Caught you, Little Fish

1.9

Old Han's deathly pale figure lay in the hospital bed, his breathing shallow and weak as if it could stop at any moment. The artificial light illuminated his wizened face, showing every fine line and grove, the colour replaced by a lifeless wash of grey. 

Guanting had accompanied the old man until he had fallen asleep. His eyes scanned his defeated figure, his chest feeling heavy and choked up when he paused on Old Han's pallid features. He frowned and looked down at his clenched hands, unable to keep his calm.

"748," he whispered quietly, "Can you do something about this?"

The watch on his wrist vibrated and beeped, a line of text flashing brightly in response. 

Host, you'll need to give me the details. There may be a cure in my database.

"Hm, alright," Guanting sighed and rubbed his throbbing temples. He stood up and headed out to meet the doctor, who was talking with Han Liwei outside in the corridor.

A hand grabbed his wrist in a vice grip when he entered the hallway, cold and clammy. Immediately, he whipped around and twisted the hand away, raising his eyebrows in surprise when he saw who it was.

"Han-jie? Sorry, you startled me," Guanting let go of her hand and watched as the fear faded out of her eyes, replaced by a different emotion that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Y-you, why did you not eat at home today?" She asked accusatorily, as if he had committed some unspeakable crime.

Guanting inspected her trembling figure, taking in her guilty expression and puffy red face. She looked the most frightened out of all the people who had come to visit Old Han, including the people he had suspected the most, the butler and the housekeeper. He narrowed his eyes at her, his dark pupils boring into her soul.

Sitting down next to Han Lifeng, he hummed deeply in thought. 

"Unfortunately I am too busy to ever eat lunch at home," he glanced at her spasming expression, then down at his hands. They were clenched so tightly his knuckles had turned bone white. 

"Perhaps there something you need to tell me?" He asked soothingly, a reassuring smile appearing on his handsome features.

"No! There's nothing, I don't have anything to tell you. Stop asking me, stop asking me!"

Han Lifeng frantically shook her head as she stared blankly at the white wall in front of her. She buried her face inside her arms and refused to look at Guanting for any longer, squeezing her eyes shut as if that would block her from the rest of the world.

Ah, so she was the one who did it.

748 beeped on his wrist twice, his solemn voice echoing in Guanting's head. 

"Uncover Han Lifeng's secret, side mission completed. Points have been automatically stored. Main mission completion at 87%."

Great, Guanting thought, but instead of feeling satisfied, all he could taste was bitterness on his tongue. 

"Han-jie," he began again, but this time his voice wasn't so gentle, "You have something to tell me, don't you?"

When Han Lifeng still did not lift her head up, he leant down and whispered into her ear, "Your father's life is on the line. How can I help if I don't even know what I'm helping you with?"

At this, Han Lifeng perked up slightly, revealing her watery and bloodshot eyes. She tried to stop her sobbing but ended up crying even more hysterically when she thought back to what she had done.