44 Chapter 44- And So It Goes

Some idiot sadist thought it was a great idea to buy a countdown clock for the office; now, everytime Hao Mei looked up from his desk he could see the bright red numbers slowly ticking down as time ran out. When the clock first appeared (he didn't see who hung it up otherwise he'd have whacked them over the head with it by now), there were 18 days and 22 hours left until the demo. After what felt like only an hour or two, there were only 17 days and 24 hours left.

It was too close to call which would send him insane first- the work or the clock.

Not that his friends were faring any better. If they were, they wouldn't be joining him in the foyer as they all struggled for inspiration. Posing as famous thinkers in order to channel their mindset had been Yu Ban Shan's idea.

"Didn't we say it had to be the thinker?" Qui Yong Hou, with his fist against his forehead, looked sideways at Ban Shan and Mei. "Look at the pose you came up with. How can I be inspired?"

"There is a reason that we two gods are placed outside our school library." In place of an ancient scroll, Ban Shan held a tablet. "Just you wait and see. I'm sure that I can connect through to Aristotle's spirit right away. Then his wisdom will pass on to me through these hands. What's the big deal in programming inspirations? I can even understand the meaning of human existence."

Mei snorted. Someone hadn't been paying too much attention during their philosophy class. It occurred to him that he hadn't exactly been a model student for that class either but still... surely he'd retained more information than Ban Shan? He coughed.

"How did you get so confident on front of your mentor? I have always taught you not to be too arrogant and narcissistic. You'll make mistakes if your narcissistic. You'll fail when you get too arrogant."

"Mr P. No, Mr Plato. Don't you know that the student often exceeds the teacher? I'm not as lucky as you are. You get to chill and relax."

"The student exceeds the teacher? According to what I know, Young Aristotle, you even got the theory of gravity wrong. So you'd better leave this difficult issue of programming to me." Mei shuffled towards Ban Shan, maintaining his statue pose in the process. "You, go and make me some noodles."

"I won't!" Aristotle pushed at Plato's chest.

"How dare you hit your mentor!" Plato glared at the blatant disrespect. "Watch your attitude."

The bickering pair were interrupted by Le Penseur, who suddenly straightened from his thinking pose.

"The both of you can keep on fighting. I've got some ideas."

Plato froze. "He has some ideas."

"Damn," said Aristotle.

"Why don't we switch to a new position?" suggested Plato.

"Okay."

"Okay."

The pair switched positions and Plato handed Aristotle the tablet to complete his pose. "Heh. Guess switching things up a bit is fairly novel."

"What are you on about now?

"What? You can't tell me that someone like KO will let someone like you top him. Even to add a bit of spice to a relationship."

"Shit. What would you know?" Aristotle's ears turned red. "I'm not talking to you about this. Think on your own." With his head down and cheeks filled with heat, he headed back to his desk.

"My tablet!!!!" Plato's wail echoed through the office. The delivery man, who had just reached the top of the stairs, gulped and wished that for once, someone else could have been free to make the delivery.

When the clock said they had 17 days and 18 hours left till D-Day, Mei noticed Wei Wei call Laosan out of his office. While Xiao Nai was distracted with his wife, Mei slipped through the door. It didn't matter if all KO did was grunt at him while coding; he just needed to see him without the glass barrier. Closing the door behind him and taking a moment to lean against it, it took him a heartbeat to realise that the room was empty. But I only saw Laosan leave?

"KO?" It was like calling out 'hello' when you know no one is home. Useless, but you do it anyway. If KO was in there then he'd have said something when the door closed. He was about to head back to his own desk when a rustle from the lounge caught his attention.

"KO?" The man sleeping under a soft blue blanket didn't stir, and Mei dropped to his knees next to him. Pulling the blanket up further, Mei covered KO's shoulder's and tucked the cover around him. This close, KO's sleeping breath moved the hair hanging over Mei's forehead. Unable to resist, Mei leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to the tip of KO's nose, and the another on his cheek. He stood up before the words on the tip of his tongue could come tumbling out. With one last look at his sleeping partner, Mei straightened his shoulders. I can function without him. I am a grown ass man. I can cope for.... He checked his watch... 17 days, 17 hours and 47 minutes. He groaned. He'd reached a whole new level of pathetic.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Mei threw himself onto the keyboard lounge and rolled around on the new futon gracing the usually uncomfortable seat. The team had been kicked out of the office by Xiao Nai and taken over the restaurant across the road; they laughed their way through lunch before Xiao Nai made them all go for a walk. Despite the grumbles and looming deadline, Mei had to admit that he did feel better after stretching his legs for half an hour. The fact that he'd spent that half hour rubbing shoulders with KO while horsing around with Yong Hou and Ban Shan had nothing to do with his good mood. Nothing. As much as the food and exercsie had revitalised him, he couldn't deny that the sight that greeted them on their return, made tears come to his eyes.

"We have beds to sleep on! It's so soft and comfortable! We won't have to sleep on our bums anymore!" Hugging the pillow to his chest, Mei rolled around like a child. A bed... oh bliss.

"It's just different having a girl around." Li Qiang looked around for any naysayers but no one was going to disagree. "In our office we get food, drinks and beds! I don't even want to go back to my dog kennel."

"Saosan, you're like the kind and diligent snail-shelled girl from the folktales." Ban Shan threw himself across three futons laid out on the floor together. Mei laughed at his oldest brother but a shadow fell over him as a back clad body positioned itself Mei and the rest of the office.

"Eh?" Mei looked up, ready to grumble, but when he saw who it was, he fell backwards and smiled sweetly at KO. "Beds."

Stone faced, KO tugged at Mei's shirt. It had ridden up when he'd rolled around on the futon but he hadn't thought anything of it. As soon as KO started tugging it down, Mei blushed and pushed himself up; kneeling on the lounge he unzipped his fly enough to tuck his shirt in and was about to zip it back up but a pair of large hands beat him to it. Mei hissed in a breath when KO's knuckle brushed against his stomach as the other man pulled the zipper up and secured his belt. The heat in KO's eyes stole the complaint he was about to make and instead he watched, mute, as KO traced the buttons of his shirt until his hand slid around his collar and settled at the nape of his neck. His breath caught in anticipation of a kiss, but KO simply pressed his forehead to Mei's before helping him stand and leading him over to rejoin the group heckling Ban Shan about his snoring. Throat dry, Mei wondered how long it would take before KO's eyes stopped having the power to make the ground disappear beneath his feet. For the sake of his equilibrium, he hoped it happened soon... and never.

"That's discrimination!" Faced with the laughter and jeers of his peers, Ban Shan protested the snoring charge.

"You're so thoughtful and caring," Mei stepped in to Wei Wei's defence, using banter as a convenient distraction from emotion. "I get to sleep in peace." Yong Hou was nodding. They'd both suffered four years of Ban Shan's snoring in the dorms. Having him locked away at night was the only way to get some sleep.

Xiao Nai leaned over Wei Wei's shoulder. "Where's my bed?"

"Over there," blushing, Wei Wei pointed at the futon laid out at the open corner of the conference room.

"Junior! You actually assigned Laosan the worst spot?" That was cold. And Mei felt paternally proud of his junior.

"I assigned your beds by drawing lots."

"It's fair and just. I sleep the least. It's better for me to sleep there." Xiao Nai smiled at Wei Wei, and Mei thought that he was the only one who noticed the finger Laosan ran along her spine. Oh-ho? Is Laosan still trying to drown her with a light drizzle? Fighting, Xiao Nai. Fighting!

A chorus of cheers and thanks echoed throughout the office and Mei joined them. Li Qiang was right- it really was different working with a female in the office. Especially a female with control of Laosan's wallet. He'd seen that interplay outside the office door when he'd snuck in to see KO. He also knew that when Xiao Nai had paid for lunch, he'd charged it to the office account instead of paying straight away like usual. Which meant.... he coughed. Better not instigate any teasing along those lines! Not until they'd met the deadline and he had enough energy to defend against the retaliation fire!

There were 17 days and 3 hours left till D-Day, before Mei got a chance to sleep in his new bed. Which, he suddenly realised, Saosan had neglected to point out to him.

"Eh, Junior Wei Wei." He rubbed the back of his neck, standing next to Wei Wei as she packed her things to go home for the night. He tried not to feel jealous about the fact that she was able to leave each night, but comforted himself with the fact that she didn't get to go home with her partner either.

"Mr Beauty?"

"Where is my bed?"

"Oh?" Her eyes widened as she looked at him. "Didn't KO show you?"

"Eh? Why would he show me?"

"Well... I drew lots for everyone else but KO specifically requested a certain spot. It wouldn't be fair to separate a married couple afterall." Slipping her bag over her shoulder, Wei Wei pointed at Mei's usual desk. "You might not have noticed because you've been working in the conference room so much, but your and KO's beds are under your desk."

"Under my desk?" Initially, Mei wasn't sure if he should curse Saosan for her teasing or thank her for her consideration. He looked through the window to the inner office. Xiao Nai and KO were still hard at work, despite the bodies snoring on the office floor. If he had known how much longing showed in his eyes, maybe he would have refrained from looking. As it was, he was not to know how much his Saosan wished she could have given the pair an entire room, rather than a makeshift cave under a desk. Hiding her smile, she sent a goodnight text to Xiao Nai and waited until he received it; when he did, he looked up long enough to give her a nod goodbye before returning to the coding. Mei and Wei Wei sighed at the same time, surprising each other. All they could do was smile in commiseration and head their separate ways- Wei Wei to an echoingly empty house and Mei to his cold bed on the floor. Both knew that it wasn't a long term situation, but that didn't mean they had to like it.