Love 020: Beyond a Beautiful Smile

Leaning against the wall on the top bunk, Hao Mei logged in to his Galaxy Fantasies account. His dorm mates, sitting at the table and gaming together, jeered at him.

"When will you play a proper game?" Yu Ban Shan didn't bother looking up from his own keyboard, typing furiously away and obviously running afoul of some sort of monster in the game he, Qui Yong Hou, and Xiao Nai were playing.

Qui Yong Hou placed the newly refilled fish bowl in the center of the table before flicking wet fingers in Hao Mei's direction. "Come down from your mountain. Play with us."

"Hey!" Hao Mei wiped fish-water off the back of his laptop and glared at the offender. Sticking his headphones in his ears he settled back, watching his avatar turn side to side on the screen while waiting for his in-game friend to log in. His avatar, a Heavenly Healer, was a slim female in an almost translucent pale blue dress. The dress itself was fairly modest, as much as he appreciated the female form, Mei hadn't been interested in the more revealing options. Instead, he had chosen to clothe his avatar in a flowing, sleeveless dress and white cape; both of which covered his avatar to his toes but also had a tendency to wrap tightly around her body when she moved. Like now. Toggling his mouse, Mei made his avatar turn on the spot, killing time in a pleasant manner.

A gong sounded in his headphones and he grinned before quickly wiping it from his face. The last thing he needed was his dorm mates to notice his good mood and give him a hard time. Opening the message, Mei was hard put not to cheer aloud. For over a month now he had been playing with Shou Ke Zhai Xing Chen, a Flower Archer avatar often used by female gamers. Even the name, 'the hand that picked the stars' sounded feminine to Mei and he'd deliberately approached the player in an attempt to find a yaoren (A/N: yaoren= female playing as a male. Renyao is the opposite and is what Hao Mei is currently doing). To his surprise, they had got along very well, very quickly. Their avatars looked good together, which was extremely important for Mei as he had chosen his female avatar purely for aesthetic reasons, but to his surprise their style of play synced neatly. In-game conversations progressed to private chats that had nothing to do with the game itself. Before long, Mei had found himself eagerly anticipating their next game date and he'd been trying to find the right way to broach the possibility of chatting over the microphones when Shou Ke Zhai Xing Chen had beaten him to it. They'd planned to chat yesterday, when Hao Mei had a study period and his dorm mates had class, but the campus internet had proven temperamental, so they'd postponed it one more day.

Now, reading the message one more time, Mei wiped suddenly sweaty hands on his blanket. Shou Ke Zhai Xing Chen had logged in but needed five more minutes before she was free to talk. Mei imagined a girl, similar in appearance to his own Heavenly Healer Avatar, delicately blushing as she shooed her room mate out the door for privacy. Breathing deeply, trying to calm his heartbeat, Mei clicked the button to connect to a private chat. His laptop screen was blurry and he frowned at it. Had he picked up a bug somewhere that would make his screen jump? As he lifted the laptop to take a closer look, the screen stopped jumping... and his knee kept jiggling. Turning red, he put the laptop down and willed his knee to stop moving. He was moderately successful. At least he could read the screen now.

The small speaker symbol appeared next to Shou Ke Zhai Xing Chen's gamertag in the conversation and Mei froze.

"Hello E-Mei." The voice was deep, smooth as honey and very definitely masculine. Mei's voice stuck in his throat. "E-Mei? Can you hear me?"

Hao Mei slammed his laptop shut. She was a He?

Heart racing as though he'd actually run for credits (A/N: series reference), Hao Mei scrambled down from his bunk and joined his dorm mates at the table. "What game are you guys actually playing? I'll play too."

Yu Ban Shan turned his laptop to the side so Hao Mei could see the screen. "Dreams of Jianghu. You'll like it."

Hao Mei smiled tightly. He'd liked Galaxy Fantasies as well... No, he wouldn't dwell on that. His chest hurt and he rubbed it absentmindedly as he scrolled through avatar options before settling on a male avatar. Definitely male. No more playing the renyao for this gamer!