·31｜Exclusive from Jinjiang·31

Sweet cakes and soft bread.

A few guests occasionally passed by in the long corridor. Kenji Hagiwara turned the doorknob and pushed open the door to his studio apartment.

As soon as he entered the entrance hall, a sob clearly reached his ears.

The familiar voice startled Kenji Hagiwara. He didn't bother to take off his dusty leather shoes and strode straight into the room.

The room, with its curtains drawn, was dark and let in no light. Lai Chuan Huang Quan didn't turn on the light; she sat curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed. Her long, soft, slightly wavy hair fell from her shoulders, obscuring her tear-stained face.

"Soft bread," Kenji Hagiwara said with a hint of panic as he cautiously approached the woman who was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees and crying. "What's wrong? Who bullied you?"

But Lai Chuan Huang Quan ignored him; she just kept crying and curled her body into a ball.

"Soft bread?"

Kenji Hagiwara knelt down in front of Yomi Laichuan and reached out to brush away the long hair that had fallen across her forehead. He put his arm around Yomi Laichuan's shoulder and pulled the crying little girl into his embrace: "What wronged you? Tell me, and I'll help you get justice."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan leaned against Hagiwara and was pulled into his arms. She buried her head and sobbed silently, ignoring Hagiwara Kenji's attempts to comfort her.

The second hand spun round and round on the dial, and each sob felt like a needle piercing Kenji Hagiwara's heart.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan sobbed softly, suppressing all the painful emotions in his chest, which squeezed his heart.

But no matter how much a balloon inflates, there is always a limit to its capacity. Once that limit is exceeded, the balloon will burst and scatter into countless fragments.

Yomi Laichuan leaned on Kenji Hagiwara, her sobs growing louder. Long-suppressed emotions found an outlet, flowing down like a breached dam.

Her fingers dug into her arm flesh, leaving crescent-shaped marks, and her toes curled inward, arching her feet high. Lai Chuan Huang Quan's tightly clenched emotions finally broke down, and she cried terribly, tilting her head back and wiping her tears and snot haphazardly with her sleeve.

Yomi Lai looked up at Kenji Hagiwara. Large teardrops still clung to her eyelashes, teetering on the verge of falling. Her sky-blue eyes reflected the layout of the room, but not the silhouette of Kenji Hagiwara, who was standing almost within reach.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan parted her lips, revealing several bloody cracks on her lips, and her voice trembled as she said, "Liar."

Those two short words are filled with despair.

The next moment, the dream ended.

Kenji Hagiwara jolted awake, his eyes met by the dimly lit ceiling of the police dormitory. The ticking of the alarm clock echoed in his ears, and occasionally, colleagues who had just finished their night shifts would walk past the door, leaving behind a trail of footsteps.

Kenji Hagiwara sat up in bed, ruffling his long hair, a sudden chill creeping over him. His heart pounded, and unease grew like wildly spreading vines.

I want to see soft bread.

Right now.

Kenji Hagiwara glanced at his phone; the hour hand had barely climbed past five. At this hour, that silly girl was probably fast asleep, snuggled in her blanket, but he desperately wanted to see her.

After changing into a clean suit, Kenji Hagiwara bought a bunch of snacks from a 24-hour convenience store and waited outside the bachelor apartment early. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, with a bag full of bear-shaped cookies at his feet.

He longed to see the soft bread immediately, yet feared disturbing her peaceful sleep.

A dim, yellow light streamed down from above as Kenji Hagiwara leaned alone against the pale wall. A cigarette glowed crimson at his lips, wisps of smoke rising from it. He fiddled with his phone, scrolling through trending news, his expression somber, like an autumn leaf about to fall in the wind.

Kenji Hagiwara stood outside the door for a long time, until the moon was bright in the east and his fingers were a little stiff from the cold winter, before he composed himself and knocked on the door.

"Soft bread, wake up! I bought you lots and lots of snacks."

When Lai Chuan Huang Quan opened the door for him, a single stray hair still stuck up on her forehead. She leaned against the doorframe with one hand, her face scrunched up as if she hadn't woken up yet, and her half-closed eyes were misty with tears.

"You damn officer, you're so annoying, waking me up so early."

“It’s getting late,” Kenji Hagiwara said with a smile, ruffling Yomi Rikawa’s bangs even more. “If we don’t hurry up and get going, I’ll be late for work.”

The feel under my palm is wonderful, like petting a soft-furred puppy. I love it.

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Softie, want to come to work with me?"

The woman in front of him paused in rubbing her eyes. She groggily looked up, her wet eyes, still wet from just waking up, looking innocent and aggrieved.

"Hmm?" Lai Chuan Huang Quan squeezed out a soft, questioning monosyllable from his throat; "Going to work?"

"Oh right, come to work with me."

Lai Chuan Huang Quan tilted her head, staring intently at Hagiwara Kenji. After a moment of silence, she finally snapped out of her daze.

Then she rejected Kenji Hagiwara without hesitation.

"I don't want to, you big idiot!"

Yomi Laichuan kicked Kenji Hagiwara's trouser leg hard, then crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks in anger.

Half a footprint was left on his freshly washed suit trousers, but instead of being annoyed, Kenji Hagiwara relaxed his brow and smiled. He ruffled Yomi's hair, withdrawing his hand just in time before the other became angry.

"I'm going to work now, you can play at home by yourself."

His heart, which had been pounding since being awakened by a nightmare, was filled with warmth as the air blew in. As he got into the car, Kenji Hagiwara glanced at the gray footprints on his trousers and couldn't help but chuckle. He muttered to himself, "What an idiot..."

A man who always pays attention to his personal image suddenly wandering around with a footprint on his body is hard for the other officers in the SWAT team to miss.

"—Did you see that?! The captain's pant leg!"

"That footprint...it's a woman's, isn't it? The captain didn't even wipe it away!"

"I bet 50,000 that it was the little witch who stepped on it!"

"—The captain just changed into this suit today, right? He wasn't wearing this yesterday when he left work. So the question is, when were the footprints made?"

"Oh, they must be living together! I stepped on it when I woke up this morning!"

"But the captain seemed to have gone back to the police barracks last night, and he brought the person back with him!?"

—Wow, that's exciting!!

The group chat was flooded with messages, but the main office of the mobile unit was completely silent. The team members sat upright, their backs straight. They were glued to their phones, heads down, a barely suppressed smirk playing on their lips. Their eyes gleamed with a gossipy, almost elusive light.

The more serious and earnest they appear on the surface, the louder the screams they feel inside.

Finally, the person being discussed couldn't hold back any longer and sent a message in the group:

"Hey, hey, the more you guys guess, the more outrageous it gets. Softie hasn't even agreed to be my girlfriend yet."

"..."

"..."

The squad fell into a deathly silence. Everyone looked at each other, and no one spoke.

With Captain Hagiwara acting like this, how can they possibly enjoy watching the drama unfold?

The next second, Kenji Hagiwara received the last message in the group chat: "You have been kicked out of the group chat."

Hagiwara Kenji:...? ?

Matsuda Jinpei, delighted to see his childhood friend humiliated, laughed: "Hahahaha!"

He held his phone, tilted his head back, and laughed without restraint, his deep voice echoing throughout the office. He was thoroughly enjoying this gossip.

Kenji Hagiwara, who simultaneously holds the titles of "Ace of the Mobile Unit" and "Most Popular Person in the Metropolitan Police Department," finally became the laughingstock of the Mobile Unit on this day.

But Kenji Hagiwara didn't care at all, and even seemed to enjoy it.

As soon as the clock struck the end of the workday, Kenji Hagiwara grabbed his coat from the back of his chair and, not wanting to linger for even a second, drove straight to his studio apartment.

Kenji Hagiwara, carrying a mango cake he had just bought, knocked on the door for a long time, but no one answered his phone. After frowning and hesitating for a moment, he decided to use his spare key to open the door and go inside.

As Kenji Hagiwara casually closed the door and took off his shoes, a figure suddenly appeared in the air.

The woman's fluttering skirt was reflected in her trembling, contracting purple eyes. Kenji Hagiwara dropped what he was holding, took a few steps, and caught Raikawa Yomi in his arms just before she fell.

The cake rolled out of the bag, the white cream smearing all over the transparent shell, and the fresh mango on top of the cake was scattered everywhere.

But Kenji Hagiwara caught his soft bread.

He tilted his head towards the person in his arms, his eyes half-closed, and gave a gentle smile that could melt the moonlight: "Hi, softie, welcome home~"

The person in his arms curled up, staring straight into his eyes.

Her clear eyes reflected Kenji Hagiwara's smiling face. Yomi Rikawa stared at the man's face so close to hers, momentarily lost in thought. A blush crept up her neck and onto her cheeks. She shifted her body, shrank her neck, and slowly turned her gaze away.

As Kenji Hagiwara gently set her down, Yomi Laichuan darted away with a whoosh. She stood far away from Hagiwara, her ears bright red, and turned her head away, not daring to look at him, wishing she could sever all ties with him.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan's self-deceiving behavior amused Hagiwara Kenji, who chuckled and bent down to pick up the cake from the ground: "Oh no, it's completely unusable now."

He stuffed the wrecked cake into the refrigerator and laughed, "I'll take care of this broken one. Wait a minute, I'll go buy you a new soft bread."

After saying that, Kenji Hagiwara turned to leave, but someone grabbed his hand.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan stared intently at the floor with her head down, her hands gripping Hagiwara Kenji's long, slender fingers, their fingertips intertwined.

The outstretched finger represents both tentative exploration and shyness, but also the impulsiveness and trepidation of a young girl in the throes of first love.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan only gently tugged at Hagiwara Kenji's fingertips, not daring to hold them any longer. She stammered for a long time, her face turning red with shyness.

Kenji Hagiwara, of course, noticed Yomi's ears, which were so red they looked like they could bleed. He smiled, leaned down, and whispered in Yomi's ear, "What's wrong?"

Lai Chuan Huang Quan tugged at Hagiwara Kenji, her eyes darting left and right, unable to utter a single word for a long time. After a long while, she swallowed and whispered in a voice barely above a whisper, "No need to buy again, just eat the one you just bought."

Kenji Hagiwara's hard knuckles were held in Yomi Laichuan's hand, and an invisible fireball burned along the skin where it was pressed against his skin all the way to his blood vessels.

My heart was pounding in my ears, and my breathing was slowed down.

Kenji Hagiwara silently gazed at the woman before him, her head bowed, her Adam's apple bobbing. He curled his fingers and grasped her fingertips in return.

His vocal cords vibrated, and he heard himself whisper "okay."

...

A layer of mango sandwiched between the sweet, cool cake base was cut by Kenji Hagiwara with a fork. He put the cake into his mouth, but his gaze secretly drifted to the woman sitting next to him.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan used another plastic fork to pick up a large piece of cake, and with a loud "whoosh," stuffed her mouth full. Her face was flushed, and her almond-shaped eyes sparkled. As she swallowed the cake, Lai Chuan Huang Quan cupped her face in one hand, revealing an expression of enjoyment, so happy that even the background seemed filled with blooming flowers.

Kenji Hagiwara softened his gaze, a sweet smile playing on his lips. He deliberately slowed his eating pace, and under the guise of cutting the cake, he subtly pushed a piece of it towards Yomi Raikawa.

He smiled and asked, "Where did you go today? Tell me."

Kenji Hagiwara had been planning to listen to Soft Bread share her daily life, but the little woman beside him suddenly stopped picking out a cake, frowned, and frowned.

Lai Chuan Huang Quan threw down her fork and turned to face Hagiwara Kenji. She crossed her arms and said angrily, "Kenji, you have no idea what I did today. I ran into a jerk. He followed me, confiscated my phone, and even wanted me to work for him for free!"

"Huh? That's really going too far," Kenji Hagiwara picked up a piece of mango with his fork and held it to Yomi Raikawa's lips. "Here, ah... I was wondering why Soft Bread wasn't answering my calls. Turns out she was being bullied. Did you call the police?"

Lai Chuan Huang Quan opened her mouth and ate the mango that Hagiwara fed her. As she chewed, she said, "That bastard is a cop."

Kenji Hagiwara was somewhat surprised: "He's a policeman? Do you know which department he's in? I'll take you to file a complaint against him."

"Maybe not, that guy doesn't belong to the Metropolitan Police Department." Lai Chuan Huang Quan said angrily, "Listen to me, Kenji, that pervert who touched my back last time, he was sent by this guy! Humph, he's a complete scumbag of the police department, what a waste of his handsome face!"

Police Department...

Kenji Hagiwara knew that the National Police Agency often made mistakes in its operations, and that they might have already noticed Yomi's unusual behavior and had sent someone to investigate.

But Kenji Hagiwara still laughed and chimed in, "Yes, scum of the National Police Agency!"

He coaxed Raikawa Yomi for a while, feeding her bite by bite of the mango cake he had bought, before standing up and saying, "The Mobile Squad is having a dinner party tonight. Do you want to come with me? It's delicious barbecue. Matsuda Jinpei and I will sit at a separate table."

Yomi Laichuan initially hesitated, but after hearing the second half of Hagiwara's sentence, her eyes lit up instantly: "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Let's go then."

"Wait a minute, I need to take a bag of cookies to eat on the way!"

"Um."

Kenji Hagiwara picked up his suit jacket from the sofa and put it on. After changing his shoes, he stood quietly in the entryway with his hands in his pockets, neither urging nor getting annoyed, watching Yomi Rikawa rummage through the cabinet for bear-shaped cookies.

"Found it! My favorite chocolate flavor!"

The next second, Lai Chuan Huang Quan, wearing white socks, ran up to Hagiwara Kenji. She grabbed Hagiwara Kenji's wrist and pulled his hand out of his pocket.

She hooked her fingers around the edge of Kenji Hagiwara's pocket, grabbed a handful of hard candy, and stuffed it into his pocket, acting as if she were one of his own.

Kenji Hagiwara was stunned for a moment, then, after realizing what was happening, he raised an eyebrow at Yomi Yorikawa and smiled mockingly.

"What does it matter? My skirt doesn't have pockets."

"And where's your little crossbody bag?"

"It's for holding bear-shaped cookies!"

Justified and confident.

Kenji Hagiwara let out a soft hum through his nose, both amused and annoyed: "Then where should I put my hands?"

“Hmm,” Raikawa Yomi said, turning her head away silently with her hands behind her back. She hesitated for a moment, then quickly glanced at Hagiwara before looking away again: “Who cares about you…”

Kenji Hagiwara raised an eyebrow, feigning anger: "Hmm?"

"Alright, alright," a blush crept onto her cheeks again, and Raikawa Yomi slipped on her little leather shoes and jumped down the steps from the entrance. She hid behind Hagiwara Kenji, pushing his back and urging him to go outside: "Let's hurry up and eat some barbecue, or the others will get impatient."

[Author's Note]