Jack Young returned to his own room.
Ten minutes ago, he’d walked Qi Xi to the door of her suite.
Jack joked about how she was living in such a fancy place, calling her a true rich beauty. Qi Xi shot back, saying she just knew how to make money and could afford a little luxury now and then. Then Jack dropped off her things and left. He didn’t ask to come in, and she didn’t invite him either. Two years ago, the door he’d walk through so naturally wasn’t in this fancy hotel. The woman living in this suite now was someone waiting to get married.
“Where do you live? Is it far?” Asking where someone lives is really just a polite way to say it’s time to go.
“Not too far.” Jack instinctively held back some info—he didn’t mention he was staying in the same building. Suddenly, he didn’t feel like living here anymore.
“Be careful on your way back.” After those bland words, Qi Xi hesitated, then finally took a breath and said, “Today’s really not the right time, hope you understand. Let’s get together with Maggie another day.”
At least, in the end, she managed to say something that wasn’t just formalities.
“Alright, sounds good.”
So Jack smiled, said goodbye, and took a roundabout way back to his own room. As soon as he stepped inside, the smile faded from his face. Up to now, all the memories he had with this girl were pretty good. Even now, two years later, there was still this weird sense of understanding between them. But something was always in the way—maybe something happened two years ago.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a ‘dark history.’
"What the heck actually happened?" Dummy Jack did a backwards leap and flopped onto the bed, bouncing a couple times on the soft mattress. He covered his forehead with his left hand, stared absentmindedly at the fancy chandelier on the ceiling, and muttered to himself, "A year ago I ghosted everyone and quit out of nowhere. If I remember right, Maggie Monroe also left the company around that time. Is there some kind of cause and effect here? Did something blow up between the three of us and we all stormed off?"
Wait, when and how did I even meet Maggie Monroe?
With all these questions swirling around, Dummy Jack slowly drifted off to sleep. In his dream, the elevator took him deep into his subconscious again, and the floor buttons brought him to a new scene: the road behind the apartment complex. When the elevator doors slid open with a whoosh, he found himself in the dark of night. Under the orange glow of the streetlights, a few people were huffing and puffing as they jogged along the main road.
"How are you already tired?" Up ahead, a girl was running effortlessly, even pausing to jog in place and wait for the others. The group behind her was already worn out and stumbling. That athletic girl? Qi Xi, a.k.a. Daisy Summers. And among the exhausted crowd in the back, there was Dummy Jack.
"You—huff—seriously—huff—run way too fast!" Dummy Jack gasped as he caught up. But don’t laugh at his stamina—there were plenty of guys trailing even farther behind, yelling things like "Ugh, I’ve got a stitch!" and "I can’t go on!" Those guys were pretty much out of the running. At least Dummy Jack managed to chase down Daisy Summers, panting as he complained, "How do you have so much energy? This is insane!"
"Haha! If you can’t even catch me, just wait to watch the race from the sidelines!" As soon as Dummy Jack caught up, Daisy Summers burst out laughing and took off again. Yep, she was only about 165 centimeters tall, but she was a total stamina monster.
The company was organizing a marathon, so every ambitious young person who wanted to show off at the event would come out for a run after dinner, catching the night breeze. Daisy Summers was a social butterfly—she immediately assembled a running squad, and on the very first day, she showed the guys what defeat looked like.
"No way I’m letting her leave me in the dust!" Dummy Jack’s competitive spirit kicked in, so he hatched a sneaky plan—extra training. From that day on, he secretly pushed himself harder every night. You could always spot him running lap after lap around the apartment complex. Of course, the running squad didn’t show up every night, but compared to those lazy homebodies, Daisy Summers was out there rain or shine. And Dummy Jack, just as relentless, became her best running buddy.
But because of all that extra training, Dummy Jack was usually too wiped out to talk when running with the group. Still, he was happy to run together, happy to spend more time. Daisy Summers would slow down to match his pace, never complaining about his speed or stamina, and often shared exercise tips.
"Stretch your muscles after running, or you’ll end up with chunky legs."
"When you run, try shortening your stride and speeding up your steps. Trust me, it's way less exhausting."
After finally dragging herself to the finish line, Dummy Jack was bent over, gasping for what felt like forever before he managed to reply, "You know what? You should really check out this anime called 'Gintama.'"
"Gintama?" Daisy Summers perked up. "A bunch of my friends have been raving about it, but I never got around to watching. Is it really that good?"
"Trust me, it's my all-time favorite," Dummy Jack declared, barely catching his breath before raising three fingers solemnly to the sky. "I swear on my entire lifetime of dignity—may Gintama never get canceled!"
"That epic, huh? Guess I gotta pay my respects to your taste!"
From that day on, the anime everyone kept recommending but Daisy Summers never watched finally made it onto her laptop. And their running team, already full of jokes and roasts, had a new topic to riff on. A few days later, under the same night sky, during another run, the squad got a new member. The arrival of this rookie instantly made every guy's eyes light up. The newcomer? Dummy Meg.
"Let me introduce you all—this gorgeous lady is Maggie Monroe, my old schoolmate." Daisy Summers was clearly the boss of the running crew.
Jack Young stood off to the side, watching Dummy Meg shyly greet everyone in his memory, and couldn't help but smile. Yeah, it was this run that he first met Dummy Meg. Of the seventy-plus new hires, she was the goddess—top-tier looks, top-tier vibe.
And honestly, the first thing Jack noticed about Dummy Meg was her eyes—absolute stunners. Under the night sky, her eyes sparkled, mysterious and clear, like a pair of stars. Just a little wave, and every guy in the squad was suddenly fired up, ready to show off.
He remembered all the guys took off at lightning speed that night, each one trying to look cooler than the next. Jack, for some reason, lagged way behind. But then—surprise!—the new goddess couldn't run fast either. The two of them, limping along, shared a look and a matching half-smile. "What happened to you?" "Cramped up!" they answered together.
"Ha! No way, what are the odds?" Yep, first meeting and they're already dropping F-bombs—classic. Everything about it was in sync, right down to the cramps. Still, they both toughed it out, stubborn as ever. Later, when Daisy Summers noticed something was off, she circled back and jogged with them. The three of them ran a long way together. That run was the beginning—the start of their friendship, and all the stories that followed…
Back in the real world, Jack Young slowly opened his eyes. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand—turns out that whole trip down memory lane only took ten minutes. He was quiet for a moment, then suddenly picked up his phone and dialed, "Hey, Bobby, I need you to handle something for me."
"No problem, boss! Don't worry—I'm already on the case!"
"Wait, on the case? What case?" Jack Young was surprised.
"No need to stress, Prince. We're talking about that woman, right?" Bobby Brooks sounded totally confident. "We tracked you both walking back together, so relax. In two days, I'll tell you what color underwear she wears every day. In five days, I'll know what she wore in college. In ten days—elementary school! Fifteen days and I'll—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Why would I care about her underwear? I'm not some creep!" Jack Young laughed and cried at the same time. Never underestimate a professional spy—Bobby Brooks had already figured things out in a flash. But seriously, did he put all his skill points into the wrong areas? "I appreciate the effort, but that's not what I need. Just snap a few photos for me."
"Photos? Now you're talking my language!" Bobby Brooks replied with the kind of confidence only a true expert could have. "You want her sleeping, bathing, or maybe, uh, something a little spicier…?"
"Spicy your face!" Jack Young couldn't help roasting him. "Just take some landscape shots—this spot, that angle, day and night, all times of day. Got it?"
"Oh, that's all? Piece of cake." Bobby Brooks sounded a little deflated, like he'd been gearing up for something epic and got nothing. Is this chubby guy really trustworthy? Jack Young decided to stay on guard. Using his best interrogation voice, he teased, "Bobby, you sound like you have a lot of experience with, uh, covert photography."
Sure enough, the trick worked—Bobby Brooks got all puffed up and bragged, "Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a total pro. Never missed a shot! Even back when the boss had me tail The Queen, I got tons of—" He froze, eyes wide, sweat pouring off his forehead.
"Got tons of what?" The voice on the other end was ice-cold, like it came straight from the underworld. "Come on, spill it—give me a good laugh…"
"Mercy! Have mercy!" Bobby Brooks was shaking. "Just some everyday snapshots, I swear! Nothing else, I promise! Please, whatever you do, don't tell Her Majesty or I'm dead meat!"
"We'll see about mercy, depending on how you behave." Your head's definitely on the chopping block, but I'll squeeze out whatever value I can before you're toast. "Anyway, I'm done with this hotel—moving out tomorrow. Second, if it's business, I'll handle it myself; for anything else, you guys handle it. Third, send your Special Forces Unit to do something useful instead of tailing girls all day. And unless I call for you, don't follow me. Got it?"
"Y-y-yes, sir!" Bobby Brooks snapped to attention, suddenly feeling like he was serving The Queen herself. No way was he going to argue. "Prince, where do you want to move?"
"Don't worry, I've got family here."
After hanging up on Bobby Brooks, Jack Young thought for a moment and made another call. This time, not to Bobby, but to Dummy Meg. "Hey, Meg, you there? Good. So, you got a place to crash? No? Perfect—hey, don't roast me yet, I mean it, I've got a super close relative, and tomorrow you're coming with me. Yup, it's settled!"