50 Chapter 50- Sneaking Through the Back Door (1/2)
Translation notes: baobei = babe/darling/treasure etc. Affectionate pet name for females to use in reference to their partner.
Zhu tou= fool/stupid. Affectionate reference by girls to their partner.
Oppa= do I really need to translate this? It's Korean for older brother (used by girls) and can take a flirtatious note. It has become part of the Chinese lexicon meaning 'handsome man' etc (Apparently there are cafes that advertise their staff as Oppas. I need to go to one of those cafes. In a non-creepy, purely for research, manner.)
Aegyo= again, does this need translation? Korean for... basically acting cute/flirtatious... if you're confused, look it up. YouTube will do a better job at explaining it than I can.
”What the actual fuck, KO?”
It wasn't often that Hao Mei cursed. And it was even rarer for him to curse in English, but in this case he felt the situation warranted some serious swearing. Waking up sore and slightly achy wasn't exactly new, but waking up looking like he was wrapped with bright red ribbon? That was new.
His torso was criss-crossed with deep red lines, the edges tinted with purple and when he gingerly ran a finger along the thickest of the lines he hissed at the tenderness. What the hell? It looked like he'd been attacked by an octopus with venomous tentacles. The red bands of abraded skin wrapped around his stomach and his forearms. When he lay on his back with his arms by his side, it was easy to see that the lines matched up. Which made sense when he thought about the previous night. He was trying to decide whether the heat in his face was from anger, embarrassment or remembered arousal, when KO came into the bedroom carrying a tray. The hacker froze at the look on Mei's face then gave him a sheepish half-smile and put the try on the bedside table.
”I made congee for breakfast and have some medicines for you.” KO sat next to Mei and reached to trace the lines marking the younger man's white skin. His fingers hovered just above the bruising and he winced in sympathy.
”They look sore.”
”They are.” Mei huffed and crossed his arms but that rubbed on a mark over his chest which hurt and all he could do was flop his arms back onto the bed and lie there like a lump. He glared at KO. Apparently he was going with anger.
One of the bowls on the tray was filled with the green, succulent leaves of the Aloe Vera that Mei had growing in a pot on the balcony. It had been the first living thing in the apartment, delivered before he managed to escape the office to come home for the first time. Having spent years working in various kitchens, KO had stressed the importance of having an aloe vera growing in a pot for easy first aid in the case of burns, and when he'd thought about furnishing his new apartment Mei had immediately ordered a plant. And now he was busy thinking of everything other than what KO was planning.
He'd sliced the leaves length ways and now gently covered the lines on Mei's body with thin sheets of the gel filled tubes.
”Does that hurt?”
”Cold.”
”I put them in the fridge while I made breakfast. The cold will help,” KO's eyebrows furrowed as he carefully placed leaves on the bands wrapping around Mei's forearms. ”Stay like this while you eat, and then I'll put them on your back.”
”Ah, genius? How am I supposed to eat? If I move my arms the aloe vera will fall off.”
”I'll feed you.” He matched words to actions and carefully blew on a spoonful of congee, cooling it down before lifting it towards Mei's lips. Mei thought about refusing- he was a grown man and being spoon-fed was rather childish- but his stomach rumbled and won that argument before it could even start.
Mei ate in silence, not sure whether he should address what had happened the previous night or just leave it be. KO's silence didn't give him much of a gauge as to how the older man felt about it, but the way that he was refusing to meet Mei's eyes was interesting. Could it be, I'm not the only one feeling awkward? This was no good; if he'd learned anything about sex, then it was that things like this needed to be talked out. Looked like it was up to him to start the conversation. Surprise surprise.
”KO, we need to...”
”Mei, I'm sorry...”
They looked up at each other when their words collided mid air.
”You go first.” ”You go First.”
”Jinx.” ”Jinx.”
Their eyes met, Mei's mouth twitched and KO's eyes sparkled.
”Well, that worked as an ice breaker,” Mei laughed. ”Wonder if we're about to say the same thing?”
”I'm sorry.” KO blurted it out, looking back down at the bowl of congee and stirring it with the spoon.
”Okaaaaay....” Mei frowned. ”That wasn't what I was going to say. Why are you sorry?”
KO looked up.
”I hurt you.”
”You didn't hurt me.”
”LOOK AT YOU!” The shout burst from KO's lips and his fingers clenched around the bowl on his lap. ”I woke up this morning because you whimpered in your sleep. You can't say I didn't hurt you.”
”KO...” Mei sighed and all anger evaporated. Not that he'd been angry at KO, more at himself. Which it seemed he needed to make clear. ”Look at me. Look in my eyes when I tell you this because I need you to believe me.”
He waited until KO met his gaze, the hacker's eyes sheened with fear.
”You. Did. Not. Hurt. Me. Yes, I'm hurt... but it was a joint effort. Actually,” he thought back on the events of the previous night. ” If either of us needs to take responsibility for what happened, then it would be me.”
”What? No...”
Mei stroked KO's thigh with fingers, wishing he could lift his hand to touch KO properly but not game to face his partner's wrath if the aloe on his arm slipped. ”Yes. Did I ask you to stop? Even once?”
”No.”
”Did you get the impression, at all, that I wasn't enjoying myself?”
KO's eyes darkened with satisfaction at the memory. ”No.”
”Next time... let's establish some ground rules first. Okay?”
”Next time?”
”Oh baobei... there will be a next time.”
KO caught Mei's hand in his own, their fingers tangling on the sheets. He leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on Mei's forehead.
”Roll over and I'll fix your back for you.”
Mei obediently turned onto his stomach, burying his face into the pillow that smelled like spicy chocolate. He'd asked Wei Wei one day what she thought KO smelled like, and the look of confusion on her face made him hurriedly take it back. Apparently he was the only one who associated chilli chocolate with the man currently placing aloe vera along the markings on his back. His eyes closed as he melted beneath KO's hands, much like he had the night before.
Mei had stumbled from his bedroom, yawning after his late afternoon nap, to find that KO had filled his dining table with all his favourite foods. Spicy poached fish, sautéed hairy crab, and even salted egg chicken wings, graced the table and made his stomach rumble and mouth overflow with drool. The hacker had put all of Mei's new kitchen accessories to good use and Mei dug in to the feast without hesitation.
”Is it good?”
”It's so good,” the words were barely audible around a mouth full of chicken. ”KO, you're so talented. Who would have though the second-to-none hacker was once a cook? That's so legendary. In comparison, I suddenly feel a bit inadequate.”
KO simply smiled at Mei's unabashed enjoyment of the meal. Watching his partner forgo table manners in favour of food was gross... yet heart warming.
”KO? Which college did you graduate from?”
”Nine-year compulsory education.”
”Eh?” Mei froze with a chicken wing halfway to his mouth.
”I lost my family when I was fourteen. I had no money so I couldn't continue school.” The matter-of-fact ness with which KO revealed a such a major part of his life, stunned Mei. As much as he didn't see eye to eye with his parents (to put it simply), he always had them as a safety net. Failure might mean having to conform to his parents' wishes, but it wouldn't leave him destitute.
”You're doing quite fine now. You're more skilled than us actual university students. You might have lost to laosan before but it definitely wasn't a matter of skill. It was because you have a noble character.” The bare chicken bone was waved to illustrate Mei's point.
”I know.”
”I was just being polite.”
KO raised an eyebrow at Mei then shrugged.
”What was that look for?”
”Nothing.”