Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 41- With Roses, come Thorns

A/N: I'm sorry!!!!!!

The smell of steamed buns and fresh porridge tickled Mei awake. Eyes closed and following his nose, he rolled over and abruptly froze.

    "Ouch."

     He hurt. Flopping face first into the pillow, he muffled his groan. No one said it would hurt this much! As much as he would have been capable of wallowing in bed, grumbling all day, the tantalising smell of breakfast had woken his stomach which was now grumbling louder than Mei could himself. He shuffled sideways on the bed and let his legs fall to the floor- it was easier to push himself upright when he was already half way there. Hobbling like an old man, he made it to the ensuite and let the hot water pound into his aching shoulders.

    "Shit..."

Steam filled the bathroom and Mei slowly felt the aches in his shoulders and back ease, as if the hot water was washing them down the drain. He'd expected pain in a very specific region, and to his surprise while it definitely felt... well... exercised... there wasn't the anticipated pain. What neither Will or Tom had thought to warn him about though, was how sore his whole body would feel. It was worse than a gym session after taking time off; his muscles were complaining to the point of threatening to go on strike and he wasn't all that sure about sitting in a computer chair all day. Rather than think about it too much, he stuck his head under the stream of hot water. Maybe he could just stay in the shower all day? Or at least until the water ran cold?

     His stomach rumbled loudly, vetoing that idea. Food. He needed food. And why did he feel as if he hadn't eaten for days? Memory slowly dawned on him and he quickly blamed the hot water for the heat rising in his face. He hadn't eaten much at the "wedding banquet" and then they'd been distracted when they got home and... he covered his face with hands. How could I be so shameless???? He remembered KO getting up at some point to feed them but he'd been so distracted by the shirtless man, with sweatpants hanging low- so deliciously low- that he'd dragged him back to bed and the food had been forgotten. Again. Small wonder his body felt like he'd gone a few rounds in a cage fight... 

    His stomach rumbled and admitted defeat, turning the shower off and wandering out to the lounge area with a towel slung around his hips and using another to dry his hair. The hotel suite was conspicuously empty, but two covered bowls on the table called Mei over. A note was taped to the top of one of the bowls and he pulled it off, reading it as he helped himself to one of the steamed buns inside the bowl. 

XN rang. Day off. Call him back.

Going to my place to get a change of clothes.

Eat. Will be home with lunch. 

<3 

Mei choked on the bun. A love heart? Was the man trying to kill him? Chimes sounded from his phone, distracting him from trying to decide if signing off with a heart made it a love letter or not. 

Text from: Laosan

Your red packet arrived. 

Meet you at your old place in 30 minutes. 

A quick glance at the time sent Mei rushing to throw clothes on- forcing him to move quickly despite his aching body. With a steamed bun in each hand, he ate on the run even as his stomach churned and nausea threatened to return every bite. 

Xiao Nai was waiting for him in the foyer of his old apartment building. Several tall, burly men in uniforms were talking amongst themselves while the security guard eyed them nervously. When he saw Hao Mei rush in, relief lightened his face and he hurried over, wiping sweaty hands on his navy pants.