My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The sharp beep of the alarm clock echoed throughout the dim room. The curtain was drawn and the only light came from the gap of it, shining onto the shirt that was hung neatly in front of the closet.

A long, slender arm slithered out from deep inside the blanket, blindly reaching onto the nightstand beside the bed, unable to find the source of the ringing sound. Irritated, the young man on the bed let out a groan, he finally cracked his eyes open and found his phone, swiped the alarm off and finally, silence and peace returned.

He heaved a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again.

Then, five minutes after that, the alarm sounded again.

He ruffled his hair in frustration and sluggishly got up. The blanket slid down from his body, showing a naked upper body filled with honeyed skin and slender muscle. Sleepiness left him and he could finally see the time.

6.46 AM

"Damn it," A low, hoarse voice sounded. "I should have slept for four more minutes."

Devoid of any choice, he got up, reached for the shirt and wore it. The bathroom door closed behind him and the sound of water was heard. A few minutes later, he returned with his face still dripping with water, his hazy eyes finally cleared up.

Taking the phone, he looked at it. 7.00 AM. The round numbers made his mood soared and he hummed, obviously in a good mood, contrasting on how he found 7.03 AM yesterday which caused his bad mood to continue throughout the day.

He opened the messages and replied to some, solving the urgent matter first before relaxing and opening Weib8. New topic came up every single day and usually, he would just skim through it, but this time, his eyes were drawn toward the eyecatching hashtag #EmergencyRescueGege and #JiangJinyanWheelchair

Of course, he knew who Jiang Jinyan was, he even followed the latter's Weib8.

A short video came out and he played it with meager attention.

All of a sudden, his pupils dilated and he froze. The hands holding the phone jerked violently, causing it to crash to the ground with a muffled thud. He snapped out of his thoughts and hastily reached out, replayed the video, paused in a certain time and zoomed in.

The face of the girl in the stretcher passed through, just for one second.

But it was enough to make him tremble. He covered his mouth with shaking hands and a suppressed whimper escaped his lips, before gradually growing louder and louder and turning into an excited guffaw.

"You're alive! You're actually alive!" He laughed until his body doubled over, rolling across the bed and his eyes wet in tears.

His breath quickened and he replayed the video once again. This time, he put in 120% of focus, scrutinizing each detail that appeared in the video. "Oh?" His shoulders shook in exhilaration. "Isn't this…City A's hospital?"

The corner of his mouth lifted into a wide grin, just like a child who had gained his precious toy, his eyes shone in crazed madness.

"I didn't expect you to be so close, darling."

He got up and pulled the curtain open, bright sunshine poured into the room, illuminating a neat space that was so tidy and clean that not even a hint of dust could be seen. The bedsheet, sofa, cabinet, nightstand and chair were all in the same color, with the wall and floor decorated in a warmer tone.

Behind him, there was a board with photographs lined up in rows, each separated with the same width, not even one centimeters less. If Jin Renguang was there, then he would recognize each of the people in the photographs in one glance.

Of the fourteen photographs, thirteen of them had red crosses on them.

Only one that was still pure, unblemished, showing the figure of a smiling girl as she worked in a convenience store.

The girl's face was exactly the same as the one in the video.

***

"So, what are you calling me for in the middle of the night?"

It was the first sentence Jin Renguang said as he stepped into Ru Meiqi's apartment. He put his shoes inside the cabinet, tidied the woman's messy high heels along the way and flattened the wrinkled doormat.

Jin Renguang still carried the scent of rain from outside, and when Ru Meiqi gave him a cup of hot coffee, he instantly wrapped his huge palm around it to seek warmth. He sipped on it and frowned. "Bitter."

"One cube of brown sugar?"

"No. I've gotten past that," He took two more sips and said, "Now, three cubes."

Ru Meiqi scoffed and went inside.

"Hey, you know, working as a Captain drains my mind, I need sweetness to keep myself awake." He chased after her, acting like a little tail. "So, how about yours?"

Ru Meiqi didn't even give him any glance. "You know I don't have a sweet tooth."

"Yeah," He chuckled. "But who knows? People's preferences change and it's been five years."

Ru Meiqi had rented a two room apartment right in the middle of a busy district in City A. It was very convenient because there was a 24 hours supermarket on the ground floor, and the subway station was only 5 minutes away. She could drive to the Police Bureau in 10 minutes and moreover…Jin Renguang was right on the upper floor.

Of course, Ru Meiqi didn't know this fact when she moved in, if not for meeting the man when she went to buy sanitary pads.

She wouldn't forget Jin Renguang's pleasantly surprised face as they met. "Meiqi? What are you doing here? You…couldn't have lived here too, right?"

That 'too' got her into another whirlwind of mess that she didn't want to take part of. Ever since she returned to China, she had the feeling that both of them had many coincidental encounters. Too many to be counted as coincidental. He was the Captain of the first case she took when she returned and now, he was her upper floor neighbor.

She stood in front of the floor ceiling window, overseeing the glittering light of the lively city from 16 floors above. The steam from the coffee blurred her face, but she could still see Jin Renguang's eyes clearly through the glass, staring intently at her.

Then, in the next moment, she felt the man's heavy head rested on her shoulder as well as his sickening draggy, sticky voice. "Tell me, why did you call me here?" His hands started to act on their own and snaked around her waist, pulling her back into his chest. His low voice echoed in her ears. "Do you miss me?"

"No," Ru Meiqi finished her coffee and peeled his muscled arms away, walking toward the kitchen to rinse the cup. "Have you finished yet?"

"No, it's too bitter." Jin Renguang leaned himself on the kitchen door frame as if he was a boneless creature.

"Then don't drink it."

"No way!" He exclaimed. "You made it for me!"

The sound of running tap water stopped. Ru Meiqi wiped her wet hands and turned to him, her unfocused eyes were emotionless. "Renguang."

Jin Renguang straightened up and if Ru Meiqi didn't know him like the back of her hand, maybe she would have thought that he was nervous.. But no, she had had enough. "Until when will you be like this?"