Brick by Brick (Bxb)

Chapter 16: I'm Worse Than Your Mom!

The sound of running water filled the bathroom. Ming Kai stood beneath the shower head, jets of hot water streamed down his body. The effects of the drug had mostly dissipated, leaving only the unpleasant feeling of a hangover.

He wrapped himself with a towel and wiped the mirror, examining the bruised skin above his left elbow. Chen Tian Lin certainly didn't hold back while manhandling him last night.

The hot shower was invigorating. Ming Kai donned his clothes from last night, grabbed his belongings and headed to the hotel lobby. He only hoped the jacket and bath helped veil the smell of unwashed fabrics.

The morning was biting. His warm breath frosted the air in front of him, making him glad he took that shower before he left. The streets were starting to fill with people going about their morning routines. 

Ming Kai wanted nothing more than to head home right away, but was distracted by the smell of breakfast drifting from a nearby stall.

"Auntie, give me three youtiao*, a bowl of bean curd and soybean milk."

The food promptly arrived at the table, and Ming Kai greedily devoured two youtiao in one go. As he ate, he wondered if he should talk to Chen Yu Lin about her son-of-a-bitch brother. Instinctively, he reached for his side pocket, only to find that his phone was missing.

Feeling slightly anxious, he rustled through the other pockets and his bag, but the phone wasn't anywhere to be found.

He was sure that it wasn't in the hotel room either, having swept the entire room before he left.

Which meant that it must have gotten lost between the time he was drugged and brought to the hotel. 

In other words, it was gone for good.

"Damn that asshole!" Ming Kai cursed.

However, since the shopping district was just around the corner, he decided to wait a little longer for the stores to open. Besides getting a new phone, Ming Kai still had to buy clothes for the New Year, and he's pretty sure he'd get it done faster this time since Chen Yu Lin wasn't around to make him her personal slave.

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*Bzzt Bzzt*

"This number is not in service, please try agai..." Terry's furrowed his brows as he cut off the monotonous voicemail. Anyone would find it annoying to hear the same thing ten times over.

Winter break had arrived, and Terry had his return flight booked on the following week. Because his exams ended on a later date, he hasn't really had time to look for Ming Kai. But now that it's over, he had no way of contacting him.

He groaned in frustration as he resumed packing his belongings into the luggage. He only had until tonight to relinquish his room to the dorm administrator. 

Originally, the plan was to board the flight on the same day he returned the room, but because of extreme weather conditions plaguing the country during the past days, many flights ended up being delayed. Terry was dumped into the low-priority list because his was just a domestic flight.

In other words, he would be homeless for a week unless he found another place to stay. Inadvertently, the first person he thought of was Ming Kai.

"Need help with that?" A familiar voice called out from the doorway.

Dropping his stuff, Terry instantly whipped his body around and gave Ming Kai a bearish hug.

"Ming Kai! You came just at the right time!" Terry grinned.