Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 26- A Meeting of Minds

Relating to Episode 20 of Love O2O

The dialogue from the meeting has been pulled directly from the series.

A/N: My semester has hit the ground running- I have a very intensive 13 weeks ahead of me and a lot of critical reading/writing to do as part of that. That means I'm not prioritising this story. I thought I had a few weeks to ease into the workload, which would give me time to finish the story off, but... nope. Jumping into the deep end (what kind of crazed course has a 30% assessment task due week 2?).

I'll write the chapters on my phone, when I get time and when I take the time for a mental break from study; and I will post them as soon as they are finished. So please, bear with me... I'm about to introduce an OC who will throw a spanner in the works and possibly even explain the situation with the two houses. *rubs hands together* That's all for now... I have coffee and an hour of quiet... let's get this next chapter finished!

To Mei's surprise, not much was said when they returned to work the next day. Well, at least, not much was said about KO carting him off in the middle of the day. A lot was said, however, about KO's 'chivalry'.

    "Hey! Mei-ge! You're back today?"

    "We thought KO would keep you home for at least one more day."

    "Hmm... especially considering how worried he was about you yesterday."

    "Worried? About me?" Mei felt like someone had stopped the earth from turning and he was left trying to adjust while everyone else had already found their feet.

    "That's right, Meiren." Yu Ban Shan came up behind him and slung an arm over his shoulder. "He told laosan he was taking you home because you had a fever."

    Mei pointed at himself. I had a fever before that pervert got a hold of me?

    "Hmm. He emailed the office to explain yesterday afternoon and made sure we all knew that you'd gone home against your wishes." Wang Wei joined the teasing. "We never knew you were so dedicated. Staying to work when you were sick."

    Was this feeling in his stomach the same instinct that makes ants climb higher before a heavy rain?

    "Yeah, Mei-ge. So industrious. A workplace paragon."

    "Eh... you look red. Do you still have your fever? Are you sure you should have come to work?"

    Ban Shan, under the guise of testing Mei's temperature, pinched his cheeks. "Maybe KO should take you home again and put you back to bed?"

    His cheeks felt hot enough to spontaneously combust, and Mei stammered a denial. Denial of what? He wasn't sure. But somehow he extricated himself and reached the illusion of safety at his desk. Dropping his head on his arms he sighed. It wasn't my fault!

That afternoon, Xiao Nai called a meeting between himself and the programming team. Bei Wei Wei had successfully completed Newbie Village Task One, and a copy of her report was handed to each programmer.

   "We've adjusted our game to make it compatible to all phone models." Hao Mei scowled as A Shuang reported on the issue, not acknowledging Wei Wei's involvement in the report. KO saw the fury building in Mei's eyes and, when the younger man opened his mouth, kicked him under the table. Mei jumped and turned his glare on KO. The hacker returned it calmly, and Mei made a visible effort to bite his tongue.