Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 25- When Peter Pan grows up

A/N: In case you missed it, there is a chapter previous to this one that has been set to private. If you want to read it then you will need to 'Follow' me and try again. I'm not doing this to garner followers (I'd much rather people follow me because they sincerely like my work- or me- than hold a story hostage) but because of my on approach with this fanfiction. The series and the novel are both devoid of the detail that is in the private chapter. I could post those chapters with the rest of the story and not put them as private, however I don't feel that they are an accurate tribute to the original work. SO... I'm writing them because I want to but will set them as private so that the overall story has the same feel as the original. All of which I've stated before but it bears reiterating.

Having said that- by smut standards, it's not that smutty. There's still depth to the characters and something that happened is the catalyst for a conversation in this chapter. I'm going to try and make it clear what did/didn't happen so that readers who didn't read Chapter 24 can still follow along... but there's only so much I can do guys.

To Hao Mei's surprise, there was no lingering awkwardness. While KO showered, Mei picked up the clothes scattered around the room and put them on to wash. Then, after he had taken a turn in the bathroom, he'd emerged to the smell of spicy poached fish.

"Hmm... yum..." He inhaled, licking his lips and groaning. "You really do make the best food."

KO turned around and pointed a wooden spoon at him. "Sit. Stop being so tempting."

Mei pouted as he sat. KO was wearing the pair of sweatpants Mei slept in. They were originally the hacker's, but had somehow made their way over to Mei's where he'd hidden them from their owner. Something about their loose, comfy fit- and the lingering scent he'd come to associate with KO- helped him sleep better at night. Although, when he thought about it, he'd had to wash them the day before and he hadn't slept well that night. Looking at KO wearing them, Mei finally admitted to himself that it had less to do with the feel of the pants, and everything to do with the scent of their owner.

KO hissed as oil spat from the pan, stinging his bare stomach. In the time that it took him to turn the hotplate off, Mei was already out of his seat and turning him to inspect the burn.

"Why aren't you waring a shirt? Who cooks without a shirt? Essssh..." Mei smoothed his finger along the unmarred skin of KO's stomach; running it parallel to the quickly pinking burn. "What were you thinking? Stay put..."

So preoccupied with his mission to find the first aid kit that his mother had sent him as a housewarming (he knew it was a comment on his lack of skill in the kitchen but hadn't seen fit to inform her that he wasn't the one cooking in it), Hao Mei missed the softening of KO's features. The hacker leaned against the bench, hissing as the movement stretched the burn on his stomach. It was silly of him to not wear a shirt; even just wearing one of Mei's as protection while cooking, but he'd wanted to see the look on Mei's face- he owed him one after the towel display in Chengde. He rubbed his chin and the hint of a wry smile could just be seen behind his hand. KO definitely hadn't expected Mei to be lusting over the food he was cooking... rather than the one doing the cooking! Maybe a less confident man would worry, but KO had never seen Mei lust over food that he thought someone else had cooked.

His smile was hidden as Mei hurried back into the kitchen. "Found it. In the laundry. Don't know why I thought that was a good place to keep it... stay still..."

The skin under his fingers was warm and smooth but Mei pushed those thoughts away to concentrate on the job at hand. Dabbing burn cream on the wound, he worried at his lip. "Sorry if it hurts. I'm trying not to..."