Curate, connect, and discover
Everyone had soulmate words tattooed somewhere on their body. They were the first words that you would ever hear your soulmate say. Due to this, they were beheld with a certain degree of importance. Society loved the idea of soulmates, frowning on those who rejected or ignored their soulmate marks. Those who were born without marks were often outcasted, viewed as unloveable.
Zhao Zi always trusted his grandma. She had said that his soulmate would be someone who could care and provide for him. Because of this he paid no real attention to his words, preferring to judge his soulmate by their character than by their first words like the romantic he is. This was regarded as unusual. Words were so attached to emotion that Zhao Zi’s indifference often shocked people.
“Why should I pay so much attention to my words?” He had asked when one of his coworkers pointed to the neat letters across his collar bones. “I’m going to meet them wether I like it or not. It’s not like our first exchange is going to determine the whole relationship”. His wisdom made sense and after that people stopped asking.
It was perhaps lucky that he didn’t take his words seriously. Who would have the words “Can I have a bite?” tattooed on their person. Zhao Zi just assumed that his soulmate was a foodie like him. Besides, he could have gotten worse. His best friend, Shao Fei had the word “No” stamped on the back of his neck. It had been the warning of a bad relationship which had lasted for four years before Shaofei and Tangyi got their act together and confessed.
The whole thing had given Zhao Zi way too many heart attacks and emotions. And whilst their relationship was finally healthy with Tang Yi out of prison, they were so lovey dovey that even Zhao zi felt awkward. He genuinely considered himself a happy go lucky type of guy, trying not to let himself get down too often. When his parents left, he was okay because he had his wonderful grandmother. But when his grandmother died, it was Shao Fei who had kept him together. Although he was happy for his friend, he couldn’t help but feel an increasing sense of loneliness and disillusion with the world. His boss’s and AZi’s betrayal had been the icing on the cake.
More and more Zhao zi had found himself alone in his little house eating the type of unhealthy dinners that his grandmother would have hated. It seemed that with every passing day, his house only seemed to get bigger in its emptiness. Not that he let it show. At work he was as cheerful as ever, ignoring the new boss’s scoldings and the comments from the international division. No one noticed if he wasn’t eating as much as usual, or doing any more random acrobatics. He was fine.
So why was he stuck doing another weird undercover?
“Why do I have to be the stripper?” He complained, more like whined, to Shao Fei. They were back stage of the dingy strip club called the blue rose, the floor sticking to their shoes as they blinked in the terrible lighting. ZhaoZi was wearing knee length shorts with a see through white shirt and a stupid police hat. Shao Fei was dressed in a bright pink jacket on top of casual clothes. ZhaoZi had never wanted to swap clothes more.
“Because you’re the only one who can do anything acrobatic”, Shao Fei responded. “And the target likes boys like you anyway. We’ve been trying to get this guy for months Zhao Zi. Please? I’ll owe you”. Zhao zi sighed. He was too nice.
“You’re mean ah Fei”, he pouted, tugging the police cap lower over his hair. Shao Fei grinned, the cute act never worked on him anymore. “Yeah yeah”, he replied. “I’ll have Tang Yi make you some home cooked food. Now I’ve got to go, wait for your signal”. He patted Zhao Zi on the shoulder before disappearing out on to the club floor, leaving Zhao Zi alone backstage.
Trying to quell his nerves, Zhao Zi went over the case in his mind. They had several leads from a murder of a prostitute pointing towards the known gangster and sex trafficker John Smith. It was not his real name of course, but it was what he was known by. The guy had so far evaded them but a source had placed him in the club on routine occasions. Zhao zi just had to get him to lower his guard.
After a while, Shao Fei’s voice came across coms, alerting Zhao Zi of his cue. Gathering his courage, he ducked out on stage. He was glad of the lighting, obscuring most of the watchers from view. The target was visible in the corner, watching him. Zhao Zi shivered and bent forward into a front flip. Grasping the pole with his legs, he pulled himself upwards. Ignoring his surroundings, he concentrated on his dance, spinning around the pole with his body contorted in different ways.
When the que came for them to surround the target, Zhao Zi felt a flood of relief to be away from the blinding lights. He could feel his shirt sticking to him under the heat of the lamps and practically hopped off stage. Trying to keep up his cover, he strutted across the disgustingly stricken floor towards where the target was sat leering at him as the rest of his squad slowly surrounded him.
He didn’t notice the man on the table next to the target until he leant forwards and grabbed Zhao Zi’s wrist. Surprised, he turned to be greeted by dark red hair and a Cheshire Cat grin. The man’s eyes glittered at him as his lips stretched wider. “Can I have a bite?” He asked and instantly Zhao Zi could feel his words heat up across his collarbones. Deciding to deal with the target first, he shook off the hand and held out his badge. “Hands up! You’re under arrest!”
Luckily none of the men resisted and they had them out of the club and into the police van easily. Deciding to let Shao Fei and the others deal with the formalities, Zhao Zi hung back, now nicely wrapped up in his coat. Footsteps alerted him to an approach and he glanced up to face the red haired guy from the club. The lighting hadn’t done him justice. Now, in the light of a nearby street lamp, the guy was handsome and lean. Zhao zi couldn’t help Looking the guy over. Wow! His muscles!
The guy grinned and held out a gloved hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jack”. Zhao Zi returned his grin and shook his hand. “Oh you’re my soulmate. Hi! I’m Zhao Li An But everyone calls me ZhaoZi”. The guy’s hand was nice and warm through the glove.
Jack’s grin morphed into a smirk as he looked Zhao Zi slowly over, from his head to his toes then back up to his eyes. “So, can I have a bite?” ZhaoZi frowned in confusion. “Are you hungry? I wasn’t able to grab lunch and I’m starving but all the shops are shut now”, he saddened at the thought of his pitifully empty stomach.
“You got any food at your place? I can cook for you if you want”, Jack offered. ZhaoZi beamed, grabbing Jack’s hand excitedly. His grandma was right! He couldn’t be more in love. “Really? Then I want egg, and ham, and noodles with chicken broth and orange juice...” listing off all the food he had been craving, ZhaoZi couldn’t help but bounce a little on his feet. “Well I’ll cook for you. Come on”, Jack said as they began walking down the street. Calling a quick bye to Shao Fei, Zhao Zi turned his attention to his soulmate.
“Grandma said you would be a good cook”, he remarked as they turned a corner. “She said that my soulmate would be able to cook and provide for me”. He watched Jack grin. “That I can do”, he stated.
““My grandma also said that you will stay”. Zhao Zi looked up at Jack, face anxious but hopeful. He didn’t want to lose anyone else. “Will you stay?”
He watched as Jack’s face lost its grin, becoming honest. “If shorty asks then I will stay”, he promised as he wrapped around Zhao Zi shoulders. Relaxing into Jack’s warmth, Zhao Zi felt a bit of his loneliness disapate. It would take time, but jack would stay. Maybe he wouldn’t feel lonely anymore.
Everyone had soulmate words tattooed somewhere on their body. They were the first words that you would ever hear your soulmate say. Due to this, they were beheld with a certain degree of importance. Society loved the idea of soulmates, frowning on those who rejected or ignored their soulmate marks. Those who were born without marks were often outcasted, viewed as unloveable.
Jack knew for a fact that his boss, Tang Yi, had the words “Do you know who shot you?” Inscribed on his left forearm. His words had made sense. They had belonged to the police officer Shaofei who had been on the hunt for the murderer of his friend. They had danced awkwardly around the topic of them being soulmates for four years before developing a relationship as well as uncovering the killer of Mr Tang and Li Cheng. Now they were ridiculously in love. Especially since Tang Yi had been released from prison.
Jack was almost jealous of them and their love, if not for their disgusting PDA. He had often though of his soulmate. But in his line of work it was hard to have relationships. It had been years since he had been in a real relationship, even longer since he had seen his family. Besides, his words were a bit embarrassing, especially since he was a mercenary who made it his job not to get caught. But the words “Hands up! You’re under arrest!” Told him that one day he would be caught. It was all just a matter of time.
As he approached the polished oak door of his boss’s office, he absentmindedly traced the palm of his right hand where his words were inscribed in tiny neat black letters. Despite the fact that they were obscured by his gloves, he could picture each flick of handwriting. Insanely adorable handwriting that never failed to make him smile. With his signature smirk, he rapped a sharp knock against the wood.
“Everything alright boss?” Jack asked as he entered the pristine office. Tang Yi was sat at his desk frowning down at at a piece of paperwork laid out inform of him. He looked up as Jack entered the room, face as composed as ever. Jack fell into the chair in front of the desk, lounging reflexively back as his hand reached for his knife, flicking it backwards and forwards. It was a habit that worked well in intimidating people, not that Tang Yi ever fell for it. Jack was just doing it because he was bored.
“Shao Fei has an undercover operation with his squad in a strip club”, Tang Yi stated, voice cold. “They are planning to arrest a known sex trafficker who I’ve been meaning to hand over myself”. Ah, this was why the boss was so stressed. His soulmate was going on a dangerous mission in a unsavoury place where he would be dealing with a man who boss knows is dangerous. Jack almost felt excited. “He has forbidden me to go”, Tang Yi continued. “Insists that he will be okay since he’s a police officer”, he was practically grumbling now.
Jack grinned evilly. Sheathing his butterfly knife, he stuck it in his pocket and held out a hand. “Of course boss. None of your men would ever think of going to the strip club. Especially not to keep an eye on a certain police operation”. Jack wondered when his life had gotten boring enough for this to seem exciting. It most likely to the organisation going straight, which was great for him. No more hiding. Although if he had to hear more about Tang Yi’s and Shao relationship then he was probably going to have to quit his job.
“Of course the blue rose on fifth is completely off limits tonight”, Tang Yi spoke nonchalantly. “The barman, the drunk man in the corner, the bunny waiter and the man with the pink jacket, and the policeman stripper are totally off limits”. Jack nodded. “Of course boss”. Tang Yi returned his nod and returned to frowning at his paperwork as Jack left the room, closing the door with a snap behind him.
Once jack returned to his cold apartment, he opened his laptop to review the files that Tang Yi has definitely not so secretly, secretly sent about the case the police were working on. From the looks of it, the man they were hoping to arrest, a certain John Smith (what a ridiculous name) was a suspected serial rapist and had strong connections with the sex trafficking industry. Jack read further, finding the names of the officers involved. Shao Fei was registered, along with a Zhao Li An, who must be his partner.
Jack had heard of Zhao Li An before from both Tang Yi and Shao Fei. They had called him Zhao Zi. All jack knew of Shao Fei’s partner was that he seemed to be a complete weirdo. He was an alleged foodie with a almost supernatural talent of making people repent their sins and see the error of their ways. According to Shao Fei, Zhao Zi and once been allowed to interrogate a hit man which had ended with the hitman sobbing heatedly whilst promising to be a better son to his parents and confessing to all his sins. Since then, Shao Fei had explained that they only unleashed Zhao Zi on really despicable criminals such as murderers and rapists. Each and every time they had ended up confessing to all their crimes within an hour, sometimes even crying and apologising to any of their family members as well. Jack found the thought hilarious. There was no way this was true.
As the day dragged on, Jack continued with his tasks with his usual smirk. It was around eight in the evening, the streets already darkening, as he strolled into the Blue rose strip club dressed in his usual red shirt and leather jacket. It was a dingy place with bad lighting and suspiciously sticky floors. The room was not overly crowded which was lucky as Jack was able to score the table with the best vantage point of the room. A few Waitresses dressed in skimpy outfits tottered around the room on three inch heels, handing out drinks menus and cigarettes. On stage, a girl wearing barely nothing twirled seductively on a pole. Grabbing a passing waitress, he ordered a drink and sat back to let his eyes explore the room.
From his position Jack was able to spot all of the undercover policemen exactly as Tang Yi had described. The barman with the black shirt was paying far too much attention to the room than his task, almost dropping the glass he was cleaning. Whilst the waitress with the bunny ears was too nervous to be at ease with the place. The drunk man in the corner was obviously not actually drinking alcohol. And the man in the pink jacket in a booth near the stage, who Jack recognised as Shao Fei, was surveying the room with a clear disinterest in the girls. Jack would have laughed if it would have not drawn attention to himself.
A waitress came over and handed him a glass of gin, just as he had ordered. He took a sip, eyes scanning for the last policeman, Shao Fei’s partner. If he recalled correctly, this was the one undercover as a stripper. Maybe he would be preforming. Smirking to himself, Jack too another sip of his drink as he let his mind try and picture what the performance would be like. He bet it would end in catastrophe, or cause him to crack up. The thought of a policeman trying to be a stripper made him giggle.
He was on his second drink when the target walked in surrounded by goons. Jack fought the urge to laugh again, but it could have just been the slight alcohol. No wonder the guy preferred to rape his victims, he would have a hard time picking up girls with that face. To make it worse, he was so stereotypically a gangster that it was almost painful for a professional like Jack to watch. He cringed as the man arrogantly had one of his lackeys order him a drink, leering at the waitresses and bartenders disgustingly as they sat in booth right next to Jack’s. They were so close he could smell their disgustingly strong aftershave
Across the room, he could see Shao Fei watching them. He caught his eye and the policeman’s gaze widened for a moment as Jack smirked, undoubtedly recognising him even through the terrible lighting. With a slight frown, Shao Fei went back to ignoring him, making a slight signal. Jack watched as the bartender nodded and the girl on stage disappeared behind the curtain. The music changed to something more pop than the sultry tones that had been playing before. Eagerly, Jack leant forward slightly, anticipating the performance that the policeman would put on.
The lights dipped as a small figure walked onstage. Jack though that he looked far to cute to be sexy. The policeman costume he had on was more boyish than sexy with knee length shorts and a cute little cap with a white shirt where a badge was pinned. As the guy walked closer to the pole, he bent forwards on to his hands, flipping slowly over in the air so that he was upside down. Jack watched as the guys legs wrapped around the pole and he raised himself upwards so that he was hanging from his legs. Jack was pleasantly surprised and a little turned on. He hadn’t been expecting the guy to be cute as well as acrobatic. He took back his earlier thoughts. This was definitely sexy.
Biting his lip, Jack glanced at the group on the table next to him. The guy was loving it, eyes firmly stuck on the contorted body on stage. Jack sniggered to himself as he watched Shao Fei’s squad slowly move across the room, subtly surrounding the intended criminals who were too absorbed in the show to notice.
Turning his attention back to the stage, Jack whistled under his breath as the undercover policeman spun around the pole, legs pulled into a split. He spun a few more times, shirt now slightly see through in the stage lighting, making Jack’s eyes dart up and down his small figure. On his fourth spin he seemed to get a signal, stopping his action and jumping off stage on to the club floor. He began stalking his way across the room, closer and closer to Jack’s table. Now that he was nearer, Jack could see the sweat on his neck and the adorably furrowed eyebrows. He looked so damn cute. Curse him and his weakness to cute things.
As the guy passed Jack reached out and caught his wrist. He stopped, facing Jack with a confused, surprised expression. Jack grinned cheekily up at him. “Can I have a bite?” He asked jokingly. Jack saw the guy flinch slightly before tearing the badge off his shirt and stepping away from Jack’s hold. He pointed the badge at John Smith as his fellow officers held up their guns.
“Hands up! you’re under arrest!”
The skin on the back of his left hand burned slightly as Jack gaped. His words faded on his skin, letters indicating that they had been spoken. He watched as Shao Fei and his coworkers descended on the criminals, handcuffing them and pulling them out of the club before standing up to follow them outside. A police van was waiting and the criminals were being pushed inside it whilst Shao Fei read them their rights. His policeman, the guy was definitely his now, was standing to the side. He had been given a jacket and was pouting sullenly about something.
Approaching the small policeman, jack grinned and held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Jack”. The guy’s face brightened as he saw him and eagerly shook his hand. “Oh you’re my soulmate. Hi! I’m Zhao Li An But everyone calls me ZhaoZi”, Zhao Zi grinned at him. Jack felt himself fall, the guy was so cute.
“So”, he began, feeling his grin turn into a smirk. “Can I have a bite?” Zhao zi looked confused. “Are you hungry? I wasn’t able to grab lunch and I’m starving but all the shops are shut now”, he looked so adorably upset that Jack had to take pity on him. “You got any food at your place? I can cook for you if you want”. Zhao Zi beamed, grabbing Jack’s hand excitedly. “Really? Then I want egg, and ham, and noodles with chicken broth and orange juice...”. Jack felt his eyebrows rise with each listed food. The guy was a cute weird foodie. Jack couldn’t help but feel endeared.
“Well I’ll cook for you. Come on”, still holding Zhao Zi’s hand, Jack began walking with him down the street. Zhao zi called a goodbye to Shao Fei before happily skipping alongside him. “Grandma said you would be a good cook”, he remarked. “She said that my soulmate would be able to cook and provide for me”. Jack grinned wider. “That I can do”.
“My grandma also said that you will stay”. Zhao Zi looked up at Jack earnestly. “Will you stay?”
Jack smiled, wrapping a arm around his soulmates shoulders. “If shorty asks then I will stay”, he promised.