Detective at the Noble Boys' School, Part 16

16

Ji Yue stopped.

'Yuwen Qing is at my front door.'

He had no desire to meet that dog.

'Little sister, you don't like him?'

Li Xihe called out to stop him.

'Mm.'

'In that case... would you like to come to my place?'

'...'

In Ji Yue's memory, Li Xihe's island residence was a gloomy Chinese-style mansion with great red lanterns hanging high at the gate.

[Watch your backside.]

The System offered this warm reminder.

'No.' He said.

'Then where are you going?' Li Xihe sighed. 'On this island, it's actually very easy for him to find you.'

According to the novel's setting, the F4's power could drag a person up from the bottom of the sea.

Ji Yue had no interest in dealing with either of them.

Another new message arrived.

— Where are you right now?

[This is a manhunt!!]

Ji Yue walked up to the villa entrance. A lemon-yellow luxury car was parked sideways across it.

The uninvited guest — blond hair, dark complexion — stepped out of the car.

Ji Yue's expression was blank. He held Yuwen Qing's gaze for a few seconds.

Yuwen Qing swept a glance at Li Xihe trailing behind Ji Yue, and raised an eyebrow slightly. 'What's the meaning of this?'

Ji Yue assumed the question was directed at him.

He watched the blond figure close the distance step by step, about to collide with him — pure menace in every stride. Ji Yue stepped back half a pace and bumped into something; the person behind him caught him by the shoulders.

It was Li Xihe.

One in front, one behind — two men, with Ji Yue sandwiched between them.

They were pressed too close. He was forced to feel the heat of their bodies, the warmth of their breath.

[What do they think they're doing?! Making a sandwich?!] The System erupted in outrage.

Yuwen Qing's gaze was ice-cold. He looked at Ji Yue held in Li Xihe's arms, then cut his eyes toward Li Xihe. 'Playing together, are you?'

'We happened to run into each other on the way out.'

'What a coincidence.'

'Stop frightening Ji Yue — if he runs off somewhere you can't find him... he still has class tomorrow.' Li Xihe said with a smile. 'Did you come here specifically looking for him?'

'Ha? Of course not.'

'Let go.'

Ji Yue began to struggle again.

Li Xihe had no choice but to release him first. He had been about to say a few words of parting, but in the next instant the boy in his arms was gone in a flash — all he could see was a wisp of jet-black hair floating lightly under the streetlamp, vanishing around the corner.

Not even a goodnight.

Li Xihe waited until the lights inside the villa came on, then parked that green bicycle properly before finally turning to leave.

'What is your relationship with him?'

Yuwen Qing called out to him from behind.

On the other side of the villa, Ji Yue had already blocked Yuwen Qing and tossed his communicator aside.

He slept in his bedroom straight through until dawn.

[Today's mission: go to the beach to observe the sailing team's scholarship student, and watch the ambiguous dynamic between him and F4's He Yuanxi.]

'I'll go, but what they have is probably not the kind of feeling you're imagining.'

Ji Yue took a set of clothes from the wardrobe and studied himself in the mirror.

[For example?]

'They definitely have a secret they can't let anyone know.'

[?]

'And besides — Si Jing went deep-sea fishing the other day.'

Ji Yue had actually wanted to go too.

He thought to himself: once this mission was over and he left the island, he'd find somewhere by the sea for a proper holiday.

The sky was overcast today, almost no sunlight — as though the strong wind had scattered it all away. Ji Yue gazed from a distance at the sailboats out on the water. The wind hit him full in the face and forced his eyes shut; when he opened them again, a young face had appeared right in front of him.

'Are you here waiting for the scholarship student?'

The one speaking was Si Jing.

Ji Yue had noticed before that the people here almost never used Si Jing's name in private — they only called him 'the scholarship student,' as though that title were more of a symbol than a name.

If his own identity were ever discovered, these same people would probably only call him 'the great detective.'

'No, I just came to take some photos.'

Ji Yue shook his head.

'Don't stand here — the wind is lighter over that way.' He Yuanxi's voice carried a note of concern as he gestured for Ji Yue to walk in another direction.

Ji Yue assumed 'over that way' meant some other stretch of the beach, until they had walked so far that a white luxury car came into view beneath a cluster of trees in the distance.

'Come sit in the car for a while. The weather's bad today.'

He Yuanxi pulled open the passenger door for him, then turned to look back at Ji Yue. Seeing that Ji Yue had stopped and wasn't moving, he smiled and said, 'What's wrong — there's no monster inside.'

Ji Yue found himself wondering: what was the state of things between Si Jing and He Yuanxi right now?

He had seen them eating at the same table before; they seemed to get along well enough.

[That guy is out on the water all the time — went fishing just the day before yesterday. They probably see each other every single day.]

The moment Ji Yue settled into the passenger seat, he looked around for a moment. The interior was all dark upholstery, soft and unassuming. A jade peace-lock charm hung from the rearview mirror; he reached out and touched it.

The howling wind vanished the instant the door closed. The silence around them was absolute — so quiet he could almost hear the faint, barely-there sound of each other's breathing.

Ji Yue turned his face to the side. He Yuanxi was fiddling with the screen, pulling up today's news. The AI news broadcast filled the car: poor weather today, rain expected at five o'clock.

He Yuanxi not only looked perfectly at ease — he also asked Ji Yue if he wanted coffee.

Ji Yue asked him, 'Are you and Si Jing good friends?'

He Yuanxi's hands stilled. His gaze met Ji Yue's.

Such an ordinary question — yet He Yuanxi seemed to consider it for a moment before finally answering: 'Something like that?'

'Last time I asked you what you thought of him, is that still your answer?'

'All right, he's great.'

The words came out like a reluctant concession.

[Why does He Yuanxi act like every question is impossible to answer? It's not like it's costing him money!]

'Si Jing says they're good friends, so that's probably the extent of it.'

[Could it be that the F4 storyline has gone off the rails?] The System scratched its head. [What is it that's kept them at just friends?]

Ji Yue looked out the window at the churning grey waves in the distance, as though something murky were mixed into them. It was rather like how the original novel had today down as a bright sunny day, yet here it was overcast and about to rain — some things were simply beyond anyone's control.

All sorts of plot threads in this book had begun to deviate from the characters' established settings.

Had the original characters developed souls of their own?

[They always had souls — their own consciousness. Influenced by the plot, they fluctuate around their settings.]

Those fluctuations were rougher than a boat riding a wave.

Ji Yue suddenly thought of the client. Was that person somewhere on the campus too?

Had they noticed certain changes in the F4 that didn't match their impression — and sent him a new message because of it?

'I notice you often wear jewellery. Why not today — you don't wear rings?'

He Yuanxi's voice pulled him back to the present.

Ji Yue followed He Yuanxi's gaze and looked down at his own hands. His fingers were bare. 'I don't wear rings all that often.'

'Your hands would suit jewellery very well.'

'So would yours.'

[What a hollow thing to say!]

'Just something to say.'

[Still — He Yuanxi really does give off a tai chi vibe! Lures you into the car for no reason, then won't properly answer a single question!]

Ji Yue looked out the window again. Thinking about it from another angle, maybe He Yuanxi's personality was simply like this — which was why his storyline with Si Jing had never gone beyond good friends.

Out on the water, a pair of white sailboats drifted slowly — from this distance they looked like the toy boats he used to float in the bathtub as a child. He couldn't tell which one Si Jing was standing on.

Suddenly a raindrop struck the window glass. It had started to rain.

On the other side of the car, He Yuanxi was rummaging through the centre console. He lifted his arm, and his elbow grazed something cool and smooth without meaning to.

He turned to look. It was the long hair of the boy in the next seat, hanging down — that tied-back length of hair had slipped from his shoulder at some point, its ends resting against a pale knee.

The hem of his shorts was rolled up slightly, baring a sliver of thigh. The strands of hair were a silky, satin black, making the skin beside them look blindingly white.

He Yuanxi withdrew his hand and went on searching through the console, as though nothing had happened.

After a moment, he called out to Ji Yue: 'I don't really wear jewellery — but there's a ring in here I bought a while back. It's been sitting here, never worn.'

A delicate ring set with crushed diamonds, glimmering with a faint blue light — exquisite, and not the sort of thing He Yuanxi seemed like he would wear. The size was wrong too. Pinched between He Yuanxi's fingers, it did look like a piece of jewellery that had ended up in the wrong hands.

Ji Yue's gaze followed the ring. He Yuanxi was tucking it back into its velvet box — idly, carelessly — when the ring slipped from his fingertip and fell.

The next instant it was caught cleanly.

Ji Yue's hand was quick. He turned the ring over once in his palm, gave it no more than a glance, and set it on the armrest console.

He Yuanxi smiled slightly. 'I just realised this colour suits you better. Want it?'

'I don't want things other people don't want.'

'You really are hard to please. Shall we go to a jewellery shop?'

'No.'

Ji Yue couldn't understand what it meant to give gifts to someone you barely knew, and he had no desire to take anything from He Yuanxi.

The System was aghast: [Why does this guy want to give you a ring?! Something about this feels very off!]

By the time Ji Yue got out of the car, he still hadn't learned anything from He Yuanxi about Si Jing. The moment he pushed the door open, raindrops landed on his face — cold. He narrowed his eyes and looked out toward the sea. The sailboats had already come ashore; the weather must have driven them in.

He walked across the sand. Footsteps followed behind him, and an umbrella opened above his head.

[Acting like a personal manservant! Anyone who didn't know better would think he was courting you!]

[You haven't tailed him that many times — don't tell me it was love at first sight? Smile and the F4 will come to you?]

'I've never smiled at him.'

[Just a joke, ha! How could the plot possibly develop like that — if it did, we'd both be packing up and reporting back to headquarters!]

Ji Yue's steps came to a halt just beyond the reach of the surf. He Yuanxi's voice drifted up from behind him, unhurried: 'Your boyfriend has been busy with training lately. It seems like you two have barely seen each other.'

Boyfriend?

Ji Yue turned his face. The sea wind lifted his long hair, baring his whole pale face. Raindrops caught on his wet lashes, and a clear, unmistakable confusion surfaced in his blue eyes.

'What's wrong — do you two see each other often?' He Yuanxi laughed softly, and a trace of apology crept into his voice. 'Sorry, I shouldn't have said that.'

[What — you?! A boyfriend?! Si Jing?!!]

The System took several dozen seconds to parse what He Yuanxi had meant, then let out a startled cry.

[I don't understand — what are the F4 fantasising about day after day! Wait — he thinks you have a boyfriend and he's still trying to give you a ring? So he's angling to be the other man!]

Ji Yue had been about to say something when his communicator went off again.

Yuwen Qing, messaging from a different number.

— You're at the beach?

— Almost there.

[Is Yuwen Qing coming to feed you to the sharks?]

Ji Yue was silent. He looked up at the turbulent sky as the rain wet his face.

What was He Yuanxi thinking?

Was love in noble school fiction always this aberrant?

Damp and shadowed. Twisted. Ferocious.

He had only done what a detective was supposed to do — investigate movements, record and analyse, deepen his understanding... things of that nature.

What mattered now was that the way things were developing had already begun to interfere with the investigation.

'I'm tired.'

[It's not really the point, but — you actually understand what normal love looks like? That surprises me.]

[The leads in this noble school story really are all a little unhinged. But then, everyone has their own definition of love. You don't need to worry about what they're thinking.]

[As long as He Yuanxi behaves himself, nothing should go wrong.]

[Let's get moving — if Yuwen Qing shows up it'll only get more complicated.]

Seeing Ji Yue's cold, silent expression, He Yuanxi took the initiative and apologised: 'I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything about your boyfriend. I'm just... a little curious about you.'

'It's fine.'

Ji Yue finally spoke.

'Really?'

'Because you won't need to be curious anymore.'

The gust of wind that swept in carried with it the damp of rain and the faint trace of a scent — and a slap that had been building for a long time finally landed across He Yuanxi's face.

He Yuanxi's face was knocked to the side.

A moment later, he turned back and looked at Ji Yue.

'Does your hand hurt?'

He Yuanxi lowered his head, took hold of the right hand that had struck him, and brought it to his lips. He kissed Ji Yue's trembling fingers, his tongue tracing slowly across the back of the boy's hand.