10 Chapter 10- Be Careful of Your Choice in Reading Materials (1/2)
Related to Episode 17 of Love O2O
A/N: The dialogue in this chapter comes from the series... the internal monologue of our protagonist is all me.
Something smelled nice. Hao Mei smiled in his half-asleep state and rubbed his cheek against the blanket under his head. The bed beneath him was firmer than his new one at home- in fact, he could swear he felt the slats of the base- but for all that he was surprisingly comfortable and actually felt ready to wake. He stretched, yawning as he asked ”Where is this?”
Something pushed his leg back over and he bolted upright; the last traces of sleep dissipating as he realised that he really wasn't at home.
”The restaurant.” In a chair at his feet, KO had obviously been napping and Mei wondered why he hadn't just put him in a taxi home.
”How come I'm sleeping here?” He looked around, noted the set up of the bed and the supply of bedding. ”You live here?”
KO looked straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact. ”When I don't have to open up shop, I live here.”
”I'm sorry for sleeping on your bed.”
”It's alright.”
Tugging at the blanket he'd been sleeping in, Hao Mei suddenly pulled it up for a closer look. ”Isn't this my blanket?”
”The last time you ate here, you said you were going to throw it away. I thought it was still okay, so I saved it.” Nothing in KO's impersonation of a stone statue gave hint to any underlying meaning but Mei felt warmth spread throughout his body. For some reason, he liked the idea that KO was using the blanket he'd slept under for years. He fiddled with the blanket, tracing one of the stars to try and distract himself.
”It is still quite nice.” Argh Hao Mei! What are you saying? He berated himself for resorting to inanities, blaming his fatigue for his lack of conversational ability. Rather, he wanted to blame his fatigue but it had mysteriously disappeared after such a short nap.
”Did you put some drugs in my food?” Eyebrows raised, KO finally looked directly at Mei, who felt the need to elaborate. ”I've been feeling really tired lately. But now, I feel full of energy. Just like returning to the city and replenishing my health. tell me, did you add some medicine?” When KO just glared at him, Mei laughed. ”Forget it. I'm just joking with you. Don't take it seriously.”
He hid a smile from his friend. KO was too upright to hide something in his food; if he wanted him to take medicine he'd have given it to him and then stared menacingly until it was taken. It was just fun to tease him and with every small smile that he managed to finagle out of his friend, the more Mei decided to make that his mission; getting KO to smile openly at him.
”Is work tiring?”
”Do you get tired from cooking all day?” Mei gave himself a mental smack; again with the inane comments. ”Let me put it this way. Sitting in front of a computer and coding all day is definitely twice as tiring as cooking all day. My brain is so tired, it's almost numb. My shoulders are sore all day. My spine is going to develop problems soon.” As he moaned, Hao Mei was forced to acknowledge that he wasn't completely exaggerating. At the very least he wouldn't say no to a massage... but that thought led to a thought KO's hands on his shoulders and he almost touched his cheek with the hint of a memory... Thank goodness for KO paying attention to their conversation and not Mei's internal monologue.