Chapter 12- A Preview

Hao Mei groaned and rubbed his eyes. The couch beneath his back was lumpy and felt stiff and sore. Fabric slid across his face and he frowned. He distinctly remembered going to sleep on the keyboard couch without a blanket... so why would he be waking up with one covering him? Slowly drawing it down his face, he peered over the edge of what he could now tell was the sleeping bag he stowed under his desk for emergency naps. The office was lit up and enough people were bustling about that he could tell he'd slept past the start of work. Before he could dwell on that unfortunate fact, and wonder why no one had woken him, an enticing aroma filled his nostrils.

"Coffee...." He breathed in, absorbing the smell through every fibre of his being. "Elixir of life... health boost for tired programmers..." Sitting up, he discovered a hot cup of coffee on the table next to the couch. His caffeine fix was not alone; someone had left a covered plate of steamed buns and a note.

Food before notes. No, coffee before all else. Coffee, food, then note. Hao Mei took his first, warming sip and sighed as he imagined the caffeine coursing through his vein, waking him up fully. Someone flopped onto the couch beside him.

"Those smell good." Ban Shan eyed off the plate of buns, shamelessly begging for one.

Automatically reaching for the plate to offer him one, Mei found himself trapped in a pair of dark brown eyes. There was an imperceptible shake of the head, just the slightest movement but enough that Mei grabbed the note instead of the plate.

<< Drink. Eat. Sleep on a proper bed. Food tonight?>>

Looking up, Hao Mei caught KO's eye again and grinned his reply. The other man ducked his head then returned his iron gaze to the computer screen in front of him. Taking advantage of Mei's distraction, Ban Shan tried to reach past him and sneak a bun. Catching the movement from the corner of his eye, Mei whacked his friend on the bag of the head and grabbed the plate.

"Hands off."

"Eh? You always share?"

"Always share, my ass. Go away."

"Just one." A small tussle broke out with Hao Mei sheltering the plate of buns with his body, and Ban Shan trying to reach through him. They only broke apart when a computer started blaring a siren.

"Eh?" Everyone in the office looked up, trying to work out which computer it was. Qui Yong Hou suddenly burst in to laughter, pointing at Ban Shan's monitor. The siren blared from his speakers and a "do not touch" symbol flashed red on the screen.

Mei took the advantage, and the buns, and ran for his desk. Flopping in to his chair, he grinned at KO. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Hmm."

"Say, I thought Laosan was letting you work from home; why did you still come in?"

"Don't keep sleeping on the couch. It's bad for your back."

"Eh? What does that have to do.... oh..." Mei grinned and waved a finger at KO. "Don't tell me you're coming in to the office so you can keep an eye on me? Wow... such concern for my health, I'm touched."

"No."

"You're not? Then why aren't you working from home?"

"You said don't tell you."

Hao Mei blinked. "Was that a... joke?"

"I don't joke."

Their conversation was interrupted by a whine from Ban Shan. He'd managed to turn the siren off but the symbol was still flashing on the screen. A crowd gathered behind his chair, jostling and jeering the hapless Yu.

"Laosan! Help me! I don't know what happened."

Xiao Nai took one look at the screen and smothered a smile. "You obviously touched something you shouldn't have." He placed a hand on Ban Shan's shoulder and leaned down to whisper something in his ear. Eyes wide, Ban Shan shook his head.

"I didn't!"

On cue, the symbol in his screen disappeared and text slowly took its place.

<<just a preview>>

Xiao Nai pat Ban Shan's shoulder one last time before heading back to his office. "He's not defenceless anymore," drifted over his shoulder and left everyone confused. Who wasn't? Ban Shan glowered in Mei's direction and Mei abruptly ducked his head behind his monitor. He'd obviously missed something while he was sleeping.

The picture on his monitor wasn't right. Mei stared at his screen then turned to glare at the man sitting next to him. "Change it back."

KO ignored him.

"Hey!" Mei slapped his shoulder. "Change it back, right now."

"I told you last night."

"Like I care. I'm the one looking and I want to look at my goddess. Bring her back to me."

"No."

"Thick skulled donkey. What gives you the right to play with my wallpaper? And get your cyber-fingers out of my computer." Mei shot daggers from his eyes, wishing he was in the game and could send his friend flying across the map.

Fingers racing across the keyboard, KO kept his attention on his screen, frustrating Hao Mei even further. Fine. He'd beat fire with fire. Or rather, silence with silence.

For the first hour, Hao Mei simply ignored the man sitting next to him. For the second hour, he talked to A Shuang and Yong Hou. Admittedly, their conversations were all work related but it was still interaction and something he was blatantly with holding from someone else who's name he wasn't even going to think. During his lunch break, Mei accepted an offer to join some of the members of the art department and spent that third hour laughing and joking before finally agreeing to allow them to use him as a prototype for one of the main characters. Returning to the office as part of the bubbly group, Mei joined them for his fifth and sixth hours of silent warfare. It was halfway through his seventh hour of ignoring that certain person, that his wallpaper changed.

"No. This is not my goddess." Mei turned his screen off, hiding the picture of a traditional Chinese banquet. "I don't want any other pictures. Return my goddess to me."

His screen turned back on and this time there was a picture of a bowl of steamed buns and a cup of coffee. It looked very similar to the breakfast he had woken up to that morning. Relenting slightly, he finally looked at KO. "Breakfast, AND dinner, every day that my goddess is not on my wallpaper."

The satisfied Mei stalked off to the printer just as Xiao Nai leaned over KO's shoulder and murmured, "Would you like to reconsider your salary?"

"Eh?" KO raised an eyebrow at his boss.

"Take the money and use it to stay in your furen's good graces... at least until he realises what he is to you." Xiao Nai gave his shoulder a squeeze and left KO to mull over his comment. Sometimes an insightful boss is a scary creature, decided KO. The hacker sighed then sent Mei a text confirming their dinner plans that night. He watched the younger man check his phone, and watched his grin light up that handsome face before Mei remembered he was mad at him, and hid his smile. His heart clenched and he groaned softly. Maybe listening to Laoda was a good idea.