Officer Gong sat in the break room with Officer Pan. His hands had a firm grip on the desk as he spoke to her through gritted teeth, "She's been through enough!" He barked. "The last thing she needs is for you to tell her she's a suspect when she's not!"
"You know damn well that girl didn't do it!" Were his final words as Officer Pan nodded.
"And maybe she didn't," She agreed. "But she knows something. Maybe she was an accomplice."
"It's been reported that Qi Qiao was raped before she was murdered. I know women are capable of rape, but male sperm was found in her — from multiple guys." Officer Gong pointed out. "Everyone knows Zhen Jie doesn't hang out with anyone. She's always at school or at home whereas the girls that bullied Qi Qiao are known for being with males all of the time."
"Tell me, Officer Pan... is this really the right case for you? You seemed to have overlooked those small, obvious details and immediately jumped to accuse Zhen Jie because she was the last person to see Qi Qiao." His voice was laced with accusation an confidence, as if he'd recognized key points that Pan did not. "Qi Qiao left Zhen Jie's place around two or three. Autopsy reports said she died later that night. Zhen Jie's neighbors never reported seeing Zhen Jie leave her home after that."
"They also haven't reported seeing her leave with a guy every day after you drop her off," Officer Pan spat. A smirk crept onto her face when she saw Officer Gong's smile drop. "You didn't know?"
"You're supposed to be protecting her but you didn't even know she's been living with someone else..." She continued. "Ever since she's become a suspect again, we've had officers sitting outside of her apartment complex. He sneaks into her place before you arrive, and when you leave, so do they."
"And that's not all either... he's been wanted for a few years. He's a criminal himself... but you want to put it past your precious Zhenjie Xu." The paleness that took over Officer Gong's face did little to tell how he was feeling. Officer Pan could tell if he was paling due to being upset that he'd failed to notice the obvious, or if it was because he too was guilty and had been helping Zhen Jie get away with murder.
Either way it went, Zhen Jie was not the only person Officer Pan had her suspicions about. Gong was also on her radar. The way he took up for Zhen Jie was not normal for a police officer when the evidence blatantly pointed towards a person. She could understand him standing even ground, but not immediately rushing to defend Zhen Jie.
"This is why you can't work the case. You let your personal relationship with her fuck up everything." Officer Gong retorted. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to catch on in the beginning. We thought he was just her boyfriend or someone that she snuck out with. The boy's smarter than he looks."
"He kept his distance from her from the start. He was discreet about going to her home — but as he grew more attached he stopped. Especially when he nearly attacked someone outside of her apartment." Being pulled out of Officer Pan's briefcase were documents and photos of Yi Zhao. Some of them included Zhen Jie, some were of him at her home, and others were of him as a youngster — his mugshot also making an appearance. "That's when we saw his face... it wasn't until earlier today when we realized who he was."
"You know, I never suspected that Zhenjie Xu killed Qi Qiao. I think she lured Qi Qiao away for her little friend, Yi Zhaohui to rape and kill." She continued organizing the papers on the table, sliding a witness statement in front of Officer Gong. "Someone recently informed us of his intimate relationship with the deceased. He even assaulted her before and we pulled the camera. We have the footage."
"Another statement said he'd get upset with her if she didn't want to perform sexual acts with him and he'd sometimes force her to." Gong's hand twitched as he picked up a photo of Yi Zhao and Qi Qiao. It was a snapshot from surveillance footage that explicitly showed Yi Zhao standing over Qi Qiao. Her hair had fallen over her face and she cupped her knee in her hand as if she'd scraped it. Though Yi Zhao's face was not depicted clearly, his expression was obviously one of distress.
Officer Gong felt more guilty than anything at the thought that Officer Pan was right. He felt like an indirect accomplice to Qi Qiao's murder because he'd been the officer to let Yi Zhao go on that exact day.
"You said it yourself. Zhen Jie said she and Qi Qiao weren't close. If they weren't close, they wouldn't have sat in her apartment for two hours eating lunch without talking to each other. How does someone go from handing someone a book to eating at their home?" She gathered the papers and slid them into a manila folder and gazing into Officer Gong's eyes.
"Tell me, Officer Gong... is this really the right case for you? You seemed to have overlooked those small, obvious details and immediately jumped to defend Zhen Jie because you've grown close to her." She mocked. "So what I need you to do, is go get Zhen Jie. She knows more than she says she does... and if she's really clueless, he's using her to keep us off of his tail and she could be in danger."
Officer Gong wasted no time rushing out of the police department to get Zhen Jie. He didn't believe she was an accomplice one bit. He also didn't believe Yi Zhao was behind it and would harm Zhen Jie — but he couldn't go off of what he believed when Zhen Jie's life was on the line.
He loved her.
Officer Gong sped to Zhen Jie's house and when she didn't open the door, he picked the lock and entered himself. The first thing he saw was dried blood on the floor and began jumping to conclusions. Someone might have hurt sweet little Zhen Jie. He pulled out his phone and called Officer Pan, barely letting her answer the phone before speaking, "Pan, she isn't here but there's blood on the floor."
"I'm filing a missing persons report. I'm going to send a search party. He could have taken her... do you think he saw us watching them? Maybe he forced her to go with him—"
"I don't know, dammit! Just hurry."
Miles away, Zhen Jie and Yi Zhao were on their way home, smiling giddily hand in hand. Zhen Jie couldn't stop touching her lips. Yi Zhao gave her the sweetest kisses after they woke up and brushed their teeth. It was soft and sweet, and his lips seemed to taste like honey — though that was most likely her imagination.
After getting off of the train and heading back into town, Yi Zhao could feel the stares he was getting. Zhen Jie was walking ahead of him, keeping her distance as always, and was getting sympathetic glances. Not even the stares from people could kill her smile.
Yi Zhao didn't realize what was going on until he saw someone pull out their phone and press a few buttons on it. He heard them try to whisper into it, but as their voice shook, it failed to remain low. They'd called the police and muttered something along the lines of, "That kidnapper is here..." Zhen Jie stopped outside of a shop and stared at the television that showed both her and Yi Zhao's faces.
Her smile fell immediately.
It said she'd been kidnapped — by Yi Zhao.
Zhen Jie panicked and grabbed Yi Zhao's wrist, her nails digging into his skin unintentionally. She pulled him into an alley and when they heard police sirens, she grabbed his backpack. She took his lighter while he watched confused, wondering what she was thinking as she panicked and scurried to the dumpster.
Zhen Jie tossed the trash from the dumpster and set it on fire before grabbing Yi Zhao and running off again. She dragged him through alleys, under the smoke-filled sky, coughing at the damage she, herself, created. She let his hand go and shoved him away while looking back, "Go!"
"What?" He asked.
"Please, go. They think you hurt me... go! Stay away for a while then I will meet you at your house in two weeks. Please."
"Little Zhen, I can't leave you."
"Please. If they take you, what will I do? I will just die!"
"Then... pretend what they said is true," Yi Zhao instructed. "They will probably think we're working together, so... pretend I kidnapped you."
"No!"
"Just do it! I'm already wanted! It doesn't matter what you tell them, just lie. As long as it saves you, I don't care what you say. My life can't get any worse — unless I lose you." He said. Zhen Jie nodded slowly before he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a kiss. He pulled the bracelets from her wrist and rolled them over his, and then he reached into the backpack and took out the pictures they'd taken the day before.
Tears bubbled in Yi Zhao's ice like a poisonous mixture in a witch's cauldron. He blinked them away as he brought the lighter to them and set them on fire, watching as his face beside Zhen Jie's browned and ashed away. The ashes fell onto the damp concrete beneath his knees.
The sound of footsteps got closer and Yi Zhao turned around to make sure they hadn't been found yet. He kissed Zhen Jie one more time and felt his heart break at the tears that fell on his lips. Zhen Jie was crying, "I-I have to hurt you." He muttered after pulling away.
He ripped her cardigan and pushed her to the ground, hovering over her. He pulled one of the hair clips from her hair and tossed it across the alley while she cried, not wanting him to leave. What if he never came back? What if she was arrested and never saw him again? What if he was caught running away and arrested?
He was supposed to protect her, and she was supposed to keep him out of trouble. That's what the books she read and movies she watched said. She was failing at the only task she'd ever cared to be given.
"I'm so sorry!" Yi Zhao apologized with tears in his eyes as he pulled the blade from his pocket and pressed it on her cheek, watching the thick blood spill to her ear and into her hair. When Yi Zhao heard footsteps coming their way, he yelled, "Shut the fuck up and do what I say!"
The officers got closer and he looked into Officer Gong's eyes. His eyes widened, acting as if he didn't know he was there, and stood up. When Officer Gong's partners went to chase him, he ran off with them following.
Officer Gong ran to Zhen Jie who was sobbing on the ground with her hands covering her face. He lifted her into his arms and wiped the red liquid from her face, his heart clenching at the sight of her. He too swore to protect her, and just like Yi Zhao, he failed. He fixed her cardigan before lifting her and carrying her to his patrol car, "It's okay, Little Zhen. It's okay."
Unbeknownst to him, she wasn't crying because of what Yi Zhao did. She was crying because she was scared she'd lose him forever.
And she didn't want to lose him ever.
Officer Gong kissed the girl's forehead and cradled her in the backseat, trying his best to console her. Of all the years he'd worked at the police station, this case was the hardest and it was because he'd grown attached to the girl.
She was so innocent. She didn't deserve to be thrown into the world like that. She knew nothing about the world and one day, she was randomly pulled from her youthful reverie. She was violently yanked from her imaginations of a world with clouds that rained glitter — and shoved into the dark, gooey, sludge of reality.
Her life was never easy, but it was better. Though she'd lost her mom and her dad wasn't around, she wasn't caught in the middle of an investigation and being hurt because of it.
Officer Gong knew she had to grow up someday... but that wasn't how she or anyone else was supposed to.
It was too soon. Way too soon.
Qiu Fu sat on his couch eating chips while Hou Wei sorted through the money that was on the table. The door burst open and Yi Zhao stormed in, slamming the door behind him and locking it. His hand rested on his chest, the thumping pain too much to bear.
Hou Wei jumped from the couch and ran to his friend who was out of breath, "Dude, what the hell?"
"Wei, I need you to watch after my girl!"
"Girl?" Qiu Fu snorted from the couch, dropping the bag of chips and gaping at Yi Zhao. "Tch, what the hell's going on?"
Qiu Fu took his foot off of the couch for Yi Zhao to sit once he approached him, reaching beside the couch and grabbing a bottled water from the bag for his friend. Yi Zhao placed his face in his hands after gulping the much needed drink and sighed, "My girl... my sweet girl and she needs help."
"What girl?"
"You have a daughter?"
"A girlfriend?"
"Is she okay? Talk to us!"
Hou Wei bombarded him with questions, the tone of his voice suggesting he hated to see his usually emotionless friend so shaken up. He wasn't crying, but he was visibly distraught, and by the tears that threatened to come out of his eyes, Hou Wei knew it was going to happen soon.
"She's not my girlfriend but she's my girl..." Yi Zhao said lowly. "She's okay for now."
"Quit being vague, bro." Qiu Fu said. "What do you need us to do?" He asked. "You know we'll do it."
"I'm going to help you but you... you need to calm down," Hou Wei comforted him. "I can barely understand you. Take a deep breath, then talk."
It was then that Yi Zhao understood how Hou Wei was so good with people. Even though Hou Wei was into illegal things, he was a good person. Everything he did was for his family. He was always kind and anyone around could say the same. He would never betray Yi Zhao.
Qiu Fu, on the other hand, was the opposite. He was in the streets because he liked doing things he wasn't supposed to. He wasn't a bad person, but he wasn't everyone's favorite either. He didn't understand the phrase, "There's a time and place for everything". Qiu Fu said and did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, but he never meant anything by it. He just didn't think he was doing anything wrong. Yi Zhao loved the guy — but he couldn't help but wonder if he was as loyal as he claimed.
"I messed up... I was supposed to protect her and I messed up." Yi Zhao covered his face with his hands. "I knew they were watching her house... I knew it. That's why I didn't let them see my face."
"That bitch Wan Cui showed up one day and hurt her! I couldn't let it slide and I think they saw me." He looked up. "They've been looking for me for a while."
"Wan Cui threatened to tell them about the time I pushed Qi Qiao... but I could tell by her smirk that she already did. They definitely think I have something to do with Qi Qiao's death... and now that means they think my girl does too."
"I-I told her to pretend she doesn't know me and that I kidnapped her." Hou Wei stopped him as he tugged at his hair and held his hand between his. "I should've thought first... no one's going to be at her house to protect her after school."
"I know the cops'll probably still be there watching — but that didn't stop Wan Cui from showing up the last time."
"Wan Cui tried to get her raped before! She would've been if I hadn't shown up!"
"That bitch has no heart and she'll do anything to hurt my baby!"
"Please... please watch over her place. Make sure she's safe, I'm begging."
"We will, we will," Hou Wei promised. "What's her name? Where does she live?" He asked. "What if she's scared of us? She might tell the cops. We can't always linger around outside... we'll have to talk to her, tell us why we're there... but she probably won't believe us."
Yi Zhao stared solemnly at the bracelets on his wrist, unsure of what to do.
At the police station, Zhen Jie was being questioned by Officer Pan for the nth time.
Surprisingly, she believed Zhen Jie's story about Yi Zhao. Yi Zhao told her to tell them he kidnapped her, but she couldn't let them think that. She just couldn't. When Officer Pan asked why he was waiting for her every day, Zhen Jie said he'd originally approached her to protect her from the person who was watching her outside of school.
Officer Gong was able to back her up on that because he too noticed it, and they wouldn't have believed her story about the kidnapping anyway because of the matching bracelets the two wore and forgot to hide. Zhen Jie didn't want them to suspect him for Qi Qiao's death, so she made sure to lie and say Yi Zhao had been protecting her long before Qi Qiao's death and was with her the night she died.
That perked Officer Pan's ears, "Then, that means he was there when Qi Qiao was... was he not?"
"No... he was with a friend. He came later that night. He told me he was going to make money — at that store by the market on Xiangliu Street."
She lied, but she lied successfully. The night Qi Qiao was killed, at the same exact time she was suspected to have been murdered, there was a robbery at a high-end store on the other side of town.
Zhen Jie only knew of that after watching the news with Yi Zhao and seeing that the three burglars hadn't been arrested yet. She figured that if she said he was at the store "making money", they'd think he was one of the burglars and give him an alibi.
They already knew he hung out with Hou Wei and Qiu Fu, who were also laying low for the same reasons he was. They were wanted for their crimes which were of the same nature Zhen Jie discreetly told the officers he was doing the night of the murder.
Burglary.
"Alright so... if he was protecting you, why did he hurt you?"
She was caught.
"Because... when the cops came he panicked." She said. "He said he was wanted for stealing or something — he said you all would think I was a thief too. So he hurt me so it would not look like we were close. He wanted to take the fall."
"But I can not lie. Yes, we are close."
"And why can't you lie?"
"Because I will go to jail. Liars will go to jail."
Officer Pan nodded. She decided on Yi Zhao not having anything to do with Qi Qiao's death, but just to make sure, she passed the case to a colleague. Yi Zhao still had to be questioned anyway to be marked off as a suspect.
Officer Pan, however, wasn't able to unmark Zhen Jie as a suspect. She still wondered about Zhen Jie's original statement. She was adamant about Zhen Jie knowing something because apparently, her story wasn't adding up.
"You said liars go to jail, yea?" Officer Pan asked. "Back in March, you said you and Qi Qiao weren't close to one another. Someone you weren't close to brought you a book you'd never seen and had dinner with you... why?"
"Were you lying?"
Zhen Jie put her head down and nodded. She decided she needed to tell the truth now — or at least some of it — or else Yi Zhao might be hurt because of it.
"I had to lie back then for my own safety." She admitted. "Because right before I met Officer Gong at the store, they were chasing me. They threatened me when I left with him and I was scared."
"They? Who is 'they'?"
"Cui Linwan, Mei Tunglei, Jia He, and April Kun."
"The girls that bullied Qi Qiao?"
Zhen Jie hummed in response and continued, "They were after me because... I left home that night... when Qi Qiao died. I was trying to buy eggs because me and Qi Qiao ate the last of them."
"I saw them... they were recording her while they took her clothes off." She refused to look up, her eyes glued to her lap. "There were guys... taking off their clothes too and I got scared so I went to run home. When Wan Cui saw me... she yelled at me to keep my mouth shut."
"I was going to tell the truth one day when I thought they weren't going to do anything... but they," Zhen Jie's voice broke. "They hurt me so bad."
"What happened?" Officer Pan asked, her pen no longer moving. The other officers that were in the room listening gave their full attention too.
"I do not want Officer Gong to hear," Zhen Jie whispered to Officer Pan. "Because he will think it was his fault. He will be sad he could not protect me, but it is not his fault."
"Gong, step out please," Officer Gong left without protesting. Officer Pan turned back to Zhen Jie, "If you want anyone else to leave, they can."
"One day I told Officer Gong I was going to Mo Chen's house."
"When we got to the store, Wan Cui and her friends took me away from Mo Chen and scared her away."
"They took me to an alley and beat me up... they took my clothes and they videoed it."
"They were calling me a prostitute when they left with my clothes and telling people to come get me."
"Then some guys..."
"Some guys came and to-touched me... but Yi Zhao came before he took off his pants. He saw them and he got hurt because of me. To protect me."
The officers in the room, including Officer Pan, believed every word she said. They remembered how Officer Gong came to the office worried because Zhen Jie never made it to Mo Chen's house.
They also remembered how the officers that were called to that side of town that night had reported seeing a girl running off with a shirtless guy, but assumed it was two teenagers hooking up.
Officer Gong also came into the office after seeing Zhen Jie that Monday. He said she had bruises on her but he wasn't allowed to question her which was stupid. He told a colleague to go question her about them, but they never did. They never went to ask a seventeen year old girl who lived alone where her bruises came from, but they weren't the only one at fault. Officer Gong blamed himself as well. He should've asked her about them anyway. He couldn't get fired for worrying about her safety — but at the time, he didn't think she'd lie to him about something so serious. Maybe she'd fallen.
He felt like an idiot. He felt like he didn't deserve his job. He failed her.
"Officer Wang, call those girls in."
"Mo Chen as well?" Officer Wang asked.
"No," Officer Pan shook her head. "We need to question the bullies first."