Chapter Text
“Why does it always have to be me?” Jiang Feng heaved a sigh of pure frustration when he was yet again sent to the forensics department to retrieve both the victims’ latest autopsy reports on the Minjiang double homicide case.
He was about to leave when Li Han whispered under her breath, “Teacher Shen was correct this time too. The murderer was indeed the old neighbor.”
Jiang Feng leaned over the desk and lowered his voice so that Du Cheng, who was standing a desk away could not hear him and whispered to Li Han, “Cheng Dui and Teacher Shen had a fight again.” Li Han who was immersed in reviewing the case report looked up at him with surprise. “How did I miss this?”
They both directed their gaze towards their captain and officer Yin who was explaining something to him and he, on the other hand, stood there and was too obviously glancing towards room 406, as if at any moment Shen Yi would come out and throw that small smile and a second too long eye contact that made his stomach feel giddy every time the artist looked at him with those big brown eyes.
“Teacher Shen got himself in trouble for the nth time after he went to the culprit’s house to confirm another one of his hunches.” Said Jiang Feng and jumped when he heard a low clearing of throat on his left. “OH MY! Dr. He?” He straightened up, jarred by the sudden interruption. “Well?” remarked He RongYue with a raised eyebrow.
“What? Oh- I WAS ABOUT TO-”
“No need I have the reports with me. Dr. Qie took the liberty to deliver the reports herself when somebody was too busy dishing updates on our captain and his partner.”
“ It wasn’t like that I was just-”
In the meantime Du Cheng, who was barely paying any heed to the officer’s words was caught off-guard when He RongYue approached him with the transparent file containing the pathology reports and snapped him out of his thoughts.
“Officer Yin, would you excuse us for a moment?” Officer Yin having long realized that the captain had lost interest in whatever she was saying, slightly dipped her head and returned to her desk.
“Dr. He. You found something?”
She opened the file and handed him the papers while elaborating the reports and without meaning to, let the exhaustion slip in her voice , “Cheng dui, autopsy findings have confirmed lead poisoning as the sole cause of death.” Even the captain couldn’t hide the fatigue in his voice,
“And what about the marks on his throat?”
“They appeared after the victim was entirely poisoned to mislead the investigation. This had been going on for a while now. He wanted the police to believe that an old man like him was improbable to cause any physical harm to two completely healthy adults.” Du Cheng redirected his gaze towards Shen Yi’s room and mumbled under his breath, “I should have believed him.”
He RongYue was very well aware of the heated argument, well more like Du Cheng shouting and teacher Shen listening quietly, that took place last night at the culprit’s house when Shen Yi tempted fate once again and was attacked with a sharp antique dagger from behind. Had Du Cheng not listened to his guts and followed Shen Yi to the offender’s house, he would have landed on the hospital bed for the second time since the start of the Chinese new year.
Du Cheng was observant enough to realize that his colleagues have been working tirelessly since last night and needed a little rest so he thanked He RongYue and told her to take the day off since she looked absolutely haggard.
He lumbered towards Shen Yi’s room with heavy steps as the guilt of last night’s shouting dawned upon him again and as if carrying a massive boulder he slumped his shoulders and hesitantly knocked on the door. He stood there for a while and knocked again. No sound. His shoulders stiffened and with a slow turning of the door handle, he peeked inside Shen Yi’s office. There he was, sitting in a hunched position, his head down on his work desk and his slow breathing the only sound filling the room. The ever rogue police officer, with utmost gentleness and measured strength, opened the door lightly and allowed himself inside and stood there, fidgeting with the hem of his undershirt, unsure if he wants to wake him up and ask him if he had eaten anything since last night like the expert interrogator that he is or allow him his little slumber because both of them were uncommon occurrences in the little artist’s life.
Last night was a blur. Shen Yi excusing himself off work early as he had to “confirm” something and Du Cheng not having it with his little ventures into danger’s mouth trailing slowly behind him, the horror settling in his guts when he saw him enter the suspect’s house and the otherworldly silence looming over the house, the sudden cutting off of electricity, his hurried steps into the house, the glint of a shiny steel object behind his beloved, taking down the suspect, the police sirens, him shouting at Shen Yi and Shen Yi’s eyes glistening as he slowly looked up at him and then down again and uttering a silent apology under his breath all the while a silent smear of crimson stained his shirt as he turned his back to leave, the result of a slight brush of the knife on his lower back. Du Cheng, without a second thought, took him by the arm and headed in the direction of his car. Opening the door to the backseat, he settled his partner and took out the emergency aid kit. Seeing this Shen Yi started protesting and tried to convince the captain it was nothing and that he could take care of it on his own. Not listening to a single plea he ordered him to lift his shirt up a little so he could examine the injury and hopefully it wasn’t as bad as the amount of blood on his upper shirt signaled. As he lifted his shirt, the wound came into light and fortunately it was a minor abrasion.
Even though he knew Shen Yi was safe he couldn’t help but recall the almost encounter of the tip of the weapon with Shen Yi’s back and the what ifs of the scenario.
Du Cheng had took it upon himself to always protect the precious sketch artist after the incident with Cao Dong and was unable to shake off the dread that washed over him every time the reckless lad got himself into some or the other troublesome situation.
After taking a picture of the wound as an evidence, he poured some disinfectant on a cotton swab and with the softest movement manageable with his rough hands, started cleaning the wound. He heard Shen Yi wincing quietly. His movements faltered and with slight hesitation he resumed the treatment. And eventually the wound was covered with a gauze. Du Cheng exhaled in relief and effortlessly turned Shen Yi’s back, making him face the captain. The sudden flip made Shen Yi’s breath hitch as their faces were mere inches apart and Du Cheng’s breath fanned over his face.
“You could’ve told me what you were planning to do.” “I told you there was something off about the neighbor.” Du Cheng pinched his nose with his fingers and groaned lightly, “What if I hadn’t reached there in time.” “You always do.” Now he looked straight into the artist’s eyes, “What if I was too late? What if he had already-” He paused abruptly. “You are not, under any circumstances, allowed to step into such places without informing anyone. Please, for the love of God, stop putting yourself in any potential danger because I can’t,…….. I just can’t bear to lose someone again. Please…… Shen Yi” He looked at him with utter despair filling his eyes and the remnants of the horrific events were still evident in his sluggish stance.
With a silent understanding between them, Du Cheng helped him out of the backseat to the passenger side. He handled the young man as if he was carrying something fragile that could break even with the slightest force.
Shen Yi insisted on coming back to the station with him but he was chided into reconsidering his condition and after arriving at a one-sided compromise, Du Cheng took Shen Yi home and waited for him to change his clothes and with that they both went together to the station. Shen Yi was adamant on painting the person while sitting in his office for some reason and Du Cheng was helpless in front of the stubborn guy.