Case Files Chapter 38: Scenes Outside of a Case (2)

Translated by Vivian of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Addis

 

“The sun sets behind the west mountains, warriors ride on stallions in the red afterglow ¹…”

Guan Jin opened his eyes, raked his hand through his hair, and rolled over, burying his head into his pillow. He closed his eyes again.

“Praise our singing, praise our marksmanship…”

Guan Jin sat up furiously, hopped out of his bed, and opened the window, about to roar at his neighbor on the floor below that was so keen on supporting the army, It’s early in the morning, why are you singing about the sun setting, can’t you let people sleep in fucking peace?!

Right before he could say this, he saw his alarm clock out of the corner of his eye: 10:20.

…Fine, it wasn’t that early.

He closed the window in frustration and went to brush his teeth and wash his face. Then, Guan Jin strolled down the street to find some food. After he finished eating breakfast, his mood improved by a lot. He hummed as he slowly walked back.

When he passed the pet store on the road he took home from work, Guan Jin casually swept his gaze over it and noticed that there was a new white cage near the doorway, and a small, milky white, and chubby puppy was lying inside it, gazing at him with puppy-dog eyes.

…Guan Jin remained rooted to the spot for five seconds before he walked over and leaned down to look at the puppy for a while. Then, he took out a piece of ham from the convenience store bag, tore off a piece, and handed it to the puppy.

The puppy sniffed at it before wolfing down the ham. Guan Jin looked at his wet fingers and wiped them on a nearby flyer before tearing off another piece.

When the shopkeeper noticed that someone had been squatting by the doorway for a long time, he excitedly bounded out, but he only saw Guan Jin’s receding back.

The shopkeeper was extremely regretful that he hadn’t been faster, and he looked down at the puppy, who was very satisfied after eating. “Ah, I guess you’ll have to continue waiting here.” Then, he stood up and stumbled backwards in surprise, nearly stepping on a cat’s tail.

“Sir, how come you move so silently, you startled me.” The shopkeeper placed a hand on his pounding heart, but he smiled politely. “Did you take a liking to my little chow chow? Let me tell you, I brought him back last week. He’s a pure-blood and from… You hit it off with him right away, right? That’s very rare.” The observant shopkeeper looked at Guan Jin’s bright eyes, and rejoiced inwardly.

In the end, Guan Jin returned home carrying a cage and a bunch of pet supplies that the shopkeeper had recommended. Only then did he realize that he must not have had a good night’s sleep, or perhaps he had gone crazy because of his neighbor’s singing.

He raised the small chow chow to his eye level, and they looked at each other affectionately for two minutes. Should he give him a name? Right, wasn’t there a saying that pets with commoner names are easier to raise? Then——Guan Jin’s gaze swept the room and landed on a half-eaten watermelon. 

“Okay, from now on, your name is A-Gua ².”

A-Gua: …Can you return me? QAQ

*****

Wen JingHan was lying on the bed, swaying his legs and very focused on playing Concentration ³.

The door opened without warning, and the tall body of a man with green eyes and brown hair nearly filled the entire door frame. He looked at the person on the bed, who had turned around in surprise, and he was lightly petting a blue-gray cat. He hooked the corner of his mouth up. “Did you miss me?”

Wen JingHan rushed to the man’s arms and snatched the cat, hugging it and rubbing it against his face. “A-Dai ⁴! I missed you so much! Ah, you’ve gotten fatter, let me pinch you~”

The poor British shorthair struggled. Let go of me! You damned commoner! I’m from a noble, royal family, and I’m Tucker the Sixteenth, not A-Dai! Sure enough, only a commoner can think of this type of common name. Let go of me! Rude commoner…

The man didn’t seem to be very happy, and he scooped the person and the cat into his embrace. “You only missed the cat?”

“I also missed you.” He sounded a little perfunctory. “Have you eaten dinner yet? You didn’t even let me know you were coming back, so I didn’t leave you any dinner.”

“That’s okay, Tom can go buy dinner.”

Tom, one of men in black standing outside the doorway, silently closed the door.

“Why’d you bring A-Dai back?”

“Weren’t you bored while I was gone?”

“Well, well, that’s just your groundless guess. Anyway, I think A-Dai got fatter, look.” Wen JingHan petted her stomach. “If she goes on like this, she’ll get fatty liver disease. Let’s not give her dinner today.”

A-Dai: You evil commoner! Noble master, how could you be deceived by his superficial face? You should toss him out quickly, just like you did with those others.

The man thought for a moment. “Okay, then we’ll only feed her one meal tomorrow, too.”

A-Dai: …Master, you can’t do this…

*****

Guan Jin, who had been woken up early in the morning by someone knocking on his door, walked to the door with a murderous intent and opened it, fuming.

“Seaview Restaurant’s signature breakfast.” Lu YunYang lifted the breakfast box in his hand and gave him a smile that was even more dazzling than the sun.

Guan Jin stared at him silently for three seconds before slamming the door.

Half an hour later, Guan Jin, who had returned to normal, opened the door again. Lu YunYang was leaning against the wall and making a phone call, and he seemed to still be in a good mood.

“How come you’re still here?”

“I never give up halfway when doing things.” Lu YunYang hung up and entered with breakfast.

“You should heat it up, it’s a bit cold now.”

Guan Jin took the box and threw it into the microwave.

“Hey! That box isn’t microwavable.” Lu YunYang quickly stopped him, took out the box, found a plate, dumped the food onto it, and placed it back into the microwave.

Guan Jin lazily leaned on a chair, waiting for his breakfast.

“Why’d you come here today?”

“I was passing by, so I wanted to come visit.”

“Didn’t we just see each other at the police station yesterday?”

“Being apart from you for one day makes it feel like three years have passed.” Lu YunYang looked around the room carefully. Suddenly, a small thing poked its head out from the door of a bedroom.

Lu YunYang narrowed his eyes, walked over, and picked it up. “This is the newly added mouth in your house?”

“Huh?” Guan Jin, who was scarfing down breakfast, didn’t hear him clearly.

“Nothing. This puppy is very cute.” Lu YunYang laughed lightly. “Does he have a name?”

“A-Gua.”

“…Is it the melon ⁵ that I’m thinking of?”

“Which one are you thinking of?”

“Winter melon?”

“Why can’t it be watermelon?”

“For him, is there a difference?” Lu YunYang petted the poor guy.

“The difference is, if I raise another one someday, I’d have to know if I should name it A-Dong or A-Xi ⁶

Lu YunYang and A-Gua: …It’s best if you don’t raise another one.

“You like animals?” Lu YunYang was a little surprised.

Guan Jin shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just raising one for fun.” 

Lu YunYang felt very worried for A-Gua’s future.

Did he like animals? Guan Jin didn’t even hesitate when killing one of his own species, not to mention another species. Now, even Guan Jin suspected if he was raising a dog only to fatten him up for dog stew.

Just like this, Lu YunYang found various reasons to stay in Guan Jin’s apartment, and he discussed his experience with raising dogs, cats, and children.

“You have children?” Guan Jin looked at him, shocked.

“No.”

“Then why are you pretending to be an expert?”

“I don’t have any mental disorders, but I can still treat other people’s mental disorders,” Lu YunYang said straightforwardly.

Guan Jin was defeated once again.

At noon, Lu YunYang discovered that, unexpectedly, Guan Jin had a bottle of aged wine, so he used this as an excuse to stay for lunch.

“That man’s shouting so hysterically, the veins on his face are bulging. Would he get a capillary rupture like this?” Guan Jin criticized the male lead in the television.

“They’re probably already ruptured. Look how red his face is.”

“Why do they keep using parallel sentences, do normal people really speak like this?”

“That’s why they only appear on TV.”

Perhaps they drank a little too much, perhaps they ate a little too much, or perhaps they were too bored from watching television, but at around two in the afternoon, the two of them fell asleep while watching television.

After an unknown amount of time, Guan Jin struggled up from the sofa and stumbled to the bathroom. When he returned, laid back down on the sofa, and found a comfortable spot on the warm cushion to continue sleeping, he suddenly felt that this cushion was a little… bumpy.

He rubbed his eyes. The ‘cushion’ behind him was still sleeping soundly, and Guan Jin was lying in his arms.

Guan Jin jumped up and darted into a bedroom, in which the curtains were still drawn. He slammed the door and panted heavily in the dim room, panicked.

Before, when someone got near him when he was sleeping, he would be startled awake, and he still had some of his original alertness. When A-Gua had just come, when he made the slightest noise, Guan Jin would wake up, so A-Gua was prohibited from going into his bedroom at night. But now, Guan Jin had somehow fallen asleep next to someone in the daytime without noticing. He was frightened, since someone was able to break through his safe range. Guan Jin felt as uneasy and irritable as a cornered animal.

This person was a threat. Should he get rid of him? How would he eliminate the evidence? Dismemberment? Guan Jin’s thoughts began to wander unreasonably again…

Outside the room, Lu YunYang had already opened his eyes, and he felt a little disappointed when he felt the heat at his chest leave.

 

Just as he was thinking about how to make Lu YunYang disappear off the face of the earth, Guan Jin abruptly realized something: he had been like a cute, petite woman, sleeping in the arms of a man… Blargh! Kill him now!!!