A cold chill struck Lu Mian's cheek, waking her up. Lost in her memories of her past, she had unknowingly walked for over an hour. Now, the sky was overcast with the first drizzle coming down.
Lu Mian knew she had to take cover before she got drenched. More importantly, she wanted a quiet place to look through her research without being seen.
She glanced around, trying to see where she can go. Subconsciously, she used the training from her previous life to scout and decide. No, the bus stop was too open, wouldn't help. The shed was too dark. Under the tree? Now, that's just being silly.
"Look for easily defendable, obvious places. The ones that are easily overlooked and appear dangerous can be the safest."
Aegis, I still don't know you, but I take a part of you with me smiled Lu Mian wryly as she walked on.
Her school uniform was now getting soaked. She couldn't afford to ruin her research so she moved faster. Come on. Somewhere obvious, you can do it.
She finally saw a cafe. It was filling up with people, most rushing in to shelter from the rain. The tables near the windows were all busy and there was a line at the counter. And, towards the back, it overlooked a courtyard that people avoided now because of the rain. Perfect.
Lu Mian calmly walked towards the courtyard and found a table in the far corner, with her back to the wall. She unobtrusively angled a potted plant to the side of her table to shield her research from prying eyes. Now, it looked like a school student bent over her homework. Nothing out of place.
Tying up her hair in a bun, she moved to open her bag when she felt eyes on her. Not pausing in her actions the slightest, she reached out to get her math homework instead of research and started doing the problems.
Good thing too, mused Lu Mian. I need to hand in the homework and have to get started. In her last life, she had been focused on becoming the perfect wife to the CEO Pei Yan. She slaved away learning Calligraphy and music to be seen as the best. Admittedly, it wasn't all that hard. Her natural talent in music and arts helped her succeed. But that meant she didn't get the top scores to get into esteemed universities.
"What a good girl you are Mianmian" her father had praised. "A true filial child. I can rest assured leaving the company in Pei Yan's hands".
A load of bollocks mused Mianmian. Which responsible parent encourages their child to be a trophy wife. And, if she had succeeded, why give it to Pei Yan, and not herself?! This life she resolved to make her own path and carve out her own destiny.
Her pen flew through the pages, quickly marking the right answers with hardly any thought. Her ears were still open though, alert, trying to pick up clues. Someone was watching her, who? The gaze did not feel malicious, just cautious.
Suddenly her head perked up. That fishy smell was blood. She had smelled it too often in her previous life to be wrong about it. Someone needed help or something was wrong. Or both, amended Lu Mian in her head as she looked around.
Just as she got up from her spot to check thoroughly, she heard a muffled sound. Someone had fallen and tried to hide that noise, but she picked up on it anyway. Turning to her right, she followed the sound. As she turned the corner, a flying kick came to meet her.
Lu Mian tried to jump aside with a startled squeal, and failed. The kick was so swift. At the last second though it swerved and hit the wall instead, narrowly grazing her.
Embarrassed by her lack of caution, Lu Mian turned to confront the attacker, only to come to a grinding halt. Oh! In front of her lay a soldier, bleeding from his abdomen. One hand was firmly pressed against the wound, hoping to staunch the flow. Blood had soaked through his calf muscle, the leg he aimed to kick her with and now dripped blood steadily to the floor. Half of his face was covered, with a mask that was coming off. What she could see of his face was rapidly paling due to blood loss.
He has beautiful eyes she absently noted. They were steady and sharp with an air of authority that could order the world.
"You should leave now kid", he said in a rasping voice.
"You need help" muttered Lu Mian, falling to her knees and reaching for his face. Before he could flinch away, she quickly tightened his mask for him. She knew his identity must be special. And, to give it away was worse than failing his mission.
"Don't worry, I won't peek. I promise", said Lu Mian quickly, as she rapidly undid the ribbon on her bun. She needed to staunch the bleeding now. "Can you move your hand?".
The minute she'd touched his mask, he had frozen. Maybe he didn't expect her to tighten it, because she saw the shock in his eyes.
"I could be a bad man and hurt you" he rasped, his voice gravelly with pain, his eyes weighted down with seriousness.
Lu Mian could tell he genuinely meant it. "My grandfather was a soldier. I recognize your uniform" and your badge she silently added. It was a special forces badge given to only those who had done great work. She wouldn't let a hero die on her watch. "Hand. Now" she barked.
As his hand slipped away, probably due to weakness, she huffed and bent over him to inspect the wound. Her hair, undone from it's confines cascaded down on them, gently blanketing his legs. She felt the soldier stiffen, but calmly ignored him.
"Gunshot. A clear through and through" she remarked, and started tying her ribbon to staunch the flow. "You may need a transfusion" she murmured looking at the blood on the floor. "What's your blood type?".
She raised her eyes to see him watching her with deep, immovable eyes. There was an emotion in his eyes she couldn't place. "Sir?"
Before he could respond, they both heard footsteps clattering outside in the courtyard. Some customers had finally come to this side of the cafe because the rain had stopped. That wasn't necessarily good news. It meant two things - one, they could be discovered. Or worse, his opponents could find them.
"Go. Leave. Now." he commanded her harshly, gritting his teeth to get up. And, to Lu Mian's surprise, he did manage to get up despite the pain. If she did not know he was injured, she wouldn't guess anything was wrong with him.
As expected of a true hero, admired Lu Mian. "Still so stubborn!" she sighed, and quickly moved away to pick up her backpack. She shoved in her school work and picked up her jacket, knowing the longer she took, the easier they would be found.
The soldier's eyes flickered as he watched her turn away. For a second, there was an unnamed emotion in them. However, without voicing it, he silently moved to the back exit. It wasn't hard to get to, usually. But for the injured him, it was excruciating. Ignoring the pain in his body, he quietly watched for his enemies as he moved.
He was out of luck. The backdoor was watched. He saw his hunters, trying to blend in, as they searched for him. There were only three of them. He could probably take them down. Barely. Ignoring the pain in his side, he quietly coiled his body to attack.
Before he could lash out, he felt a steady hand come around his waist and gently tug him in another direction. He looked down in amazement. She was back, with now her school bag and jacket in tow.
"Follow me" she mouthed quietly and guided him swiftly to a pantry. The door was barely closed, indicating someone would come by soon to pick up supplies.
"There must be an exit here" she quietly assured him. "They would need to use it for deliveries and supplies". And she was right, a truck was parked in the center, with the supplies all unloaded.
The driver and the steward were arguing behind it "I don't get enough of this cut" grumbled the driver. "Next time, I need atleast 5%".
"Dream on" scoffed the steward. "I hardly make 8%, and you ask for 5?! That's some gall. Go ahead. Go on now before someone asks questions. They will silence you without a doubt".
Lu Mian and the soldier silently moved behind the unloaded supplies and started making their way towards the truck. This is definitely not a normal cafe, thought Lu Mian.
The steward, his task done quickly went back in to probably reassure his bosses things were in order. The driver, grumbling about unfairness, shuffled towards the truck door.
As if it had always been part of their plan, Lu Mian and the soldier moved towards him. The soldier reached him first and with a swift tap of his acupoints, subdued him. Lu Mian knelt next to him and started unbuttoning his clothes.
The soldier quickly stopped her hand. "What are you doing?" he asked her in a low dangerous voice. His eyes gleamed with a fierceness she hadn't seen even when he knocked out the driver. "Taking his clothes for you" she blinked up at him. "Won't it be easier...?" she trailed off as she noticed the aura of danger around him.
"Get your hands off him. And don't look". He ordered her. Lu Mian nodded once to show she understood and got into the truck.
"I can get back kid. You should go" He said again. "You have lost way too much blood". Lu Mian reminded him quietly. "I know you can get back on your own. But you don't have to.".
He gave her a piercing glance and quickly started the truck. Lu Mian dove down next to his legs to stay hidden, not noticing the nervous twitch of his legs. A schoolgirl in a truck would be a dead give away. As the truck moved forward, with the radio blaring, neither of them spoke a word.
Lu Mian used the silence between them to undo the tie round her neck and treat his leg. The wounded leg was right next to her and it was still oozing blood. He stiffened briefly when she touched him, but gradually eased up when he realized what she was doing.
"You definitely need a transfusion. What's your blood type?" she asked him again. He looked down at her briefly for a second and then said "Panda blood."
Rare blood. Hard to find even in the best hospitals. Got it.
He swerved the truck again and parked in a corner "Time to get off" he ordered curtly.
Lu Mian nodded. By now, someone must've definitely discovered the stripped driver and be on his trail again. She jumped off the truck and moved around to assist him. To her surprise, he didn't attempt to get off by himself or push her away. He must be too weak thought Lu Mian and resolved to treat him immediately.
The soldier had driven them to an abandoned house in an old part of town. It was easy to see that no one was in there. Without overthinking it, Lu Mian used a hairpin to break in, disarmed the alarm and guided him in.
The soldier watched her quietly "Do they teach all this in schools, these days?".
"I wish" she chuckled. "In a family like mine, you need some skills to get by". Indeed, she had endured endless torment by Lu Xinya and Xu Lihua. One of their favourite ways to punish her was lock her up without food. Lu Mian had perfected the art of lock-picking at a very young age so that she could keep herself fed.
The soldier's eyes sharpened. Before he could comment, Lu Mian guided him in and made him rest against a couch. For an abandoned house, it looked really clean. Feeling better about their chances, Lu Mian opened a cupboard to see if she could use supplies to help him and frozse.
A complete and well-stocked medical pharmacy gleamed in the afternoon light. "It's a safehouse" he murmured, his eyes glinting with amusement at her surprise.
"You could've told me!" She huffed. "We needn't have broken in". A rich, low laughter erupted from him, ending in a cough. "I enjoyed it." He admitted, wincing from the pain.
Despite the banter, Lu Mian's hands were busy. She efficiently assembled what she needed and reached to undo his shirt. Once again, the Soldier caught her hand. This time, she didn't sense danger from him, but a different tension.
"Do you know what you are doing" he asked her in a deep voice. Lu Mian blushed. Seriously, that could easily be misunderstood. "Despite what you think, I don't go about undoing people's clothes for fun." She snapped. "And Comerade, I am still in school".
"Indeed" he whispered. So Young. The unfinished insinuation hung heavily in the air. "I promise you I wont mess up" Lu Mian said looking into his eyes. She could tell that he was slipping away. He needed help now.
His hand loosened to gently brush back the hair falling around her eyes. It revealed a glaring red cheek - the same cheek he had hurt before he controlled his attack.
But Lu Mian wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Her entire gaze was focused on his injuries. She cleaned his wound and started getting ready for a transfusion. The last clear vision in the soldier's head was the sight of the needle poking into Lu Mian's own elbow to collect blood. And then everything went dark.