16 | Exclusive from Jinjiang Literature City · 16
He will die.
Inside the Metropolitan Police Department, Kenji Hagiwara sneakily approached the leftover food bin and, after confirming that no one was watching, dumped all the bento boxes made by Yomi Rikawa into it.
"I'm sorry, soft bread," he said, staring at the delicate bento box that had only been partially eaten, his face full of sorrow. "My affection for you isn't enough to justify my self-torture..."
No, think about it carefully. Even if he loves soft bread very much, and even if he's married and has children, he still can't bring himself to eat this bento box.
Even the two SWAT aces, who were usually able to finish their meals, couldn't clean their food this time, even though it was a regular lunch set meal sold in the Metropolitan Police Department cafeteria. There was no way around it; Yomi's bento was just too lethal. Even a small bite sent a jolt of flavor through their taste buds, spreading from their tongues down their esophagus to their stomachs. Who would have thought that a delicate bento, comparable to a work of art, so tempting to the eye, could cause Kenji Hagiwara's pupils to dilate? Even the usually composed Jinpei Matsuda was left with a tingling sensation on his scalp, as if someone had struck his skull with a hammer.
Others' calligraphy is so profound it penetrates the wood, while Lai Chuan Huang Quan's cooking is so profound it penetrates the tongue. Even if you put down your chopsticks and gulp down three liters of water, the shocking taste will have already seeped into every cell of your tongue, and even the most delicious food will start to taste strange when fed to you.
The two aces of the mobile squad had no doubt that if they ate all the bento boxes, they could both take sick leave that afternoon and go straight to the ICU at Beika Hospital.
The flash went off, and Matsuda Jinpei let out a mocking snort. With one hand in his pocket, he took a picture of Hagiwara Kenji throwing away his bento box with his phone. His arrogant eyes revealed a haggard look, as if he had been poisoned by food: "You actually threw away the bento box that Raikawa made for you like garbage. I'm going to send it to her."
Kenji Hagiwara glanced at Jinpei Matsuda, looking indifferent: "You don't even know Soft Bread's phone number."
Matsuda Jinpei: "But I know where she lives. I can just show it to her next time we meet."
Kenji Hagiwara paused in his work of packing up the lunchboxes, frowned, and smiled threateningly, "Jinpei, I advise you to be kind!"
"Hmph, how dare you advise me to be kind?" Matsuda Jinpei scoffed, giving him a provocative look. "You really know how to trick me into eating this bento box."
Kenji Hagiwara said matter-of-factly, "After all, we're good brothers. It's only natural to share the good times and the bad."
"Huh? Believe me or not, I'll beat you up."
"Active-duty police officer assaults colleague of the same rank?"
The two, who had grown up together, bickered and left the Metropolitan Police Department cafeteria side by side. Meanwhile, Lai Chuan Huang Quan, whom they had been discussing, had changed into a clean new dress and was strolling along the street wearing large sunglasses that covered half of her face.
The Time and Space Administration has always been stingy with resources when allocating them to lower-level employees. Fortunately, Lai Chuan Huang Quan had a good relationship with the administrator, and when she was demoted to C-rank, the administrator retained the map query function for mission objectives for her. For someone who is not good at gathering intelligence, a map that can display the coordinates of the person being rescued in real time is more important than anything else.
Yomi Lai carefully reviewed the list of those receiving aid, and currently only Matsuda Jinpei and Morofushi Kagemitsu were in Tokyo. Before she could time-travel, she needed to thoroughly study these two recipients.
Thinking this, she took out her phone and called one of the only two contacts in her address book. Due to the influence of Romanized pronunciation, Kenji Hagiwara's name had been pushed off the top spot by Tooru Amuro. The phone had only rung twice when the countdown to the call being answered began to flash on the screen, and Kenji Hagiwara's voice was as deep and pleasant as ever.
Kenji Hagiwara was somewhat surprised; this was the first time Soft Bread had called him. He had initially assumed that the relationship between him and Yomi would likely be one-sided, with him going to see her. His heart skipped a beat, and he gripped his phone with a slightly silly smile. However, the joy was quickly overshadowed by worry, vanishing without a trace.
"Soft bread, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Otherwise, why would I suddenly call him?
"No, I'm perfectly fine. I'm out shopping right now."
"I see," Kenji Hagiwara said, secretly relieved to learn that Yomi Laichuan hadn't called him because she was unwell. He then put on a bright smile again. "Have fun out there. I have to work overtime today, but I'll come to see you tonight and bring you some delicious barbecue."
As soon as he finished speaking, Kenji Hagiwara caught a glimpse of Jinpei Matsuda, sitting opposite him, raising an eyebrow and giving him a teasing look. The other team members around them also looked on with gossip in their eyes, as if they had just tasted some hot melon. Ignoring the intense gazes from all sides, Kenji Hagiwara continued, "I'll be off in a few days, come shopping with me, and I'll get you some winter clothes while I'm at it... Hmm, it's a deal then... Okay, bye-bye~"
After hanging up the phone, Kenji Hagiwara looked at his teammates with a helpless expression: "Don't overthink it, it's not what you think." Even though Japan is a relatively open country when it comes to "sex," he didn't intend to do anything to Soft Bread so soon.
"And it's one thing for others to think that way, but even you, Kojinpei, are looking at me with that kind of expression."
“No,” Matsuda Jinpei stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his face full of disgust. “I just think you’re an idiot. What’s so great about being in love? I don’t even know what you like about her.”
"It was probably love at first sight, plus the blessing of being saved," Kenji Hagiwara leaned back in his seat, his fingers interlaced under his head. "In short, I have a strong liking for soft bread."
“Ha,” Matsuda Jinpei forced out a laugh filled with disbelief, “Hagi, you know perfectly well that we all think she’s special.”
"But she doesn't mean us any harm, and she's quite lovely. Whatever the reason, if you like her, just go for it. I'm not like you; I don't want to miss out on someone I like."
Matsuda Jinpei's eyes narrowed into crescents as he glanced sideways at Hagiwara, about to say something, when Hagiwara's phone rang again.
“Soft Bread is attacking again,” Kenji Hagiwara said, squinting and beaming with joy as a pink flower fluttered from his head. “Hey, Soft Bread, what’s up?”
"Honestly," the woman on the other end of the phone muttered, complaining, "It's all your fault. You kept using sweet talk and made me almost forget about the important matter."
"Is this serious business?"
“Hmm,” Raikawa Yomi said calmly, but her words, delivered slowly, were like a heavy punch, almost knocking Hagiwara Kenji off balance: “Give me Matsuda Jinpei’s contact information right away.”
Hagiwara Kenji:...?
"Hey, soft bread!" Kenji Hagiwara almost exploded on the spot. He frowned and smiled, full of bitterness but nowhere to vent it, extremely annoyed: "You called here specifically just to get Jinpei's phone number?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan was completely bewildered: "Otherwise what?"
Matsuda Jinpei is second on the relief list. Although the original cause of "avenging Hagiwara" no longer exists, Matsuda Jinpei is still on the death list. Compared to that elusive fake boyfriend, Morofushi Kagemitsu, dealing with Matsuda Jinpei first is definitely the right approach.
But the person on the other end of the phone didn't think so.
Kenji Hagiwara paused for a moment, then rose and left the office under Jinpei Matsuda's thoughtful gaze. Avoiding the crowd, Hagiwara hid alone in an empty corridor. He lowered his gaze to the sickly, yellowing green plants by the window and muttered, "Soft Bread, why did you need Jinpei's phone call?"
While Kenji Hagiwara was slightly less adept at reasoning than Jinpei Matsuda, his sensitivity to emotional shifts was unparalleled. Before graduation, Instructor Onizuka even tried to push Hagiwara into the Public Security Bureau, praising him as a master of intelligence gathering and certain he could secure the top intelligence-gathering position within the Bureau.
Rather than the assumption that soft bread falls for Matsuda Jinpei, Kenji Hagiwara prefers to believe in another possibility.
His Adam's apple bobbed back and forth, and when he tried to speak again, Kenji Hagiwara realized his voice was incredibly hoarse. The sound was stuck deep in his throat, and his vocal cords made a rough, sandpaper-like sound as they rubbed together.
He said, "Soft bread, tell me, is Xiaozhenping in danger?"
"Is Jinpei...?" His throat tightened, and Hagiwara Kenji couldn't utter another word, but both people on the other end of the phone knew the rest of his silent sentence.
The long silence seemed to freeze the air. Yomi's sigh was so clear, echoing in Kenji Hagiwara's ears and pounding against his heart. She said, "Yes, Jinpei Matsuda will die."
His heart clenched instantly. The man, who had only realized he had nearly died after the bomb disposal operation was over, was suffocating. His eyes were wide open, and it took him a long time to finally take a deep breath of fresh air.
“Soft bread, I don’t want Jinpei to die,” Kenji Hagiwara said wearily, with a hint of bewilderment in his voice. “You will help me, right? Just like you saved me, let’s save Jinpei together.”
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