Chapter 1 — Please Don't Take Three Steps Back

The new forensic pathologist in our department is a terminal cleanliness freak. Wear a medical mask all day and continuously spray disinfectant. I timed the moment when he took off his mask to drink water to confess his love. He didn't react. As soon as I got a little closer, he frowned and took three steps back. I felt so embarrassed that I decided to withdraw from the project team and change partners that night. But as soon as I finished cleaning the desk, this clean freak pushed me straight onto the operating table. Seeing that the buttons of my police uniform were about to be torn off, I blushed and cursed him for being crazy. He slowly put on the mask, his voice hoarse.

"Shout louder, I can't hear you clearly through the mask."

1 The day Luc Van Chu arrived at our criminal police team, I was standing and munching on pancakes right in front of the interrogation room door. The suspect inside was crying and his nose was running, while I was outside eating and drinking in a corner of the hallway. Then the door was pushed open. A man wearing a white blouse stood at the door, his eyes and eyebrows cold as if he had just been taken out of the freezer. He looked at me, then looked at the pancake in my hand. The next second, he pulled out a bottle of antiseptic spray from his pocket and sprayed it into the air three times. I choked on the spot. Captain Chu introduced: "This is the new forensic doctor assigned by the city department, Luc Van Chu. In the future, he will be in charge of the autopsy and supporting the forensic examination of traces by the special investigation team." The piece of pancake in my mouth suddenly lost its deliciousness. This handsome man is truly beautiful. Tall, thin, broad shoulders, the corners of his eyes carry a bit of coldness. Although he doesn't look very enthusiastic when looking at others, he is very attractive. There are a lot of bad habits. Before entering the office, he must spray disinfectant on the door handle, before sitting down, he must wipe the chair, documents given by others, he must wear gloves before receiving them. Most notable is that he wears a mask all year round. Wear it when you eat, have meetings, look at documents, and when you go to the scene, you wear it even more tightly from head to toe. Some rude men in the team secretly nicknamed him "Luc Vo Khuc". I am different. I am a very talented person. I just silently called him "Selfless Disinfectant". But if you like that person, there's no reason to do that. The first time we went to the scene together, the victim's family lost control, grabbed a brick and threw it directly at my head. I dodged half a beat slow. Luc Van Chu pulled me hard from behind, the brick grazed the back of his hand and hit me straight back. The back of his hand immediately turned red. I asked him if he was in pain. He didn't even look at the wound, just asked: "Your collar is stained with blood, do you want to go deal with it first?" At that moment, my heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat. Done. I, a criminal police officer, have never fallen down in twenty years, but now I fall in front of a man who knows how to stick plastic wrap on the corner of a table once. From then on, I started making excuses to run to the forensic room. Bring coffee, give reports, bring photos of the scene. Luc Van Chu doesn't like to talk, so I go find something to talk about.

"Master Luc, if you spray this much antiseptic water in one day, aren't you afraid of marinating yourself to absorb the taste?"

He bent down to write notes: "Don't touch the microscope."

“Teacher Luc, please weld the mask to your face Is that it?”

“Don't go near the tool table.”

“Teacher Luc, what kind of person do you like?”

His pen stopped slightly. I immediately cheered up and immediately approached: "For example, my type is 1m81 tall, knows how to catch criminals, knows how to cook rice, knows how to fix plumbing, and even knows how to break doors with his bare hands." Luc Van Chu looked up at me. Those eyes are very deep. I almost thought he was moved. As a result, he said: "Tham Tri, go out." I'm not satisfied. I think he's just the type of person who's slow to heat. Until that night, the project team stayed up until 2 a.m. Luc Van Chu finally took off his mask to drink water. The color of his lips is very pale, his throat rolls a little. My mind was hot, I put my hand on the edge of the table and said: "Luc Van Chu, I like you." He didn't seem to hear. Put down the glass of water, turned the page of the document, his expression did not change. I took another step forward: "I'm serious, do you want to consider me a bit?" He suddenly frowned. Then take three steps back. Those three steps are exactly like three stabs of a knife. One stab to the face, one stab to the heart, and one stab to my cheap self-esteem. In the office, only the sound of the printer spitting out paper remained. I was so embarrassed that my scalp was numb, I forced a smile: "Okay, I understand." Luc Van Chu looked at me, as if he wanted to say something. I didn't give him a chance. I turned around and walked straight, slamming the door shut. Back at the dorm, I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. The more I think, the angrier I get. If you don't like it then don't like it, what does it mean to take three steps back? Is there poison on me? Early the next morning, I submitted the application to Lao Chu.

“Captain Chu, I want to withdraw from the project team.”

The tea cup in Lao Chu's hand almost flew away: "Are you crazy? The case is deadlocked.” My face was expressionless: "The forensic pathologist and I are not communicating well, affecting our work." As soon as he finished speaking, there was a very soft sound outside the door. Luc Van Chu was standing there, holding in his hand the newly printed additional autopsy report. He wore a mask, revealing only his eyes. Those eyes stared at me. I turned away. Very good. As long as the shy person makes a cold face first, the embarrassment won't catch up with me. 2 The application to withdraw from the group was not approved. Old Chu said the case was not solved yet, no one was allowed to run. I had to continue the daily scene of bowing my head and touching, raising my head to face Luc Van Chu. But I decided that to be a human being, I must have strong bones. From that day on, I didn't bring him coffee anymore, I didn't go to the forensics room to chat, and I didn't help him unscrew the cap of the mineral water bottle anymore. He needs to report, I'll have the interns bring him over. He needed photos of the scene, I threw them into the work group chat. He stood next to me, I automatically backed away half a meter. My colleague Tieu Trieu watched this scene for two days and secretly asked me: "Brother Tham, are you two arguing?" I replied: "No, I'm respecting Mr. Luc's private space." Tieu Trieu was silent for a few seconds: "But your private space is so large that you can park a police car in the middle." I gave him a kick. In the afternoon I had to go to the scene again. A male body was discovered in an abandoned motel in the south of the city, the smell in the room was strong heated up. Before entering, we all wore masks, but Luc Van Chu stood outside the door for a long time. His fingers clenched the antiseptic spray bottle until it turned white. I thought he was calling me dirty, but the fire in my heart flared up again. Criminal police do dirty, hard work, and the crime scene is never clean. If it's so dirty, what the hell is the point of being a forensic scientist? I was just about to say a few sarcastic words when he walked in.