Chapter Text
"God is a metaphor for a mystery that absolutely transcends all categories of human thought, including being and nonbeing" The younger officer spoke with a lingering intrigue in his voice as he processed his own words while his eyes were centered in the view outside the window of a small café he asked the other policeman in the place to come to, taking a long sip of the coffee he had in hand. "Have you ever heard that sentence, Captain Xiao?" Jae Lee asked, showing a small smile as his frame turned to look at the man sitting beside him.
"Pete Holmes wrote that as a quote in Comedy Sex God, although the statement is originally from Joseph Campbell." Xiao Li answered almost instantly, he read the book Comedy Sex God because of Jae Lee's recommendation in the first place, weird but not something he hadn't expected, so the question confused him for a moment, but he simply brushed it aside and continued the conversation with the officer.
Jae Lee faced Xiao Li and chuckled almost quietly as he shifted in his sit to seat more comfortably in his place. "I'm glad you know that, I didn't think you'll actually read it since you're always busy with work." He said this while humming and placing the coffee cup on the table that separated them as he settled in.
Xiao Li's tired eyes looked at Jae Lee with curiosity because of the conversation. He didn't believe Jae Lee had asked him to come over just to talk about a book; the older man studied the officer's expression closely, trying to decipher Jae Lee's intentions, aware that the younger man likely had something else in mind.
"So..." Jae Lee started his phrase, leaving a silence between them that instead of seconds, felt like hours for Xiao Li. "You're wondering why I asked you to come, am I right?" The words made the captain to look at him with a slightly surprised face, as if he could guess it and read his mind simply by looking at the way the police officer was positioned. Jae Lee just never stopped surprising him. "I want to ask you this single thing. Just a small favor, nothing personal."
Xiao Li leaned in a little closer, obviously wondering what was this about. "Sure." He responded almost quietly with a small node to approve.
"I want to take this case." Jae Lee said as he showed a picture of Bridon's city buildings, a small inscription in the corner of the photo also indicated the location in question, allowing Xiao Li to immediately realize what the officer was talking about. "The Bridon Case, I investigated a little about this place and its relation with the men you told me were curious of. They sure know a lot as well, tell them to be careful about this information."
Xiao Li immediately recognized the young men who Jae Lee mentioned. Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang, he told the other officer that these were the ones who got reported as involved in the case that happened not long ago in Bridon, same case which Jae Lee asked him to take. "I can give this case to you, but I want to know your reasons, Officer."
The question caught Jae Lee off guard, but it wasn't as if he wasn't expecting it. "I got interested on it when I saw it on the news. The discrepancy between the witnesses' statements and the autopsy results for Vein, plus the fact that he's alive even if the doctors claimed his heart stopped beating. Don't you find that intriguing, Captain Xiao?" Jae Lee expressed almost excited to take this case, placing a folder on the table and after opening it, showing the evidence of the investigations he told Xiao Li he did.
So that's why he brought all that with him, huh... Xiao Li thought as soon as he saw the confirming verdict Jae Lee showed up right in front of his eyes
"I've always enjoyed cases like this, and you know how good I am at doing these things." The voice of the younger man broke Xiao Li's incoming thoughts. "Is that enough answer for you, Captain Xiao?"
The mentioned man's eyes fixated on the bright eyes of the man beside him. Jae Lee was smiling with the same intensity of his own words, expectant of the answer coming from the Captain even if he was completely aware of what Xiao Li's answer would be.
"You got it."
The days went on peacefully and Jae Lee finally found himself in Bridon with one simple mission in mind. Find the truth behind the game that was pulled up in the darkness of the night. The officer walked down the streets of the british town as soon as he moved out the airport during the brightness of that beautiful day, it seemed like the sun was finally shining after long rainy days according to the wet state in which the town was, the weather was something between warm and cold at the same time so Jae Lee decided to wear his usual long gray coat.
Jae Lee decided to take his first day in Bridon as a free day as soon as he walked around the city, dedicating himself to admire the place like it was the first time he got there. The warm colors of the sky hugged the pavement like art, filling every place with life with the spark of the day with such tenderness.
The people crowded the streets under the morning light as the officer ambulated towards his own apartment with calming steps, sometimes waving or saluting people who walked around, that usual smile of his plastered on his face the whole time.
A loud sound of ceramic crashing onto the floor caused by a fight between a customer with the owner of certain store drifted Jae Lee's attention away from his way for a second, and before he could even react, he bumped onto another man that accidentally went his way, a man whose appearance immediately registered in Jae Lee's eyes. The charming and outstanding looks of him called the officer's attention. The obsidian purplish locks of hair, those droopy dark eyes that looked up at him while hiding under round glasses and a black sun hat that laid on top of his head, decorating it.
"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you, I should've looked where I was walking." Jae Lee was the first one to apologize, his mind coming back to earth as he realized he probably stood there for a few minutes awkwardly by just analyzing the other man like his life depended on it.
"No need to apologize..." The shorter man said with a lean smile. "Mr. Officer." That last word left the lips of the other man in a soft hum, before he almost immediately disappeared from Jae Lee's sight in just seconds, leaving him in a small moment of confusion thanks to that lingering word plush the fact he could've sworn he'd seen him before, but he was also somehow intrigued and wondering who was this hat man.
Jae Lee turned his head to watch him leave and he just found himself unable to find him in the crowd, he wasn't wearing any kind of badge that could indicate his position as an officer and even if he thought that was unexpected he didn't do anything about it just yet, but he would definitely keep an eye on whoever this was. For now, the officer decided to leave it alone, he'd focus on the main task he had in hand and maybe investigate a little more to at least find this man's name, or at least that's what he had in plan to do.
The day passed quietly, but that encounter with the man in the hat, the one with the piercing eyes definitely killed any enthusiasm Jae Lee had for a moment of rest, causing him to spend half the day searching for clues about whoever the man might be. He knew that wasn't his main focus and knew that it was all just a whim of his, it wasn't even close to the reason he was supposed to be in Bridon, but the simple act of the man uttering that word which practically exposed him was enough to make Jae Lee do nothing but search. After all, he had decided to start the real investigation the next day, hadn't he? If this man wanted to play a game, Jae Lee definitely would.
"So Liu Xiao, huh? Jae Lee whispered to himself as he looked at his screen of his laptop that visibly shined among the darkness of his apartment, taking in the only piece of information he got about this man which was nothing more than his age, birthday and full name. For an unknown reason Jae Lee almost felt pissed off because of that, he wanted more and he was so eager to know who he was. It was like he fell deep down into the rabbit hole of investigating the purple haired man and all that simply because of a word he said. Wanting to know him, to know why and how did he know anything about him and also if there was something else behind those eyes. Jae Lee would definitely use the case he took in as an excuse to keep going on whatever he was up to, maybe he was becoming obsessed for knowledge about this man and he was in no room to deny that at all.
That's right when his memories finally collaborated with him again, reminding his now tired mind about when he investigated Vein's case, he'd seen him. Jae Lee took out the folder in which he held all his investigations about Bridon, looking page after page, picture after picture under the soft glow of the laptop light until he finally found Liu Xiao inside the folder, he was under the name of 'Xavier' with just one page of information about him and his relation to the case. He worked with Vein so that was such a good push up for him to not sprint away from his main mission.
He wanted Liu Xiao. Maybe in the most superficial way a person could ever imagine yet Jae Lee didn't care about feelings enough to rethink his actions and step back from the mission he got himself involved, he was authorized to do this, to investigate and he wouldn't ever regret the decision he made.
He knew he was exactly where he wanted to be right now, another reason why he would just not step back.