Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 6- Some Secrets are Hard to Keep

Relating to Episode 16 of Love O2O

The week following the hacking incident seemed to fly past; with the confirmation of the contract with Feng Teng for their mobile game, as well as the announcement of a date for their presentation for Dreams of Jiangshu 2, Hao Mei felt as though he had code burned into the back of his eyelids. Every time he closed his eyes lately, a parade of zeros and ones waltzed past his cornea, drumming themselves into his brain. He didn't want to think what it was going to be like as they got closer to the date of the presentation. Even after begging Laosan to recruit more programmers, Hao Mei knew that he had a greater chance of winning the lottery than of getting reliable help in time for a new comer to make a difference. He paused as thoughts of a lottery win reminded him that he had won big with his last gamble. Which meant...

Text to: Number One Chef

Wangfujing?

Text from: Number One Chef

For?

Text to: Number One Chef

Shopping. Food. Duh.

Text from: Number One Chef

Meet you there.

Smiling serenely as his co-workers teased him about leaving the office early for a date, Hao Mei didn't bother correcting them. After his outburst during the meeting early that day, he knew they'd be more sympathetic about him leaving early if they thought he was headed out for a date. Technically, he guessed he was. What was a date after all? Two people who liked each other, spending time in each other's company? What did you do on a date? Go shopping, share a meal, talk about your day, work, and interests? The only difference that Hao Mei saw between a 'date' date and his date with KO was that generally dates were between members of the opposite sex. But what his co-workers didn't know, wouldn't hurt them.

His stomach was rumbling by the time he arrived at the end of Wangfujing Street and saw KO sitting on a bench outside a bookshop. The older man looked up as Hao Mei drew nearer and their eyes locked. Feeling strangely sheepish- maybe it was all his thoughts of dating earlier- Mei felt his cheeks heat and looked quickly away, dropping his gaze from KO's and landing it upon a paper bag in the other man's hand. As Mei neared, eyes still locked to the paper bag, which he was now close to enough to know smelled divine, KO held the bag out to him.

"You've been working all day. Eat first." KO looked Hao Mei over, seeming to note the slight shadows under his eyes and the crumpled shirt that he'd napped in during the day.

Taking a deep breath, Mei inhaled the scent of the freshly steamed buns and groaned theatrically. "KO... you are a lifesaver. If you were a woman I'd make this an actual date."

"Date?"

"Oh..." Rubbing the back of his neck, Mei could feel his cheeks heating again. Explaining what he meant to KO between bites of the steamed buns, the pair meandered up the street.

"What shopping do you need to do?" KO didn't seem to be much of a window shopper, keeping his eyes on Mei as they walked, rather than the displays in the windows they were passing.

"Eh? Oh. I recently moved so I need new bedding, towels, and house slippers. I think I also need washing detergent; guess I should do my washing soon... I'm running out of clean clothes. Maybe I could buy some more clothes while we're here?" Licking the residue from the buns off his fingers, Mei didn't think too much about his actions until, while eying a display, he caught a glimpse of their reflection and caught KO looking at him oddly. "Do you need anything?"