Detective at Noble Male Academy, Part 5

05

[Please complete today's original plot mission: tail Yuwen Qing.]

Tonight, the detective slipped into the polo grounds.

In Ji Yue's experience, a stalker either hides inside a building or loses himself in a crowd — and tonight there happened to be a polo match, so he melted into one.

Yuwen Qing was the strangest of the F4, unapproachable and impossible to pin down.

The crowd surged around him. Ji Yue took a seat in the back rows, tugged his cap brim down just slightly, and lifted his eyes to study Yuwen Qing on the field — unhurried, giving nothing away.

Blond hair, dark skin, sharp features, a pair of deep-set green eyes. He sat his horse with ease; he liked horses and sport, was a member of the rowing team, and came from a family steeped in military and political power — which meant almost everyone treated him with warm, careful deference.

[Word is that Yuwen Qing throws people he dislikes into the sea — he has his own boat — and fishes them out half a day later. That might just be the 'departure' method waiting for you when you eventually leave the island.]

As the match drew toward its end, a wave of cheering and noise broke out, and many people surged forward to speak with Yuwen Qing.

The crowd thinned and dispersed. Ji Yue moved with it like water flowing away — but he did not leave the polo grounds. He found a spot and went still.

In the distance, a few people were laughing and talking. The blond young man held the reins of a white horse, surrounded by them.

'Who's there?'

One of them noticed there was still someone farther off.

Just a shadow, it seemed.

No one gave it another thought. After a while, the lights in the rest area came on, and the blond young man shrugged on a trench coat and walked out. The polo grounds were not far from where he lived.

An island estate — a sprawling mansion, its courtyards deep and layered, with the occasional bark of a dog drifting through.

A dog?

Ji Yue was pressed behind a tree trunk, deep in the darkness of the night, when an enormous golden retriever came barreling toward him with all four legs flailing wildly.

It was too dark — at first glance it looked like a monster that had materialized out of thin air.

[Oh no, oh no — F2's dog has found you!]

The last scrap of memory Ji Yue had about dealing with animals: don't turn and run — that only makes a dog more excited to give chase.

Please don't bite me.

He stood rigid where he was. The golden retriever charged up and began bounding in circles around him, huffing and puffing.

Like it was hunting him. Truly enough.

Ji Yue gripped his backpack strap and took one careful step back.

The moon. Dark clouds. Tree shadows. The golden retriever's wet nose.

In the dim, moon-blurred field of vision, a face of mixed European descent appeared — dark skin and pale gold hair, like a high-contrast film photograph.

Yuwen Qing.

----------

When he came to again, it was already the next day.

Ji Yue had dreamed of electric sheep. Half-asleep, he reached out and fumbled at the bedside until his hand found his communicator and he checked the time.

Dizzy…

Before him was an unfamiliar white room and an unfamiliar bed.

'Sweetheart, how are you feeling? Dizzy, nauseous, queasy, no strength in your limbs, can't face school — and maybe a little traumatized on top of it all?' Someone leaned in close to look at his face, voice soft and low. 'Make him pay you more. If you're short on money, squeeze him for a big one.'

'……'

That was a strange thing to say.

His mind was still foggy. He made out, vaguely, the face of a young doctor leaning close — a gentle, pleasant-looking face, gold wire-rimmed glasses, a black fitted turtleneck beneath a white coat, and a long necklace with a cross pendant.

'You're awake?'

The doctor drew an electronic stylus from his breast pocket and wrote something on the screen.

'Doctor, I…'

'You're fine — just low blood sugar. Also, I'm not a doctor.'

'Then who are you?'

'A passing medical student.'

He smiled with genuine delight.

Ji Yue glanced at the name tag on his chest. The department was written in the sprawling cursive of the medical school; the name read: Li Xihé.

So he was F3.

Ji Yue thought to take a photo for the record. He reached for his communicator on the bedside table, then pulled open the drawer — no backpack.

The backpack that held part of the dossier on Yuwen Qing.

Had he left it in the woods, or had someone…taken it?

Ji Yue threw off the covers and got out of bed at once. 'Did you see my backpack?'

'I don't know — was there anything valuable inside?' Li Xihé had the air of someone about to leave, but for some reason turned back to look. 'What's your name? What's your major?'

At that moment the real doctor pushed through the door — a middle-aged man with a road-worn look about him. His diagnosis for Ji Yue was much the same as what had already been said. He also informed Ji Yue that this was not a hospital; it was F2's residence.

Ji Yue listened to the doctor's instructions with only half his attention, nodding now and then. The moment the doctor left, he pulled out the IV needle.

Because he had never officially met Yuwen Qing, Ji Yue had only been able to gather information on him privately. In the backpack were photographs the photography club had taken of Yuwen Qing at various events — the most recent from the summer yacht school championship, where he faced the camera holding up his medal — along with a few other things.

The latest photograph he had obtained was a solo shot of Yuwen Qing on horseback, taken from an odd angle that looked almost like a candid — a throwaway frame from the photography club, no one knew who had taken it.

'Is there something you'd like to tell me? Hmm — really nothing?' Li Xihé had made a show of leaving, but now he found a chair and settled into it at an unhurried pace, right at the bedside. A smiling face drew close to Ji Yue's field of vision; the long cross necklace swayed, and the swaying made his head swim.

'Think again.' F3 was still smiling, his tone as gentle as someone coaxing a cat — yet as relentlessly persistent as a debt collector.

Ji Yue had no idea what he meant. He had just woken up, his mind still thick with sleep. Had he done something while he was unconscious?

To his left was a floor-to-ceiling window and an armchair. The chair legs let out a sharp scrape against the floor — someone was dragging a chair to the bedside and sitting down.

…So there was another person in the room.

It was Yuwen Qing — the dark-skinned, blond young man, dressed lightly, a V-neck that left a stretch of firm chest exposed. He leaned back against the chair, his eyes fixed on Ji Yue with an unreadable expression, like a predator sizing up its prey.

The two of them sat on either side of him, and neither offered any explanation.

'I'll be going.' Ji Yue had no desire to deal with either of them today. He threw back the covers and went to find his shoes on his own.

'Why did you turn up here in the middle of the night?' Yuwen Qing's voice came from beside him. The young man had rested one hand on the back of the chair and was watching Ji Yue's face with a narrow look.

Yuwen Qing's tone held not a shred of courtesy, yet it was cut from the same cloth as Li Xihé's — both of them waiting for him to confess something on his own.

The two of them, one on each side, watched the bedside. The beautiful young man they had brought back kept his head down, doing up his buttons on his own, climbing out of bed, one slipper kicked off somewhere in the distance — he went on listlessly fastening the last button, paying the two young men beside him no mind whatsoever. Long hair, pale skin, slight and stubborn, blue eyes like a sick cat's — and yet he was not the least bit afraid of people. When he answered, his voice did not waver at all:

'None of your business. Goodbye.'

Questions that worked against him were questions Ji Yue simply did not answer.

-------

[Sounds like they're already suspicious of you.] the System said. [You showed up at his doorstep in the middle of the night and got chased by a dog — he probably wants to know what you were doing. Could the backpack be with him too?]

'I hate dogs.'

Ji Yue hurled a stone into the lake with considerable force.

'Ji Yue, want to grab a meal?'

A classmate from the group project sent a voice message.

Ji Yue came back to himself. 'Which restaurant?'

'Let's skip that Restaurant from last time — somewhere farther away.' The other boy laughed with a hint of complaint. 'Somewhere without a certain top student?'

'You don't like him?'

'Can't say I dislike him, but…' The boy drew the word out, then changed the subject. 'How's your midterm presentation coming along?'

'Not bad.'

'The top student asked me today — how come you didn't show up for morning class?'

Why was the top student asking about him?

Ji Yue had been busy with assignments and hadn't seen him all day. No idea what he was up to.

The afternoon session was Introduction to Religion and Art, with the grand theme 'Folk Art and Religion of the Lower City' — classrooms were open during the presentation period.

By afternoon, the students filling the back rows of the large lecture hall had multiplied like mushrooms after rain, packed in tight.

All of them there for… the campus belle.

A single course presentation, and the room was packed to the rafters.

[The top student and F3 Li Xihé have appeared in the same frame.]

[Could it be a date? Perfect! Quick, get a photo!!]

--------

BBS Forum…

HOT POSTS

Topic: What a flawless presentation… Campus belle, campus belle, we're all rooting for you!

0L: Can we maybe have a little less chaos at the actual event?

1L: I have been utterly bewitched by the campus belle!

2L: Campus belle radiating brilliance… campus belle brimming with talent… love him even more (fire emoji) (tongue emoji)

3L: Today's white button-down look is so pure, the little accessories are such a thoughtful touch — the cool, art-department junior who takes his studies seriously (heart eyes) (heart eyes) (tongue emoji)

4L: So all of this was from his own fieldwork in the Lower City? Photos that have never been seen publicly — it must have taken so much effort to compile everything. There are more local deities in the Lower City than you can count.

5L: A campus belle who loves learning is so captivating… that 'I do things my own way' personality is magnetic too

6L: Hold on — Yan Min is one thing, but did nobody notice that Li Xihé showed up in the religion and art classroom?

7L: Li Xihé doesn't even study art — what's he doing there

8L: Very unhappy that he likes art too

9L: I've never heard of those two having any connection — stay away from the campus belle! (angry emoji)

10L: Rational discussion — who was the campus belle looking at in that moment? [image]

11L: The campus belle's speech paused right here, and after that he kept looking in this direction

12L: …………No, campus belle, please don't pay attention to this person

13L: Wait, wasn't he tailing Yuwen Qing last night? Yuwen Qing knows too…

14L: Don't tell me he's taken an interest in Li Xihé as well (biting handkerchief emoji)

15L: Campus belle's wandering affections — from the top student to Yan Min to Yuwen Qing to Li Xihé??

21L: Different angle: what if they all owe the campus belle money?

22L: Is it a phase with each of them, or… all at the same time?

23L: Oh my god… he's playing with fire…………

-----

'They weren't sitting together.'

Back in the dormitory, Ji Yue exported the day's footage and watched it through at double speed.

F3 Li Xihé had been seated in the middle of the classroom.

Si Jing was toward the back, shoulder to shoulder with a cluster of others.

Their gazes had never crossed. No conversation. When the session ended, they left in opposite directions.

It didn't look like a date. It looked more like two strangers.

Ji Yue showered in the bathroom, then lay down on the bed and had no desire to move again. His optical terminal buzzed with all manner of messages — plenty of idle chatter from classmates, and a stream of inscrutable emoji from various people.

Yan Min had sent him a photograph — one he had taken from the audience today.

Ji Yue sent a perfunctory reply: [Mm-hm.]

Ji Yue thought of the client's messages.

That person had only made contact at the time of the commission — no check-ins on progress, no additional demands.

Who exactly was the client, and what did they want investigated? Was it really just a forced-love scenario?

Ji Yue thought it over, then put his earphones back in.

Somewhere between sleep and waking, he heard a heavy rain beating against the window, and someone knocking at the door.

He opened the door with bleary eyes. Outside, of all people, was Si Jing.

The rain that night was even heavier than the day Yi Ping had gone to beg for money. Si Jing was soaked through to the skin, as pitiful as a lost dog.

'Sorry — could I shelter from the rain here?' he asked quietly.