A/N: I'm a certified Nerd! Woohoo! And when I say certified... I actually mean certified. There's a piece of embossed paper with my name on it (not a graduate certificate. Yet. Still have five more weeks until I'm finished my undergrad' degree.) that is proof of my nerdhood. Which is totally a word. I have one assessment left for each subject, and it works out as one assessment per week. Finished the essay from HELL today and going to try and get this chapter updated as a reward for me not throwing my laptop out the window in frustration.
Nothing could have prepared the tailor's for the circus that descended upon them. Had they been fully cognizant of just how hectic the afternoon was going to be, then maybe they'd have taken an extended lunch. As it was...
"Hey Beautiful." Mei flashed a winning smile.
"Give me your store's best suit." Ban Shan was more direct and with one line, the gloves came off.
"No! If there's only one, give it to me." Mei stepped in front of Ban Shan and employed his charm.
"Give it to me!" Yong Hou pushed them both out of the way as all three barrelled towards the bewildered assistant.
"Should we go to a different store?" Xiao Nai turned to Wei Wei. He was (almost) sure that she would feel uncomfortable with the three hooligans; however, his effort to save her any embarrassment was in vain, as Wei Wei eagerly joined the fray.
"Please, also choose a suit that would fit this gentleman."
Tugged along by Wei Wei, Xiao Nai had a moment to wonder just how things had come to this. He was sure that he'd left the office with four grown men and a mature woman yet here he was watching those same 'adults' jump and climb all over each other in a useless competition. Did they not understand how suits work? Did they seriously think the same style of suit would fit each of them? Reining them in seemed like climbing a tree to catch fish (A/N: climbing a tree to catch a fish = pointless.) so rather than waste his energy, he held his peace and sat on the lounge to wait for the mania to pass (A/N: I almost wrote "he bit his tongue" and given the connotation of that phrase in Chinese literature it would have completely changed the atmosphere of the scene! lol.). When Wei Wei sat next to him, he stretched an arm over the back of the lounge and lightly played with the back of her blouse.
"You're not trying one on?" Wei Wei turned to him and Xiao Nai was struck once more with how guileless her expression was. It was gratifying to note her disappointment that he wasn't joining the others in their impromptu fashion parade.
"I have several suits. I don't need to buy any for the time being." And he could sit with her rather than stand in a change room by himself.
They sat like this for a few minutes, talking about inconsequential matters until the doors to the change rooms opened. Hao Mei, Yu Ban Shan and Qui Yong Hou stepped out, posing in front of Xiao Nai and Wei Wei. All three were wearing the same suit, however Hao Mei's individual style was evident in comparison the other two. Mei looked his older brothers over before shaking his head at them.
"I advise you guys not to wear the same style as me. It will only highlight your shortcomings."
"You're just afraid my manly body will make you look like a wimp." Ban Shan tugged at his jacket and missed Wei Wei leaning to whisper in Xiao Nai's ear.
"Did he look in the mirror before coming out?"
Xiao Nai bit back a smile.
"Stop fighting you two. This type of suit looks best on mature men like me. Change into something else you two." Yong Hou smoothed a hand over his hair, preening with satisfaction.
As if choreographed, Mei and Ban Shan sneered at him. Rather than argue the matter himself, Mei turned to the most impartial judge they had available. They'd have had no chance of getting a straight answer out of her had Xiao Nai been trying on a suit as well, but as it was, surely Wei Wei could manage to clear the matter up for them.
"Saosan, you be the judge. Who is the most handsome one?"
Wei Wei stood, clasping her hands behind her back as she looked the three men over. "Why do you guys have to wear the same style?"
"It has to be the same style. This way you'll be able to see who is the best-looking." Duh. Mei rolled his eyes.
Unable to help himself, Xiao Nai cast his eyes upwards, beseeching the heavens for a divine intervention. Or a lightening strike. Was this seriously what a trip suit shopping had degenerated to? A beauty competition?
"You're all very handsome... however I don't think that you guys should wear the same style. People will think they're wholesale suits." Xiao Nai mentally commended his furen's diplomacy even as he wished she would just give them an answer that they could fight over while he used it as an excuse to drag her away from their influence.
"How can we all be handsome? You'll have to rank us first, second and third," Ban Shan pointed to himself, then Mei and finally Yong Hou, who promptly whacked him on the back of the head.
"Saosan, take note of this thing called sophistication." He gestured to himself while Ban Shan laughed sarcastically.
"You have to be honest, Junior. Is it that difficult to speak the truth?" While he wasn't all that invested in her answer, Mei couldn't help needling Wei Wei a bit more. It wasn't just about teasing Old Man Yu or Monkey anymore... he now had a sister that he needed to torment as well.
Wei Wei hemmed and hawed, trying to avoid answering. "The truth? Let me gather my thoughts...." Her words trailed off as the fourth change room opened and KO stepped out. Unlike the others, he had chosen a different design in a stark black that suited him perfectly. Wei Wei froze, wide eyed. "Senior KO is so handsome..."
Xiao Nai shifted in his seat to get a look at Wei Wei's face. The shock and utter appreciation on her face made a hard lump form in his stomach and he frowned. Was this jealousy? Almost like heart burn? Hmm. He definitely wasn't a fan. Fortunately for his stomach, the hacker was well and truly taken by the man who held his complete attention.
"Why are you looking at me?" The others could have been invisible for all the attention that KO gave them.
Mei tsked at him. "Your collar isn't straight. Honestly. You wear it sloppily, but you still look so good. You can't unbutton the second button of this suit. That's so tacky." His tone and words were nagging, but Mei's finger's were gently as he resettled the suit collar and did the button up for KO.
"Why? I don't really understand." KO looked at Mei for an explanation, ignoring the sharpness of Mei's tongue.
"It doesn't matter anyway." Mei sighed before smiling at KO. "You're good looking anyway."
The forgotten four watched the couple as KO submitted to Mei's fussing. Ban Shan shrugged.
"Forget it. I'm going to pick something more outgoing. It'll be more suitable for me."
"Alright. I'm going to pick something more sophisticated." Yong Hou headed to the opposite side of the store as Ban Shan.
Sitting back down next to Xiao Nai, Wei Wei couldn't take her eyes off the office couple as they went together to find Mei a different suit. "Eh... did you see the same thing I did?"
"What did you see?"
"KO just let Mei fuss at him... it was like he was used to it."
"He is."
"Already?"
"He's in love. That speeds time up and slows it down."
Wei Wei turned to her boyfriend, brow furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Let me know when you work it out." He stroked her hair and smiled when she blushed and ducked her head.
"Why?"
"Because, dear wife, then I will know we're on the same quest."
Her cheeks tinged pink, Wei Wei cleared her throat and tried to change the subject. "You don't mind about them?"
"Mind? That they're two guys together? Or that it's an office romance?"
"Both?"
"Why would I? Mei needed someone to see his worth, someone who would be steady enough to be the support he needs with his family. Man or woman... I'm not in bed with them so has nothing to do with me." He absentmindedly twirled a tendril of Wei Wei's hair around his finger. It had escaped from her bun and each time he tugged on it, his knuckles brushed against the nape of her neck. "And it was their romance that brought KO to the office. Even though Mei didn't know it at the time, the only reason KO approached me was to be a support to Mei. Without KO, I don't think we would have a completed demo for the presentation tomorrow. It would be hypocritical of me to object to the original reason we had a chance for success."
Thinking over what Xiao Nai had said, Wei Wei's face cleared. "That's very progressive of you."
Xiao Nai shrugged. "I love our Chinese culture and heritage... you know it's a big component of our own game design, but I'm also aware of what century we're living in. Being too caught up in the ways of the past will only lead to stagnation. It's the flowing, changing rivers that bring life to the land around them."
"Hmm..."
The pair sat in comfortable silence as the other's selected a new suit each and headed into the change rooms to try them on. Noticing something, Xiao Nai coughed to hide his smile.
"We need to do something."
When Wei Wei spoke up, Xiao Nai looked at her in alarm. Had she noticed what he did and was going to object to it? He really didn't want to have to explain anything to his naïve furen just yet.
"About....?"
"About Hao Mei and KO." Xiao Nai's stomach rolled. She had seen. He took a deep breath, attempting to ready himself for an awkward conversation when...
"They need a couple name."
"A couple name?" That wasn't what he had expected.
"It's one of the ways you know a couple is serious and that their friends approve- you only give couple names to a boyfriend you think is good for your friend. So. We need to give KO and Hao Mei a couple name."
Relief made Xiao Nai's spine limp, but he straightened it to concentrate on Wei Wei's idea. While he wasn't really clear on the female perspective of what she was suggesting, he could understand the implicit support and encouragement that a couple name could give a partnership. And brainstorming a name distract Wei Wei from the fact that four men had disappeared into three change rooms.
When deciding on a couple name became too difficult, Wei Wei ducked into the corner of the store to make a call and Xiao Nai took the opportunity to wander over to the change room he had seen Mei slip into. Standing outside he knocked on the door.
"This is a shop, gentlemen. Hands to yourselves please. I have Wei Wei with me and you're both just lucky she didn't notice your little rendezvous."
"Who has the dirty mind now Laosan? I'm trying to show him how to wear a suit correctly. I'm not that immature to make out in a change room in a sho...." Mei's whinge was abruptly muffled and Xiao Nai was about to knock on the door again when he heard a thud of flesh on cloth. "Idiot. Just because he thought we were making out didn't mean you had to prove him right. Put your hands in the pockets... not MY pockets, you idiot. Yours. Sheesh."
Xiao Nai chuckled and left them to it. When a couple was so well matched, how could any one object? As he turned, he noticed Wei Wei looking at the change rooms with anticipation on her face. The heart burn returned and he felt a driving urge to try a suit on as well. Good thing there was a spare change room now.
A/N: fuuuuuuuuuuck.... my brain hurts so much from that essay and then this chapter did not want to cooperate. I will come back and edit/rewrite sections at a later date. For now, I just want to keep the story moving along. Next chapter is the dinner after the demo (I'm not writing the demo remember) which will be followed by... I'm not sure about the layout. There will be two stories, both smutty enough for a private chapter, with two different couples (HoK and a new one which no one has guessed yet). Do you want a separate chapter for each story? Or write them separate to this story and put them in my one shots (considering they won't really be stories that effect the plot etc)? Or just put both stories in the one chapter considering that they're happening at the same time? I can't think about it because I keep going round in circles so let me know what sounds good.