Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 9- Drinking for Inspiration

Related to Episode 17 of Love 020

It was late by the time Hao Mei made it to the restaurant; the dinner rush was over and all that was left were the few stragglers, like himself, coming in for a meal after work. Rather than trying to decide what he wanted to eat, Mei ordered everything that took his fancy. He could always take the rest home if he couldn't finish it. Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't too shabby an idea. Left overs would be a more nutritious breakfast than his current diet of coffee and... well, coffee. He looked up as KO put the last plate on his table and all his previous thoughts of taking food home, disappeared. Why save it when he could share it?

    "Hey, there's so much food. Eat with me!"

   KO paused, flicked his eyes around the empty tables, then sat. Hao Mei gave him an unopened bottle of Rio.

    "Drink too."

    The pair clinked their bottles together before taking a long swig. Hao Mei shivered as the sweet cold slid down his throat; he wasn't a huge fan of the sweet drink but it was cheap, which made it the drink of choice for broke students; and now he was stuck with a habit he couldn't be bothered to break.

    "By the way, thank you."

    "For what?"

    "I used to come to this place pretty often. I'm guessing you weren't working here at that time. Take this meat dish for example..." Hao Mei gestured to the plate with his chopsticks. "You gave me at least three times as much as what I would have gotten before."

    "You're too skinny."

    Ai! This man! Hao Mei felt his cheeks heat; how could he say something like that to a man? And keep a straight face?

    "I'm skinny from working too much."

    KO shifted slightly in his seat and took a sudden interest in something over Mei's shoulder. "In a bad mood?"

    Mei sighed. He couldn't really explain the situation to his friend, especially given its relation to Zhi Yi Technologies' security. "Not really. I'm just tired. I've been stuck on a problem lately." Deflecting the conversation from the cause of his problem, he aimed for a light hearted tone. "Li Bai drank for inspiration. I'll give that a try too. I hope this bottle of green super energy can turn me in to the Hulk!"

    Taking a drink from the bottle he flexed theatrically, growling then giving his best 'evil genius' laugh. Looking over, he noticed KO hiding a slight smile as he reached for his own bottle of drink, and felt his heart skip. A smile? He really got the taciturn KO to smile?

    "Let's drink!" And hopefully he could coax another smile out of his friend.

* * *

A cool hand cupped his over-heated cheek, and Hao Mei rolled his head to the side, looking up at KO with a drunk smile. The skin beneath his friend's fingers was tingling and for a moment, with KO standing over him with concern in his eyes, Mei got the fuzzies.

    "Where do you live?" His thumb stroked along Mei's cheekbone before he abruptly withdrew it.

    "I live..." He knew the answer to this question! "I live in the male dorms." Ching ching! Bonus points to Hao Mei!

    "Which building of the male dorms?"

    Hey... that wasn't right. He was adulting now. "Who told you I live in the male dorms?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his friend. "I've graduated. I live in my own house."

   KO sighed softly. "Where's your house?"

   "My house..." Oh. This was a tricky question. Why did he have to ask tricky questions? Why couldn't he just go back to touching his face? "You mean my new house? My new house is..." He burped and tasted beer and black bean sauce. "Live in new house." Questions were hard. His head was heavy. As his eyes closed he felt a cool hand on his cheek once more and smiled. The fuzzies were back.

(A/N: the series doesn't mention memory loss after this drinking escapade... but how much of his internal monologue do you think Hao Mei will remember?)