章 5: Have We Met Before?

He Juan was going through the numbers of phi inside his head when the door suddenly clicked open. He raised his head in surprise to see Mu Yuze. Under the harsh light of the investigation room, he seemed to radiate coldness that came from deep within his bones.

He carried nothing but a recording device which he put on the table before sitting down. He Juan was a little confused. Wouldn't they usually jot down something in a notebook or type his statement through a laptop? He was mildly amused by his own conjecture, it seemed like he had watched too many movies in his spare time.

Mu Yuze's dark lashes lifted to stare at him and He Juan subconsciously straightened up.

"Have you found Miss Zhao yet?" He Juan started a conversation with a light tone, careful not to provoke this man who seemed to frown at the mere sight of him.

What could be the reason? He Juan found himself wondering. Aside from that, he was surprised at how much it bothered him. So what if Officer Mu disliked him? It was not like He Juan could make everyone on Earth favor him or something!

"Not yet."

"...Oh." He Juan nodded.

Goodness… even his voice was so pleasant to the ear. It was smooth, not very deep and kinda had a melodious tune to it. He wondered if Officer Mu played some instruments in his free time? As soon as he realized that his attention had derailed, He Juan hastily shelved the useless thought into the back of his mind and forced himself to focus on the matter in hand.

Because Mu Yuze had no notebook or laptop to busy his hands with, his attention was solely focused on He Juan, taking in every minute shift of his expression. He Juan waited for a whole five seconds for the questions… yet it didn't come. The ticking clock sounded awfully loud amidst the heavy silence that He Juan could not help but get nervous. Did he have something on his face? Why was Mu Yuze looking at him with such an… intense gaze?

With nothing to shield him from those piercing dark eyes, He Juan could only bring the cup to his mouth and take a small sip of water.

Mu Yuze's eyes flicked down to follow the movement before he looked away. "This conversation will be recorded. If you're proven guilty, then whatever you say here will be used against you in the court. So think carefully before you answer."

Somehow He Juan only felt mildly amused. "Go ahead, Officer Mu."

"Your name."

"He Juan."

"Which character is 'Juan'?"

He Juan merely blinked. "It's from… 'graceful'."

He was a tad embarrassed now that he was saying it out loud, especially as he recalled how Mu Yuze had witnessed the mess in his house. His parents might have given this name so that he would carry himself with grace but in the end, their son only grew up to be a scatter-brained klutz who ended up sitting in the police station for being a murder suspect. How pathetic…

However Mu Yuze merely hummed and continued, "Age. Date of birth."

"33 years old. 30th December." The date He Juan said was actually the date when he first awoke in the hospital seven years ago. All of the records about He Juan were missing so he actually did not know when his actual birthday was.

Anyway, to be given a second chance in life could be considered as birthdays, couldn't it?

He just didn't expect that Mu Yuze's eyes would narrow sharply at that. "30th December…"

For some reason, He Juan's heart skipped a beat. "Yes…?"

Mu Yuze's eyes bore down heavily on him, as if searching for the slightest hint of a lie and He Juan returned it with confusion. Had he said something wrong? Come to think about it, there was something off with the way Mu Yuze looked at him. He Juan wouldn't be so arrogant to say that he could befriend everyone but he couldn't help but feel as if Mu Yuze was going to… to devour him everytime he looked at him like that.

He Juan's grip around the cup tightened as his heart sank to the pit of his stomach. Oh no, had he met Mu Yuze somewhere before? He Juan knew that he was not very good at remembering faces. His doctor had pointed out a few times that he would forget someone's face if he didn't see them for more than two days. He Juan could only smile wryly at that. Yet another side effect of the accident.

There was a very huge possibility that he had bumped into Mu Yuze before and then… he forgot. He might have offended this officer before. He Juan knew that his memory had not been good for the past seven years but could he really forget a face like Mu Yuze's even if he had only seen it once?

He Juan chose not to beat around the bush and approached the matter as casually as he could. "Officer Mu, have we met somewhere before?"

Mu Yuze frowned so deeply he might as well downright scowled. "Why do you think we have met before?"

Because you seemed to hate me, was what He Juan wanted to say. "Nothing, it's just…" He gestured vaguely around them, wishing that Mu Yuze could drop off the topic. Judging from Mu Yuze's reaction, He Juan's previous hypothesis was wrong. He secretly felt relief deep in his heart.

Mu Yuze indeed didn't push him for answers but He Juan noticed that the irritated quirk on his brows remained. Seeing that, He Juan decided not to ask anymore unnecessary questions lest Mu Yuze would become more upset. After a few basic questions that had been repeated back in the apartment, Mu Yuze suddenly asked,

"You stated that you were drunk last night. We have indeed found an empty wine bottle in your trash bin. But there's one more thing I want to confirm. Your bed and your couch don't show any signs of being slept on," Mu Yuze's sharp eyes assessed him. "Do you have a record of sleepwalking?"

"No, don't worry." He Juan hastily defended himself with a wave of his hand. He tried to laugh to lighten the heavy atmosphere. "If you're suspecting me of sleepwalking to Miss Zhao's room and harming her, I assure you that it would never happen, Officer Mu."

Mu Yuze still looked dubious, which was quite reasonable, He Juan told himself. But at this rate, if he couldn't prove anything then he would be detained here as a primary suspect until the real suspect could be found, right…?

He Juan held his forehead in helplessness. He actually didn't want to say this. He had only moved in for less than a week, what would his doctor say if he found out He Juan had gotten himself into another mess? Alas… did he have another choice?

"Before I moved into the apartment… I was living with another person for nearly six years." He did not realize that Mu Yuze stiffened slightly when he said that, too caught up with the nagging he would get a few hours later. He Juan felt an incoming headache just by imagining it. Heavens knew that part of the reason why he moved out — aside from stopping to be a burden to the doctor who had helped him get up to his feet, figuratively and literally — was so that he could escape from the continuous nagging that made him feel like a three years old child.

"You can confirm the truth with him, Officer Mu. He is a doctor so he will not lie to you." He Juan bemoaned his fate and offered Mu Yuze a pained smile. "One more thing, he might also attest that I have a habit of sleeping in strange places. As of last night… I was sleeping on the kitchen floor."