49 Chapter 49- House Warming

Relating to Episode 29 of Love O2O.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

Knock, knock, knock.

The stars groaned and a large mass rolled beneath them, shaking the galaxy and shifting the centre of gravity. Which sounds a lot more exciting than saying that an extremely hung over Hao Mei was rudely awakened by a persistent knocking at the front door. Each bang of the door reverberated in his skull until he thought his head might vibrate so much it would separate from his neck and roll on to the floor. It might hurt a lot less in that instance.

Knock, knock, knock.

As the knocking continued, Mei admitted defeat and sat up on his bed. Rubbing his head, he looked over at the alarm clock he'd silenced earlier that morning.

"What? It's already 3:30pm?" He yawned as the knocking continued. "Who is it?"

Bleary-eyed and heavy-headed, he navigated the maze of discarded clothing and empty juice bottles, inured to the sight and smell.

"I'm coming.. I'm coming," he scowled as he opened the door and peered up at the brave sole who dared wake him up. "Who is it?"

The brave man simply looked at him.

"KO? What are you doing here?" Mei blinked. Maybe he was still drunk and just imagining his hangover... and KO's unexplained presence.

In response, KO held up two plastic bags, packed full of groceries to the point they were threatening to burst at the seams. "I'm here to go through the back door."

"Eh... come in, come in." Stepping back, Mei ushered KO through the door, yawning as he followed the hacker into his home. Rubbing his eyes, he watched KO step carefully over the mess and put the bags on the kitchen bench.

"It's such a mess."

"I just moved in a few days ago... you know what work has been like... unpacking hasn't been a priority."

"Cleaning hasn't been either."

"Eh," Mei gave a shame-faced chuckle. "Well, to be honest, cleaning is never much of a priority."

With a grunt, KO acknowledged the truth of Mei's words as he started opening cupboards; searching for something that Mei was sure he didn't have.

"How did you know I lived here now?" He hadn't told anyone when he found a replacement unit- other than Xiao Nai that was.... and suddenly he didn't have any questions. Okay, he had several, chief of them being 'what game was laosan playing' but he had no questions that needed urgent answers.

"You don't have anything?" Without waiting for a reply, KO started writing on a notepad he just happened to have in his pocket.

"What are you doing?"

"Get dressed. Go to the supermarket," KO finished scribbling on the paper and tore it off, handing it over to Mei who blinked at him owlishly. "Buy the things on the list."

"Wok, saute pan, electric rice cooker, spatula, electric grid?" Mei wrinkled his nose. What was this? An episode of Home Shopping 101?

"Griddle. Not grid."

"Ah..." Pretending that made sense to him, Mei perused the rest of the list. "Soy sauce, corn oil, essence of chicken..." What was essence of chicken? Essence brought to mind essential oils but he didn't think anyone would want a massage that left them smelling like dusty poultry.

"Hmm," KO pulled the bags towards him and started to put their contents into Mei's empty fridge. It still had the plastic seal over the deli drawer and smelled like fresh plastic. The only thing he'd put in it since its delivery was bottled juice. And a random beer bottle. He couldn't remember buying that and had a feeling it had been left behind by the friendly removalists as a house warming gift.

"You're going to cook in my house?" Mei's stomach tried jumping for joy but all that achieved was an uncomfortable sloshing of all he'd had to drink last night.

"Hmm."

"So I'm going to the supermarket? What are you doing?"

"Washing vegetables."

Washing vegetables? Didn't you just peel them all anyway? And why did Hao Mei have to be the one to leave the house when he felt like death warmed up and KO looked as chipper as he ever seemed? It just didn't seem fair.

"What's an electric griddle? Do I buy a wooden spatula or a stainless steel spatula?" Legitimate questions but Mei only cared about asking them because he wanted KO to take pity on him and let him go back to bed while the more experienced one did the shopping. Unaware that his reluctance was written on his face with neon signage, Mei pouted hopefully at KO.

The hacker sighed and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Mei immediately cheered up. Success! He could go back to bed while KO shopped and...

"I'll go with you."

What? That wasn't his plan! No!

"What about this?"

"You don't need it."

"But it's cute."

"You don't need a nutcracker shaped like a Koala."

"It might remind me of Will and Tom?"

"Then get them to buy you one that's actually made in Australia, as a souvenir. You don't need a Chinese version of a Koala nutcracker."

"What about these?"

"You don't need Chansey egg cups."

"What if you make me boiled eggs? Then I'll need egg cups."

"If you buy Chansey egg cups, I'm never making you boiled eggs."

Mei rolled his eyes and sighed as he returned the pink pokemon egg cups to their shelf. Shopping with KO was such a drag. The man had no sense of humour, or of the absurd. And did he not understand the purpose of impulse buys? How could he walk past so many shiny things and not see anything that wasn't on his list?

"Don't roll your eyes. You're not five."

Mei froze.

"How did you know? Do you have eyes in the back of your head?" He gasped dramatically. "You're really an alien aren't you? That's why you go by KO, because if you told us your real name we wouldn't be able to pronounce it and your alien origins would be exposed." He skipped sideways beside the cart that the stone-faced hacker was pushing.

"Is that why you're so good with coding? You're not coding like us humans do, but talking to the computers and making them do what you want?" Was that a twitch at the corner of KO's mouth? The hacker investigated the box of an electric rice cooker- comparing details between two different brands. Mei thought he was laying it on too thick. Seriously, how much difference could there be between brands? And wasn't the most expensive one always the best? Just buy that one and hey presto... decision made.

"Did you come to Earth in a beam of light, or was it more a molecule transfer thing? And why China? I mean, why not China is the better question, but did you come to China because you look like us so you'd fit in better or did you choose a country and then change your appearance to suit? If you were going to choose your appearance though, then you might have wanted to choose a form with facial muscles. They do these really cool things like smile and allow for talking."

Putting a box in the trolley and ticking the final item off his list, KO finally turned to the talkative Mei. He understood that the man was bored but did he seriously have no 'off' switch? Bored or not, shopping for kitchen ware was serious business and not something Mei should be taking lightly.

"Mei."

"KO?"

"Let's go home."

"Finally you're talking my language."

"Mei."

"Yes, KO."

"How old are you?"

"Young enough to still enjoy life. Old enough that having fun with you won't get you locked up." Mei smiled at him and his heart tripped when the corner of KO's mouth twitched. A cough brought him back to earth and he realised that the girl at the checkout had heard his last comment. Her face was bright red as she scanned through their purchases.

"Ah... He.. We... I..."

"Mei," exasperation weighed heavily on KO's words. "Stop. Talking."

For once, Mei listened. Between last night's phone call and now this afternoon's overheard comment, he was batting 2 for 2 in the embarrassment stakes. Silence never seemed like such a good idea. Which reminded him...

"KO.... we need to talk."

"I know." KO ruffled Mei's hair and smiled at him. In public. Mei's knees went weak and he glared at older man. The twinkle in his eye told Mei that KO had wielded that smile on purpose. As a weapon of distraction, it was fatal.

"We'll talk when we eat. For now, lets get these things home and I'll cook for you." Mei smiled his agreement and the checkout girl put a hand to her mouth, muffling her giggles. As the pair headed out the doors, she snuck a quick photo on her phone, tucking it back into her pocket before her supervisor could notice. She couldn't believe she'd actually witnessed a scene straight from a drama! And with two such handsome leads! Good thing she had photo evidence or her friend would never believe her.