Love O2O- Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Chapter 14- House Hunting

    "Babe..." Mei pushed away from the door frame and added an exaggerated sway to his hips. "This place is no good. Let's keep looking."

    Both KO and the manager watched, wide eyed, as Mei slid an arm around KO's waist and tucked himself against the other man's side. He could feel the tension in KO's body, and could just detect the faintest tremor in his breath. Reaching up, he stage-whispered in KO's ear, "The bedroom floor bounces in the middle... will make too much noise."

    The manager choked, turning bright red, and while KO didn't so much as grunt, Hao Mei could feel his breath seize in his lungs. Turning an innocent face to the manager, Hao Mei used the truth as the sharpest sword.

    "He likes to get his, uh, exercise, in the morning before going to work. It might be too early for the people living underneath him. He's an early bird. Not like me, I like to sleep in, but sometimes he wakes me up to exercise with him."

    The body under his arm shivered and the faint movement took Mei by surprise. Looking up, he expected to see anger- at a joke taken too far- hiding behind KO's usual mask, however he couldn't see it. Instead, for the briefest moment, and gone so quick Mei thought he might have imagined it if not for the faint trembling he could still feel, there was the kind of look that was usually found on Mei's face when he was thinking about food. Hungry... and anticipatory. Mei's mouth went dry and he wondered if, once again, he'd acted a bit too rashly. When he tried to put some space between them, KO's arm snaked up his back, hand settling at the nape of his neck and fingers digging in warningly. For once, prudence won out and Mei stayed put.

    He wasn't sure how KO managed to extract them, or why he was so obediently following him down the hallway... and he definitely wasn't sure how many other places they looked at while he was still preoccupied with his own thoughts, but as his mind started to clear, a physical awareness crept in. He started noticing how often KO touched him; fingers brushing against the back of his hand as they walked side by side, stroking his cheek to get his attention, lightly resting laying his hand on his shoulder to turn him and, in the process, letting his fingertips softly slide over his collar and linger on his skin. It took him until the final place, a dingy studio room that was no better than KO's current rooms and may even be in worse condition, for him to notice a similarity between KO's behaviour and the way that Xiao Nai was around Bei Wei Wei.

    The landlord left them to look at the empty studio on their own, directing them to his own rooms down the hall if they had any questions. In the silence, Hao Mei snuck quick looks at KO's carefully blank face. Clearing his throat, he tugged on KO's sleeve.

    "KO... About earlier..."

    "Hmm?"

    "Why didn't you correct that man's wrong impression?"

    "Was it wrong?"

    "Eh?"

    "You don't cook. I do. You hate housework. I don't." Covering his mouth with his hand, KO still couldn't completely hide his grin. "I do like exercising in the morning. You like sleeping in. Nothing you said was wrong."

    "Hmm. But he thought that... that we..."

    "Did that bother you?"

    Against his will, Hao Mei could feel his face start to burn. "Not that..." He muttered.

    KO raised an eyebrow. "What?"

    "It was his assumption that I'd be the docile little housewife." He pulled a face at the very thought. "That's why I thought I'd, you know, be a bit over the top and shove it in his face."

   "You wouldn't be the wife?" KO stepped towards him and Hao Mei unconsciously took a step back.

    "Me? Why me?" Another step forward, and another step back.

    "Not me." Another step forward, another step back.

    "Why not?" Mei jutted his chin up and his head hit the wall behind him. "Eh?" He could feel the wall behind his shoulders and KO loomed in front of him. Clearing his throat, he shifted his weight to the side and an arm blocked his way. He turned the other way and KO simply put his other arm up, caging the younger man against the wall.

    Hands against the wall, on either side of Hao Mei's shoulders, KO leaned forward, bringing their faces close together. Their gazes locked and Mei watched KO's eyes darken.

    "Why not? Because of this..." KO bent his head and breathed along Mei's jawline, raising goose-bumps on his arms and making his legs weaken. The older man slowly pulled away, looking down at Mei's flushed face and half-closed eyes. It was only when Mei felt him start to move away completely that the final dot connected and he recalled a conversation he'd overheard between Wei Wei and her friends. The realisation that KO was doing the same to him made his heart race and his ire rise; he wasn't a blushing rose to be treated with silk gloves. When KO took a step back, Mei's hand reached out of its own accord; grabbing his wrist and then swinging the unsuspecting man around, slamming his back against the wall that Mei had been pressed against.

    Surprise widened KO's eyes and his hands automatically came up to rest on Hao Mei's shoulders; whether to push him away or to pull him close, it didn't matter, as Mei ignored the movement and leaned against his chest. With a hand on the side of KO's face and his fingers sliding over the man's short hair, Mei raised his mouth to hover over KO's, flicking his tongue out to moisten his own lips before murmuring, "I'm not a bloody frog."

    KO's fingers tightened on Mei's shoulders and Mei could see the tension in his jaw. He opened his mouth to speak... and a knock at the door had them springing them apart just as the landlord entered, wondering what they thought of the place. Deeming retreat to be his most prudent course of action, Mei left KO discussing the studio with the landlord and slipped out. Taking the stairs two at a time, he blamed his race down the stairs for his lack of breath.

Text to: Number One Chef

You can find a better room than that one.

See you at work tomorrow.

Mei smiled the whole way home.

A/N: phew... long chapter but a certain beauty *cough cough* wanted a certain scene written and then it took a lot of work to get to that scene. I thought about splitting it in to two chapter's but he spoke to my muse and my muse agreed to go on strike if I did that. So. One long chapter. But... I got my revenge. No love for him until he cooperates with me. *evil laugh*