A Terrible Discovery

## Chapter 35: A Bad Discovery

By the window, the Miyano sisters' meeting was drawing to a close.

Miyano Shiho, at this moment, was completely different from her usual self.

The genius girl who was indifferent to everything had vanished, replaced before her sister, Miyano Akemi, by a nagging younger sister, constantly worried and unable to stop thinking about her older sibling.

"You don't need to worry, everything is going smoothly."

Miyano Akemi smiled, reassuring Shiho.

In truth, she knew very well that her current situation was far from optimistic.

But such feelings shouldn't be shared with Shiho; telling her would only cause futile worry and solve nothing.

"Don't worry about me, Shiho."

"It's you I'm worried about."

As if to change the subject, Miyano Akemi said half-seriously, half-jokingly:

"Stop working so hard on those medicines."

"It's more important to find a boyfriend soon."

"Then I, your sister, will have nothing to worry about."

"A boyfriend?"

Miyano Shiho paused slightly, a name suddenly popping into her mind.

That name was, naturally, Lin Xinyi.

After all, he had just stammered out a confession to her—though it failed before it even began, it was still memorable.

And given her social circle, which was so narrow that even a paramecium couldn't move its cilia, when it came to boyfriends, there really seemed to be no other potential candidates besides Lin Xinyi.

"Forget it!"

Miyano Shiho quickly banished the name that had instinctively jumped to mind:

"Men you meet in The Organization are all unreliable."

"Perhaps so..."

Having chatted enough, and with the hour growing late, Miyano Akemi sighed softly as she gathered her things and stood up to leave.

But before parting ways, she stopped and earnestly said to her sister:

"However, Shiho, seriously..."

"If you truly meet someone who genuinely cares about you in this cold Organization, don't let them easily slip away."

"That feeling of being cared for is too precious for us."

Miyano Akemi said this with a warm smile on her lips, speaking with the tone of someone who had been through it.

With that, she slowly turned and walked away, leaving only her back visible.

The feeling of being cared for, huh...

Miyano Shiho felt a slight stirring.

Indeed, having lost her parents early and growing up tough in this dark, cruel Organization...

Aside from her sister, no one had ever truly cared for her.

"Miyano, let's head back too."

Lin Xinyi's appearance interrupted her reverie.

"Hm?" Miyano Shiho suppressed the emotions in her heart and stood up.

As she moved, a wave of fatigue washed over her mind. She couldn't help but yawn, and a few more tired tears welled in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm a bit tired..." Miyano Shiho realized she was indeed overtired, so she turned to Lin Xinyi and said, "Shall we take a taxi back? I don't feel like walking."

"No." Lin Xinyi replied firmly, "We'll walk back. Consider it a post-dinner stroll."

"Hm?" Miyano Shiho was slightly taken aback.

This man was actually refusing her?

Even before, with such harmless small requests, the old Lin Xinyi would always try his best to satisfy them.

Now that he had even confessed his feelings, why was he suddenly not listening?

Could it be deliberate revenge for her rejection?

Miyano Shiho found it somewhat incomprehensible.

"Whatever..." Anyway, she had no intention of dating, so she simply didn't try to guess what the man was thinking. "If we're walking back, then we're walking back."

"But, wait for me first."

"I'm going to the convenience store next door to buy some coffee."

She was truly exhausted and felt it necessary to ingest some caffeine.

With that, Miyano Shiho pulled out the two 500-yen coins, warmed in her hand, from her pocket, ready to turn and head to the convenience store.

But to her utter surprise, at that moment, Lin Xinyi reached out and snatched the money from her hand.

"What are you doing?" Miyano Shiho's eyes widened in astonishment.

Lin Xinyi didn't answer. He simply took out his wallet, which was now much thinner, and carefully placed the two coins inside.

Only when the 1000 yen was safely tucked away did he look up and say coldly, "Coffee is bad for your health."

"I won't let you drink it."

Miyano Shiho: "..."

He's going to control even something this small? Is The Organization so strapped for cash they can't even afford two coffees?

And saying coffee is bad for your health...

He's talking all serious and caring, acting just like my sister!

Huh?

Miyano Shiho suddenly paused.

Insisting on a walk after dinner, not letting her drink coffee...

Was this guy actually concerned about her?

She suddenly realized that in her life, besides her sister, there was actually someone else who cared about her like this.

"Someone who truly cares about me…"

In the silence, Miyano Shiho recalled what her sister had just said.

She looked at Lin Xinyi's expressionless face.

This face, unchanged from before, somehow seemed a little more pleasant to look at.

"Big trouble!"

Lin Xinyi appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was filled with unease.

The Miyano sisters' freeloading behavior had already made him suspect his initial guess was wrong, but at that time, he only suspected; he had no evidence.

So, he had deliberately put on a cold face just now, trying to speak to Miyano Shiho in a very impolite tone.

Yet, even when he directly snatched the money from Miyano Shiho's hand, she didn't show any temper at all.

Not only did she not get angry, but after being sternly refused twice by him, this "ice princess" didn't even dare to put on a cold face anymore.

Along with that, even her gaze became slightly softer.

What did this mean?

It meant that Miyano Shiho was definitely not some pampered young lady, and Lin Xinyi was not her personal bodyguard.

After all, where in the world would an employer meekly defer to a bodyguard's expressions?

"So who exactly is she?"

"And who am I?"

Lin Xinyi suddenly realized the problem might be bigger than he thought.

If Miyano Shiho wasn't the rich young lady he imagined, and was even constrained by him, her "bodyguard"—then considering those armed security guards dressed like mobsters, the mysterious, grim-faced superior, the tightly guarded biological laboratory…

Thinking it over, there seemed to be only one explanation:

Just like his unbridled imagination:

Miyano Shiho was a female researcher imprisoned by a criminal organization, and he himself was not a private bodyguard at all, but a gangster assigned to watch over this genius girl.

"Surely such a ridiculous thing isn't actually true…"

Lin Xinyi's mind wavered.

He certainly wouldn't have believed something like this before, but after personally seeing that this world was not ordinary, anything was possible.

And for him, this was absolutely the worst possible outcome.

If that laboratory also contained things like mutated viruses or artificial humans, that would be even more despairing.

"No, I can't draw a complete conclusion yet."

"I can't just assume I'm a criminal based on speculation. I need to find more evidence."

"Maybe, maybe I'm just overthinking this."

He tried to calm himself, holding onto a last shred of hope.

And so, with a stomach full of turmoil, Lin Xinyi and Miyano Shiho strolled back to the company.

As soon as they entered the company gates, the armed security guards in black naturally came to greet them.

The leader was still Yamada, the young man Lin Xinyi had met earlier that day.

The moment Lin Xinyi returned, Yamada immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Big bro, why are you back so late this time?"

"If you were any later, we would've had to follow protocol and notify Boss Gin."

"…"

Lin Xinyi's uneasy feeling intensified.

From what Yamada was implying, Miyano Shiho's outings had time limits.

Just like a prisoner on furlough.

"Well…"

Lin Xinyi paused to think for a moment.

Then, with an indescribable sense of nervousness, he tentatively said to Yamada:

"The reason we're back late this time is actually because…"

"We got held up by the police for a bit."

"What?!"

Yamada, and the other Men in Black with him, all subtly changed expression.

A few of the quicker ones even instinctively reached for the guns at their waists.

"How did those cops get involved with Big Bro?"

"We haven't been exposed, have we?!"

Lin Xinyi: "…"

Well, damn. This was a mess.