It felt like a dream.
Never ever in Han Ze Min's life, he imagined that he would get an opportunity to meet someone who resembled Tsuki, his first love.
He lost her years ago, but even today, when he meets a woman, his mind unknowingly search for the resemblance, only to get disappointed.
He strongly believed that there are no women in the world who shares similarities with Tsuki, but right now, he just met a woman who exactly looked like the face he had kept preserved in his mind for all these years.
"Good afternoon," Ming Yue smilingly greeted as she extended the cocktail drink to the man who stood there stunned by her appearance. However, there wasn't any response from Han Ze Min as he blatantly stared into her face, as if he had turned into a statue. Watching his unexpectedly expected reaction, the eagle team members also figured out that their officer Han was equally shocked to learn that Captain Wan lives with an extremely good looking woman.
"Officer Han," Bing Wen, who hardly controlled his laughter, gently patted Han Ze Min's shoulder and woke him from the dazed state.
"Who are you?"
Han Ze Min cluelessly asked as if someone had abruptly pulled him out of a sweet dream.
"Me? I'm Bing Wen. The technical expert of the eagle team." Bing Wen answered like an obedient subordinate, but laughing at his superior's blank face in his mind.
All these days, he has only seen Han Ze Min as an absolute show stealer, someone who is intelligent and witty at the same time. But this was the first time, he saw him standing spellbound, that too in front of a woman.
"Huh...no...not you..." Han Ze Min wobbled his head in denial and glanced at Ming Yue, who still stood before him, holding the drink in her hands. He took a step closer to her, so close that his high nose almost bumped into her face.
"Who are you?" He asked once again, his sharp eyes gazing deep into her eyes, seeking answers.
Maybe, he was too close to her, Ming Yue took a step away from her, fearing that he might figure out that she was wearing lenses. Unlike the regular transparent and coloured lens, the pitch-black lens that Ming Yue wore appeared a bit big, covering her original blue and black irises. So she always made sure to keep a safe distance from others to protect her secret.
"She is Ming Yue." It was Wan Yi Jun who replied instead of Ming Yue, clearly annoyed by the way his cousin acted in front of everyone.
He was sure that Han Ze Min would freak out when he meets Ming Yue, who resembles Tsuki, but he never thought that his cousin would become speechless before her.
Hearing Wan Yi Jun's tone and how Ming Yue flinched before him made Han Ze Min's fair forehead crease in frustration.
"I didn't ask for her name. I asked, who is she?" He reframed his question without taking his eyes off Ming Yue, "What is her relationship with you?"
"She...is my...." Nobody knows why Wan Yi Jun hesitated to state their relationship, but within that time, Ming Yue interrupted him and replied in a resilient tone.
"Maid...." Ming Yue, who kept her eyes downcast, gradually lifted her gaze at Han Ze Min and reaffirmed her relationship with his cousin.
"I'm a maid." Her answer hit the rest of the people in the room like lightning. Even Lao Yating, who said that he is not interested in his superior's personal life, unknowingly asked to confirm.
"You are a maid?"
Well, it wasn't just Lao Yating, but the entire eagle team found it too hard to believe.
"Hmm..." Ming Yue agreed with an attentive nod and stood silently as if it's no big deal.
"If you are maid, then how come I haven't seen you before?" Han Ze Min was quick to regain his bearings and asked as if he was leading an interrogation session.
"I started working last week." She replied without showing any trace of her fear.
"Were you the one who made the soup and dumplings?" Han Ze Min's question came quickly even though he seemed like recalling the night Wan Yi Jun brought food for them.
"Hmmm."
"Oh wow...Miss Ming, it was delicious. I was literally licking my fingers after eating that."Bing Wen, who got a sudden surge of courage, asked as he took officer Han as an example.
"Thank you." She just gave a vague answer and tried to escape from their sight. However, even before she looked for her master to help her out of the situation, Han Ze Min meddled between Ming Yue and Wan Yi Jun, breaking their eye contact.
"I really like dumplings...So you should give me the recipe, or... teach me how to make dumplings..." He made an odd request, just to check her response. And as he expected, Ming Yue didn't utter a single word, whereas Wan Yi Jun stepped in to help her out.
"Why don't we have lunch? it's already late." He suggested and gently pulled Ming Yue away from Han Ze Min's doubtful eyes and sent her to set the table. Since they got no other options, one by one, the eagle team followed their captain to the dining room.
"Didn't he just avoid answering that question?" Bing Wen shared his doubt with Shen Junru, who slowly followed the others.
"Give me my 60 dollars." Shen Junru demanded in a flat voice,
"For what? Captain didn't say that she is a maid. It's miss Ming who introduced herself as the maid. What if she was trying to hide the truth from officer Han?" Bing Wen asked as a matter of fact. Even as an onlooker, he could sense the clear distinction in the way how the couple handled the situation.
"You are crazy." Shen Junru scoffed and increased his pace as he walked past Bing Wen,
"I'm telling you, there is something fishy going here." Bing Wen added as he tried to catch up,
"Just shut up and go." Lao Yating glared at the duo and almost pushed them towards the dining room.
Every part of the huge mansion was engraved with decor and furniture that symbolised the power and wealth of Wisteria gardens over the years.
However, when they saw the large Oak table in the dining room, only then the eagle team did understand how big the Wan family was in the past.
The twelve-seater dining table was something astonishing for others who came from not so privileged backgrounds.
"There are too many things to see here, so it's better to eat something before the house tour. Otherwise, you guys will be too tired." Wan Yi Jun smilingly reminded as he asked everyone to sit down at the dining table.
"Let us help you too," Fei Yan suggested when he saw Wan Yi Jun was urging himself to lend a hand for Ming Yue.
"No..no..it's alright. Please sit down, senior Fei."
All of a sudden, Han Ze Min offered to help his cousin, only because he felt that he wanted to interrogate Wan Yi Jun away from the guests. His mind was brimming with various doubts regarding the mysterious woman whom he saw in the Wisteria gardens.
Since he also wished to have a word with his nosy cousin, Wan Yi Jun agreed with the decision and walked towards the kitchen, while Han Ze Min obediently followed him like a puppy.
However, just as they disappeared from other's lines of sight, Han Ze Min stopped in his tracks and asked Wan Yi Jun, who hid such a big secret from everyone, including their family.
"Who is she?" He questioned once again,
"She is my maid." Even when Wan Yi Jun repeated the same answer, the young man doesn't want to believe his cousin as he kept staring doubtingly.
"Say that to someone else. I'm damn sure that woman is not just your maid. So tell me the truth? Who is she?" Like an adamant elder of the family, Han Ze Min kept interrogating the Wan Yi Jun, as if he had done something to ruin the family's name.
"Are you sleeping with her?"
The very minute Wan Yi Jun heard such an illogical and embarrassing accusation, he couldn't help but get frustrated by the other.
"What's wrong with you? Didn't I tell that she is a maid?" He didn't even stop himself from raising his voice and harshly refuted, "Have you seen the condition of this house? Do you think I will be able to take care of it alone?"
"You could have appointed anyone, but you choose someone who looks exactly like Tsuki," Han Ze Min rebutted in the same tone as he poured the chaotic words juggling inside his head, "And you dared to bring that woman here,"
"Don't you have eyes? Does Ming Yue have silver hair or heterochromatic eyes? She just has some similarities with Tsuki, nothing else." Wan Yi Jun angrily tried to hammer down some sense to Han Ze Min, who kept Tsuki as a burning wound in his heart.
Even the mere thought of a girl resembling Tsuki gets attached to Wan Yi Jun was something that he could never accept.