Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)

After the ensuing chaos (in He Juan’s mind), the four people finally settled on the living room. As the couch was too small to accommodate four people, they ended up sitting on the carpeted floor around the low table with Marius and his little brother Sirius across He Juan and Mu Yuze.

"Goodness," Marius tried to roll his shoulder only to grimace in pain when the movement tugged on his aching muscles. "I have just wanted to greet you, but who could have guessed that..."

"Okay, okay, I know. It’s my fault, okay?" He Juan let out a helpless laugh. How many times did Marius want to bring this up? He was fairly certain that the man was going to add it to his black history and teased him about it for years to come! How embarrassing! Moreover, it was not like He Juan did it on purpose either. Who told Marius to give him such a huge ’surprise’?! He reap what he had sowed and thus, he could not blame He Juan for overreacting either!

"So when did you get here? Haven’t I told you to call me if you’re coming?" He pretended to be angry and demanded an explanation. "And you even brought Sirius with you!"

"It’s me!" Sirius grinned widely, revealing his side tooth that was missing. "I am the one who snuck into the plane when I heard that he was going to visit you!"

"You even dare to bring this up again!" Marius slapped his little brother’s head angrily, earning him a vicious snarl akin to a wild cub. "Do you know that you almost gave me a heart attack?!"

He Juan muffled in a chuckle. He had missed seeing the two brothers’ love and hate relationship. Despite always fighting and arguing all day long, he knew that deep down they loved each other the most. He had always longed for this kind of intimacy with his own brother, and that’s why he couldn’t help but envy Marius even more.

Just then, the corner of his eyes caught sight of Mu Yuze who was sitting beside him motionlessly as if his soul was not here, and he felt that twinge of guilt in his heart again. They had not even spoken one word since He Juan arrived. Surely, Mu Yuze would not be angry at him just because of that, right?

Not wanting the boy to feel like he was being left out, He Juan cleared his throat to draw the two people who had started bickering back and forth in front of him. "Oh, I haven’t introduced him to you guys yet," he reached out to ruffle Mu Yuze’s hair and grinned when the boy cast him a brief glance. "This is Mu Yuze, my roommate. And Xiao Ze, the blonde one there is Marius Morningstar, my friend. And beside him is Sirius, his little brother."

"Sirius here!" Sirius introduced himself happily, having tossed his little argument with his brother to the back of his mind. "I know it’s kinda hard to pronounce, but good news! I have already applied for an official Chinese name, so please wait for it!"

Like the good boy he was, Mu Yuze dipped his head politely in return, "Mu Yuze."

It was then that He Juan recalled something he had missed earlier. "That’s right. How did you two enter my house? Xiao Ze can’t be the one opening the door for you, right?"

He knew how smart and vigilant Mu Yuze was. In the middle of the night, two strangers knocking on the door without any prior warning, he must have been startled. Was he afraid? Did he think that Marius was a bad guy who wanted to hurt him? He Juan couldn’t have imagined Mu Yuze’s feelings at that time, having to confront two strangers by himself in a big and dark empty house. Feeling his heart aching, he ran his fingers through Mu Yuze’s fluffy hair and asked in distress, "Did you sleep well? It seems like you didn’t. Look at how dark the circles under your eyes are..."

Marius let out an amused snicker. "Your little roommate was outside when we arrived. When I found out that you were not home, I was already prepared to go to a hotel for the time being. But surprisingly, he opened the door for me."

He Juan would need to ask Mu Yuze properly why he was loitering outside at such a late hour, but right now, he was taken aback by Marius’ last sentence. "You actually opened the door for them?"

Mu Yuze ducked his head as though uncomfortable being the recipient of three pairs of expectant gazes. "...the beads."

"Hmm?"

"The Buddhist beads around his wrist," he cast a brief glance at Marius before looking away just as quickly. "I recalled you saying that you have a Buddhist friend, so I reckoned that it would most likely be him..."

He Juan was so shocked that he could only gawk at the boy. Wait... it seemed like he had indeed said something like that when he wanted to fool Mu Yuze into praying at the temple on his birthday? It was such a casual sentence that He Juan immediately threw it to the back of his mind after he said it, but who could have guessed that Mu Yuze would remember it until now?

Marius raised a brow, a curious gleam flashing through his ocean-blue eyes. "But what if you are wrong?" he couldn’t help but ask. "What if you mistook me and I am not XIU’s friend?"

"Then it will be my consequence to bear," Mu Yuze replied in a quiet murmur. "But I am actually quite certain because... I couldn’t sense any malicious intention from you and your brother."

"Impressive observation," Marius praised in a warm and genuine tone. He had heard He Juan gush about this boy’s brilliance before, but he did not think too much about it because he suspected that He Juan was exaggerating. After all, He Juan tended to put on a rose-tinted filter toward the people he was fond of. But this had truly managed to surpass his expectations.

Calm and quick thinking, detailed observation and naturally acute instinct, it was hard to believe that this boy was untrained.

Marius’ heart itched, and he couldn’t help but sneak a glance at He Juan. Their gazes met in midair, and He Juan gave him a look of warning. He had clearly guessed the direction of Marius’ thought.

’No,’ those silver eyes seemed to say. ’I have already told you – anyone but this boy.’

What a pity... this boy was a natural talent though! Clicking his tongue, Marius couldn’t help but hit his silly and naïve little brother again. Comparing the two only made his heart ache. "Look at XIU’s roommate! You should learn from him too!"

"Hands off, idiot brother!" Sirius swatted his hand away angrily. A growl sounded from his stomach, and he let out a loud wail. "I’m hungry! I’m so hungry that I could die! XIU, you have to bring me to eat delicious food because my brother is too stingy to spend his money on me!"

Marius did not know whether to laugh or get angry. "You damn brat... haven’t I fed you enough all these years?!"

He Juan laughed along too. "Okay, let’s—" he made a move to get up, only for Mu Yuze to catch on the hem of his sleeves. He turned to the boy in confusion. "Xiao Ze? What’s wrong?"

Mu Yuze chewed on his bottom lip, the tip of his ears reddening. Nonetheless, he resolutely ignored the two strangers in front of him and stared at He Juan alone with a gaze so deep and intense that He Juan couldn’t help but feel like he was drowning in them.

"...Don’t go," he pleaded in a quiet voice.