A Bite of Love

8. A Smashed Pie

Ou Yang placed the latte and a plate with a slice of cherry pie he made onto the tray and went to Mu Ran's table.

"I didn't order pie," Mu Ran commented immediately, looking for An De Lu who took his order.

"I know," Ou Yang placed the plate and the cup in front of him, "it's from the house."

"Well, thank you then," Mu Ran smiled happily... but it only lasted for a second before his smile faded.

"Tell Ge Lin how nice I am."

Mu Ran stabbed the pie with his fork, irritated. Whenever he thought Ou Yang did something nice for him, the latter always ended up bringing Ge Lin into the conversation.

Tell Ge Lin how nice I am... Tell Ge Lin what a boyfriend material I am... Tell Ge Lin how sweet I act...

Mu Ran couldn't even decide which was more annoying; the mention of Ge Lin in every nice gesture or the fact that none of those gestures were really meant for him. Would it kill Ou Yang to treat him to a piece of cake without saying anything? What's more, Ge Lin wasn't even interested in him!

With a sulking expression, Mu Ran swallowed the pie without even chewing it properly.

"How was it?" Ou Yang asked when he came to collect the empty dishes.

"Too sour," Mu Ran snorted.

"Then it is perfect for Ge Lin's taste, once she said she likes it sour," Ou Yang murmured, contended with the pie.

Mu Ran rubbed his eyes with building annoyance in his heart, "just take the whole pie to her and leave me alone!" he snapped at him with a cold smile.

"Woah, did you wake up from the wrong side of the bed? Why so moody?"

"Just go, I am busy," Mu Ran grabbed his notes, trying to show Ou Yang that he was really busy.

"O...kay..." Ou Yang rolled his eyes and left him alone with his notes.

When he was behind the counter, he said "spare a big slice of cherry pie for Ge Lin" to An De Lu who puffed in the face of Ou Yang's never-ending efforts.

After an hour later, Mu Ran's clients left and seeing he was also preparing to leave, Ou Yang grabbed the pie box which he decorated with a red ribbon and forced it into Mu Ran's hand.

"Give this to Ge Lin and say something nice about me," he said in a manner that it was obvious that he wouldn't take 'no' as an answer.

"This is the last time I am doing this," Mu Ran said firmly and left the cafe with the heavy burden in his hand.

As Mu Ran was extremely reluctant to act as a homing pigeon, an accident was inevitable. When he was crossing the street, a careless cyclist knocked him down and the fallen pie got smashed by a motorcycle.

Seeing the pie kissing the asphalt, Mu Ran even forgot about his injured arm. Overwhelmed with annoyance, he thanked the passersby for their help as politely as possible and collected the one-dimensional pie with its equally one-dimensional box. After throwing it to the closest bin, Mu Ran went to the company with his aching arm.

As luck wasn't on his side that day, Ge Lin was out of company, so he couldn't explain to her the situation. Sighing, he went to the restroom to check his arm. Luckily, it wasn't something serious, just some bloody scrapes caused by the contact with the asphalt. Hissing with the pain, Mu Ran washed the blood and wore his jacket to cover the bloodied white shirt. Although the friction with the fabric caused the wound to sting a bit, it wasn't that bad, so it could wait until Mu Ran handled the work.

With that, Mu Ran focused on his work and by the time Ge Lin arrived, he already forgot about the unfortunate pie.

But somebody didn't.

Checking her phone after the meeting, Ge Lin saw Ou Yang's message, asking her if she liked the pie. Naturally, Ge Lin wrote 'what pie?' and Ou Yang understood that Mu Ran didn't give her the pie.

Bad homing pigeon.

That bad homing pigeon came back to the cafe shortly after with his clients and Ou Yang bore holes on Mu Ran's back until his clients left.

"What did you do with my pie?" he asked as soon as Mu Ran was alone.

Mu Ran looked at the towering man and remembered the pie matter, "it is dead, I was involved in an accident," he tried to explain, but the other didn't listen to him after the first part.

"It is dead?! Did you throw it away?!"

"No!" Mu Ran pulled Ou Yang towards the counter so that their argument wouldn't be heard by the other tables.

"Then tell me what did you do with my pie? Was it that hard to give it to Ge Lin?" Ou Yang asked, fuming.

Mu Ran sighed with irritation, "such an important pie! Then next time you take it to her!" he snapped at him with a sudden anger and wanted to go back to grab his stuff, but Ou Yang grabbed his injured arm, making him yelp with pain.

"Arghh!"

Ou Yang let go of his arm immediately, "what's wrong?" he asked with worry.

With a grimace, Mu Ran said "I told you that I had an accident."

"Oh, I thought you were kidding," Ou Yang said apologetically, "did you see a doctor? Is it serious?"

Hearing the concern in his tone, Mu Ran dropped his hostile attitude, "just scratches, I will handle them when I go home."

"No way!" Ou Yang grabbed his uninjured arm and pulled him behind the counter, to the staff room. There, he made the match-maker sit before bringing the first-aid kit.

"Fold your sleeve," he told Mu Ran as he dipped a piece of cotton with antiseptic solution. Then, he cleaned the scratches with gentle moves, even blew on them so that they wouldn't sting.

Mu Ran watched him in awe as he wouldn't imagine Ou Yang would do such a thing. All his anger evaporated as a warm feeling replaced it. It had been a long while, having someone taking care of him, and it wasn't the first. Mu Ran remembered the time vividly when Ou Yang prepared him milk and a sandwich, even took him home.

"Did it hurt a lot? Why so silent?" Ou Yang asked as Mu Ran was too immersed in his thoughts.

Mu Ran shook his head with a smile, "thank you," he said and unfolded his sleeve.

"You are welcome," Ou Yang put the kit aside, "so, what happened?"

"A cyclist hit me," Mu Ran explained, "and your pie kissed the asphalt before a curious motorbiker ran over it."

"Well, it is fortunate that it was the pie not you."

Mu Ran chuckled, trying to hide his sudden blush.

"I will give you another chance, this time be sure to give my pie to Ge Lin," Ou Yang broke the spell and Mu Ran crashed hard into reality.

Ou Yang is straight and actually he has a very strong dislike for gays...

Dejected, Mu Ran got the second pie box and went back to the company.