Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)

He Juan hummed a random tune as he stared at the panel on the elevator wall, watching as the number went up one after another and bringing him closer to home.

He couldn’t help but chuckle when the thought crossed his mind. How strange. Compared to the other cities, the time he spent in Shunan and this apartment was clearly the shortest, but somehow he really felt a sense of belonging whenever he thought of coming back. Was it because there was someone waiting for him to return?

Ah, that’s right. He forgot to give Mu Yuze a call and inform him that he would be home.

Knocking himself on the head, He Juan stepped out of the elevator and walked down the familiar hallway, smiling when he saw Kitty sleeping so soundly on her cat bed covered by a few layers of fluffy blankets. His smile grew wider when he recognize Mu Yuze’s scarf that had been added to the collection. Had the boy come out last night to place it?

He Juan did not want to disturb the orange tabby cat’s sleep and thus, he tried to walk and open the door as carefully as possible without making a sound, almost tiptoeing on his toes.

However, as soon as he stepped into the house, he immediately realized that something was off.

He could not actually put his finger on it, but all of a sudden, the hair on his body stood on its end and his senses went on a great alert state. He knew it almost intuitively – someone else was in the house. Someone who was not supposed to be here.

He Juan’s eyes turned icy cold as he quietly closed the door behind him.

Where was Mu Yuze? Was he okay?

The severe sleep deprivation was quickly messing with his logical thinking, and coupled with the notion that Mu Yuze might have gotten hurt in this house without anyone knowing... the thin string that held He Juan’s sanity together almost snapped. He felt like he could descend into madness at any moment, both from the extreme fury and chilling fear. Not even giving himself time to speculate about Mu Yuze’s current condition any further, He Juan trudged forward all the while keeping an eye on the surroundings.

No blood. No signs of struggle. Everything was still neatly in place. However, that only served to heightened his vigilance to the maximum. Were they strong enough that Mu Yuze was not even given the chance to retaliate?

Who... Who was it? Who was it that was so eager to seek his wrath, even daring to touch his person?!

Arriving at the living room, He Juan’s keen eyes immediately landed on the two empty cups on the low table. But before he could even think of why they could be there, a dark shadow who had been biding their time behind the wall abruptly sprung forward to attack him from behind!

He Juan perceived the shift in the air and before his brain could even process it, his body had moved on its own. Led by instinct, he tilted his body to the side, grabbed the other person’s outstretched hand that was aimed at him, kicked the back of their legs and slammed them down to the low table, causing the glasses to topple and roll to the ground with a loud crash!

He snarled and twisted the intruder’s arm behind their back in a deathly grip, issuing a terrifying crack. "Who—"

"Ow ow ow...! XIU, it’s me!!" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He Juan paused as soon as he heard that voice. His mind drew an abrupt blank like a computer that had been overloaded with data, and he lowered his gaze sluggishly to find a head of blonde hair which he had not taken notice of before.

The ’intruder’ turned sideways with his face still mushed against the table, his eyes curving in laughter when he saw He Juan’s dumbfounded face. "My bad, it seems like I have really surprised you this time?"

Shocked, He Juan let go of the arm he was gripping and took a step back, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"M–Marius?!"

The one standing in front of him was indeed Marius Morningstar, who was supposed to be in Myanmar dealing with his own business, who was supposed to enjoy his tranquil time in the forest behind the temple, who had sent an email a week ago saying that he might need to delay his trip to China even longer for how swarmed he was with work...

He Juan was so dumbfounded that he almost thought he was dreaming. "How are you—"

Bang!

There was a loud sound of a door being slammed open, followed by the appearance of a mixed race boy with a mess of raven hair and sleepy, irritated blue eyes on the mouth of the hallway. "Can’t you tone it down a bit?! Someone is trying to get some sleep here, okay?!" That sentence was originally directed to his annoying older brother, yet as soon as he realized that there was a third person in the living room, his blue eyes immediately lit up and he lunged forward to hug He Juan’s torso enthusiastically. "XIU, I missed you so much!!"

"Oof—!" He Juan was not prepared to be rammed with the solid weight of an eight year old boy that he almost lost his balance and fell down on his butt. He staggered back a few steps and stared at the blue-eyed boy with incredulity, "Sirius, you too...?!"

How... How could the both of them be here?!

He Juan had just opened his mouth to ask when his scalp suddenly tingled as he sensed an intense stare landing on his body.

He turned to see Mu Yuze in the corridor, staring at He Juan with nary an expression on his face. And when he saw that He Juan finally noticed him, his gaze then slowly moved to the enthusiastic boy who was nuzzling on He Juan’s stomach like a puppy.

He Juan did not even know why he started to sweat under that expressionless stare. "X–Xiao Ze..." he tried to squeeze out a smile. "Hi?"

He only realized how weird his reaction was after two full seconds. Wait a moment, why was he acting like a parent who was caught hugging and doting on another child in front of his own child?! And what was up with this subtle sense of guilt?!!

Could someone tell him what was going on here?!