Zhu Yuan woke up feeling more energetic than she had in days. Maybe a full night's sleep and a sugar-laden dessert was the magical combo she'd been missing. She stretched lazily, glancing at the clock on her bedside table.
"Duty starts at 9 AM... A jog while pondering the meaning of life. And," she glanced down at her waistline with a playful frown, "I definitely need to sweat out those sweets."
With a determined whisper of self-motivation, she grabbed her messenger for any station emergencies. Thankfully,the world hadn't crumbled overnight. Zhu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and hopped out of bed, ready to take on the day.
After a brisk jog—though her deep thoughts were mostly about what flavor cake she'd get next rather than life's mysteries—she showered and prepped for duty, feeling the satisfying burn in her legs. She smiled to herself, confident she could take on anything today.
However, arriving at the station was a different story. The moment she walked in, all eyes seemed to land on her. Conversations halted, glances were exchanged, and the unsettling feeling crept up her spine like a cold breeze.
"What's this all about?!" she blurted, narrowing her eyes at her team, specifically Amy and Qingyi, who were whispering to each other like two schoolgirls with a secret.
"No, nothing, Captain," Amy replied, flashing an innocent grin that was anything but innocent. "We're just appreciating how hard-working you are! Really setting the bar high for the rest of us."
Zhu Yuan's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Uh-huh," she muttered, her suspicion brewing as she marched toward her office. Something was off, she could feel it. Was it a prank? A new rumor she hadn't caught wind of yet?
The moment she stepped into her office, her mood flipped from suspicion to bewilderment. Sitting on her desk, like two perfectly wrapped mysteries, were two dessert boxes.Two. As if one wasn't already confusing enough. Her eyes darted to one box where she spotted the now all-too-familiar scrawled note: J.D.
"Wait, what?" she muttered, staring at the boxes like they were about to explode into a cake confetti bomb. "Another batch of desserts?" Her voice rose in pitch as the reality sank in, her expression caught somewhere between disbelief and panic.
She turned slowly, only to catch her team peering through the doorway, watching her reaction like a bunch of mischievous kids who had just set up the world's most elaborate practical joke. Amy barely suppressed a giggle, and even Qingyi was trying to stifle a smirk behind her ever-present cup of hot tea.
Zhu Yuan's gaze swept across them all, feeling cornered like a hamster stuck in a wheel of confusion. "Would someone care to explain why there are two boxes this time?"
Amy, ever the brave one, stepped forward with a grin so wide it should have been illegal. "Well, Captain, apparently,someone really likes you." waggling her eyebrows.
Zhu Yuan groaned, placing her hands on her hips. "This isn't a game show, Amy. I don't need 'double the prizes.'"
Qingyi sipped her hot tea calmly, as though the entire situation was part of her daily entertainment. "Captain, perhaps you're just extra popular today."
Zhu Yuan glared at the desserts like they were out to get her.Just as she was about to launch into an interrogation of her entire team, Seth poked his head in with a serious expression. "Uh, Captain? Someone brought those boxes in earlier. Said they lost aDelivery Bangboo, they sent another one as a compensation from a failed delivery yesterday."
Her brows furrowed. "A Delivery Bangboo went missing?"
Seth nodded, oblivious to the drama brewing. "Yeah, apparently it got lost somewhere, so... here we are, you got two desserts."
Amy punched his arms seemingly missing the enjoyment teasing their captain. "Ugh, Good job, Sherlock."
Zhu Yuan blinked, connecting the dots. "So, you're saying I didn't get my dessert yesterday because... a Bangboo was lost?"
Amy snorted from the corner. "That's the most New Eridu thing I've ever heard."
Zhu Yuan rubbed her temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "And here I thoughtI have another secret admirer." She huffed, half-relieved and half-annoyed. "Great, I've been stood up by a rogue Bangboo."
Qingyi chuckled softly. "Captain, perhaps we can drop by on the cafe so we can investigate what happened."
Zhu Yuan shot her a look. "If another Bangboo goes missing, I'm putting out a missing persons report."
As her team filed out, still giggling to themselves, Zhu Yuan sat down, staring at the two dessert boxes on her desk. She carefully lifted the lid on one, revealing a pristine, delicious-looking cake. This whole thing is ridiculous, she thought, but despite herself, a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"U-huh, Additional calorie to burn."
After lunch, they headed to the café. It felt strange—this place had become their unofficial HQ, first for dessert outings, then for a meeting with Elias the night before. Zhu Yuan couldn't help but smirk at the absurdity of it all.
"Is this café the epicenter of my life now?" she thought, finding the humor in how everything seemed to revolve around this spot.
Inside, they asked the café owner and the technician about the missing delivery Bangboo and where it was last seen.
"We usually send out our deliveries as early as4 AM," the technician explained. "We collect orders from the night before, schedule the deliveries, and let the Bangboo decide its delivery route based on priority."
The technician checked his records. "Looks like the Bangboo went missing sometime around 5:00 AM. Last tracked location was along the streets near Janus Station."
"Wow," Qingyi chimed in, giving Zhu Yuan a mischievous grin. "Someone must've kidnapped the Bangboo for your lava cake,we should also check who's sending you desserts, Captain."
Zhu Yuan felt her face turn red. "Would you stop with the teasing, Qingyi! We're here for a serious investigation!" she stammered, clearly rattled by the idea. "And besides, wecan'tjust snoop through their order details without a valid reason."
The technician waved it off. "No need to worry, Officer. I can give you the delivery logs for the day so your team can investigate the missing Bangboo." He handed over a stack of printouts with the delivery details.
Qingyi eagerly took the papers, while Zhu Yuan, now completely flustered, covered her cheeks awkwardly, feeling totally out of character.
As Seth and Qingyi sifted through the documents at a nearby table, Zhu Yuan stood at a distance excusing, refused to look at the printouts.
"...Just J.D. on that failed delivery." Seth finally said, squinting at the list. "No contact details or anything else, Captain."
Zhu Yuan felt a wave of relief wash over her. "So... another anonymous customer? Why J.D?" she asked the technician, raising an eyebrow.
The technician scratched his head. "Oh, we use J.D.it means 'John Doe' or 'Jane Doe' for anyone who either forgets or refuses to put their name on an order it's an S.O.P. Happens more often than you'd think. Probably some people sending desserts to their secret admirers, hoping for a grand surprise." He paused, chuckling.
"We once had a customer who tried to track down the name of their admirer through us." His expression shifted as he recalled the embarrassing memory. "Two young best friends... I think he got friend-zoned. Poor guy."
Qingyi chimed in with a mischievous grin. "Sounds familiar. Our Captain here's been getting dessert boxes from your café for a whole week now. We're trying to kill two birds with one stone." She winked like she was about to solve a rom-com mystery.
Zhu Yuan's face turned the shade of a strawberry macaron, her patience visibly thinning. "Qingyi, you can't be serious!" she muttered, half-annoyed, half-mortified.
"Oh, I'm very serious, Captain," Qingyi teased, her tone unwavering. "You could be the next big café romance!A real-life mystery dessert saga."
Zhu Yuan groaned, pressing her fingers to her temples as if that could somehow stop the impending disaster. "I'm begging you, let's focus on finding that Bangboo before this turns into an episode of Dessert Detectives."
Seth, added with a snicker, "Who knows, Captain? Maybe the missing Bangboo's your secret admirer, and it's just delivering love... slowly."
Zhu Yuan shot her a look. "If that's the case, I'm filing a restraining order."