Reflex Action

Worried about the girl's safety while she slept alone, Ye Chen locked the door from the outside as he left.

"Brother Chen, why did you lock the door?" Zhao Peng asked.

"Stop asking so many questions. Let's go."

"Oh, okay."

The two returned to their patrol duties. As they reached the south end of the mall, they found two more people lying on the ground. This time, it was two men, one of whom was lying dangerously close to the road. Ye Chen shook his head, helped the man sit up, and then moved him to the sidewalk's far edge to ensure he wouldn't roll onto the street.

"Brother Chen, don't the police do anything about this? There are always people sleeping here."

"How could they? This probably happens near every bar, nightclub, and KTV in the entire city. They can't manage all of it," Ye Chen replied.

"True," Zhao Peng nodded.

The night passed uneventfully, and at 6 a.m., with daylight already breaking, Ye Chen and his team finished their patrol. Returning to their dorm to freshen up and change clothes, they found the door locked.

"Huh? What's going on? Who locked our dorm?" asked the team leader, Li Gang, as he checked the lock.

"I did," Ye Chen replied.

"Why'd you lock the door?" Li Gang asked, shaking his head.

Without answering, Ye Chen took out the key and unlocked the door. But as they entered, Li Gang, Wang Yong, and Fuzhu were startled, turning to flee. Only Fuzhu stayed behind, probably because he was too heavy to move quickly.

"What's going on?" Li Gang asked from outside.

"Well, last night Zhao Peng and I found a girl lying on the road. You know how dangerous that is for a girl, so…" Ye Chen explained.

"So you brought her to the dorm?" Li Gang interrupted.

"Not exactly. We tried taking her to a hotel, but she didn't have any ID, and they wouldn't let her stay," Ye Chen shrugged.

"Yeah, Captain, they insisted on an ID. Even Brother Chen's ID wasn't acceptable. We had no choice," Zhao Peng added.

"Alright, since she's already here, just make sure she leaves once she wakes up," Li Gang said, sighing.

"Got it, Captain. Don't worry. We'll send her off as soon as she wakes up," Ye Chen assured.

Because the girl was still sleeping in Ye Chen's bed, they couldn't change their clothes. However, they could grab their toiletries. While the others retrieved their things, Ye Chen checked on the girl to see if she was awake. As he bent down, the girl suddenly opened her eyes and reflexively kicked at him. Fortunately, Ye Chen was quick enough to dodge.

"You're awake?" Ye Chen asked.

The girl sat up quickly, pulling the blanket around her and asked, "Where am I? Who are you?"

"I'm a security guard. This is the security dorm. You were drunk last night, and we thought it was unsafe for you to stay outside, so I brought you here," Ye Chen explained.

"A security guard? Security dorm?" The girl seemed to realize she had been drunk and didn't question that part.

"Don't worry. The dorm was empty last night," Li Gang reassured her.

Only now did the girl notice the others in the room, her initial focus having been solely on Ye Chen. Feeling a bit more at ease, she checked her clothes and, finding them untouched, relaxed further.

"Why didn't you take me to a hotel?" she asked.

"I wanted to, but do you have an ID?" Ye Chen asked.

The girl frantically searched herself, "Where's my bag?"

"Hey, don't accuse us. When we found you, you didn't have anything with you," Zhao Peng said, holding a plastic basin.

"Alright, enough," Ye Chen stopped Zhao Peng and turned to the girl. "You were drinking at the nearby nightclub, right? Maybe you left it there."

"Ye Chen, you handle this. We're going to wash up," Li Gang said, patting Ye Chen's arm.

"Got it, Captain."

After the others left, the girl looked at Ye Chen, "Hey, do you have a place to shower? I feel gross."

"Yes, in the women's restroom."

The basement dorm had separate facilities for male security guards and female cleaners, with the south side housing the guards and the north side the cleaners.

"Restroom?" The girl frowned.

"Yes, but don't worry. There's a separate shower area."

Despite being a basement, the facilities were quite good, with 24-hour hot water, air conditioning in summer, and heating in winter.

"Can you find me some clothes? I..."

Before she could finish, Ye Chen interrupted, "Sorry, no. And I doubt you'd want to wear a cleaner's uniform."