3. That was unexpected

Wang Yi Bo blinked twice to ensure he wasn't imagining things. The charismatic resemblance to a particular grinning person, to whom he also happened to be married, was as obvious as the vein on Chief Jiang's forehead due to all those incredible insolence. Not to mention Detective Nie's outraged face.

"Good morning, ladies..." The gaze of the undeniably handsome man first lingered briefly on Wang Yi Bo, who felt highly offended after realising the spoken words were directed at him, and then a little too long on an extremely perplexed Reira. “... and gentlemen! I hope I didn’t miss the party!” He nodded politely at the Y-chromosome section.

For a moment, it was quiet in the room and before anyone else present could wake up from their meditative gawking state, Xiao Zhan excitedly jumped up from his chair, pulled the broadly smiling man into a bone-crushing hug, and patted him warmly on the back.

“You’re on time, buddy. The best part of the show is about to begin.”

"Excuse me, what? What are you calling a show?!" Detective Nie rose from his chair and shouted indignantly out of the background, shaking like a kettle about to boil over. Not that anyone cared. At all.

“Bro, I missed you so much! Thank God Dad ordered me back to China!” Xu Kai, Xiao Zhan’s brother and a fellow special agent, exclaimed just as happily.

"Same! And my baby, too! Dad kept you quite busy for too long! We have a lot to catch up on! Let's have a drink at my place later!"

"Absolutely! I'm in!"

Wang Yi Bo was rendered speechless when he saw so much handsome, captivating masculinity at such a short distance. Weak as he was, the brightness of their godlike appearance began to blind him and make him drift into other spheres.

Libido: Oh my god...

The rest: Don't.even.think.about.it.

Libido: Give me a good reason!

Guilty conscience: Remember what happened after our Agent found our diary???

Libido (excited): Yes!

Guilty conscience: …

Good sense: We are doomed.

To be fair, even Xue Yang couldn't help but stare with his mouth open wide. And only a very well-placed hard slap from Jiyang on his head brought him back to his senses as he looked down in shame. But could we possibly blame him?

Chief Jiang, on the other hand, paled when he recognised Xu Kai and looked utterly panicked at his husband, who knowingly chewed his lips to stifle his laughter, even though their situation was anything but worthy of being laughed at. “What the hell is this bullshit? Has everyone lost the ability to knock on doors?! And why are there two of your broods in my office now?! As if one shameless descendant of your fucking hell isn’t enough!”

Both deities, still smiling brightly and unfazed by the insults, turned to face the angry Chief. But before they could say anything that was most likely unhelpful, Xiao Zhan's phone began to ring, and the sound of Tailor Swift boomed through the room. Wang Yi Bo, upon hearing the song, instantly sobered up and groaned loudly. And Chief Jiang, already seething with anger, glared furiously at the disturbance. If looks could kill…

“Hi, dad.” The Agent carefreely chirped.

“Goddammit…” Chief Jiang snarled through gritted teeth.

“Jesusfuckingchrist…” Detective Nie growled, rubbing his forehead in extreme frustration.

“My son, how are you? Has my gift for the Chief arrived?" The thundering but warm voice of Wang Han sounded on the other end of the line, and Xiao Zhan, as someone who generally didn't care about socially acceptable behaviour, put the phone on speaker.

“Dad, I’m happy to hear your voice! Yes, he arrived safely. The chief is extremely thrilled. He could hardly contain his excitement!”

“Gift?! Wang Han, I swear…” Chief Jiang shouted, alarmed, but was studiously ignored. Wang Yi Bo was once again weirdly impressed by his chosen family. Not everyone had the guts to simply interrupt a meeting with a call in the middle of a life-threatening crisis - right in front of their slightly emotionally tense boss. But then again, their skin was thicker than an elephant's, so…

“Aah, that's what I wanted to hear, my boy. I don't know if you have received the briefing yet, but I’m certain you can solve this matter with Xu Kai's help. Oh, don't forget to say hello to my daughter-in-law. I haven’t seen her in so long.”

"Hey!" The apparent daughter-in-law suddenly turned her head in her husband's direction and was about to bite into the phone.

“He says hello and would be happy to see you again soon, Dad. Right, baby?”

In the end, it was only thanks to Xiao Zhan's overly innocent and happy smile that the phone survived the day unscathed, and the angry chicken refrained from pecking it to death.

But seriously, what is wrong with this family???

“Don't worry, Dad, together we'll find the culprit in no time." Xu Kai confidently spoke up and leaned against a shelf, his eyes fixed on Reira, who stared back sourly.

“I’m counting on you, my boys. Call me if you need anything. Bye."

"Bye, Dad." They said in unison.

“Excuse me?! I’m the one investigating here! Are you fucking kidding me? You useless, crazy bunch of idiots.” Detective Nie shouted, repeatedly slamming his fan on the desk, causing the poor, innocent tool to start falling apart. This was not as it should have been. This should have been his moment to catch a criminal red-handed. And now he was in the middle of this lunatic asylum.

He flinched violently as a hand suddenly shot out, grabbed the half-tattered fan, and yanked it away. The detective's eyes widened and met Chief Jiang's infuriated ones. “To make one thing clear. This is still MY territory and MY office! And if you don't stop yelling at MY underlings, then WE both have a big problem. Nobody insults them but ME! Is that clear?!" You can say anything about Chief Jiang, but he wasn't the kind of person who would let himself be pushed out of the way simply because of baseless accusations and then hide in a corner, scared like a toddler.

Detective Nie squinted his eyes after recovering from the first shock and leaned closer over the desk. His nose almost touched Chief Jiang's. “These are bold words from someone suspected of taking bribes and fooling around with prostitutes in shady bars.”

A gasp of disbelief echoed through the room, and you could literally hear the air being sucked into several lungs. Still, before anyone could voice their outrage, Chief Jiang raised his hand to silence them. He lowered his voice so much that it literally cut through the air. Even Xiao Zhan nodded, impressed by this. “Then prove it. Not just with these crappy photos. Anyone can fake shit like that.”

“I already told you they were checked twice. But I don't want to be like that. What can you give me as an alibi for last weekend?” Detective Nie sighed, seemingly unfazed, and looked back confidently.

Chief gritted his teeth. That bastard! That was exactly the point - he had nothing that could take the gleeful grin off that idiot's face. And he knew that exactly. Oh, how he wanted to throw a few things at his ugly head. Ever since they attended the police academy together, they passionately disliked each other. It was a case of seeing someone and immediately realising you hated them.

He clenched his fist as tightly as he could and tried to remain calm so as not to say anything rashly, but then warm fingers brushed over his trembling hand. His head snapped to Haikuan, who was looking at him with a troubled expression. “He was with me.” The deputy sheriff intervened and brusquely stood in front of his lover.

“Who can testify to this?” Nie Huaisang uttered angrily and impatiently.

Haikuan immediately turned pale and swallowed. Admittedly, he hadn't really thought about what to say in their defence. He could feel Jiang Cheng's hand shaking harder under his. “That means… We were alone most of the time. In the countryside…"

Detective Nie grinned arrogantly and sat back down in his chair. Leaning back, he observed the two nervous men carefully. “And you think that’s enough? You are the over-righteous, feared Chief Jiang. And that's all you can give me? Imagine how the public will react to this news? Trust in the police would be even worse than before. Who would believe us anymore? Sorry, but things aren’t looking good for you, Jiang.”

“Are you enjoying this?"

“How can I enjoy this? I’m just happy to find the criminals and stop them from ruining the police’s reputation.”

“Reputation, my ass. I told you I didn’t do it!”

“The evidence says otherwise.”

"That's fake!"

“You have no proof of that!”

“We will prove that. You might be surprised how good our own sources can be.” Xiao Zhan chimed in, tired of the discussion going around in circles. The rest of those present also nodded in agreement, albeit with grim faces.

Detective Nie looked icily in the agent's direction, his eyes seeming to be searching for something as Xiao Zhan looked at him with his usual unyielding face of an agent-at-work. But after a few seconds, he turned away abruptly and refocused on his main culprit.

“You know how it works. Unless you can prove your innocence, you will end up in custody. Means, you are arrested.”

“I'm what????" Haikuan had to wrap his arms around his husband to keep him from jumping over the desk and doing something he would regret. The detective took an appalled step back and hastily pulled out another fan from his bag. With a practised movement, he opened it and turned to leave. Throwing a smug look over his shoulder, he said sweetly, “You have five minutes to pack your stuff. I'll wait outside. Don’t complicate things.” Then he and his men left.

Wang Yi Bo, who, like the others, had been silent the entire time, couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine when he saw the expression on the chief's face. He looked down and thought about how he could put his precious body at a safe distance between his boss and him. Jiyang next to him nudged his shoulder and whispered. “Should I mix something so he won't kill anyone?”

The door hadn't even fully closed when a tumultuous scene unfolded in the once prestigious office, almost causing Chief Jiang to lose faith in his people's fitness for duty. Not that he ever believed it 100 per cent... but this chaos almost broke his brain. He let his gaze wander around the room. He shook his head, unsure whether he should be happy about the display of stupidity or angry that his office resembled a monkey circus. He rubbed his forehead tiredly.

Almost everyone burst into excited chatter at the same time and started ruining the rest of the facility, which was still relatively intact. At least that's what his beloved sister did, madly stabbing one of his sacred mahogany cabinets with one of her daggers and cursing furiously.

Although it pained his heart to see the furniture being turned into sawdust, he would never say it out loud to her. But that wasn't the case with the idiot Xue Yang, who was even cheering her on?! Well, wait, let's see how happy you are when the repair costs are deducted from your salary, you bastard!

And then this new potential coffin nail, Xu Kai, who dared to stare at her dreamily and in awe. Who do you think you are?! Stay away, or you'll get to know me! I definitely won't let a wretch like you lay hands on my innocent Reira! God forbid… What was Wang Han even thinking by sending him his second offspring?! He thought they were on good terms.

At least the other plague for his nerves, Xiao Zhan, didn't use his mind to get into his angry chicken's pants for once and tried his best to calm it down instead… That was a great improvement he had to recognise. But what the hell was that crazy scientist Jiyang looking for in his notebook so animatedly? Maybe some poison to get a certain detective out of the way? Hmm, it would be worth a thought…

When the damned detective came back to his mind and reminded him what the initial reason for all this was, a wave of rekindled anger washed over him and made his blood boil. He put his hands on his desk to steady himself and shouted in his usual barking voice. “Okay, you pigs, shut the fuck up and listen! We only have five minutes before the bastard takes me to some fucking interrogation room. The whole thing is incredibly ridiculous crap! And you have to prove it! Understand?”

That worked. The room was instantly silent; you could even hear the pin dropping. Everyone was looking at him expectantly, but Haikuan was the first to recover. "Honey, you just looked so sexy defending your people!" He praised and wiggled his eyebrows with a proud grin - much to the amusement of the rest of the team. Seeing their gloating expressions, Chief Jiang tried not to blush and growled back in an unsuccessful attempt to distract them. “Not now, you idiot!”

“Don't worry, boss. We all know you're innocent. We'll take charge from here and you'll be out of jail faster than you can say, 'fuck you, detective.'" Xiao Zhan stepped forward and grabbed hold of a few scraps that were still on the desk. The Chief snorted in response and crossed his arms over his chest, trying not to look too affected by his trust in him. “That’s, of course, not up for debate! But thanks."

"Well, you don't even know how to act like a criminal, and you're far too stupid to commit a crime, so..." The agent, still looking through the pictures, shrugged casually and grinned indiscreetly.

"What did you say?"

“That’s a good point.” Xu Kai agreed and walked towards his brother.

“Xiao Zhan! We want to stay alive, okay?” Wang Yi Bo screamed, jumped up from his seat and turned pale when he saw that the skin colour of his boss changed rapidly into something really unhealthy.

“But I'm right..." Xiao Zhan feigned innocence and ignored the chief, who suddenly bore a suspicious resemblance to a rabid dog with foam dripping from its mouth. “Don’t go too far, Xiao!!!” The dog, I mean the Chief, pressed out through clenched teeth.

“Yo, guys! Can we perhaps go back to the point of my brother's arrest and do something that will actually help us?" Reira, who had finally stopped mutilating the closet, barked. The sound of her voice left no doubt about her family background. Wang Yi Bo couldn't help but wonder what their family gatherings must be like. He made a mental note to ask his cousin later.

"Well, we went outside quite often...looking for secluded places in the forest to do something..." Haikuan shyly started to explain but was interrupted by his husband.

“I’m sure we don’t need it in such detail!!!”

“Oh, I would like to hear more…” Xiao Zhan excitedly leaned closer, the ears perked up in unbridled interest.

“... I'm surrounded by a bunch of idiots... “ Reira facepalmed.

“You realise that now?” Xue Yang laughed at her.

“My bad, but take my absence for too long into account.”

“Fair enough.”

“That would make us two, we could…” Xu Kai suddenly appeared right next to Reira and smiled brightly.

“Who asked for your useless input?”

“Stop it! All of you! Boss, we promise to find those who are behind all this. We can't stop them from taking you, but as Xiao Zhan said, we will get you out in no time. And Haikuan will help us, too." Wang Yi Bo, a nervous wreck, unexpectedly stood in the middle of the room and looked around. He clenched his fists tightly. Jiang Cheng trained him to be a police officer practically from day one. He couldn't accept this insult.

The chief nodded, impressed, a rare, almost warm smile on his lips. “I’m counting on you, Wang.”

As you might suspect, the five minutes were over before they could even discuss their further plans to prove Jiang Cheng's innocence as they kept digressing. At some point, the door opened again and two unknown police officers with grim faces entered. Without saying anything, they quickly grabbed either side of the Chief, who resisted slightly and led him out. To his relief, they decided not to handcuff him. As they passed Xiao Zhan, the head of their precinct looked into his eyes and whispered urgently. “There’s something fishy. Find whoever sabotaged the photos! Someone's after my ass!” He wanted to say more but was dragged away under the horrified looks of every member of the precinct.

Those remaining in the office stared grimly at the retreating figures.

“Okay, you heard him. Let's meet in my office in an hour and discuss our next steps. I will do everything I can to help you.” Haikuan clapped his hands tightly and quickly left the office to run after his lover.

“That must be hard for him.” Wang Yi Bo whispered, more to himself than to someone else.

One after another left the room and soon Xiao Zhan was the last in the office. He was still looking intently at the pictures with a huge frown on his forehead. His previous relaxed mood was entirely gone. It would be difficult to find the source of the photos. The quality of the shots was undeniably good, and it seemed impossible to trace them back. But that wasn't why he was worried. His thoughts raced in all sorts of directions. And he kept hoping he was wrong.

A hand on his shoulder applying light pressure snapped him out of his thoughts and made him tense. When he looked up, his brother's knowing, gentle smile greeted him, and the tension left his body as quickly as it appeared. "We need to talk. I think you know what about." Xu Kai said with a voice full of regret and sadness.

“Do you think some friends came to say hello?”

"Hmm, yes. Some lost faces suddenly reappeared out of nowhere. Dad thinks they're after you, and it's all connected to the Chief's case. You have to be careful."

“Is that why you’re here?”

“I owe you this!”

"It's okay. You don't owe me anything. You would have done the same back then. We can solve this. We'll talk to you later." After gathering himself for a moment, Xiao Zhan replied and nodded. Xu Kai squeezed his shoulder again and went first.

Wang Yi Bo watched the brief exchange with mixed feelings. There was something he couldn't quite grasp, but he had a feeling it had to do with something that had happened a long time ago. Although the situation was a bit chaotic before, he noticed that Xiao Zhan's focus never left the pictures even once. And the way the brothers were currently looking at each other increased his suspicions. He walked towards him and carefully took his hand in his. "Whatever you have on your mind, I'm here." The Officer whispered, leaning into his husband to comfort him. The pressure around his hand increased, and he knew that Xiao Zhan had heard him.