·36｜Exclusive to Jinjiang·36
I don't want to date a jerk.
The phone had barely vibrated once when the man, who was already tying his bow tie, swiped the screen to turn off the alarm.
Kenji Hagiwara sat in the entryway, polishing his black leather shoes until they gleamed with shoe polish using a handkerchief. He hummed a popular love song, his eyes full of smiles.
A box of high-end chocolates was placed in the back seat of a white sedan. It was wrapped in gold foil and arranged in the shape of a heart, with two long, flowing red ribbons hanging down from it.
With his fingers hooked around his bow tie, his sexy Adam's apple bobbed up and down. As Kenji Hagiwara adjusted the car's rearview mirror, he tilted his head back and carefully examined his appearance through the small lens.
He got up early today to iron the most expensive suit in his wardrobe.
"I also need to order a bouquet of roses..."
My heart is restless inside my chest. I went to bed very late last night, but I woke up early this morning due to the stimulation of my hormones.
Kenji Hagiwara had to be on duty in the morning, so he wouldn't have time to go find the soft bread until the afternoon. Besides, based on his understanding of Yomi Laichuan, he was sure she was sleeping in late in the morning.
Kenji Hagiwara could even picture Yomi Yorikawa looking dazed as she opened the door for him after he woke her up.
When Kenji Hagiwara appeared in the Mobile Unit carrying a box of chocolates, the team members quickly sensed a hint of ambiguity in his attire.
—Big news! The captain took the afternoon off!
"I bet 10,000 yen, the captain is going on a date with the little witch today!"
"Ah, the captain's grinning like an idiot. Ugh, that smile is so irritating."
"—It's pink bubbles that smell sour! The captain's bubbling with pink bubbles!"
The Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit officers were glued to their phones, grumbling incessantly. Kenji Hagiwara, the target of their complaints, had been kicked out of the group chat long ago, but his keen observation skills allowed him to guess what his unreliable subordinates were discussing.
He rested his chin on his hand, glanced around the large office, and then interrupted the team members' whispers: "Have you seen Jinpei?"
The squad members exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
“That’s strange,” Kenji Hagiwara frowned. “Jinpei is never late.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Matsuda Jinpei appeared at the entrance of the SWAT team, carrying his suit jacket.
His deep eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. Matsuda Jinpei hunched over and yawned widely. He had messy curly hair, and the collar of his white shirt was turned up halfway, revealing a thin tie underneath.
Kenji Hagiwara: "That's really rare, Jinpei, you're actually late."
Until yesterday, no matter what happened, they always managed to arrive on time for class or work.
Matsuda Jinpei gave a lazy "hmm" and slumped back in his chair. He lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth, then casually took off his sunglasses and placed them on the table.
Behind his sunglasses, Matsuda Jinpei's normally deep and captivating blue eyes were clouded with weariness. He looked exhausted, and had already yawned three times in just one minute.
Kenji Hagiwara asked, "Where did you go after we parted ways last night? You look like you haven't slept yet."
“It’s one thing that you didn’t comb your hair properly,” he laughed, leaning against Matsuda Jinpei’s back and tossing him a can of coffee. “The right side of your collar is sticking up.”
Matsuda Jinpei accepted the strong coffee with a dejected expression, tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp, before straightening his collar as instructed by Hagiwara Kenji: "Thanks, Hagiwara."
The upturned collar was folded down, revealing Matsuda Jinpei's sexy neckline.
And a thin, short scratch on his neck.
Hagihara Kenji:?
The scene before him was too shocking. Kenji Hagiwara's smile froze, and he stood there stunned. He squinted and checked twice; the red mark on Jinpei Matsuda's neck was indeed a scratch.
But here's the problem: Matsuda Jinpei doesn't have a girlfriend, doesn't own a cat, and doesn't even have anyone he can flirt with.
When he parted ways with Matsuda Jinpei last night, carrying soft bread, Matsuda Jinpei did not yet have scratches on his neck.
So how did this wound come about?
Kenji Hagiwara was completely baffled: "What did you do after we parted ways last night?"
Matsuda Jinpei glanced at him, puzzled. "Nothing much. You said you were going to take Yomi home, so I just went straight back to my dorm."
Kenji Hagiwara: "So how did you get this scar on your neck?"
Kenji Hagiwara's question stirred up Jinpei Matsuda's memories. He lowered his gaze, his azure eyes reflecting his worry.
Matsuda Jinpei had dreamt of Yomi Yorikawa more than once. But before, they were just ordinary fragments of daily life, fleeting and indistinct, far less tragic and real than the dream he had last night.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan lay in Matsuda Jinpei's arms, covered in wounds. She coughed up blood, and her clear eyes gradually became cloudy.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan sobbed, tears rolling down his cheeks, mingling with the bloodstains on his face to form a blood tear that dripped into his palm.
"Jinping," she sobbed, her breath growing weaker, "please, live on."
The next second, she scattered into a pile of sand, slipping through Matsuda Jinpei's fingers. The translucent sand fell from his palm, only to melt into wisps of fine blue smoke before rolling to the ground.
"The Underworld?"
The weight of the woman he was holding suddenly disappeared, and Matsuda Jinpei stared wide-eyed for a moment, his eyes stinging with tears.
"...The Underworld?"
Seemingly unable to believe that Yomi Inokawa had simply vanished into thin air in his arms, Matsuda Jinpei maintained his embrace, his vision blurred by tears.
"Yellow Springs!!"
He raised his hand and grabbed wildly in the air, but couldn't hold onto the dissipating smoke.
"Don't die! You're not allowed to die! Come back here! Yorikawa Yomi!!"
The next second, Matsuda Jinpei suddenly opened his eyes.
The air conditioner hummed, steadily supplying a comfortable temperature to the room. Matsuda Jinpei stared wide-eyed at the empty ceiling. His fingers dug into the blankets so hard that the veins on the back of his hands bulged. Cold sweat soaked his entire back, making him look as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
Matsuda Jinpei took deep breaths of fresh air, his heart pounding so hard it hurt his eardrums. He stared wide-eyed in fear, his fingers running through his sweat-dampened curls.
This is just a dream.
However, dreams are prone to being forgotten.
But Matsuda Jinpei clearly remembered every fragment and every detail of his dream. That pain that went straight to his spine seemed to have been imprinted on his soul long ago, only to be awakened at the right time.
The air in his lungs was sucked out, and a feeling of suffocation overwhelmed him. When Matsuda Jinpei dialed the landline in Yomi's room, his fingers trembled so much that he almost couldn't hold the phone.
He rushed to the apartment building at speeds far exceeding the city's speed limit and roughly pushed Lai Chuan Huang Quan into the room, just to check if she was alright under the light.
After confirming that Yomi was safe, Matsuda Jinpei left without lingering.
That's what happened last night.
Matsuda Jinpei knew he had acted too recklessly last night, but an overwhelming fear clung to him like seaweed around his neck. Only when Yomi Yorikawa stood vividly before him, rubbing her eyes and venting her anger on him, could he briefly find a sense of security.
The scratch on his neck was left when Lai Chuan Huang Quan was dragged out of bed for the second time and pounced on him with his claws outstretched.
How did you get that scar on your neck?
Matsuda Jinpei lowered his gaze, not answering immediately. He was bewildered, by last night's dream and the sudden emotions that washed over him upon waking. Matsuda Jinpei lit a second cigarette, took a drag, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring before finally speaking, "Hagi, last night..."
"Matsuda, Hagiwara," the mobile unit commander suddenly appeared in the main office of the mobile unit. He gestured for the two men to follow him with his hands behind his back: "There is a technical exchange meeting with the local police station in two weeks. You two come with me."
"yes!"
“Go to the office first,” Matsuda Jinpei said, his brows furrowed and his mood not good. He stubbed out his cigarette in the glass jar. “We’ll talk about other things when we get back.”
Kenji Hagiwara shrugged: "That's all we can do."
...
As the central force of the national police department, the Metropolitan Police Department has always valued exchanges with local authorities. Kenji Hagiwara and his team were dragged into a meeting that lasted a full hour. After the meeting, they were forced to sit down and give training sessions to their team members.
By the time things settled down, more than half of the lunch break had already passed.
Kenji Hagiwara had taken the afternoon off. He was leaning back in his seat, making a phone call to Yomi Raikawa, a bright smile playing on his lips, his purple eyes sparkling in the sunlight.
But the phone rang again and again, and no one answered.
Kenji Hagiwara's expression darkened, and he frowned in confusion, saying, "Strange, why isn't anyone answering the phone?"
He glanced at the time: "They should be up by now, or did they go out to play again..."
Matsuda Jinpei sat with his legs crossed, holding an energy drink and a yakisoba bread that his subordinates had bought for him.
"Hmph, he's probably still sleeping," he muttered as he wolfed down his food, "He was up so late last night."
Hagiwara Kenji:...?
Kenji Hagiwara froze, holding his busy phone. He tilted his head and slowly squeezed out a question mark. Then, a terrifying thought struck him like lightning, leaving him completely stunned.
Kenji Hagiwara narrowed his eyes into slits and smiled menacingly: "Jinpei, those scratches on your neck, were they from a soft bread?"
Matsuda Jinpei was completely unaware of the sudden change in the atmosphere. He was so sleepy that he just wanted to finish his lunch and take a 20-minute nap.
So he grunted in agreement and told the truth: "That little coward scratched and bit me, and it really gave me a hard time."
Hagihara Kenji:?
His lips twitched twice, and Hagiwara Kenji was completely taken aback. He grabbed Matsuda Jinpei by the collar, his smile masking a terrifyingly dark expression: "What did you do to the soft bread?"
Matsuda Jinpei: ...?
Matsuda Jinpei was completely baffled: "I didn't do anything, but she kept pulling my hair, it hurt so much."
Hagihara Kenji:? ?
Strange images kept flashing through Kenji Hagiwara's mind, and his face turned red and white in turns.
This is probably the strange tacit understanding unique to childhood friends: when two people are discussing the same thing, they think of two completely different things. But even when their thoughts are going in completely opposite directions, they can still communicate without any problems.
Just as Kenji Hagiwara was about to fall into a state of self-isolation, a riot police officer jogged in and interrupted their nonsensical conversation.
"Captain Hagiwara, the little witch is downstairs!" The young officer winked excitedly at Kenji Hagiwara, adding, "She's dressed up so cutely today!"
Kenji Hagiwara was taken aback, then abandoned Jinpei Matsuda and ran away.
After running seven or eight meters, Kenji Hagiwara suddenly stopped. He strode back to the SWAT team office, grabbed the chocolates from the table, and then hurriedly left again.
Behind Kenji Hagiwara, a group of nosy SM members were itching to follow him, but Jinpei Matsuda forced them back with a sharp look.
At the spacious and imposing entrance of the Metropolitan Police Department, Lai Chuan Huang Quan stood on the steps wearing a newly bought dress.
She didn't tie her hair into two buns with ribbons today. Her smooth curls fell over her shoulders, and a large red bow was pinned at the back of her head, making her look energetic yet gentle, like a carefree rich young lady.
"Soft bread".
Kenji Hagiwara smiled and stepped forward, handing the chocolate to Yomi Raikawa: "How long have you been waiting for me?"
"I just arrived too."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan glanced at Hagiwara Kenji and quickly looked away. A blush rose on her cheeks, and she tugged at the hem of her skirt, feeling shy and embarrassed about her elaborate outfit.
"Have you had lunch?" Kenji Hagiwara naturally took Yomi Rikawa's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Shall I take you to get a beef bowl?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan, carrying a large box of chocolates in one arm, stood shoulder to shoulder with Hagiwara Kenji, facing the gazes of the other Metropolitan Police Department officers. Her ears were bright red, and it took her quite a distance before she mustered the courage to bend her fingers and clasp Hagiwara Kenji's hand in return.
Feeling Lai Chuan Huang Quan take the initiative to hold his hand back, Hagiwara Kenji's smile widened. He softened his expression and glanced at the person beside him, reluctant to look away.
It wasn't until the car door was opened for Lai Chuan Huang Quan that the woman, who had been silently clutching the chocolate, finally spoke timidly.
Lai Chuan Huang Quan blinked repeatedly, her fingers constantly stroking the long hair behind her ear. She hesitated for a moment before finally speaking softly, "It's...it's about the relationship you proposed last night, I..."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan bit her lower lip, glancing sideways, not daring to look at Hagiwara Kenji. She forced a mouthful of saliva before whispering, "I want to think about it some more."
"Huh?"
The unexpected answer hit him like a hammer blow, leaving Kenji Hagiwara frozen in place. He tightened his grip on Yomi's fingers, as if afraid that if he let go, Yomi would escape from him.
Kenji Hagiwara asked, "Why?"
But Lai Chuan Huang Quan just blushed and lowered his head, not daring to answer.
Kenji Hagiwara instantly recalled Matsuda Jinpei's words before he left. His smile faded, and his expression turned serious: "Is it because of Jinpei?"
"Huh?" Now it was Raikawa Yomi's turn to be dumbfounded: "What does this have to do with Officer Matsuda?"
Kenji Hagiwara: "Didn't you reject my advances because of him?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan blinked, looking completely bewildered: "Of course not, why would you associate him with that?"
Kenji Hagiwara: "Then why did you reject me?"
"Hmm..."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan bit his lower lip and lowered his head again.
"The Underworld".
Kenji Hagiwara wasn't about to let Yomi Lai escape. He raised his hand to brush a strand of Yomi Lai's long hair away, his fingers tracing the skin on Yomi Lai's forehead.
Kenji Hagiwara then lifted Yomi Laichuan's face, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze: "Can you tell me why you rejected me?"
"I, um..."
"Yellow Springs, soft bread, my favorite soft bread."
Under Kenji Hagiwara's persistent questioning, Yomi Lai finally spoke hesitantly. Her face flushed, she closed her eyes and shouted forcefully, "B-Because the Bureau said your driving skills are perfect! I don't want to date a jerk!!"
Hagiwara Kenji:...?
The emotions that had been brewing and fermenting in his heart suddenly stalled; his anger was like a firecracker falling into an glacier, instantly going silent. Hagiwara Kenji stared intently at Yomi Yorikawa, so shocked that he forgot to blink.
Kenji Hagiwara: "Perfect driving skills? What's that?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan puffed out his cheeks and turned his head to the side: "The Administration will label some key people. The label they give you is that you are a ladies' man, popular with the opposite sex, and have excellent driving skills!"
"Hmph, you scumbag!"
"He's obviously playing with girls' feelings!"
Hagiwara Kenji:…? ?
The usually easy-going squad leader was so angry he laughed. He ground his back teeth together, grabbed Lai Chuan Huang Quan's face, and slowly said, word by word, "Is there any possibility that the car the Bureau mentioned is really just a car, and you're just a soft bread with a head full of lewd thoughts?"
Lai Chuan Huang Quan: ? ? ?
Lai Chuan Huang Quan said angrily, "How dare you try to shift the blame!"
Realizing it was all a misunderstanding, Kenji Hagiwara frowned, smiled, and sighed, finally letting out a sigh of relief: "I'm not a jerk, I don't have a girlfriend, I've never been with any other woman, I only like you."
Lai Chuan Huang Quan touched his nose and muttered softly, "Why should I believe you..."
Kenji Hagiwara took out his phone and scrolled through it: "Look, it's the Metropolitan Police Department's group chat. Everyone's saying I've fallen for you. Even the female officers in the traffic division next door are expressing their envy."
Looking up, Yomi Laichuan saw a group chat constantly refreshing, where a group of police officers were enthusiastically discussing the love life of "Metropolitan Police Department's Most Popular Man," Kenji Hagiwara. They all tacitly acknowledged that Kenji Hagiwara liked Yomi Laichuan.
Seeing that Yomi Rikawa was softening, Kenji Hagiwara added with a smile, "And you can check my phone anytime."
Yomi Laichuan: "Ugh!"
I was really tempted.
Kenji Hagiwara chuckled softly, gazing earnestly and tenderly into Yomi Raikawa's sky-blue eyes: "So, my dear Soft Bread Miss, would you like to be my girlfriend?"
His voice was soft and sweet, like honey, and it had a fragrance even more mellow and sweet than rose sugar.
"I!"
She uttered only one word before stopping, her face flushed, and she lowered her head, her voice so weak it almost seemed to melt into the air: "...Okay."
The soft "good" was magnified infinitely, exploding like fireworks in Kenji Hagiwara's heart. He smiled gently, then suddenly lowered his head and kissed Yomi Raikawa's red lips, making a soft "pop" sound.
Suddenly ambushed, Lai Chuan Huang Quan covered his face and stomped his feet repeatedly, his ear tips turning bright red: "What are you doing! Idiot, idiot, idiot!"
“Kissing my soft bread.”
"Shut up!"
"Okay, okay, I'll shut up."
Kenji Hagiwara smiled indulgently, but he still seemed a little hesitant; there were some things he needed to clarify.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and after a moment of gathering his emotions, Kenji Hagiwara began, "By the way, Soft Bread, there's something I need to ask you. Last night..."
...
Matsuda Jinpei slumped back in his chair, smoking. He casually glanced at his phone and saw that the Metropolitan Police Department's group chat had already erupted in chaos.
—"Did you guys see that over in the parking lot? It's absolutely explosive!"
"What? There's some juicy gossip?"
"That woman who captivated Inspector Hagiwara was grabbing him, biting and kissing him, practically riding on his head!"
"Holy crap, is this for real?!"
"Really! I even have photos here!"
Matsuda Jinpei: ? ? ?
What exactly is Kenji Hagiwara up to?
Out of concern for his childhood friend, Matsuda Jinpei went straight to the parking lot.
When Matsuda Jinpei found the person, Hagiwara Kenji was sitting on the edge of the flower bed, his chin resting on his hand. He frowned and smiled, his face full of helplessness. As for Raikawa Yomi, she was indeed as rumored, practically riding on Hagiwara Kenji's head, grabbing him and trying to bite him.
But compared to the playful banter between young lovers that could easily be misunderstood, Yomi Laichuan was clearly angry.
She was hitting and punching Ken Hagiwara, repeatedly shouting lines like "You damn officer!" and "Are you an idiot?" The scene was exactly like an enraged Pomeranian howling at a helpless Golden Retriever.
Matsuda Jinpei raised an eyebrow: "What's going on here?"
Kenji Hagiwara smiled helplessly, letting Yomi Rikawa do whatever she wanted to him: "I accidentally said something I shouldn't have, and I got hit."
Matsuda Jinpei turned to look at Raikawa Yomi: "What did he say to you?"
To everyone's surprise, Yomi Lai suddenly blushed and bared her teeth fiercely at Jinpei Matsuda: "Mind your own business!"
Matsuda, who was inexplicably yelled at: ...?
Kenji Hagiwara frowned and smiled as he protested to Jinpei Matsuda: "It's all your fault. Why did you have to describe your trip to check on the safety of the soft bread in such an ambiguous way? Otherwise, I wouldn't have said those things and ended up getting beaten up by the soft bread."
Matsuda Jinpei: ? ? ?
Why are you blaming me again? Hagi, you're just targeting me!
And what strange question did you ask Yomi Laichuan?
[Author's Note]
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