Two responsible citizens

It was Friday's evening, and the time was coming close to the moment Shu Xue would be closing the store. Her boyfriend, Zhao Wentu, had finished his evening lecture and was already waiting to walk her home.

Just as she was putting some change into the cash register, one of the last few clients, a man wearing a mask and a hood disguising his appearance, walked up to her. She saw something in his eyes, covered by the shadow of the hood, that made a warning alarm go off in her head.

Just like if things were progressing in a nightmare, he slowly pulled out a hand out of his hoody's pocket—a hand that was holding a knife. She froze, some dark, illegible memories flashing in her mind. Shu Xue's hands started to tremble, while her lips were unable to form any sound.

Thankfully, her boyfriend, who was playing on his phone close by, seemed to notice something off as well. He quickly pushed her from behind the counter and further away from the man with a knife.

"Don't stop him," Zhao Wentu whispered. "Let it be; everything will be ok." His warm embrace seemed to bring Shu Xue out of that strange, trance-like state.

The robber seemed happy with their cooperation. He turned and dashed to the store's entrance after emptying the register.

With a phone in hand, already dialing 110, Shu Xue cried out, "There's a robbery! Everyone, be careful; he has a knife! Stay away!!!"

She was worried that other customers would block the man and get stubbed. Her good intentions seemed to have the opposite effect on two particular people, though.

A fleeing criminal stumbled as one of them abruptly pushed a load of merchandise directly at his feet. The dauntless customer seized the burglar's wildly swinging arm with a knife in his shopping basket, twisted it, and the weapon slid from the weakened fingers while the criminal was off-balance.

The second brave customer was already waiting by the entrance when the attacker was kicked right into his arms, still sobbing from the pain in his mangled hand. The robber was bound with his own clothes by that customer, who surprisingly handled the situation very professionally.

It took less than a minute for them to subdue the criminal; the only thing left to do was wait another five minutes for the police to show up.

***

Shu Xue was dazedly cleaning up a somewhat wrecked store when new acquaintances Yang Shu and Wu Li dropped by to buy something and were surprised by all the mess. While explaining what happened to them, she sprung up to her feet, as if remembering something.

"Oh, those two responsible citizens! They left so quickly, I forgot to thank them properly!"

With a broom in hand, Zhao Wentu made the point that she was saying it over and over again while they were waiting for the police:

"But honestly, I haven't seen such cool moves even during my time in the army! It was like a scene from the movie!" He added, swinging his broom like a weapon.

Wu Li and Yang Shu exchanged glances:

"Sounds kinda familiar," muttered Wu Li.

"What did those two good citizens look like again?" Yang Shu gave off the impression of being a strict person, and it almost appeared as though she would begin recording their statements.

"Well, they both were so tall... also handsome. One of them, who always looked stoic, had such an unusual pale eyes and an earring... The second one always smiled and cracked jokes; he wasn't even afraid to rile up a robber... They worked so well together! Do you think they might know each other?"

"Well, that explains it." Yang Shu looked like all the puzzles fell into place.

"They didn't set your store on fire, did they?" Wu Li sounded like she wasn't joking.

"You mean, they could?"

"Wait, you know them?" blurted out Zhao Wentu at the same time with her.

"Oh, we do. We go back a long time. We are sworn friends for life, after all." Wu Li and Yang Shu again exchanged glances.

"Oh, it's so sweet! I'm a little bit envious of such a strong bond; even I can see how close you are and how much you cherish each other! So, please, can you tell them how truly grateful I am next time you see them?" inquired Shu Xue with hope.

"Why don't you do it yourself?" Stern Miss Yang Shu looked a bit tender at that moment.

"Well, I think they will be really glad. Chu Yue's birthday is next week; I'll text her to invite you two!"

"You're sure that it's appropriate?" she wondered.

"You mean me too?" Zhao Wentu pointed at himself in surprise.

After successfully convincing Shu Xue that it was okay and that these people would like to have new friends such as her and Zhao Wentu, two doctors decided to stay and help with the mess, since buying anything was impossible as the cash register was taken by the police as evidence.

"So that's why they were so good at cooperating with each other! They even left together. They must be roommates, right?" Shu Xue deduced.

She finally gave in to her curiosity as she noticed another exchange of conspiratorial glances between the two.

"I guess that's their shopping basket?" Miss Yang Shu expressionlessly pointed at the goods laying on the floor, which they hadn't yet cleaned up.

"Yes, how do you know?"

"Do you see these things, then?" In fact, a number of small, square, foil-wrapped things with a very unique appearance that you couldn't mistake for anything else tumbled out of the box to lay conspicuously right in front of their eyes.

"Oh... O-oo-oh," was all that managed to get out of Shu Xue's throat when she was met with the sight of her equally red boyfriend.

Extra:

"Well, my fellow responsible citizen... What should we do with our dinner? Try our luck in another store or order a takeout?"

"...takeout it is."

"But what about other things we wanted to buy?"

"Hadn't you experienced enough excitement for the day?"

"Well, it really was exciting enough, but watching my Big Invigilator fight so wonderfully got me riled up again!"

"Then, resolve it using your hands."

"How about we use your hand too, darling? But even if you just watch, I might still be excited enough!"

"...just go to the pharmacy tomorrow."

"Your wish is my command."

A peaceful pedestrian street with sidewalk lamps shining warmly was filled with laughter that reverberated off its walls.

Notes:

Disclaimer: DON'T EVER DO THIS IRL! Stay as far away as possible from people with knives! It's just fiction)