Captured By The Cold Detective (BL)-Chapter 395: Familiar Pheromones
He Juan couldn’t have mistaken it. He had spent countless minutes and hours staring at this figure through the computer screen, hoping that he could discern something about her to no avail. That’s right, that person was none other than the girl who had shoved him an SOS note back in Shunan City, only to vanish without a trace after getting onto a train heading to Yuyang!
What were the odds that He Juan would encounter her in this small and remote supermarket? 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Wait a moment, had she found out that He Juan was nearby and that’s why she was using the chance to seek him out?!
No, something was not right here...
He Juan quietly retracted his feet, hid behind the shelf and poked his head out to observe. The girl did not look like she had discovered He Juan’s presence as she was occupied with staring – or to be exact, glaring at the section of candies and marshmallows in front of her. He Juan was just wondering what she wanted to do when in the next moment, he saw her grabbing a small package of marshmallows and shoved it into her pocket with a skillful tilt of her wrist!
Had he not been paying attention to the girl, he wouldn’t have noticed it either for how smooth her movement was, proving that this was not the first or second time she had done this.
When she raised her head, He Juan immediately took back his gaze for fear that she would discover him. After that, the girl lingered a few more minutes to take a few lollipops, quickly putting them into her pocket like she did earlier.
He Juan furrowed his brows. Shoplifting?
He knew that this area was much more serene and peaceful compared to others, as the people who resided here had either retired or wanted a break from the hustle and bustle in the city. This was also one of the main reasons why he chose to settle here, because the number of crimes would certainly be lower and thus decreased the likelihood of Mu Yuze ever being harmed.
But low did not mean that it did not exist. The crime still existed, albeit it was more harmless – just like the one in front of him.
He Juan pondered on his thoughts as he heard her footsteps getting further and further from him. Quiet and brisk, almost soundless if not for the noisy squeaks of her shoes. Come to think of it, He Juan had not really paid attention to what she was wearing because he was more intrigued by her anti-reconnaissance skill, but now that he looked closer, he found that the girl was wearing an old jacket that looked too baggy for her size, overly long trousers that needed to be folded a few times and—
"What are you doing?"
He Juan’s heart almost jumped out of his throat when that quiet voice sounded beside him. "Xiao Ze!" He clutched his chest with an exaggerated smile on his face. "W–When did you get here?"
Oh God, it was so dangerous! Why hadn’t he noticed Mu Yuze’s presence until the boy came so close to him? If it was not Mu Yuze but his enemies instead, he would have died without ever knowing who had killed him! How could he make such a basic error? Was it because Mu Yuze was so good at sneaking around or was it because He Juan had subconsciously lowered his guard every time he was around the boy and that’s why his Alpha did not feel the need to issue any warning whatsoever?!
"Just now," Mu Yuze stared at him with a frown as though trying to figure out why He Juan was acting so weird. "I saw you staring at—"
When He Juan heard the familiar footsteps approaching where they were, without even thinking he grabbed Mu Yuze, put a hand over his mouth and dragged him to the next shelf.
He held the boy close to him and perked his ears up, listening as the girl returned to take another package of – presumably candy – before hurriedly walking away again. Only then did He Juan let go of the breath he was holding.
He turned back to find that Mu Yuze had become a rock statue, still and unmoving. He did not even breathe as He Juan couldn’t feel the movement of his chest from where they were pressed against each other. He only snapped back to his senses when He Juan let go of the hand clasping his mouth and when their gazes met in midair, He Juan put a finger to his lips and signaled the boy to stay silent.
Mu Yuze’s gaze then dropped to his lips, but He Juan failed to notice it for his attention was wholly focused on the girl who was approaching the cashier.
"Excuse me..." she said, her voice shaky and feeble. "Can I use the bathroom for a while? My stomach is..."
"Oh sure! You can just enter through that door."
"Thank you... thank you so much!"
Her acting must be quite believable because the other person did not doubt her at all, and just like that she staggered into the break room reserved only for the staff.
But He Juan knew that she would definitely take the chance to escape from here, whether it was from the back door, the window in the bathroom, the ceiling vent – whichever that suited her the most.
"Xiao Ze," He Juan said in a hushed voice, still with his gaze on the girl’s back.
Mu Yuze’s response came a beat too late. "...Hmm?"
He Juan blindly rummaged into his pocket and shoved his wallet and car key to the unprepared Mu Yuze. "You can pay for the grocery first and get into the car, okay? Gege will come back soon!" After saying that sentence, he hastily ran toward the direction where she had gone without giving Mu Yuze a chance to react at all.
"Wait—"
The cashier was shocked when he saw He Juan rushing straight to the break room. "H–Hey, you—"
"Apologies, I need to use the bathroom for a while!" Even before the words fully settled in the air, He Juan had burst in through the door, his vigilant gaze instantly zeroing in on the girl’s silhouette that disappeared into the back door.
He Juan gave chase at once, but just as he pushed open the door, a fierce and hostile wave of Alpha pheromones slammed into him. The wind whistled beside his ear and entirely by reflex, He Juan tilted his body sideways to evade the knee that was aiming for his vitals!
"Who are—" The girl snarled fiercely before her expression morphed into one of shock as soon as she saw his face. "Y–You are... XIU?"
But He Juan was no less surprised than her. Because he recognized the smell of pheromones in an instant.
It was the exact same pheromones he had sensed in the Queen of Spades Bar, belonging to the mysterious Alpha who had done a brutal massacre on Blue Lotus’ men.
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A/N: the previous Chapter has been edited ^^ the gist is still the same, but if you’d like the better version, feel free to re-read
