Chapter 1 - The Death Note
"I think your boyfriend ditched you...again."
Cai Hong stated in a sloppy voice as she poured the fifth shot of the night and glanced at the closed door of their private room.
The luxuriously decorated private room where they sat idle for the past three hours belonged to one of the famous nightclubs in the imperial that was frequented by riches and celebrities of the city.
"What kind of boyfriend ditches the welcome party thrown by his girlfriend?"
Cai Hong wondered and handed over the glass to the unfortunate girlfriend who organised a private party of the night.
Zhi Lan, whose pretty face rippling with disappointment, chugged down the strong liquor in a single gulp and tried to curb the surging waves of pain and dismay in her heart.
"I've told you several times. But let me remind you one last time, sweetie," Cai Hong, who happened to be the momma bear of their four-member group began to preach.
" Police officers are awesome, but they suck at being a perfect boyfriend."
"You got it wrong, Cai. He is not her boyfriend." Xie Na, who was already drop-dead drunk, blurted out without any second thoughts.
"He has never been-Ouch...who stomped on my feet?" She inquired and looked around only to meet with Zhi Lan's murderous glare.
"What I meant was…he never treated Lanlan as a girlfriend. Am I right, sweetie?" Xie Na swallowed the words that tickled her tongue and quickly rephrased her statement.
"What? I thought you two were dating for a while?" Su Min, who sat silently for the entire time, jolted awake from her drunken state to add her fair share of oil into Zhi Lan's burning mind.
"Dating? Who? He was chumming around Zhi Lan only because of her major general father." Xie Na sardonically rambled and poured down a glass of whiskey for herself. "Most of them approach her because of uncle Zhi's status."
"Woahhh, I never expected Captain Wan to turn out as a materialistic person." Su Min faked ignorance and looked at her friend for validation.
"He is not materialistic." Zhi Lan retorted when she could no longer tolerate her friend's words.
"Yi Jun…he doesn't have time to date." Though she said those words to shut other's mouths, deep down in her heart, Zhi Lan knew that it wasn't the reason for her loneliness. She grabbed the bottle and poured it down her mouth to forget the agonizing truth that she kept hidden from everyone else.
"Oh really? You confessed your love while you were a freshman at college and shall I remind you that was ten years ago?" Cai Hong said and snatched the bottle away from Zhi Lan to prevent her from drinking any more.
"You practically followed him everywhere he went, and yet you are saying that he got no time to date you. Captain Wan finally got transferred to the imperial, after god knows how many years and still he made no effort to contact or meet you. Do you know what that means? You are not his priority." Cai Hong harshly revealed the reason for Zhi Lan's melancholy without sugarcoating anything.
"I told you, he is busy with work." Zhi Lan made a vague excuse.
"Yes. That's what I'm saying- his priority has always been the work." Cai Hong tried to hammer down some sense to her friend, who got blinded by love and refuses to admit the truth.
"You fell for Wan Yi Jun at first sight and even confessed your love. For the last ten years, you went thick and thin with him, yet he never accepted your feelings nor rejected you. He treated you only as a friend."
"But Yi Jun promised me that he will join us today." Zhi Lan added in a barely audible voice and glanced at her cell phone in anticipation. It was nearly ten pm, and yet there weren't any messages or calls from him.
"Lanlan, he is a police officer, that too someone who is under special investigation team- do you think he will attend a party, just to cheer you up? Just give up on-" Cai Hong's rants were interrupted by the buzzing sound of the phone lying on the table in the middle of the liquor bottles.
Su Min narrowed her eyes and struggled to read out the name flashing on the phone screen.
"Wang Yi Jun."
"Wang Yi Jun? How drunk are you, Su Min...? It's Wan...Wan Yi...Nah, it's Captain Wan Yi Jun." Xie Na blathered again.
"Huh!" Zhi Lan picked up her phone with fumbling fingers and slid the "accept" option on the screen as she gestured her friends to stay quiet.
"Yi Jun…where are-" Zhi Lan paused for a moment and glanced at the closed door with bewildered eyes.
"I'm in one of the private rooms. Ahhh… I will come out. Yeah." She ended the conversation and haughtily looked at her friends as if she won a battle.
"I told you, he will come." She rose to her feet and declared with a proud smug adorning her face.
"He is late for three hours." Xie Na scoffed.
"Stop bitching about my man. I know what is best for me." She reminded them as she picked up the raspberry shade lip colour from her handbag.
"Zhi Lan…I'm telling you, don't go after that man- You will end up becoming a virgin ghost." Xie Na sarcastically warned the woman who was retouching her make-up.
Hearing her words, Zhi Lan halted her actions and snapped back with an icy cold glare.
"You will get another man, Lanlan." Xie Na tried to pacify her friend who stood before them like a wild beast.
"Don't you all agree with me?" She tilted her head and looked at the rest of the girls in the room.
Zhi Lan let out a sigh and pointed at Xie Na who was making herself a fool in front of others.
"Xie Na, when you go for your morning Pilates session tomorrow. please drop by my condo. I'll let you count the hickeys on me." Zhi Lan shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the room with her head held high in pride.
"You go, girl…Go and seduce that rock." Xie Na let out a scornful laugh at her friend, who ardently follows a good for nothing man.
Frustrated by their taunts and condescending comments, Zhi Lan gritted her teeth and stomped her way out of the private room.
Unlike the silent and posh private room, the corridors and dance floor on the ground floor was crowded with youngsters.
Since it was the last week of the year, like every other place in the city, the nightclub was brimming with people who came to celebrate the year-end.
Yes, that's what young people do- even if they are going through utter despair, the instant they step inside the club, all of their worries will vanish, and the only thing left to do is live in the moment.
She also wished the same for Wan Yi Jun. More than anyone else she knew how busy a police officer's life was. Even it's for an hour, Zhi Lan wished to give him some quality time to enjoy the ordinary things in life.
Is it too much to ask?
Zhi Lan's train of thoughts abruptly broke when her eyes caught on a familiar figure leaning onto the railing of the staircase.
It was the silhouette of a person whom she could recognise even if she lose her eyesight forever.
It was him.
Under sparkling blue and yellow lights, Wan Yi Jun's towering figure appeared otherworldy as he casually leaned on the staircase. Even though he was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans with a biker jacket, his posture oozed elegance and a lethal manly charm.
"Yi Jun!!!!" Zhi Lan's lips perched into a charming smile as she rushed towards him without thinking twice.
"He is mine. No matter how many times he rejects me, I will never let him go." She chanted in her head as she strode towards him.
"Clack!!!"
Whether it is because of her drunken stupor or the 5 inches heels, Zhi Lan lost her footing for a mere moment and even before she could comprehend what's happening, her slender body swung towards the floor.
"Aiishhhh!!!!" She unknowingly cursed and closed her eyes as she prepared herself to experience the most embarrassing thing in her life.
"Falling before your crush"
However, instead of getting hit by the cold floor, Zhi Lan felt a strong arm grabbing her waist and saving her from the fall.
"Were you that excited to meet me?" A deep voice coated with humour forced Zhi Lan to open her tightly shut eyes.
"It's been a while, Lanlan." Wan Yi Jun greeted her with a sunny smile and released his arms from her.
"Sorry, I came late. Got some last-minute work." He lazily touched his ear and apologized.
"No..no...you..are not late…It's just that we are early." Zhi Lan replied and steadied herself while brushing her hair back to hide her embarrassment.
"Let me buy a drink as an apology." Wan Yi Jun proposed and extended his hand like a gentleman.
For an instant, Zhi Lan couldn't believe what she just heard.
The mighty Wan Yi Jun is buying her a drink? Well, that was something she never expected from him.
The Wan Yi Jun hater's club also known as my best friends, did you see this? She asked inwardly.
"Actually Yi Jun…my friends-" Zhi Lan paused in the middle of the sentence by the sight of his face illuminated by the faint lights inside the nightclub.
She has seen a fair amount of men in her life, but no one was good enough to compare to the male god nonchalantly standing before her.
"No way...I'm not going to show off my Yi Jun before them as a specimen for cross-examination." She repeated in her mind and reached out to hold his arm with an alluring smile decorating her face.
"I will never let anyone come between us." She made her decision and tightened the grip on Wan Yi Jun's palm.
However, little did Zhi Lan knew about the existence of a woman who could snatch Wan Yi Jun from her, and what was even more astonishing?
She was standing right before them, scribbling one of their names on her death note, like a grim reaper.