As Yunlan opened the door to the archives he was welcomed by lots and lots of boxes arranged by date, containing all the files on every case his department had worked on.

As instructed, he walked ahead barely looking at them. He wasn't interested in past cases, only in the one that will start his career.

Soon he heard strange noises. It sounded like shooting, growling and cursing.

As the chief suggested, Yunlan followed the noise until he reached a slightly opened door and could see a young man at a desk playing a videogame.

He took a step back and knocked on the door.

The noise stopped immediately and after a couple of seconds a voice invited him in.

Yunlan was met with the embarrassed face of a good looking guy with his hands in his hair.

He was very tall and thin, he wore black glasses and his haircut would have been quite stylish but it was completely spoiled by his bad ruffling habit.

"Hello, uhm... did you hear anything weird?"

Zhao Yunlan wanted to laugh, of course the chief knew that he played games instead of working, could this guy really be that oblivious of all the noise he just made?

But if the chief had played along Yunlan would do the same, so he didn't laugh. He put on his best poker face and faked absolute ignorance.

"Weird? No, what do you mean?"

The guy seemed relieved and laughed awkwardly messing up his hair even more, before introducing himself as Lin Jin: computer-genius of the department.

Zhao had nothing to say to that, so he introduced himself in return.

"The chief said you'd be helping me with the new mission he just gave me, you know, the secret one only the two of us know about?"

Lin's face lit up in  surprise.

"You mean you agreed to it? He picked you and you agreed? I actually thought he was joking. I never imagined he would really find someone suitable and willing to do it."

Zhao was taken aback.

"Why shouldn't he choose me?" he asked very much annoyed. Was this guy doubting his detective abilities?

Lin eyed him with a small frown.

"What did he tell you about the mission?"

Zhao repeated everything the chief had told him. It wasn't much, so it didn't take long.

Lin stared at him. Was he so young and eager that he hadn't even asked for details?

"Did he tell you that you'll have to wear a skirt? And makeup?"

The word makeup made Yunlan jump back.

"What? Why would I..."

"Did he tell you that it's a girls-only university?"

Yunlan was left with his mouth open. No, the chief had forgotten that little detail, apparently.

He thought about it, maybe it was a misunderstanding.

"What are you talking about! It can't be..."

"Oh, they teach boys too, of course, but not where you're going. They are in a different House, with a different staff. You're going to the girls school, and you'll be one of the girls."

"I'll be..." Yunlan couldn't bring himself to finish the phrase. The words just wouldn't come out.

He remained speechless for a few seconds.

"So the chief really meant 'skirt', uh?"

"What?" Lin Jin was confused now.

"The chief asked me how I would look with a skirt on."

Lin Jin laughed. "And you didn't ask him why? That was your opening, detective Zhao Yunlan."

He really should have, Zhao realised.

"I just thought he meant shirt." Zhao felt silly now recalling his earlier conversation.

"He didn't make it all the way to chief by saying one thing for another." Jin couldn't believe this guy.

"Yeah, he said that too."

Lin looked very much amused, and Yunlan realised just how silly he had been. He should have asked for more information, wasn't that the basic requirement of a good detective?

Jin became all excited now.

"You don't have to worry though. I can fake your documents and teach you how to apply your makeup."

Somehow those words worried Yunlan even more.

"You will teach me... wait, I'm not wearing lipstick!" Yunlan said, suddenly thinking about it. He wanted this opportunity, but there was no way he would go around with lipstick on.

Lin Jin laughed again.

"Of course not, with those plump lips it wouldn't be a wise choice."

Yunlan's hand shot automatically to his lips, what was wrong with them?

Jin continued.

"I think we'll go for a kind of makeup that will allow you to blend in, be less notable, not to stand out like the new Angelina of Dragon City."

Yunlan didn't know if he was being mocked or praised so he said nothing.

Lin Jin pulled him towards a chair and started looking at his smooth young face.

"We need to make your skin smoother and lighter, your chin less pointy, your eyes bigger, but your hair, that will be a challenge, what do you think about wigs?"

Yunlan was still in a daze, barely able to keep up with him.

"I don't have a pointy chin," he managed to say earning a smirk from the other man.

"Call it as you like, we need to make it look gentler and less manly, happy now?"

Yunlan wanted to reply but then Lin Jin pulled a skirt out of nowhere and he was speechless again.

"This is what you'll wear, it's quite nice don't you think?"

"Yes, for a girl! Why do I have to wear a skirt? Universities aren't strict on uniforms, couldn't I wear my trousers?"

Lin Jin looked at him as if he was dumb and Yunlan felt quite annoyed, but then Lin's eyes dropped south.

"Like the ones you're wearing now? Because let me tell you that there's no way you could pass for a girl in those, I guess you do know that girls don't have that right?"

Yunlan didn't even know that he was capable of blushing, but he learned that now realising that Lin was pointing a finger at his crotch.

Yunlan now looked at the long skirt and  frowned, what did he get himself into?

"And this," Lin Jin added, "is what we'll need to make you look more like a girl."

He promptly showed Yunlan a bag stuffed with all sorts of bottles, tubes, brushes and whatnot.

"You're kidding me right? What do you need all that stuff for?" Yunlan looked positively alarmed.

Lin Jin smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I have three sisters, I know what I'm doing."

"Why isn't one of them here then? Have you ever done it before?"

Lin Jin looked at him disappointed.

"You surprise me Zhao Yunlan, I thought you knew what 'secret mission' meant."

Yunlan groaned and lowered his head. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Of course you have a choice, you could go back up and tell the chief that you refuse the mission and go on with your life as if today never happened."

Yunlan stayed pensive for quite a few seconds, while Lin waited for his decision. It was easy saying that he had a choice, that he could refuse this farse, but could he really? When would he get another chance like this?

As unorthodox as it looked, it was still a case, and if the chief thought that there was something fishy at that university, Yunlan could very well bet that there  was something to investigate upon.

The chief had been a brilliant detective, and Yunlan had a chance to impress him. Did it matter that he would have to wear makeup and a skirt?

Did it matter that the truth on what he did would all come out if he solved it?

What the hell, it would only be embarrassing if someone learned about it too early or if he failed, but if he succeeded he could always turn it the way he wanted it, telling his fellow cops how he spent days surrounded by young girls all the time, he would find a way, he always had a way with words.

"Do your magic," he said with a sigh, and Lin Jin grinned.