had not yet uncovered.

Some unspeakable secret that only the F4 or the top student knew?

What exactly was it?

For the next half hour, Yan Min tended to a bouquet arrangement, carefully selecting from a heap of flowers, comparing their colors and shapes, setting each stem into just the right place one by one.

Ji Yue sat on the sofa flipping through an illustrated book on green plants, turning his head now and then to glance at him.

Yan Min showed no sign of explaining himself. He just kept arranging the bouquet.

...Might as well kill him.

The sofa was long and broad. Ji Yue lay down on it, his black hair spilling loose, trailing over the edge and spreading across the floor.

They did not disturb each other. One was busy among the flowers; the other lay on the sofa reading. Now and then there was only the snip of scissors through stems and the rustle of turning pages.

The System felt a faint, creeping sense of wrongness. [Why do the two of you sometimes get along so harmoniously?!]

It was already three o'clock. Ji Yue ignored it and put the book away. By then Yan Min had also finished the bouquet. He walked Ji Yue to the door. A few steps apart, neither of them spoke.

The moment the door opened, afternoon light came pouring in and fell over the boy.

Yan Min stood in the doorway, watching Ji Yue walk down the steps.

'Even if you didn't bring flowers, I would still answer every one of your questions,' Yan Min said to him.

Every question?

For example...

Who are you?

Are you Yan Min from the original novel, or Yan Min as yourself?

Ji Yue wanted to ask that, but it wasn't time yet.

No matter what, the detective would uncover all of it.

Ji Yue waved goodbye to him and walked to the gate himself.

The green bicycle was still where he'd left it, but at some point the basket had been filled to the brim with flowers. All kinds of them, crowded together in lively abundance, poking their heads out—pale yellow ranunculus, fragrant lilies, unknown blossoms in soft pink—bright and dewy, obviously chosen with care.

He stared blankly at the bouquet.

Then, all at once, a violent roar split the air above the Greenhouse. A private plane flew low overhead, the thunderous noise making even the bicycle basket tremble. The racket was deeply irritating. Ji Yue lifted his face and caught sight of the plane passing slowly by.

Someone came up behind him, but the roar drowned out any sound of footsteps.

Ji Yue didn't turn around. He could feel someone standing behind him, because he could smell that person's faint floral scent and the earthy trace of soil on his hands.

A hand reached over and gently brushed aside the long hair hanging by Ji Yue's ear, fingertips grazing the skin at the back of his neck.

Yan Min moved closer, lowered his head, and spoke against the curve of Ji Yue's ear, his voice pitched very low. 'Do you want me to take you back?'

Even so, Ji Yue could only make out a few blurred words.

'No need. I'll go back by myself.'

'You look very beautiful today,'

Yan Min said, as though it were only natural.

'...'

No expression could be read from Ji Yue's face—until something touched his cheek.

He felt a little dizzy. He pushed Yan Min away, got on the bicycle, and pressed down on the pedals.

The wind rushed at him head-on. The scent of fresh flowers was caught up in it, drifting outward, sweet and clear, following him all the way home.

The flush on his cheeks looked like a field of flowers suddenly drifting before his eyes—pale pink roses.

He thought that perhaps he was allergic to men.

[He gave you flowers and kissed you too?! Yan Min, I xxxxxx! I refuse to allow this!!!] The roar of the plane had already faded, but the System was still wailing at top volume, becoming a new kind of noise.

[Could F1 also think you're into him???? That's not it, let me explain to all of you!!!]

'If that's what he thinks, why wouldn't he say it outright?'

[True. Then that isn't it!]

The System let out another great sigh of relief.

But Ji Yue thought again: or was it because of the certain reason he mentioned, and he couldn't say it openly?

He was almost at the stone road. He got off the bicycle and began pushing it forward.

But at the corner, the nose of a sports car appeared. Through the windshield, he could see a tiny coconut charm hanging beneath the rearview mirror.

It was Li Xihe's car.

Looking more closely, he saw a tall man in glasses leaning by the car door, dressed in a high-collared shirt, smiling faintly at him.

'Little sister, back from having fun? Bought so many flowers? Let me help.' Li Xihe's gaze swept over the bicycle basket as he walked over and took the bike from him.

'Why are you here?'

'Just passing by.'

'Oh.'

'Where did little sister go to have fun just now? Your face is all red. Too hot?'

'...'

'You went on a date with some wild man, didn't you?'

'I don't know why you're being so mean.'

'All right. Sorry.'

Even as he said that, Li Xihe was smiling very happily.

Ji Yue thought for a moment. 'Do you dislike the top student quite a lot?'

'You noticed?' Li Xihe gave a muffled laugh beside him. 'Though you seem to get along very well with him.'

'We get along all right.'

'Only all right? ...Little sister, if we officially started dating, would you cut things off cleanly with those men?'

Li Xihe's voice remained gentle and limpid as he spoke, all while casually pulling several stems out of the basket and tossing them into the trash.

Then he added, 'If you can't handle it yourself, maybe I can help you.'

[Why does Li Xihe sound like some useless husband taking digs at the other woman?]

[Is he talking about Yuwen Qing?]

'Probably.'

[Actually, I was just thinking—if you started dating Li Xihe, the good part would be that all your previous weird behavior would suddenly make sense. You'd become his perverted stalker lover and a great detective at the same time!]

'And the downside?'

[Your butt would hurt.]

'...'

Faced with Li Xihe's baffling question, Ji Yue said nothing at all and kept walking forward.

The communicator in his pocket had been buzzing nonstop with new messages. He wasn't in the mood to check it. In the end, it was Li Xihe who reminded him, 'Little sister, stop looking at me. Someone's looking for you.'

Ji Yue lowered his head and saw that it was a message from the golden retriever:

—Why have you been ignoring me lately?

—Where are you?

—I'm at your front door.