"The Little Things"

So that's how you felt

A Myriad of emotions went through Yunlan's body. For a couple of seconds, he was speechless, with his hand half raised, his heart pumping madly.

Nod dead... not dead... not dead...

He's alive!

He jumped up, ready to head out this very moment.

"Wait", Chu's voice, cold and commanding, stopped him dead in his tracks.

"He's... Changed."

Yunlan turned to face him, forcing his exasperation down. "What do you mean: changed? Changed how?"

"Firstly, he didn't recognize us. He treated us like complete strangers. He had no recollections of what had happened or who he was. And here comes the weird part. We checked. He had been on sick leave for two days, having a cold. And there is actual footage of him getting his prescription on a hospital's security camera. Also, for some strange reason, he teaches history and ancient literature, not biological engineering. And everyone around him seems to be adamant that he had always done just that."

"Wait, wait, wait, what?!" Zhao Yunlan had trouble ingesting so much information. The first part he could understand, memory loss was not uncommon after severe trauma. He could deal with that. But the rest just didn't make sense. Footage? Literature?

"There is more. We started investigating him. Dug through his history, kept tabs on him. Zhu Hong even hypnotized him to get to the bottom of it."

"She did what?" Anger bubbled up in Zhao. How dare they...

"She was quite reluctant at first if it makes you feel any better. But we decided it was an emergency, and she relented. Everything Shen Wei said, there were no loopholes in his story. We got nothing. Not to mention, there is not even a trace of dark energy on him. I don't think he is Lord Black Envoy anymore. He is just an ordinary human. After a month, when Zhang Shi officially took over, he told us to leave him alone."

"But he is Shen Wei?"

"Yes, he does look and behave like the old professor Shen."

"Then that's enough for me." Zhao headed for the exit. "Call me if that Science Freak finds something!"

Zhao Yunlan drove to Dragon City University, anticipation and anxiety making him break a couple of speed limits. He got out of the car, and as he started moving toward the old building, he saw a familiar silhouette of the man he was longing to see. Shen Wei was talking to two students, explaining something. When the students left, he turned around and simply walked past the stunned detective without any recognition. Zhao felt a pang of pain in his heart.

"Professor Shen?" he brought a disarming smile onto his face.

"Yes," Shen Wei turned around and looked at him. His eyes were keen and his demeanour polite.

"I'm with the Special Investigation Unit. I believe my people gave you some grievance a couple of years back."

"Ah, yes, as I gather, they had mistaken me for someone else."

"Right!" Zhao's smile broadened, even though his heart wanted to explode. "And I'm here to apologize to you about that. So sorry."

"After two years?" Shen Wei slightly lowered his head, curious.

"We...have been exceptionally busy at SID." Yunlan laughed nervously, helplessly spreading his arms.

"Exceptionally, indeed," the Professor agreed. There was a hint of a smile in the corners of his lips added to playfulness in his eyes. Yunlan swallowed hard.

"The Name is Zhao Yunlan. Chief of SID." He reached out his hand, and Shen Wei took it.

"Pleasure." Shen Wei looked into his eyes without any recognition. There was only that politeness he had kept for strangers. And it hurt.

"So that's how you felt," thought Yunlan, slowly dying inside. He was jerked back to reality when Shen Wei tried to take his hand back and couldn't because of his tight grip. "Sorry," Zhao laughed, embarrassed. "You probably want your hand back." He reluctantly let go.

"Yes," Shen Wei smiled politely. "But there's no need to apologize. It's fine."

"Nonsense! Let me at least treat you to dinner."

"Really, no need. Now, if there isn't anything else..."

"Oh, but there is!" Zhao smiled happily. While driving to the university, he had crafted plans up to the letter 'W'. "Actually," he rubbed his chin, "I was hoping you could help me find information about someone. You see, I'm not really certain if that was a historical or mythical figure."

"Of course. We have one of the largest history book collections in the department. Who exactly are you interested in?"

"Lord Black Cloaked Envoy."