Chapter 10: The Person in My Memory
It was a rare, beautiful day for a dog walk.
The morning sun wasn’t too harsh. It felt warm and dry on the skin, but not hot.
The park was lush and green. A gardener was trimming the new shoots on the bushes with a pair of shears, shaping them into neat semicircles.
Ryan held a leash in one hand and a cat in the other, strolling leisurely along the park’s footpath.
“Hehehe~”
The Malinois walking beside him panted, its tongue hanging out, and nudged Ryan’s hand with its head.
Ryan looked up and saw a row of waist-high wooden fences on the grass not far ahead. A sign hung on the fence with four words written on it: “Dog Park.”
This was an area in the park specifically designated for dogs to be let off their leashes to chase and play.
“Good boy, we’re almost there,” Ryan said, stroking the little dog’s fluffy head.
Getting its head stroked, the dog’s tail wagged like a helicopter propeller. It jumped up excitedly, trying to lick Ryan’s face. Unfortunately, it was too boisterous. Like a hammer, it slammed right into Ryan’s face, nearly knocking him to the ground.
“Meeooww!”
The little tortoiseshell cat in Ryan’s arms was startled by the dog’s impact. The fur on its tail stood on end. It opened its mouth and hissed threateningly at the dog.
“It’s okay, Rose, I’m fine.”
Ryan whispered the little cat’s name and stroked its head soothingly. Seeing that the cat’s fur had settled down, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you an idiot, Jack?” Ryan complained, tapping the little dog on the head.
He led the dog and carried the cat, continuing on their way. A few minutes later, he arrived at the entrance to the dog park. At the entrance was a semi-open wooden hut with a table inside. A tall, young Alpha sat by the table. He was the dog park’s manager, and his name was David.
“Hello,” David smiled at him, walked over, and patted the head of the furiously wagging dog. “Nice to see you.”
“Hello,” Ryan nodded.
The two had met yesterday. Yesterday was Ryan’s first time at the dog park.
Speaking of which, this Malinois wasn’t even Ryan’s dog!
Ryan was a Ph.D. student in sociology. He had recently started an internship at an organization called F.I.A.D., also known as the Federal Intelligence Activity Division. His uncle, a retired Interstellar Special Agent, had recommended him for the internship.
But just a few days into his internship, a frontline agent from F.I.A.D. had suddenly handed him a dog and a cat and told him to take good care of them. This put a lot of pressure on Ryan. It wasn’t that he disliked animals, but he had absolutely no experience raising them!
Fortunately, he had met David. This young, handsome, enthusiastic, and caring Alpha had helped him a lot, and Ryan was very grateful to him.
“I’ll take Jack in,” David said, seeing that Ryan was still holding the cat. He took the leash and led Jack into the dog park. He unclipped the leash from Jack’s collar, and within a second, Jack shot off, not even leaving a shadow behind.
“A Malinois, indeed,” David said, watching Jack’s running gait with admiration.
“I’ll take a video for his owner,” Ryan smiled, took out his communicator, opened the camera, and recorded a video of Jack running wildly. Then he opened his messages and found a name called Wen En.
This was Jack and Rose’s owner. He seemed to be out on a field mission right now, and Ryan wasn’t sure if he would have time to check his messages, even though Wen En had said to contact him anytime if there was a problem.
Ryan uploaded the video and hit send. Unexpectedly, Wen En replied quickly this time with a message: “Very cute. Thank you for taking care of them.”
Ryan smiled unconsciously. David, standing beside him, asked curiously, “Chatting with your boyfriend?”
“Huh? No, no, this is Jack’s owner,” Ryan said.
“My apologies,” David shrugged. “By the way,” David said, “a new barbecue restaurant opened next to the park last week. Are you free today? After the dog walk, do you want to have dinner together?”
Ryan thought for a moment. He hadn’t been very busy lately. He had finished most of his thesis, and he could spare the time for a meal. Ryan smiled and said, “Sure, I’d like to try that new restaurant and see how it is.”
“Alright, gentlemen, let’s turn our attention away from the pet dog. We need to get to work.”
RV, holding a stack of documents, glanced at the video of the dog running wildly on the grass playing on Wen En’s phone as he passed by, and reminded him.
Wen En replied, “Got it,” and turned off his phone.
At that moment, someone pushed the door open and walked in. It was Della. Her face was a little pale. Her collarbone had been stabbed by Claire, but fortunately, it hadn’t damaged any nerves or organs.
Luckily, she had spent a night in the medical bay yesterday, and the wound had already healed. However, the doctor had still advised her not to engage in strenuous exercise for three days to avoid irritating the newly healed muscle tissue.
Wen En’s injuries were much lighter than hers, just bruises and scrapes.
“Your coffee, caramel latte with cinnamon powder,” Wen En said, pointing to a white disposable paper cup on the table.
“Thanks,” Della picked up the cup from the table, opened the lid, and took a small sip. Under the dual effects of caffeine and sugar, she finally felt a little better.
“Very good, gentlemen, ladies. How about you drink your coffee while I go over today’s work arrangements?” RV said.
Della was expressionless, while Wen En said, “Whatever.”
“Alright.”
Despite their listless appearance, RV had no intention of giving them a break.
They were currently in the monitoring room of the detention center at the K9 Planet’s Interstellar Police Department. After all, this wasn’t their home base, Capital Star, so it wasn’t good to slack off for too long on someone else’s turf.
This monitoring room had a computer with an oversized display screen, connected to the detention center’s surveillance room. The figures of Claire and Romeo appeared on the left and right sides of the screen, respectively.
They were tied to chairs, their wrists and ankles in sturdy shackles.
Their faces had varying degrees of bruises and abrasions. The more serious injuries were hastily wrapped with a few pieces of white medical gauze, but for the less serious ones, they had only been given some ointment.
After all, these two were now prisoners. Neither Della, Wen En, nor RV would be so kind as to provide quality medical services to disobedient prisoners, unless the prisoner was on the verge of death and had to be rushed to the emergency room to save their life.
RV looked down at the digital watch on his wrist. It showed 10:26:07.02. RV said, “Those two prisoners woke up ten minutes ago. Della, you go interrogate Claire. Wen En, you go interrogate Romeo.”
“Alright, if you don’t mind us getting into a fight with them in the interrogation room, then that’s how we’ll do it,” Wen En said bluntly.
Della nodded in agreement. It was rare for her to agree with someone else’s idea; she was usually the one to argue.
“I can only hope you’ll have some professional ethics,” RV said. “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, get moving. Time to work.”
My head hurts…
In a daze, Romeo opened his eyes. The harsh light made him squint. After a while, he finally adjusted to the light. He opened his eyes again and surveyed his surroundings.
This place looks a bit familiar, Romeo thought. As a con artist who had been fooling people all over the interstellar world, this wasn’t the first time Romeo had been locked up in a place like this. He wasn’t scared. Instead, he first thought about how to escape.
He turned his head, which ached as if it had been slammed against a wall, and tried to remember how he had ended up in this hellhole.
Oh, right, he remembered now. He was going to “move” that famous portrait, “Cupid in the Garden,” to a “new home.” Unexpectedly, a Beta waiter had appeared out of nowhere, not only disrupting his plan but also chasing him and beating him over the head, as if he wanted to kill him.
Later, he was beaten unconscious, and when he woke up, he was in this godforsaken place. Romeo felt that it must have been the work of that Beta waiter.
Romeo blinked his dry eyes. That Beta waiter’s skills were not like those of an ordinary waiter. He was probably a trained fighter. There must be someone behind him, Romeo thought. That wasn’t the most important part. The most important thing was that the waiter reminded him of an old acquaintance.
But he couldn’t be sure. After all, that memory was too long ago, so long that Romeo could barely remember the face of that old acquaintance. But one thing he remembered clearly was that the person in his heart was not as violent as that Beta waiter.
That old acquaintance was also a Beta, but a gentle, kind, and stable Beta. He had helped Romeo through his first Alpha rut after coming of age. It could be said that without him, there would be no Romeo today.
So, that violent, crazy Beta could not possibly be the person in Romeo’s memory. Besides, the world was so big, it was normal to meet people who looked similar but had completely different personalities.
Just as Romeo was lowering his head, staring at the floor in thought, someone pushed the door open and walked in.
Romeo looked up and stared at the person. It was him, that violent Beta.
The Beta had a head of fluffy, neat black short hair. He looked like he was of mixed race, with a pair of deep brown eyes, thick eyebrows, deep-set brow bones, a high nose bridge, and a defined face.
He was tall, with broad shoulders and powerful arms. His appearance once again overlapped with the face of the old acquaintance in Romeo’s memory.
So similar, so very similar. But in some details, they were not the same.
The Beta in front of him had a cold and indifferent expression, like a lake in the dead of winter, bottomless, showing no trace of emotion. And the person in his heart would never treat him so coldly.
The detestable Beta sneered and said mockingly, “What should I call you? Romeo Solstice? Or Roy Miller?”
The corners of Romeo’s mouth twitched into a humorless smile. “Then what should I call you? Mr. Waiter? Could you please get me a glass of water, preferably with ice cubes in it? I’m very thirsty right now.”
The Beta’s mouth turned down, clearly dissatisfied with Romeo’s stubborn attitude. “Ice water? Alright, just a moment.”
The Beta left the interrogation room. Soon, he returned, and this time, he really did have a glass of ice water. Square ice cubes floated on the surface of the water, giving off wisps of white mist.
Romeo unconsciously swallowed. He wasn’t lying this time. He was really thirsty. His throat felt dry and painful, as if it was inflamed or something, every time he swallowed.
Seeing the undeniable thirst in Romeo’s eyes, the Beta sneered. “Want a drink?”
Romeo looked at the Beta, wondering if he would propose some conditions before letting him drink the water. Alright, Romeo was not a person of unyielding integrity. Romeo had already decided to give in. He had no desire to fight with someone over a glass of water.
Romeo nodded. “Please bring it over, thank you.”
The Beta nodded. He walked up to Romeo, but instead of placing the glass in his hand as Romeo had expected, he raised it directly above the Alpha’s head and poured it down.
The water splashed all over Romeo’s head.
Romeo’s eyes widened. The ice cubes fell into his collar, and the cold shock brought him back to his senses.
“Then please, drink up,” the Beta said coldly.
In the monitoring room, RV sat in front of the oversized display screen, watching the glass of ice water being poured over Romeo’s head. He first took a deep breath, then covered his face in frustration.
RV was very distressed. When Wen En had asked him for this glass of ice water just now, this was not what he had promised.
