Chapter 15- Of Mice and Men

His strategic retreat backfired; Hao Mei spent the night tossing and turning, and was sporting international lugage under his eyes when he dragged himself to work the next morning. His bed was too hard- or was it too soft- and his blankets smelled like washing detergent and dry cleaner and his brain kept replaying the events of the day. Over and over he felt every slight touch; had they been deliberate or accidental? Over and over he heard KO's deep voice in his ear, felt his breath on his skin and saw the surprise in his eyes when he had reversed their positions. All night, his brain turned over at hundred miles an hour and finally, when dawn knocked on his heavy eyelids, he admitted defeat and got up to face the day. Mei was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he almost strangled himself tightening his tie, and in the end he left it loose and crumpled.

Leaning against the elevator wall, Hao Mei closed his eyes as he wondered just how long a day it was going to be. A hand stopped the elevator doors from closing and he peered through narrowed eyes as Wang Wei, from the Art Department, stepped in.

"Morning Hao Mei."

"Hmm."

Wang Wei laughed. "You've been spending too much time with KO. You're even starting to sound like him."

Hao Mei rubbed his eyes. "Rough night."

"It shows."

Something cold pressed against his forehead and Mei jerked his head up, opening eyes to see a juice bottle hovering in front of his nose. He looked over at Wang Wei.

"Take it... You need something to get you through the morning. And did you forget you're with us this afternoon? We need to get some scans and sketches of your face for the prototypes." Wang Wei gestured to his own face as he spoke. "Need to get rid of those shadows before then."

Smiling weakly, Mei accepted the juice, just as the elevator doors opened. He and Wang Wei chatted about the new prototypes the Art Department were developing on their way in to the office. Parting ways, Mei put the still unopened juice next to his keyboard and sank in to his chair. Leaning back, he stared at the downlights on the ceiling. They made his eyes burn, so he closed them. Hmm... maybe he could claim a headache from the lights, find a pair of sunglasses, and then sleep for the morning and no one would be able to tell behind the dark lenses?

A hand rested on his shoulder, fingers kneading the tightness where his neck and shoulder met. With a low groan, Mei rotated his head, giving those fingers greater access to the side of his neck. "Don't stop. Feels good."

Warm breath against his ear made him shiver and goosebumps prickle his skin. "Remember those words."

"Eh? KO?" He opened his eyes and the hand moved off his shoulder, picking up the juice.

"Orange juice?"

"Hmm. Wang Wei gave it to me. It would have been rude to say no."

"You don't like orange juice."

"I know." Maybe if he spoke slowly, KO would actually hear him. "It. would. have. been. rude. to. say. no."

"Hmm."

Mei left the juice sitting on his desk, condensation slowly rolling down its side and forming a pool next to the keyboard. He managed to limp his way through his work for the morning; it wasn't his best work but it was simply rewriting code to a standardised format and he could do that in his sleep. Half asleep was a breeze. His stomach eventually growled and he was contemplating the juice when Xiao Nai called a meeting.

Throughout the meeting, Mei's stomach kept grumbling and he jiggled his knee in embarrassment. Under the table, a hand gripped his thigh, holding his leg still. Startled, he looked up at KO's impassive face. The man continued concentrating on the conversation around the table, giving no hint that he was instigating skinship at the conference table.

Mei's mind went blank.

At one point, Yu Ban Shan kicked him under the table and Mei jumped. "Eh?"

"Coding. Standardised. You?" KO gave him the bullet point version of the question he'd been asked, while around the table the other guys grinned and hid their laughter.

"Big night last night Mei-ge?" Li Qiang, from Administration, teased him, clearing the way for others to jump in as well.

"With a face like that..."

"Not having a big night would be more surprising."

"Ah, but was it with a girl you could introduce to your mother?" At that comment, the hand on Mei's thigh tightened, fingers painfully digging into the muscle. He winced under KO's grip.

"Ah.. coding. I've completed the first three sections. Will finish another two before I go home tonight. There's no rush, right?" He looked at Xiao Nai for confirmation, catching his laosan hiding a smile as he looked at the table as though he could see KO's hand through the wood. Mei fidgeted, blushing bright red when Xiao Nai looked up, his eyes twinkling at him. S*#t... does he know? No. No way. Does he?

"No rush. Everyone has worked hard. We finalised the contract with Feng Teng and will need to concentrate our energies on Dreams of Jiangshu 2... but that can wait. Two weeks holiday for all staff." Xiao Nai held up a hand to forestall the inevitable question. "Paid."

A cheer went up around the table and was picked up by those still working in the office. As the men exited the conference room, talk centered around where to go to celebrate the start of a paid vacation.

"We should go whereever Hao Mei usually goes... I want a big night too!" Li Qiang's suggestion roused another loud cheer and Mei wondered what his odds were of escaping work unseen by his colleagues.

His juice was missing when he reached his desk, and in its place was a large coffee and a foam container which smelled like fried rice and ginger chicken. He smiled as he sat down, taking a mouthful of coffee just as a curse echoed around the office.

"Damn you KO." Li Qiang stormed over, laptop in hand. "What do you think this is?"

KO put his juice down, put the lid back on it, and saved his work before finally condescending to look at the screen.

"Mice."

"I can see it's mice. I'm not stupid. Why did you put mice on my laptop and how can I get rid of them?"

"Cat."

Laughter erupted as more of their peers gathered around.

"Does he need a cat to chase the mice... or is it because he was being catty?" Wang Wei clapped Li Qiang on the shoulder. "Silly man. Didn't you learn from Old Man Yu's mistake? Keep your claws out of Mei-ge. He's got a guard dog. Woof woof." The last was said in a stage whisper that, of course, everyone heard and found absolutely hilarious.

Mei hid his face in his hands. He hadn't gotten enough sleep to deal with this.

"It's good to see everyone has already finished their work in time for a holiday. I'd hate to see people staying overtime tonight just to get work finished." Xiao Nai's voice sent everyone scurrying back to their desks, leaving just him and Yu Ban Shan standing behind KO and Hao Mei. Li Qiang cleared his throat and held his laptop out to Xiao Nai.

"Laoda, he gave my computer mice. How do I fix it? I'm not a hacker!"

When neither Xiao Nai or KO looked compelled to fix it for him, Mei groaned and waved a hand to bring him over. Barely looking at the keyboard he typed in <command = cat> before putting his head back in to his hands. The others watched as, with a meow, the screen flashed black before returning to Li Qiang's homescreen. Li Qiang retreated, bowing his thanks, as Ban Shan scratched his chin.

"How did you know that would work?"

"It was obvious."

"Not to me."

"Bet it was obvious to Laosan."

Xiao Nai inclined his head, and he exchanged glances with KO. Mei rolled his eyes at the pair.

"Seperated at birth, were you?" Shaking his head, Mei went back to reworking the code. "Just think about it as though it was Xiao Nai who was doing things... but with not as cold a sense of humour." (A/N: my understanding of a cold sense of humour, from reading transations of Chinese novels, is that it's a pretty poor sense of humour. Kind of like dad jokes but even less funny. I could be way off the mark but that's what I've taken away from translations etc.)

"Ah!" Ban Shan nodded, his face lighting up with comprehension before falling as he thought about it further. "That's kind of scary." He gave a theatrical shiver as he headed to his own desk, leaving Mei to concentrate on clearing his own workload before the end of the day.

Focussed so intently on his computer, Mei missed seeing Xiao Nai slip a very full, white envelope, to KO... missed the whispered exchange... missed the consoling pat on the back that KO received and the eyebrows that both raised in his direction.

Text from: Number One Chef

[Dinner?]

Text to: Number One Chef

[Where?]

Text from: Number One Chef

[My place.]

Text to: Number One Chef

[You're cooking? I'm in!]

When he thought about it, Hao Mei seemed to be finishing more and more of his work days with a smile.