22 Chapter 22- The Little Intern

Relating to Episode 18 of Love O2O

(I have commandeered some dialogue from the episode but not all of it; there will be original dialogue in and around the borrowed dialogue. If I do my job right, it shouldn't be easy to tell... unless you've watched it over and over. *fingers crossed and whispers* please let me do my job right!)

The Monday that working hours returned to normal, with all staff returning from their time off, Hao Mei discovered something... concerning. During the time with just him, KO, and Xiao Nai in the office, Mei had become accustomed to certain behaviours on KO's behalf. As frustrating as the man had been, in less than a fortnight Mei had come to accept the skinship in the office, and elsewhere. Which wouldn't have been a problem except that with everyone returning, the skinship had stopped... but his reaction to it hadn't.

Walking in to the office that morning, cheerfully talking at KO, Mei had been bombarded with questions about what he and KO had done with their time off. His mind had immediately flown to dark alleys and thick shrubbery and he flushed. His reaction had been duly noticed.

"Eh! Blushing like a bride on her wedding night!"

"Something you need to tell us?"

"Ah! Maybe they went on a honeymoon?"

"Where did you go?"

About to open his mouth and defend himself with the information that he'd worked, thank you very much, Mei was dumbfounded when KO beat him to it.

"Chengde."

The gaggle of office workers froze, stunned into silence when KO voluntarily offered information. it was short lived silence.

"Chengde? Wow."

"Did you get a suite at the Mountain Resort?"

"Look at that blush! They did!"

Pink crept from Mei's cheeks and spread down his neck. Mumbling, he fled to his desk, glaring at KO, who was sitting calmly and undisturbed. "Why did you say that? Now they think we..."

"Was it wrong?"

"Yes. I mean, no. But yes. You know what they're thinking." It was hard to get his thoughts into order.

"Again." KO raised an eyebrow at him. "Was it wrong?"

The heat that flashed through KO's eyes sent an echoing heat sliding down Mei's spine and he closed his eyes to block it out.

"Yes. And no. Don't look at me like that."

Making a concerted effort to focus on his computer screen, Mei missed the humour that tweaked at the corner of KO's mouth.

The joking and laughter had finally settled down when an out-of-breath A Shuang barrelled through the doors. "Boss bought our future Lady Boss to work."

"Seriously?"

"No way!"

"Laoda is taken already? I was planning on marrying my sister off to him though."

"You can marry your sister off to me! I'm still single!"

"Get lost. Not finding my sister a good husband is one thing. I can't send her to hell though, right?"

"Have you seen a hell this handsome?"

"Handsome, my ass."

"Eh!"

"Boss is here! They're walking in now!"

Everyone scattered; willing to gossip about their Boss but not willing to risk being caught gossiping. Especially by their Boss. Hao Mei, Qui Yong Hou, and Yu Ban Shan exchanged high fives. They'd all been waiting for the day that Saosan would join the Zhi Yi team, and when Ban Shan messaged them on Saturday to tell them about Wei Wei's grand elopement, Yong Hou and Mei had immediately started betting as to when she would come to the office. And how. Standing next to Mei's desk, the pair watched as Yu Ban Shan showed Wei Wei around the office.

"I said she would start Monday." Yong Hou held his hand out and Mei sighed as he put 200 yuan on it.

"But I said that she'd arrive with laosan." Yong Hou gave the money back.

"She's not working under his supervision though."

"I thought Xiao Nai would want to keep his nightingale next to him." Mei started to hand the money back, then stopped. "Ah. I told you he'd put a sign out for everyone to see."

"Sign?" Yong Hou narrowed his eyes at Wei Wei.

"Look at what she's wearing. Now look at what laosan is wearing. Couple power outfits. He may as well have hung a sign around her neck saying 'property of Xiao Nai'."

"Doesn't he usually wear black and white?"

Mei gave him a withering look. "It's Monday. He has no meetings. He wears blue."

All Yong Hou could do was shake his head. "You're definitely Mr Beauty. No one else would pay any attention to that."

"Its called being observant. Haven't you learned after living with him for these last years; laosan is a man of habit and if you learn those habits, life is infinitely easier?"

As Yong Hou returned to his own desk, Mei settled himself into his computer chair. A shoe tapped his foot.

"Eh?"

"You pay that much attention to laoda?"

"Of course. He's laosan." Mei smiled up at KO, then felt the smile drain away at the tautness of the other man's jaw. What had put that look on KO's face? "It is the job of the apprentice to observe his shifu, and cultivate the habits and behaviours that are beneficial."

KO grunted, looking away, but Mei somehow felt he'd managed to clear the air. Although why it had needed clearing, he wasn't sure! His thoughts were interrupted by Ban Shan's overly cheerful voice.

"A Shuang! A Shuang! I'll leave the newbie to you." A Shuang's head was shaking like a cat getting water off a paw. "Get along well. Wei Wei, I have faith in you."

"Hold on! Hold on!" A Shuang stammered, and Yu Ban Shan put his fingers in his ears as he walked away. "Hold on! Don't leave me here! Don't leave me!"

Hao Mei grinned as he leaned against a beam. When Wei Wei looked in his direction he gave her a sign of encouragement. It served A Shuang right to have a girl put under his charge. If it wasn't for him, they'd have a pretty female secretary for him to look at each morning. His thought stuttered to a halt. If I was looking at a pretty female secretary every morning, would I still... with KO? That would be less confusing. And less frustrating. But...He sighed. Oh well, he could still enjoy the view, right?

"They actually sent a woman here... what do women know anyway? In IT, they'll just mess it all up." A Shuang's muttering interrupted Hao Mei's train of thought and he bristled at the implication that saosan was useless in the office.

His saosan had a spine of tempered steal, and she turned back at A Shuang's words. "You haven't even assigned me any work yet. How do you know that I'll mess things up?"

"That's right!" Mei couldn't keep quiet. "You haven't even assigned her a task. How do you know she's going to botch it up?"

"You think that I won't beat you up just because KO has your back?" A Shuang scowled at the grinning Mei.

He scoffed. "Here, here. Bring it. So what if KO has my back? Right, KO?"

KO grunted affirmation and Mei's grin widened as he mimicked the other man's sound, arms crossed and chin jutting. A Shuang admitted defeat, turning his back on Mei to toss a file at Wei Wei. Hao Mei sauntered back to his desk.

"He thinks I need your help to take him. Please," Mei scoffed again. "As if I couldn't take him, with fists, or with code, on my own."

KO looked up. "I don't mind."

"Nah. He's not worth your time. Save your energies for when I'm being picked on by someone too dumb to see the danger."

Their eyes met, Mei's breath took a mini-vacation, and he shifted in his seat. Looked like they were back to normal. For them.