While Zhan took it easy on Saturday morning after waking up around 9am and spent it relaxing on his balcony eating breakfast and waiting for Yibo, in another building in the same city, two police officers stood in the coroner's office staring at the half-decomposed arm on an autopsy table that a fisherman had pulled out of the river that morning.

It wasn't the first time in the last 5 years that body parts had been pulled from the river, so the sight was rather semi-interesting to them, at least until the coroner told them his findings from the autopsy. "As always with so few body parts, the autopsy was completed quickly. Fortunately for us, the arm still has the hand. Although the decomposition is already well advanced, partly because the arm was in water, I still managed to take two complete fingerprints. This arm is from James Abberline. And he was reported missing last Sunday after he disappeared from his own party." The coroner explained.

"Good. And were you able to establish how he lost his arm?" Asked the older police officer, whose stomach stuck out a little above his black belt.

The coroner pointed to the knuckle. "Cleanly cut off with a very sharp object. I don't think it was an accident."

"Why not?" The other police officer wanted to know.

"Because the fingernails are missing from his hand and the wounds, which are unfortunately only slightly visible, prove that someone removed his fingernails. And the three missing fingers, well, they were also cut off." The coroner explained.

"You only do that when you're torturing someone, don't you?" The older police officer wanted to know.

"Yes, that's to be assumed." Agreed the coroner,

The younger police officer made a note of this and was about to ask a question when three people in black suits came into the coroner's office, showed the coroner their IDs and wrapped the arm in foil and a box of dry ice they had with them. "What's this?" The young police officer finally asked, after he had overcome his surprise.

"We're not allowed to give any information about that." Explained one of the men, a tall guy with broad shoulders and very blond hair. Clearly a foreigner.

"You can't just take the arm!" The young police officer insisted.

Another of the three men stepped in front of him, waved a document in front of his eyes and explained: "This document says otherwise." He then pocketed the document again and accompanied his two colleagues outside.

"Who were they?" The old policeman asked the coroner.

"They're agents. They're working on behalf of the government. And believe me, it's better not to get in their way. They don't understand fun. They've picked up almost all the body parts that have been fished out of the river over the past few years." The coroner replied thoughtfully.

"And did you ever ask why?" The younger police officer wanted to know.

"Only once. But they told me then that they weren't allowed to tell me anything about it. I told them that I was a coroner and could help them with the autopsy. But they said that they had their own forensic coroner. And that he doesn't have a full cold room piled up with bodies that need to be autopsied."

"Okay. Well, let's go back then. There's nothing more for us to do here." The old police officer replied, thanked the coroner and decided to carry out his own investigation. Independently of these strange agents.

When the two police officers arrived at their station, the older one went to his chief and told him what had happened at the coroner's office. And he also told him that he would continue his investigation anyway. The chief, whose name is Wen Rouhan, said: "It's better if we stay out of this. I got a call from the prosecutor earlier and he told me that the arm will be picked up and we have to send everything we have so far to the prosecutor's office by courier."

"But..." The old police officer began.

"That's enough now! They're above us. Do what they ask and that's that."

"But sir, that's not fair! They can't just turn up and take over everything!"

"I know it's not fair. But we have no other choice. Now give me your notes so I can send them to the public prosecutor's office. Then you and your partner will go back on patrol."

"Yes sir." Replied the older police officer and left. Wen Rouhan looked after him thoughtfully. He could understand his colleague's anger. But he had no other choice. Besides, he had other things on his mind at the moment and couldn't be bothered with them.

He was interested in what was going on with his young neighbor Xiao Zhan. Strange men had been coming and going there constantly over the past week. One of them, a huge Swede with broad shoulders, even spent the night at Xiao Zhan's apartment and looked very tense when he met them at the front door. The way this guy kept an eye on the area, Wen Rouhan thought, only professionals do that. Special agents, to be more precise. But what did Xiao Zhan have to do with agents? What had he gotten himself into? And who was the guy who had repeatedly made a mess on his neighbor's car?

While Wen Rouhan worried about Zhan, Isko walked through the festively decorated rooms behind his boss Isla Isari. Everything was ready for the party that evening. All that was missing were the drinks and snacks. But these would be brought by the catering service in two hours at the latest. "Isko? When are the service staff coming?" His boss asked him as she walked on, wiping the mantelpiece of the fireplace with a white glove.

"At the same time as the drinks and snacks, ma'am." Isko replied, cursing the woman in his mind. She had been fucking him regularly since his 16th birthday, including last night. But he still had to call her ma'am and not even dare address her by her first name in his mind.

"And what about the glasses? Have you checked them? I don't want to see a single fingerprint or water stain on them."

"I checked every single glass. The employees wore gloves so they wouldn't leave fingerprints, ma'am."

"Good, by the way, when Xiao Zhan comes tonight, he will be accompanied. I want you, whoever is accompanying him, to distract that person. I want a moment alone with Zhan."

"Ma'am?"

"You heard me, didn't you?"

"Of course. But..."

"Just do what I tell you!"

"However, I think..."

"I'm not paying you to think, I'm paying you to do what I want you to do. Leave the thinking to those who can!"

"Okay ma'am."

"So you continue to monitor everything here. I'm going upstairs now, have a bath and get dressed up for the party." She said and left.

Isko watched her go up the stairs and shook his head. He was worried about Zhan and wondered what she could be up to with him? And he had wanted to advise her to hold back until the media stopped reporting on the strange disappearance of James Abberline. And about the fact that he was last seen with her. But she wouldn't listen to him. But he wasn't sure that she wanted Xiao Zhan to disappear either. Somehow he had the impression that she had other plans for Zhan.

Zhan watched from the balcony as Yibo arrived. He hurried into the living room to the agent who had made himself comfortable on Zhan's sofa with Zhan's daily newspaper and told him: "Your replacement is coming! Wang Yibo is right upstairs." Just then, the doorbell rang.

The agent got up from the sofa, calmly folded the newspaper and went to the door. After a brief whispered conversation with Yibo, the agent said goodbye and Yibo came into the apartment. Zhan greeted him happily. "Hey, you're here at last."

"Hi. I wanted to be here sooner. But an interview I had to do as an idol took longer." Yibo replied and walked past Zhan to the sofa.

"So, are you excited about tonight? I admit, I'm getting nervous at the thought that we're going to be at that woman's party tonight."

"I'm not excited Zhan. I'm not nervous either. I can't afford to have these feelings, otherwise it could be fatal for us. I have to stay relaxed and focused."

"Even now?"

"Of course."

"Oh okay." Zhan said. Somehow Yibo seemed so cool and absent today. And not just today. Yesterday, too, when they drove from the agency to his home and then sat at Zhan's place and had dinner together, Yibo seemed very distant. He decided to just ask Yibo what was going on. "Are you somehow angry with me? Or why are you so different to me?"

Yibo looked at Zhan, startled. "What? No, of course not. You haven't done anything that would make me angry with you. It's just me. I'm a little distracted."

"Okay. Mhhh, do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"But Yibo. If you're that distracted, then maybe it's better to talk about it. Because you just said yourself that you need to stay relaxed and focused."

"That's right."

"Now that you realize that, I'll offer you to talk to me again. I promise I'll keep everything to myself. I can even give it to you in writing."

"That's all right, Zhan. I believe you."

"So you'll trust me with it?"

Yibo looked at Zhan thoughtfully and finally nodded his head uncertainly. "All right, then. But..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just listening. And only so that you can clear your head tonight. At least enough so that you can concentrate on your work."

Yibo nodded and finally said: "It's about my parents. When I told you I got a call from Agent Nax and had to go to the agency, that wasn't the truth. I'm sorry. But I couldn't and wouldn't tell you that my dad called me and told me that mom had moved out of the house after a big fight with my dad. They fought because my dad found out that my mom had a one night stand with a coworker at the Christmas party last year. And Dad found out from that very colleague of my mom's. Of course, he confronted Mom and they argued. Mom tried to explain to Dad that she was totally drunk and had made a mistake. But that made Dad even angrier. He wanted to hear her apologize, not defend this one night stand. One word led to another and at one point Mom told my dad that he had bored her for a long time and that she wasn't sure she loved him anymore. After she said that, my dad was speechless. She went into the bedroom, packed a bag and just left."

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first. I went home to my dad, he explained exactly what had happened, then I called mom and met her at a coffee shop. I asked her why she didn't just apologize? And she said that Dad hadn't apologized for his one night stand six years ago either. This shocked me again and I approached my dad about it after the meeting with mom. He denied ever having sex with anyone other than my mom. I wrote that to my mom. But she didn't believe it. And then she came back home. But only to shout at my dad and accuse him of being a liar. They argued again and really badly. I tried to mediate between them, but I couldn't do it."

"Yibo, you do realize that you're not responsible for your parents talking things out. Don't you? You're their son, not their therapist."

"I know. But Zhan. They are my parents!"

"That's right. They're your parents and you're their son. You shouldn't come between them."

"That's clear. Still, I wanted to help them. But then their anger turned against me. They said they were surprised that I had so much time for them when I wouldn't even have time for a phone call. And then they said again that they still couldn't believe I'd become an agent working undercover as an idol. Mom said that the money for the expensive private school was a waste. After all, I didn't become a doctor or a lawyer like they hoped, but an agent who voluntarily risks his life and couldn't even get credit for it because I'm a secret agent, which no one is allowed to know. I just left and have been ignoring their calls ever since."

Zhan put a hand on Yibo's shoulder and said, "I think they want to talk to you. I'm sure they realized right after you left that they took their anger out on you. And even though they might not say it, I'm sure they're proud of you for being an agent. And not only that. You are a famous idol and earn a lot more money than a lawyer or doctor. You inspire millions of fans with your talents. And your parents know that too. They know that you've become even better than they could ever have dreamed of."

"Do you really believe that?" Yibo wanted to know.

"Yes, I really believe that. You do what you love and make a lot of money doing it. You also help people. As an agent and also as an idol."

Yibo thought for a moment, nodded and finally smiled. "You're right."

"I know. Now go to another room and talk to your parents on the phone. Talk it out and then come back."

"I'll do that." Yibo said and went into Zhan's bedroom. An hour later, he came to Zhan on the balcony and announced with a beaming smile that he had reconciled with his parents and that they had actually told him that they were proud of him and were no longer angry that he hadn't become a lawyer or a doctor. He also told him that his parents are going to a couple's therapy to try to save their marriage.

Zhan was naturally very happy for Yibo and was relieved to be able to help Yibo a little. Because Yibo is his idol. His superstar. And as his fan, Zhan would do whatever it took to make Yibo happy.