Case Files Chapter 115: Still Waters and Bitter Cold (8)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

In the end, Wen JinHan went back to the room and buried his head into the pillow. After a while, he rolled onto his back and sided. Something seemed to already have deviated from the planned trajectory…

Although Wen JinHan wasn’t very old, he was very mature, and along with his high emotional intelligence and extensive experience, he was better than his peers in feelings and self-awareness. Tonight, his abnormal reaction was the first time he realized that in the year of him staying here, he had developed feelings for this man.

But how did any of this happen? Ou Chen was very unpredictable and scheming, and he was a formidable opponent. At the same time, however, he was gentle, elegant, knowledgeable, and was very protective and caring towards him; even though he knew that these were not much more than an illusion, this type of person was still quite attractive. Most importantly, he had a very intimate relationship with Wen JinHan, and sometimes, people really were this shallow, and a sexual relationship could instantly break the unfamiliar barriers between two people and create a sort of mutual dependency.

In reality, although Wen JinHan was an elite agent who had undergone strict training, everyone who knew him well knew that he was sensitive and easily swayed by his feelings. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have broken into the devil’s lair by himself in order to avenge the friends he lost. As for how he could remain so cunning and indifferent during his mission, it wasn’t really because of his rationality; instead, it was because of his strong self-control, and he could suppress all of his emotions and do whatever it took to gain the greatest profits. However, suppressing them didn’t mean that they didn’t exist, and his feelings kept growing.

Although Ou Chen was the leader of this organization, he wasn’t the direct killer of his friends; that killer had already died along with them long ago. He had nowhere else to vent his pain and hatred, so Wen JinHan had wanted to destroy the root cause. Since he was more focused on destroying the organization, his hatred toward Ou Chen himself was lessened. Perhaps he had never hated him at all and had only considered him as a formidable enemy and opponent. In addition to his feelings and Ou Chen’s love that may or may not be real, it wasn’t that unexpected that he would fall for the enemy like this.

His relationship with Ou Chen could only be considered a paradox. They were inherently opponents, yet they had an attraction to each other that transcended right or wrong. They had favorable impressions of each other, but their positions meant that they had no future, and that only one of them would come out alive.

Fortunately, he hadn’t fallen too deeply, so he could still pull himself back. And he definitely had to pull himself back. He was an agent, and he could do unscrupulous things, yet there was a bottom line he couldn’t cross, which was to remain loyal to his homeland and to his companions.

Wen JinHan rubbed his face, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

*****

The next day, Wen JinHan, who had dark circles under his eyes, was eating a piece of toast. Ou Chen, who was sitting opposite of him, suddenly said, “I’ll take you outside today at noon.”

Wen JinHan looked up in surprise.

“Are you really this distrustful?” Ou Chen scowled.

Wen JinHan shook his head, yet his heart was pounding. Yesterday, Ou Chen hadn’t returned the entire night, and he seemed to have been dealing with some troublesome matters. Today, he seemed a little tired. Bringing him outside at a time like this meant that it wouldn’t be that simple.

At noon, Ou Chen really took him outside, and besides two bodyguards, he didn’t bring anyone else.

On the car ride, when Wen JinHan felt the wind blowing on his face and saw the greenery next to the road, it felt like a different world.

Ou Chen merely held him silently.

The car drove through the downtown area and passed a villa that wasn’t too remote.

“What do you think about the houses here?” Ou Chen suddenly asked.

“Huh? Um, they’re very pretty. It’s not too far from downtown, and the plants are very beautiful,” Wen JinHan commented hesitantly.

Ou Chen didn’t say anything else and motioned for the chauffeur to keep driving.

Soon afterwards, the car seemed to have looped back to downtown and drove on a small, quaint road before stopping in front of an old Western-style house.

Wen JinHan got out of the car and realized that this house had been renovated into a high-end restaurant.

When the waiters at the door saw people approach, they diligently welcomed them into a seat in the back next to a window. Ou Chen ordered some dishes customarily before handing the menu to Wen JinHan so he could order some for himself.

Thus, for a while, the two of them quietly ate the meal, and the more Wen JinHan ate, the more suspicious he became.

“How is it? Is the food here good?” Ou Chen asked with a smile as he wiped his mouth.

“Mn, it tastes very authentic.” Wen JinHan nodded.

At this time, a chubby, middle-aged man hastily walked up to them and nodded to Ou Chen. “Mr. Ou, I hope you’re eating well?”

“It’s quite good.” Ou Chen was very satisfied.

“Thank you very much, sir,” the man said sincerely.

“This is JinHan, I wanted to introduce him to you today.” Ou Chen suddenly shifted the topic to Wen JinHan.

The man straightened up and immediately waved to Wen JinHan, a little flustered. “So you’re Mr. Wen, I apologize for my poor manners. I’m the manager of this restaurant, so you can call me Old Wang.”

Wen JinHan waved back to him in bafflement.

Ou Chen didn’t say anything else and merely nodded to Old Wang before leaving with Wen JinHan.

When they sat back into the car, Wen JinHan had a slight inkling of something, though he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“You also know that I’ve been running into a rough patch lately, and something big might happen.” Ou Chen broke the silence and handed a manila folder to Wen JinHan.

“The district of villas we passed earlier was established a relatively long time ago, and the property management and surroundings are very good. The residents are also middle-class with successful careers, and the neighbors get along well. The villa isn’t very big, but it’s comfortable to live in. The keys and real estate documents are in that folder. I helped Old Wang construct that restaurant we just visited, and he has thirty percent of the shares whereas you have seventy percent. Old Wang isn’t connected to my organization at all, and his background is very clean. He’s very caring and just, and I’ve been very kind to him, so he’ll be loyal to you. There won’t be a problem with you living in that house by yourself, and if you’re interested, you can also help manage the restaurant. If you’re not interested, you can leave it to Old Wang. Don’t sell the shares, they’ll generate a steady income for you.”

Wen JinHan looked at the documents in the folder, and the suppressed emotions in his heart surged uncontrollably.

“Why…” He heard himself ask.

“I see myself as a strong person, but in this world, no one is strong forever. I might encounter some difficult times, and if I can’t make it, then I at least want you to have a backup plan. If I can’t even do this, then I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” Ou Chen said lightly.

The folder in his hands suddenly became a lot heavier, and Wen JinHan calmed himself down. He asked, “Why don’t you directly send me home?”

Ou Chen finally turned to look at him. “You have siblings at home that can take care of your parents, but I only have you. If I have to retreat to another country, would you really not be willing to wait here for me to come back?”

Wen JinHan closed his eyes and didn’t reply. However, a voice in his mind that he didn’t even dare to acknowledge replied: Perhaps, if you could repent all of your sins for me and take responsibility, then I would do anything to help you fight for your life. If you would be put in jail for the rest of your life, then I’d wait for you, and if you had to pay with your life, then I’d…

However, all of this remained in “perhaps.” Even though Wen JinHan wasn’t afraid to love or hate, Ou Chen was a person who only liked beauty and didn’t value loyalty. Wen JinHan admitted that he didn’t hold that much weight in Ou Chen’s heart; Ou Chen being able to do this was already the limit of his love.

*****

Wen JingHan pulled out an old manila folder from his desk drawer and placed it in front of himself, touching it lightly.

Objects had remained the same, but people had changed.

The name on the property certificate wasn’t his real name, and as for Old Wang, he didn’t want to drag an innocent person into this. Thus, this moment had always been a secret between him and Ou Chen, just like this folder that he had always kept as a simple memento of their past, locked away in a drawer and occasionally taken out by him to reminisce.

“Boss!” Zheng Fei’s shout interrupted Wen JingHan’s trip down memory lane.

Wen JingHan went out of his office to look. Guan Jin was sitting on a chair with a sullen expression, his foot wrapped in bandages. Lu YunYang’s expression was a mixture of sympathy and faint happiness as he did things for him.

“What happened?” Wen JingHan raised an eyebrow.

“In the future, if someone else wants to go to Hospital Three, they can go. I’m not doing it anymore,” Guan Jin said through gritted teeth. He had misjudged his step on the stairs and had even been laughed at by an evil doctor…

When Wen JingHan figured out what had happened, he nearly laughed out loud, though he kept a straight face in order to be a good role model.

“You can’t just give up halfway, you’re most familiar with Hospital Three,” he said unsympathetically.

Guan Jin ignored his “encouragement” and nodded at Lu YunYang for him to keep speaking.

“According to our investigation, the bodies used in Hospital Three for some experimental dissections in the past caused some unexpected reactions. However, before some scientific researchers could examine the bodies, they disappeared. Moreover, according to Jiang Tong, in the intensive care unit, the conditions of several terminally ill patients at different time periods miraculously improved, but before the doctors could figure out the cause, their conditions deteriorated rapidly, and they died soon afterwards. He had a feeling that these people were connected and suspected that a doctor had used some forbidden treatment method. However, he didn’t have any proof and couldn’t get the patients’ families to agree to an autopsy, so that was that. These were all events that happened at Hospital Three before the serial killer case, and nothing else has happened recently.

Wen JingHan rubbed his chin. “They planted someone in Hospital Three to test the medicine for them?”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Okay, I’ll report these results to the anti-drug team and we’ll discuss next steps. Since Guan Jin is injured, you can take him home. I’ll give you two a three day vacation so he can recover.” I’m such a good, understanding leader!

Guan Jin was unhappy. “I’m the one who got injured, why would you also give him vacation?”

“It’s not convenient for you to move around, so don’t you need someone to take care of you?”

Guan Jin said indifferently, “Who do you think he is to me?”

“Enough, everyone understands already, so you don’t need to deny it!” Chen QiaoYu winked at him.

“…” Had they really been exposed already…

Lu YunYang gladly accepted the favor and directly picked Guan Jin up, carrying him out of the office.

Guan Jin exclaimed furiously, “Dammit! Sham of a psychic, didn’t I just say that you’re not allowed to carry me?! Put me down!”

 

No wonder Lu YunYang’s expression was a little gleeful just then. He had taken advantage of the opportunity to display his affection, enjoy the benefits, and show his ownership… Psychologists really were insidious. The others looked at one another and silently prayed for Guan Jin: Take care.