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“That’s it for the day then.” Zhu Yuan sighs, taking a good look at the schedule in front of her before putting it into the drawer, closing it. “These organizations can be so daring without thinking of the consequences at all, it is genuinely concerning how far they’d go to risk themselves without thought for their own safety.”
“That’s what makes humans weird sometimes.” Qingyi casually commented from across the table, putting items into her locker. “People go on and on about surviving together through a crisis, banding together to survive Hollow disasters and what not, yet there exists some variety of individuals who want to do things their way, often to the detriment of others. Ironic, really.”
“How do I explain this….it’s more like the nature of us as people.” Zhu Yuan tries to explain. “Not everyone sees the same path to the goal. Not us, not them, no one.”
“Then wouldn’t it make humans comparable to animals? I mean, technically it isn’t wrong scientifically.” Qingyi ponders aloud.
Zhu Yuan opens her mouth to respond, before thinking better of it and merely sighing. “Look…..if it’s all the same, people are just different, okay? Let’s leave it at that, I’m not a philosopher or something. And besides, we’re already off hours so we should head back and enjoy the rest of the day.”
“Agreeable.” Qingyi casually puts her external equipment and tasers away, making sure they’re placed in the appropriate spots in her locker to not make a mess before closing it. “So, you're heading back already?”
“Yeah, I guess. I hadn’t had time to get dinner and there’s not much to do tonight so…..” Zhu Yuan stands up, looking at the clock. “Maybe I’ll get take out or something……”
In truth, Zhu Yuan doesn’t want to just get takeout and go home. It’s the middle of the week right now, and she couldn’t go back to visit her family as she has quite a busy full week. Not to mention she has to be present at a district quite a ways away tomorrow morning, and with it being far from both the Precinct and her home, she will be in for an early wake up.
So, to her, though she normally won’t fuss about dinner, perhaps a change of pace to have a more relaxing evening where she can undo her mind would do some good. Zhu has thought about it, and seeing as how personal mental health is important in work efficiency, it’s in her best interest to end the day in high spirits.
The issue is, how would she end it on high spirits? Seth has already gone elsewhere and Jane’s probably busy too. Qingyi’s there as always, but maybe another companion would be fun.
“Thinking of asking someone out for dinner, I see?” Qingyi broke Zhu Yuan’s daydream of thought, the smaller woman appearing beside the Captain.
“N-no……not really.” Zhu Yuan was slightly flustered at how her friend could guess it accurately. Deny it as she will, her rather awkward response sold it.
“Well, why are you opening your contacts menu?” Qingyi takes a peek at Zhu’s phone. “Looking out for someone already, I see?”
“Wha-” Zhu Yuan looked at her phone, not realizing that indeed her hand had instinctively gone to the contacts section to look for someone to ask. Embarrassed, she sighs as she locks her phone and puts it down with her arm. “Okay, okay, but I suppose most people are probably busy right now anyways. I think it’s fine if I just go back home.”
Going back home. Sounds a little too dull for Zhu Yuan’s liking, if she’s honest, but there isn’t much she can do about it. Maybe if Wise is here, she could ask him out for a quick dinner to cool off.
Wise. Actually, that’s a good point. Maybe- no, but he’s busy at Random Play. The store is still open and she can’t just ask him out like this randomly.
Zhu Yuan shakes her head unconsciously with QIngyi watching her every small movement and facial expression change. Then, as if a lightbulb went off in her head, she gave a low chuckle.
“According to my calculations, there is a 90% chance right now you are thinking of inviting someone, and right now between that 90%, there’s a further 80% chance that the person you are thinking of happens to be Wise.” Qingyi states in a rather matter-of-fact tone towards Zhu Yuan, one hand on her hips with her head slightly tilted to the left. “Is my assessment accurate?”
“Wha- how-” Zhu Yuan, caught off guard, found herself a little red to the face before taking a short split second to clear her mind. “Ahem- I was thinking it’d be nice to invite him, but I was worried he’d be busy right about now.”
“So my statistics are true then.” Qingyi gave a small, yet meaningful smile. “Well, according to my calculations based on my talks with Wise’s AI assistant in his store, there is approximately a 75% chance for him to be in Lumina Square right about now at this time of the day and week.” She gave another matter-of-fact response, taking a short pause at the end to recheck before nodding to confirm her prediction.
Zhu Yuan merely raised an eyebrow, ignoring the fact that Qingyi is now friends, somehow, with Wise’s AI assistant. Not wanting to ask her about it right now, she merely sighs. “Alright, alright, you win. I was thinking of it, but I must consider that he, much like us, has his own work to do and that I shouldn’t openly bother him to ask for spending the entire evening together.”
“I said nothing about spending the whole evening, only dinner.” Qingyi replied with an increasingly knowing smirk.
“........” Zhu Yuan needed a moment after that to realize her blunder, going red again. “W-well….I mean, that’s probably…….uh……” As if she’s caught with her mind open by Qingyi, the poor captain was left rather flustered and a mess.
“Haha, before your brain malfunctions, we should go outside and take a breather of the fresher air.” Qingyi laughs quietly as she says that, quietly heading out with a rather flustered Zhu Yuan following her.
The afternoon air in Lumina Square is as cool as it gets, some clouds in the sky and the smell of food stalls spreading around the place. Zhu Yuan, reaching the parking lot, takes her time to clear her mind after the attack Qingyi gave a minute ago.
QIngyi wasn’t going to let her mind calm down, not when the iron is hot and the target is painted right in front of her.
“Oh, look. There he is.” She flatly states.
“Who- where?” Zhu Yuan reacts near instantly, looking across the street to find said person.
Only to see no one she recognized bar a few evening shift officers, and she consequently realized that Qingyi had played her.
With a small pout, she turned back to QIngyi.
And, as it was, the little android was busy laughing her ass off at Zhu Yuan’s rapid and spontaneous reaction.
“Qingyi. Not funny.” Zhu Yuan tried to sound intimidating, but only ended up sounding even more embarrassed. “Come on, stop it please, we’re in public.”
“Pfft-hahaha, alright, alright.” She took a moment to reorient herself, still giggling little bits here and there as Zhu Yuan, rather adorably, gave her an unhappy small pout.
“In any case, we should go get some food.” Zhu Yuan adds, wanting to break free from the teasing cycle.
“Hah, right.” QIngyi clears her throat. “We should-oh?” She paused, looking just slightly behind Zhu Yuan before looking back up at the captain. “There’s Wise, actually.”
“Qingyi, stop that. It’s not going to work on me again.” Zhu Yuan crossed her arms, looking slightly down at her friend. “You can’t fool me twice.”
“But what if I’m not?” QIngyi replied back, trying to hide the smirk on her face.
“You always look like you are at times like these.” Zhu Yuan gave a defeated sigh. “Look, I know he’s not even-”
Zhu Yuan turns around.
Only to find herself literally staring right back at Wise, in the flesh, right in front of her.
“Oh, hey Zhu Yuan, Qingyi.”
“Hi, manager.” Qingyi replied calmly.
Zhu Yuan took two extra seconds to even get her brain fired up after thinking Qingyi sent another fake her way. When it did boot up though, it took a little more clearing to get a proper response.
“A-ah, Wise- hi! I didn’t see you there.” Zhu Yuan managed to blurt out, finding the words in the nick of time to not appear too awkward or flustered in front of Wise.
“Sorry if I startled you, I was just finishing some errands nearby for a friend or two and was going to think about going somewhere for dinner when I found you two.” He explained calmly. “So I stopped by to say hi.”
“Oh. Dinner huh?” Zhu Yuan went lost in her train of thought for a second.
It was all Qingyi needed to strike.
“Perfect timing then. Zhu Yuan was looking for someone to invite to have dinner with her. And coincidentally, she was thinking about you more than anyone else.”
Zhu Yuan nearly spat, turning around to Qingyi. “Qingyi!” Her face going quite embarrassingly red to the ears.
“What? It’s the truth.” Came the flat response from Qingyi. “You’re going to say that you don’t want to go for dinner with Wise?”
“No, I do want to.” Zhu Yuan responded quickly, not able to think in time to better buffer her answer as her true thoughts came rushing out.
Only then did she realize what she said, did Zhu Yuan notice Qingyi’s smug smirk. “Ugh…..I hate this.”
“Well, in any case.” Wise cleared the awkward air with a cough. “I have some free time. Might as well go grab dinner for now, with Belle also going outside for a bit.”
“Really?” Zhu Yuan replied, almost too eager.
“Yes, really.” Wise nodded. “You joining, Qingyi?”
“No. Not for now.” She says, shaking her head. “I have to go around the mall for a little bit to buy some stuff. Maybe I’ll catch you two when you’re done. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Before anyone can even respond, Qingyi waves them off and walks off. She pauses for a split second, turning around a bit. “Enjoy the date, you two.”
“Wait, Qingyi, this isn’t-” Zhu Yuan tried to refute, but QIngyi is long gone as the smaller woman zoomies off. The PubSec captain can only sigh, shaking her head.
“Has she always been like this?” Wise asks, walking up beside her.
“No. I don’t know what’s gotten into her, she’s been acting more like my mother lately.” Zhu Yuan responds with a defeated tone. “Oh well, it’s just us now. I hope I’m not taking your time like this.”
“Nonsense. I was going to go back and eat anyway, so seeing as you’re here, might as well.” Wise replied, shrugging. “You want to go have dinner then, you said?”
“Yes.” She replied, her tone and form going back to her less flustered self now that it’s just the two of them without an annoying automaton of sorts annoying them. “As you know, I don’t fuss about dinner so much, although this time I have been feeling a little tired. Maybe I need to unwind or something.”
“Hot pot then? I heard the place has a new challenge available, maybe we can win some prizes for fun.” Wise suggested, motioning towards the good Hot Pot place around the corner.
Zhu Yuan’s face lit up with a small smile. “Well, I’m off duty now, and it seems like a good idea. Let’s go then.”
Wise nodded, the pair walking side by side towards the hot pot restaurant and chatting about work on the way. Arriving there though, they found the poster of said challenge hung outside of the restaurant, its colors and pictures giving off a vibrant yet somewhat menacing aura of the challenge to come.
And even more so when you consider the heavy use of the color red as well as the fact that a lot of chili images are seen on the banner of said challenge. This would actually make Zhu Yuan shiver slightly. Wise, not so much, after surviving the calamity of his taste buds the last time he took on this challenge with Qingyi watching.
One that he intends to repeat, even if it's a different setting. It’s still just a spicy challenge.
Right?
“You want to take part?! But….you said you couldn’t handle spicy stuff like me!” Zhu Yuan complained after Wise told her his intentions, the officer more worried about him than anything else at this point.
“Yes, but I did it with Qingyi last time. It worked out quite well somehow and I got some good stuff from it.” Wise replied, Zhu Yuan giving him the questioning look.
“Okay, I know about that, Qingyi talked to me about it some time ago, but that doesn’t mean you have to stick it out as well this time. What if it goes terribly?” Zhu Yuan asks again, still concerned for his well being.
She hadn’t realized one of her arms was tugging his arm.
“Look, if it goes bad, I will bail out of it, alright?” He pats her shoulder. “Thanks for looking out for me, but I did this sort of challenge once. It’s another spicy eating challenge, as you can see, so it shouldn’t turn out so terribly if last time was any indication. The prize is fantastic too, 10 coupons for free dine ins. We can split it 5 and 5.”
“......split it?” Zhu Yuan took a second to realize what he meant. “But- Wise, you’re doing this challenge. You should claim all 10, especially if I had nothing to do with it.”
“Don’t be silly.” Wise chuckled back at her, his smile nearly sending her into a daydream. “Even 5 coupons is a lot for me. I’ll happily split it with you, especially since you’re still there with me in the challenge. I mean, for all I care, you could’ve gone and done something elsewhere while I do this.”
“................”
Is he really this nice? Zhu Yuan’s mind went blank for a second.
Then, a thought crept up into her mind as she turned to look at the challenge poster. It simply defined that they would be given a portion of food, namely meats and vegetables, alongside a special hot pot soup where all of it will be dumped inside. The challenge is simple, to finish all the meats, vegetables, and soup.
Looking down, she also spotted the sign that water, soy milk, rice and noodles would be free flow so long as they can finish the ultra-spicy challenge.
“.....alright.” She takes a deep inhale and exhales it out calmly, clearing her mind. She gave it a short thought, and arrived at a conclusion that perhaps she might regret later, but she wouldn’t want him- no, she absolutely can’t have him sent into food hell alone. Even if she’ll burn her mouth.
“If we want to win without casualties, we need a tactical approach to this.” She turned to him. “Especially because they provide buffers for us to counteract the spiciness.”
“Yeah, I have a feeling those will come in useful.” He looks at the poster again before pausing. “Wait, we?”
“Wise. I am not letting you go through all that and take half the prize. If you’re going in, then I’m going in. We win 20, and we take 20. That’s fair for us.” She says, firm in her words. “One thing my job tells me is that going in together is better than leaving it to one person.”
“Hang on, Zhu.” Wise turns to her, the pair not noticing how he used her shortened name to call her as they are focused on talking about the challenge. “Are you sure? You yourself said you can’t take overly spicy food too?”
“So did you. And Qingyi has boasted about how you won.” She put her hands on her (rather wide) hips. “Since you did it back then, and our spiciness tolerance is mirroring one another, I don’t see a reason why I’d have as much issue as well. I consider this, perhaps, a challenge to myself too.”
“Are you certain? I wouldn’t want to go with you inside for you to come out hurt.” Wise asks, now his turn to be concerned for her.
“Heh, Wise. What are you, my mom?” Zhu Yuan gave a light, soft giggle. “Thanks for your concern, but I am concerned for you too. For that reason, we should both do it. As a test, in a way for ourselves, and so that it’s fair. Come on.”
Wise opened his mouth to reply, but looking at her eager and somewhat convinced face told him all she wanted to say. Reluctantly, he agreed with a nod as the pair walked to the front.
“One sec.” Zhu Yuan paused them both, removing her unnecessary gear and tidbits as well as any uncomfortable add ons, only leaving her in her neat work uniform with no equipment. “There. Wouldn’t want anything to get in the way.”
“Need a bag?” Wise took out a folded shopping bag, opening it up for her.
“Oh, thanks!” With a smile, Zhu Yuan carefully placed her things inside, heavy ones at the bottom and jackets at the top. With that, the pair went into the hot pot restaurant, fingers crossed.
What they didn’t account for however was the fact that several people are also trying the challenge, and the other customers seem to be interested in watching those doing the challenge while eating themselves.
And judging by the poor lady who is running to the toilet, it didn’t end well for many.
Zhu Yuan gulped nervously as she and Wise sat at one of the tables, sitting across from one another. She flicked her fingers around slightly as Wise told the waiter about wanting to attempt the challenge.
Noticing her nervousness, Wise gave a low chuckle. “Zhu Yuan, stop being so nervous. You sounded so sure back then.”
“A-ah, I can’t help it.” She admitted with some embarrassment. “Looking at the people doing the challenge makes me think twice about it, honestly.” She adds, putting her hands on the table and fiddling her fingers.
“He.” He calmly puts a hand on hers. “If you want to back out, it’s fine. No pressure. If you still join but lose, I’ll cover the bill for us, kay? I mean, I am the one inviting you into this. Take it easy, it's not like this is the end of the world.”
Oddly enough, he didn’t trigger her reflexes to shoulder toss him. Perhaps it's because the pair have been inching away at each other’s walls for a while now.
Zhu Yuan in fact found his touch to somehow calm her nerves. After a brief moment of hesitation, she cleared her mind.
“Right. Let’s get this done.” She says.
Wise smiled, letting go as one of the staff put their hot pot in place. “Attagirl. Alright, let’s cover this up and hope for the best.”
“Indeed……”
The pair look at the soup, and simultaneously gulp. The soup was scarily red, and even the staff was struggling to not cough and sneeze and sputter at the wafting smell of the spicy soup.
“..........no backing out now.” Wise adds, staring at the soup.
“.......definitely not. I hope we don’t end up with a stomach ache.” Zhu Yuan says.
“You want me to get the milk from the self-service?”
“Yes please.”
“How many glasses?”
“3. Bottles.”
“.....good point.”
Wise returned shortly after with no less than 5 full refill bottles of cold soy milk. Zhu Yuan meanwhile was already looking at the bubbling soup, the surface of death red taunting her of the taste bud attack to come. He placed the bottles between them and put one cup on each side. Zhu Yuan thanked him with a nod before the pair slowly turned to see the portion they had to eat; all still raw and needing to be dipped in the hot pot.
“..........I didn’t realize they added larger portions.” Zhu Yuan added, the pair staring at the rather abundant food materials before them.
“Must be a tactic to trick customers, huh?” Wise asked.
“Yeah. Despicable.” Zhu Yuan mumbled, before shaking her head. “We can’t be beaten before we start. Let’s try, maybe the soup will actually help smooth it all and we won’t burn our tongues.”
“Good point.” Wise says, the pair mixing in a slice of meat, a vegetable or two and some mushrooms into the soup.
The soup boiled ferociously, emitting smoke that was intoxicating to breathe in from how spicy it is. Wise had to actually look away to cough a few times while Zhu Yuan excused herself with some tissues. Their minds are already starting to feel regretful, but there’s no stopping now.
And no sooner had they taken the first bite of rice and spicy goods, did they realize how much shit they’re in.
“O-oh….oh geez….” Zhu Yuan had to double take as her tongue was scalded by the spiciness, immediately taking an entire chug of soy milk.
“H-hah- not this again.” Wise similarly had to swing by the soy milk and drink glass after glass just after the first bite.
By the time the pair had their tongues crawl back to a more normal level, the realization hit them.
“Wise.”
“I know. This won’t end well.”
“Tell Qingyi that I envy her taste bud module.”
“Tell Belle I love her.”
—---------------------------------------------------------------------
“Where are they? They should be around here somewhere.’ Qingyi mumbled to herself, looking around the pedestrian area in Lumina Square and trying to find where Zhu Yuan and Wise were.
“Are my predictions off?” She talked to herself again. “I had calculated that they had a high chance of going for dinner around here, and then spent the rest of the day window shopping to kill time before returning home.”
As she passed the hot pot restaurant, she noticed the poster for a challenge. Seeing this, she gave a reminiscent smile. “Ah, Wise won one of these before. Seeing as how some people still made the last challenge, my logical deduction should be that they increased the difficulty for this one compared to the one before. It would be quite dangerous if he attempted it, maybe more so if Zhu Yuan did.”
“Now then.” She sauntered off towards the river bank area of the square. “Where are they?”
After arriving at the river bank though, her answer was right there.
“.......Dear me. It seems they did.”
Sitting at the side of the river bank walkway’s lower section, Wise was sitting in a chair, visibly uncomfortable as he groaned to himself. Zhu Yuan stood in front of him, facing away and leaning onto the railings, facing one of the sewage outlets instead of the main river. She looked no better.
“Ugh…..we…..shouldn’t have done that……” Zhu Yuan complained.
“The medicine didn’t work…..that’s for sure.” Wise added, both of them sounding like they’re at their wits end.
“My taste buds are gone and my stomach feels like it is being tortured…..guh…..why did we eat so much spicy food, Wise.” Zhu Yuan mumbled, the pair seemingly in a state of torture.
“I don’t know…..I didn’t predict it’d be this bad…..” He replied, before hearing footsteps approaching. “Who- oh.”
“Well, it seems you two actually made my calculations wrong.” Qingyi crossed her arms, her eyes lighting up as she scanned the pair. “I had a feeling you two would at least be a little smarter than this, but maybe I was mistaken.”
“Ugh….don’t chastise us now, Qingyi.” Zhu Yuan complained, turning around slightly to reveal how disheveled her face and hair is. “I feel like I swallowed lava……..”
“In terms of taste buds, you might as well did.” Qingyi sniffed the air, stopping right by the pair. “This smell of spiciness is one that I’d associate with the extreme. Any more and it’d be a public health concern, and we’d have the right to investigate and close it down if needed. At least you two backed out of it.”
“Who-ugh…..who said we did?” Wise asked back.
Qingyi paused, before she rescanned the pair. “You two didn’t? Oh. That’s….an actual amazing feat beyond my expectations.”
Zhu Yuan turned around, staggering to the wall while rubbing her sore belly, holding up the 20 free food passes the pair had, somehow, won. “We…..were about to give…..but realized we only had some left. With that, we gunned it to the end.”
“And….it took a while but I think it only kicked in now.” Wise commented, looking at the pass coupons Zhu Yuan was holding. “At least we won…..I feel sick.”
“Eating that much spicy food and covering it with rice, noodles, and soy milk to compensate only makes it all the more unhealthy.” Qingyi says, putting a hand up and going all nerd mode. “With that in mind, it is much wiser to only drink soy milk as it is the most convenient method to lower the spiciness while making sure it won’t make you two too full. Perhaps, that way, you could avoid the immense indigestion you two are suffering.”
“We didn’t know it’ll be - *hic* - this bad.” It was so spicy, Zhu Yuan was hiccuping. “Still, lesson learned. We survived and that’s all that matters. Now we can use the coupons…..”
“Well, in any case, while your vitals are fine, your digestive systems are not.” Qingyi crosses her arms. “Come on you two. Let’s go to the pharmacy and get some medicine. It should make you feel better, and at least get you through the night without being sleepless.”
Zhu Yuan and Wise both weakly nodded as Qingyi turned around and went up the sidewalk back up to Lumina Square. Wise got up slowly, Zhu Yuan walking by and stopping beside him.
“I blame this on you.” She says, half joking.
“Haha, okay. I’m sorry, I guess I baited us into this.” He replied, scratching his hair.
“Hey, that’s a joke.” She gave a small, rather awkward smile. “I had fun, even if we burnt our tongues out and gave our stomachs a few day’s worth of pain. At least we did it together, and we finished it in the end as a challenge.”
“We did, huh? Thanks, Zhu. For actually joining me too. Being honest, seeing you chip in and join gave me more……motivation to finish the challenge.” Wise admitted out loud, perhaps something he wouldn’t have done normally had his mind not been fogged from spiciness.
Luckily, Zhu Yuan’s mind was equally fogged. “Ah, it was no problem. I saw how you wanted to give it to me, and I didn’t want to receive gifts doing nothing, so here I am. I guess it's my nature as a Public Security Officer.”
The pair smiled at one another for a second or so before they both grimaced, their bodies reminding them of what they had eaten just moments prior with a rather sharp pang of indigestion.
“Hey. Come on, before you two end up throwing up for good!” Qingyi calls out.
The pair could only weakly nod, shuffling towards the pharmacy slowly.
“Wait, Wise. How long do the coupons last?”
“They last….only until this month.”
“Isn’t it like the 3rd week already?”
“.......yes.”
“.......fiddlesticks.”