A Bite of Love

15. Unrequited Cake

Zzzttt....zzzttt...

Ou Yang groped around with close eyes to find the source of the irritating sound. He found the phone on the third beep and pressed it on his ear.

"What?" he asked with a hoarse voice. After attending Mu Ran all night long, Ou Yang finally dozed off, but the damn phone woke him up.

"Who are you? Where is Mu Ran?" the familiar female voice asked through the line.

"Ge Lin?" he checked and indeed the caller's ID was Ge Lin and it was Mu Ran's phone, "Mu Ran won't come to work today."

"Ou Yang?! You guys are fast!"

"No! Wait! You misunderstood!" Ou Yang exclaimed with a low tone, trying not to wake Mu Ran who was still sleeping next to him.

"Yeah... sure..." being a match-maker herself, she didn't buy it.

"No! He is terribly sick," he explained the situation, "I am just taking care of him."

"Oh, is it really that serious? Do you want me to come?"

"No need, his fever is reduced, so I can handle it," he reassured Ge Lin and they hung up.

Tossing the phone onto the bed again, Ou Yang put his hand on Mu Ran's forehead, checking his temperature. Luckily, it was back to normal, so Ou Yang decided to sleep some more. Adjusting the quilt on them, the tired man drifted into sleep again.

When Ou Yang woke up for the second time, it was already afternoon and a pair of curious eyes were fixed on him.

"Morning," he greeted Mu Ran casually as if it was pretty normal for him to wake up in his bed, "how do you feel?"

Mu Ran blinked a few times, trying to be sure that Ou Yang wasn't a hallucination. When the image didn't disappear despite the rapid blinking, he answered "I had better days."

Ou Yang nodded, "I am sure of that. Are you hungry?"

The-still-confused man thought for a second before nodding shyly.

"I will heat up the congee then," Ou Yang said as he left the bed. Mu Ran's eyes followed him as he came to his side and took the tray which was on the bedside table. "You can take a shower while I am on it," he said before disappearing from Mu Ran's sight.

Feeling sticky, Mu Ran decided to take Ou Yang's suggestion and went to the bathroom. There he was shot by another shock when he noticed his clothes had changed. He debated whether to ask Ou Yang about it or not, then he decided to swallow the question in order not to make the situation more awkward.

The warm water really made him feel heaps better and calmed him down a bit before he realised it was still a working day. He finished the shower quickly and rushed out of the bathroom only with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"What time is it? Did you see my phone?" he asked, shouting and panicking.

"Wow, you have a really nice body," the words spilled from Ou Yang's mouth unwittingly when he saw Mu Ran half naked. Although he saw his body last night when he wiped him, as he was panic-driven, he didn't have time to notice his beauty.

Now, he was taking his time to appreciate his body. Mu Ran didn't have a muscular body, but it was nicely shaped and looked very delicate. The water drops trickling down on the fine lines almost made Ou Yang drool.

"What?" Mu Ran asked with confusion, but seeing Ou Yang's darkened gaze on his chest, he covered himself with his arms, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!"

Being caught red-handed, Ou Yang feigned a cough and ripped his eyes off him. Seriously though, what the hell was he thinking?! He almost drooled over a man!

"What were you asking?" he said after a long silence.

"Oh damn!" Mu Ran remembered the reason for his panic, "what time is it? How late are we for work?"

"I already told Ge Lin that you are sick and won't go to work today," Ou Yang said with a smile, "now, put something on you before your fever relapses."

"Oh... thank you," the flustered man mumbled before rushing into the bathroom again with some clothes.

Cute, Ou Yang said inwardly, seeing his flustered face and went back to the kitchen.

When Mu Ran appeared again, Ou Yang served the heated congee into two bowls and placed one of them in front of Mu Ran.

"Did you prepare it last night?" Mu Ran asked softly as he didn't remember much about the previous night.

"Yes, but you were sleeping too deep, so it remained untouched."

"So, you were here all night long?"

Ou Yang nodded, "you gave me a fright, being sick like that. I spent the entire night trying to reduce your fever."

"Thank you," Mu Ran was on the verge of crying. How come he could be so nice? "Wait a minute," he frowned as the sudden realisation hit him, "how about your date?"

"I left Ge Lin there and rushed here. Don't look at me like that, it is really okay, it wasn't a date from the beginning, right?"

"How did you know I was sick though? I wasn't feeling bad until I reached home."

"I..." Ou Yang couldn't decide whether to say it or not.

"You?" Mu Ran pressed.

"I saw a man like you and I thought he was your...you know," Ou Yang explained softly, "I had a bad feeling about your behavior, so I came here to check on you, took the spare key from your opposite neighbor and you know the rest."

Mu Ran gaped at him with astonishment. He was too good to be true... Every word he said engraved into his heart, making him more in love with Mr. Impossible.

"Come on, eat it before it gets cold," Ou Yang said, seeing Mu Ran was too immersed in his thoughts, "if you finish it, I will give you a reward."

"Are you coaxing a child? Mu Ran asked, annoyed, but he was curious anyway. Trying not to look so obedient, he ate as much as he could and didn't forget to praise Ou Yang's cooking skills.

After Ou Yang put the used utensils into the sink, he brought the cake to the table with two forks. "Ta-da, it is your reward."

"Is it...?"

"Yes, the one you like, coconut and peach flavour."

"..." Mu Ran was lost for words. A surge of emotions hit him hard, he was happy, grateful, lucky, sad and miserable at the same time. He wanted to cling on Ou Yang even if just as a friend, but the more he clings, the more miserable he would get.

Unrequited love is really the worst...