Chapter 75
Director Ochi woke up the next day. Besides a large patch of hair on the back of his head being shaved for the convenience of bandaging, he was fine.
He: Is being turned into a balding man also considered “fine”? My dignity!
“But everyone has forgiven you on account of your bald patch.”
Fan An patted Director Ochi’s shoulder. “The netizens also extinguished their anger after seeing your new image.”
To maliciously intimidate an actor just to get a good shot. Did he think the fans were dead? After the truth came out, Director Ochi had been fiercely flamed by the fans of all the actors.
His bald patch had saved his life. The image of half his head being wrapped like a pharaoh had shocked the stylists in the industry and the onlookers outside.
On account of Director Ochi almost going crazy, everyone had mercifully forgiven him.
The assistant was fired. Director Ochi, thinking of the culprit’s motive, didn’t dare to sue out of guilt. He hoped the assistant’s sleep disorder would be effectively improved after he found a new job.
“I want to change rooms,” Director Ochi said, not wanting to stay in his original room for a moment longer. “Connecting rooms are the death of me.”
As Furuya had predicted, Director Ochi hadn’t seen the culprit’s face. He had been facing away from the wall when he was attacked. The assistant had viciously smashed the back of his head with a heavy glass cup from behind. The victim’s vision had gone black.
It was difficult to change rooms during the cherry blossom viewing season. Director Ochi had insisted on paying extra and had booked another entire floor. “Anyone who wants to change rooms can change. I swear to God, there will be no more haunting incidents on the new floor! I will reimburse all the expenses for changing rooms as my atonement.”
Fan An was not a victim of the haunting, but of course Director Ochi wouldn’t forget her and Furuya. “These two rooms both have a view of the cherry blossom forest. You two can also change rooms.”
There were no connecting rooms on the new floor, only ordinary single rooms.
“Changing rooms is too much trouble,” the girl said, looking away. “I’m fine here.”
“Teacher An’an likes that classic supernatural film,” Furuya said with a smile. “We don’t need to change rooms.”
No other guests were willing to stay on the haunted floor. This floor was left with only the two of them.
…
The pale moonlight shone on the wall through the floor-to-ceiling window. The cherry blossom petals, carried by the wind, dotted the carpet. An’an sat on the edge of the bed and lifted the hem of her dress.
“I won’t say who got carried away right after getting back together,” she said, dissatisfied, rubbing the finger marks on her ankle. “You’re so rough.”
Furuya knelt on the carpet and lifted the girl’s ankle, examining it carefully.
“It’s almost gone,” he said with regret. “Unlike An’an’s bite mark, which can last for a long time.”
An’an wanted to kick him again.
“You’re still on probation,” she emphasized. “I can add the ‘ex’ back to your title at any time.”
An’an hadn’t forgotten the grudge of being broken up with so suddenly. She wasn’t completely over it yet.
“Alright, probation,” Furuya said, raising his hands in surrender. “May I ask the examiner, does a boyfriend on probation have boyfriend privileges?”
Let the judge think about it.
The great examiner An’an fell into deep thought, and in the process, she accepted the pre-bedtime hot milk that her boyfriend (probationary limited edition) handed her and drank it all.
Did the great examiner accidentally accept a bribe?
Then there was nothing to be done. Society is truly sinister.
The girl sighed. She turned over and buried her head in the young man’s warm embrace.
Furuya gently patted her back, his gaze lingering on the girl’s butterfly-like eyelashes.
An’an fell asleep quickly and soundly.
She allowed her probationary boyfriend to enter her room and sleep beside her, but it stopped there. There was no next step.
“No goodnight kiss,” the blond young man complained in a small voice.
Probation and official employment were indeed two different treatments. Furuya had experienced the good of the latter, so now he couldn’t quite bear the hardship of the former.
He had to find a way to improve his treatment. An’an was so bad, she didn’t give a time limit for the probation period. Maybe a long time later, she would still use this excuse to fool him and not make it official.
As Furuya was thinking, sleepiness washed over him. He tightened his arms, his nose buried in the girl’s soft hair whorl.
…
An’an slept until dawn.
Very rarely, Furuya woke up later than her.
His blond hair was obediently pressed against the young man’s cheek. He was breathing evenly, his chest rising and falling with his breath. The warmth enveloped An’an, who was buried in his arms, like a tide.
Although she had seen everything, she had to say, he was in great shape.
Lean, thin muscles. When her fingertips sank into his muscles, it was as smooth as velvet, soft and powerful.
It was a little too sexy. An’an thought aimlessly, Is this the kind of body you can get from lifting weights in the gym?
Maybe the distillery’s employee gym was more high-end than a normal gym. After all, Sunglasses Bodyguard Bro had also developed a muscular body like a double-door refrigerator, and Silver-Haired Model Bro was a standard handsome man.
That’s right. Bourbon still didn’t know about her grudges and love-hate relationship with the several codename bros.
And she hadn’t arranged for Mentor Scotch to meet him yet. The respected Mentor Scotch naturally had the right to grade An’an’s probationary boyfriend.
Would Hiro think they had gotten back together too quickly? What if her good mama said, “I don’t approve of this marriage!”?
“After all, Bourbon is a beast of burden working for the distillery, and Mentor Scotch is a vengeful body double who is planning to destroy his ruthless former company. The two of them should be on opposing sides, right?” An’an mused.
She had heard from Hiro that during his days as a body double in the distillery, Bourbon had always been critical of him, as if he deeply despised the body-double literature.
Sigh. An’an sighed and touched her boyfriend’s youthful and handsome face. Such a good person. Why did he have to get involved in the black side?
What angered her the most was his concealment.
One thing on the surface, another on the back. A woman-deceiving scoundrel.
An’an got angry just thinking about it. She angrily pushed Furuya away and got out of bed to wash up.
The bathroom door closed. Furuya opened his eyes.
“Why is she suddenly angry again?” he said to himself, puzzled.
She had been staring at him for a while, touching his face and his abs. Was there something she was dissatisfied with?
A girl’s thoughts are really hard to understand.
Fortunately, An’an was as easy to coax as ever. Furuya spent the whole day with her on the set. By the time they got off work, the girl was happy again.
“I’m tired of listening to the criminal law. How about I read the police handbook to you today?” during their usual bedtime routine, he asked.
An’an: Can’t we have some normal couple’s bedtime reading?
Furuya: For example?
An’an: Please welcome my favorite book of the year, the “Beika Town Murderers’ Collaborative Publication” series!
She wanted to listen to “Beika Town Murderers’ Collaborative Publication: Men are Silent, Women Weep, the Crimes of Passion of Rolling Heads.”
One hundred percent couple-oriented. Super romantic.
“Alright,” Furuya said nonchalantly. “I’ll read the police handbook to you.”
An’an: Tsk.
So boring. Like the criminal law, it had nothing but educational value, not at all as captivating as the “Beika Town Murderers’ Collaborative Publication” series.
An’an closed her eyes and listened for a while, then opened them again.
The blond young man, who was patting her back, looked down at the girl in his arms. “What’s wrong? Can’t sleep?”
He wasn’t holding a phone, nor was he holding a script. An’an looked left and right and came to a conclusion. “Are you reciting from memory?”
Furuya nodded.
The police handbook. He could recite it backwards.
The dark-haired girl’s eyes were filled with confusion. Her question was almost tangible. “What are you reciting the police handbook for?”
Her: Aren’t you a beast of burden for the distillery?
“Why do you think I would recite the police handbook, An’an?” Furuya thought this was a good opportunity to confess. He asked in a guiding tone.
Only a police officer would recite the police handbook. Such a simple deduction. She would definitely get it.
The girl’s brow furrowed.
“You…” she began slowly.
Furuya waited for her answer.
An’an: “You once dreamed of passing the police academy exam, but after years of ups and downs in the distillery’s big dye vat, you didn’t pass the political review. You were very unwilling to accept your failure. To prove that you are no worse than the police academy’s number one, you memorized the entire police handbook with hatred, to commemorate your past desire to abandon the darkness and turn to the light?”
What a rigorous and perfect logic. It must be the truth!
The great detective Miss An gave herself a thumbs-up.
Furuya: “…”
He didn’t need to recite the police handbook to prove himself. He was already no worse than the police academy’s number one.
He was the police academy’s number one.
“It’s getting late. Let’s sleep,” the blond young man said, covering An’an’s eyes with his hand, unwilling to dwell on her deductive skills.
The great detective Miss An had at least guessed the part about the police academy right. Her career development on the path of a detective had at least surpassed Yamamura Misao—he was an inspector now!
An’an’s future was immeasurable. Furuya decided that from tomorrow, he would change her bedtime reading from the police handbook to the real police academy entrance exam questions.
The girl still didn’t know about the nightmare of having to do practice questions before bed in the future. She was ready to go to sleep obediently after her eyes were covered.
The hand that was covering her eyes moved, wrapping around the girl’s waist. An’an habitually buried her head in Furuya’s arms to hide from the moonlight that was shining through the curtains.
In a daze, An’an suddenly found that today’s moonlight was very dazzling.
“I’ll turn on the light.”
A low male voice spoke in her ear. The girl’s eyes were covered by his palm. The table lamp lit up with a dazzling light.
After waiting for a while, probably for An’an’s eyes to adjust, Furuya moved his hand.
An’an rubbed her eyes and climbed out of the blond young man’s arms. “What’s wrong? Did the director suddenly announce a night scene?”
“No,” Furuya said, getting out of bed and changing into his outdoor clothes. He took out his sidearm in front of the girl and checked the bullets in the gun.
The familiar scene brought back An’an’s memories. She was awake now.
Bourbon.
A terrible beginning in her memory. The sweet times had come to an abrupt end that night, turning into a cold winter.
A warm cheek pressed against the girl’s. She came to her senses and found the blond young man very close to her.
Furuya bent down and pressed his cheek against An’an’s. He said in a gentle voice, “I have to go out for a bit now. Can An’an sleep alone tonight?”
A matter that required a gun and checking the number of bullets? An’an’s gaze fell on the place where he had hidden the gun and then looked away. She replied, “I’ve always slept alone.”
After breaking up, she wouldn’t have insomnia or nightmares when she slept alone. She was the type of person who slept very well.
“That’s not what I meant,” Furuya chuckled. “An’an, I’m reporting to you.”
“I have to leave because of a temporary mission, so I’m reporting to my girlfriend and promising to come back as soon as possible.”
He hooked his pinky with An’an’s and shook it gently.
“Trust me one more time,” the blond young man said, as if in prayer. “If I fail the probation period because of a temporary mission, I will really hate the organization for the rest of my life.”