Don’t You Come Over Here!
“Don’t you come over here! If you come any closer, she’s dead!”
This was all happening in a research institute located in the suburbs.
At this time of day, I should have been eating breakfast while recording experiment data, spending another day in my usual routine… but clearly, that wasn’t happening today.
That hoarse, desperate threat had just rung out right beside my ear, accompanied by the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against my Taiyang xue.
I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender, watching as my colleagues—dressed in the same white lab coats as me—retreated with looks of terror. At the main entrance, several bodyguard-types in black suits and sunglasses rushed in, all raising their guns and aiming in my direction.
…Wait, the way you’re acting, it’s like you want this clearly unstable hostage-taker to blow my brains out, isn’t it? Is there an enemy mole among you?!
“I say…” I maintained my surrender pose, feeling I couldn’t rely on this bunch of unreliable subordinates and had to try saving myself. “Since you’ve kidnapped me, you must have some demands, right?”
Hearing me speak, the gun-wielding kidnapper’s emotions flared up even more. “Shut up! None of you are good people!”
…I never said I was a good person, did I? That’s completely beside the point.
With a deadpan expression, I decided to shut up for now. Otherwise, it felt like anything I said would just provoke this guy.
Speaking of which, who let someone like this find an opportunity to break in and get a weapon? I remember seeing this person’s file before. He was a low-level, peripheral member of our organization who was being repurposed as a test subject after making a mistake… Wait, you’ve already joined our organization, isn’t it a bit much to accuse others of not being good people? What good person would ever join this organization!
Besides, I’m not the one conducting this experiment! I’m not in charge of pharmaceuticals; I work with machinery! I’m only doing my experiments here because this research institute is quieter. I haven’t even been here for a week. This is so unfair!
I lamented internally.
Outwardly, however, my reminder had gotten through to the kidnapper. He pressed the gun against my head even harder and said in a threatening tone, “Tell these people to put down their weapons and back off! Get a car ready for me! And don’t try any tricks. I heard them call you Cocoa Wine! You’re a core member with a codename!”
Yes, that’s right. In our organization, you can tell someone’s rank by their name. The Boss gives core members codenames of alcoholic beverages.
This was just the first time I’d discovered that this title could also help a kidnapper pinpoint their target so accurately.
I remained very calm about it, obediently doing as he said. After all, my life was in his hands right now.
“Do as he says.”
The men in black hesitated for a moment, exchanged glances, but still complied. Although they kept their guns in hand, the muzzles were now lowered, and they began to back away, slowly evacuating the room.
This action clearly put the kidnapper a little more at ease. He slowly loosened the arm around my neck. He didn’t lower the gun, instead pressing it against my back and ordering, “You walk in front. Tell them all to get out of the way.”
Since I had been about to eat breakfast, I had specifically opened the window to air out the room and enjoy the sunlight. The morning light streamed through the window into the lab, casting long beams. I walked slowly forward along one of these beams of light.
Some of the equipment in the lab had been damaged during the earlier commotion, but the instruments on the test bench were still intact, their needles quietly pointing to their respective scales, looking as orderly as ever. I glanced at them, memorized the data from the experiment I was halfway through, and walked forward with a steady pace.
Perhaps my composure was contagious, as the kidnapper’s wildly fluctuating emotions gradually calmed down. Then, a question popped into his head. “You… why are you so calm?”
“Because there’s no use in not being calm, right? Might as well be calm. At least I can look a little cooler that way,” I said. “I’m only twenty. It’s normal to have a bit of a young person’s ego, right?”
The kidnapper showed no sympathy for my young age. Instead, a new hatred surfaced, and he sneered, “Twenty, huh… Boy geniuses like you could never understand people like us.”
…Wait, what kind of people are “people like you”? People can never fully understand each other to begin with, not to mention the huge gap between us. Isn’t it perfectly normal that I don’t understand you?
Of course, I knew I couldn’t say that out loud. If I did, I might meet my end right here on the spot.
“Ah, wait a moment.” I stopped just as I was about to reach the doorway.
The man behind me froze, pressing the gun against my back more firmly. “Stop stalling!”
“I’m not stalling. I just suddenly thought of the answer to that question.”
To him, my words probably sounded completely random. He paused and asked, “What question?”
“That one, about why I’m so calm.” I kept my hands raised in surrender, staring straight ahead. “There’s one more reason.”
“Huh? Wha—” The man’s words were cut short.
Feeling a sudden weight slump against me from behind, I immediately sidestepped to get out of the way. The kidnapper, who had been standing just a moment ago, pitched forward and collapsed on the floor. On his left back, blood quickly spread out from a bullet hole over his heart.
“And that is… I knew someone would definitely come to rescue me in time,” I said slowly, lowering my hands. I raised a hand and adjusted my glasses with my index finger, looking toward the window with an irrepressible smile.
Then, seeing the blood splattered on the test bench, my expression turned regretful. “Damn it, I have to redo the experiment… Ah, does this mean I can get a new set of machines?”
After all, it was the organization’s problem that caused me this trouble! This funding request will definitely get approved easily!
Because the kidnapper had been shot in the heart by a sniper and died instantly, the people waiting by the door immediately rushed in.
With my hands in my coat pockets, I looked at these freeloaders with an expression of utter disappointment. “Clean this place up. Find out how this person got his gun and report back to me.”
The men immediately responded, “Yes, ma’am!”
I didn’t leave, but stood there waiting. Since standing was a bit tiring and my chair was now dirty, I just found a clean spot on a table, propped myself up on it, and sat there, swinging my legs boredly as I continued to wait.
Before long, two people came in.
When I saw the person in the lead, a smile spread across my face. I hopped off the table, trotted over to him, and greeted him enthusiastically with open arms. “Boss Gin! You saved me again just now, right!”
The man in front was dressed all in black, wearing a black hat, with long, straight silver hair. Just as I was about to glom onto him, he expertly raised a hand and pressed it against my head, pushing me away without a shred of mercy as if handling a small animal.
“Stand properly.” He tilted his head, his long bangs sliding down slightly with the movement, revealing his dark green eyes. His tone was flat and emotionless, even carrying a hint of a command. “What happened this time?”
“It really had nothing to do with me this time!” I stood up straight, raised my hand, and held up three fingers in a swearing gesture, my tone sincere as I pleaded my case. “That guy was a low-level member who got in trouble before. He escaped from the pharmaceutical experiment next door. They’re still investigating how he got the weapon. But it absolutely had nothing to do with me! I was a true victim of circumstance this time! Look into my eyes, they’re filled with sincerity!”
As I spoke, I tried to widen my eyes, striving to show my innocence.
Unfortunately, he only glanced at me before looking away, as if he didn’t want to see any more. The chill emanating from him didn’t lessen one bit as he turned to leave. “Clean up your own mess.”
However, the square-faced man in sunglasses who was a step behind him came forward. Seeing my unhappy expression, he leaned in and whispered, “Cocoa Wine, what happened this time?”
“It’s just like I said,” I whispered back, trying to fish for information. “Boss Gin seems to be in a hurry… Vodka, are you guys on a mission?”
“We were on our way to a mission… then halfway there, Big Bro suddenly said we were coming here, and without another word, he picked up the sniper rifle.” Vodka still looked a little shaken. “It scared the hell out of me. I thought Big Bro had finally had enough of you and was going to assassinate you…”
…What kind of person says that! What grudge does he have against me! I’m so cute and so interesting! Shouldn’t I be a ray of sunshine in Boss Gin’s boring life! What does he mean, “had enough”?!
I decided to secretly put glue on the arm of Vodka’s sunglasses tomorrow to get back at him for his rude remark.
I said, “How many times have I told you? I’m definitely Boss Gin’s one true love.”
Vodka: “…”
I was not pleased. “What’s with that look? How else can you explain how he always happens to show up and save me whenever I’m in danger?”
“Cocoa Wine, just be straight with me.” Vodka’s expression suddenly turned serious. He lowered his voice to a whisper, his tone almost pleading. “I won’t ask for details, and I definitely won’t tell anyone else… Does Big Bro have some kind of fatal leverage on you?”
…What the hell?! Does he have so little faith in me?!
I secretly decided to switch the glue to super glue.
There was no reasoning with someone who refused to believe that Boss Gin had strange taste… ah, no, who refused to believe in my charms. I decided not to talk to him anymore. After glaring at him, I quickened my pace to catch up with the person ahead.
Once I saw him, I immediately ran up and linked my arm with his. When he frowned and looked over with an impatient expression, I retorted righteously, “The lab is contaminated today, so I definitely can’t continue my experiments. And if you leave me in a place like this… what if I get taken hostage again? Can you really rest easy leaving me here all alone!”
My words must have been too persuasive. After a long moment of us staring at each other, Boss Gin looked away, his face grim as he chose to compromise. “Shut up and get in the car.”