Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 2- Food for thought

Relating to Episode 11 of Love O2O

Someone made of light was sitting on his head. Hao Mei groaned and tried to push them away but his hand simply passed through air. Cracking one eye open, he winced as light from the open window burned a hole into his brain. With a whimper he closed his eyes tightly, but not before establishing that no, there was no one sitting on his head; then why the hell did it feel so heavy? Groaning, he rolled over and barely managed to slither and slide his way down the ladder of his bunk bed, landing on the floor in an ungainly pile of smelly clothes and beer breath.

"Ah..." The pungent smell of his own breath brought his memory rushing back. Well, parts of it. End of year basket ball game, Xiao Nai and Lu Wei Wei Wei, no... Bei Wei Wei... no... Hao Meo shook his head then groaned again when the sudden movement made his stomach roll. Lu Wei Wei Wei and Bei Wei Wei were the same person. He remembered celebrating the game, celebrating Laosan and Saosan meeting in person, celebrating... what else was he celebrating? He remembered the rest of the guys celebrating because they'd seen the downfall of the campus' most eligible bachelor but he'd arrived at the gym too late too see Xiao Nai and Bei Wei Wei together so he wouldn't have been celebrating that...

Crawling in to the bathroom, he pulled himself relatively upright in front of the sink and frowned at his reflection. His skin was pale, and not the beautiful 'I'm so gorgeous' pale, but a clammy, queasy pale. Shadows under his eyes were so dark he looked like he'd been in a fight. Well, Hao Mei shrugged, he'd lost a fight with alcohol so that counted, right? Splashing cold water on his face he gasped at the chill which unfortunately meant he also took a whiff of his own body odour. Gagging he slammed the bathroom door shut and stepped, fully clothed, under the water.

"Hao Mei! Hurry up in there!" Yu Ban Shan pounded on the bathroom door. "Hurry up! I need to pee!"

"Go ask Da Zhong if you can use his toilet. I'm not moving."

"Can't make it..." The bathroom door opened and Ban Shan stumbled in, looking back at the door in surprise. "You didn't lock it....?"

Hao Mei groaned and stuck his face under the water.

Fumbling with his zipper, Ban Shan sighed with relief then looked over at the fully clothed, half drowned Mei. "Aw... Mr Beauty... Did you forget something?"

"Yes. I think I did; I can't remember what I've forgotten but I think it was something important."

Ban Shan nodded sagely, washing his hands and drying them with Hao Mei's towel. "I know what you forgot."

Mei turned around, eyes wide. "You do? What?"

Ban Shan backed slowly towards the door. "You forgot to take your clothes off."

He was gone before Mei's fuddled brain could make sense of what he'd said. Mei sighed and set to righting the situation, dumping shower gel on the pile of wet cloth; he may as well wash them as he washed himself. Maybe the shower gel would be fragrant enough to overpower the yeasty smell of stale beer. Water sluiced over his shoulders and he let it wash both soap and worries away. If it was really important, he'd remember at some stage.

* * *

The cafeteria was crowded, a myriad of conversations and voices echoing in a gigantic mixing bowl of migraine inducing proportions. Hao Mei held his head, rubbing his temples in an attempt to alleviate the throbbing in his skull. The feet in front of him slowly shuffled forward until, eventually, they disappeared and all he could see was the white bench.

"Ah..." The smell of the food made his stomach roll and he wasn't sure he wanted to see what looking at it would do. A tray appeared in front of him, already filled with white rice, stirfried greens and a bowl of clear broth with an egg. Since when did the cafeteria serve broth with egg? Confused, he looked up and into a pair of familiar eyes.

"KO!"

"Drink the broth first. Then eat. You need food in your stomach so you can take your medicine."

Hao Mei looked back down at the tray and noticed a small, foil packet tucked under the edge of a plate. "Ah... thank you..." He cleared his throat and shifted slightly on his feet. Blood rushed to his cheeks and to cover his embarrassment he grinned. "It was a big night, huh. I don't always drink like that."

The other man simply looked at him and Hao Mei chuckled nervously. "So... yeah... I'll let you keep working. And thank you. Again. For the food. And the medicine. And... yeah..."

Taking his tray to a clear space in a corner, he thunked his head on the table. "Hao Mei, did your beautiful words disappear with your beautiful face last night? Or did they wash away in the shower this morning? Argh."

A vibration in his pocket made him jump before realising it was just his phone. He opened the text from a number he didn't recognise.

-- Eat. Take medicine. Don't sleep on the table.--

Startled, Hao Mei lifted his head and looked around like a meerkat on the African Savannah. His eyes locked with KO's over the sea of students and he lifted the hand with the phone in it. KO ducked his head, yes, before turning his attention back to the students still waiting to be served. Smiling to himself, Mei saved the number under Number One Chef, then turned his attention towards the food, forgetting his hangover in the process.

A/N: Some of these entries will chronologically be close together, others will have some time between them; I'll try and make it clear how close/apart they all are, within the chapter itself but if there's any confusion then just let me know.