57 Chapter 57- Happily Ever After and all that Sap

The air was thick and oppressive; stepping outside the house was like stepping into a sauna. With no official office to go to, Mei had stopped dressing up for work and as summer drew closer he spent more and more time in a singlet and shorts. Their house was airy but by the end of the day the second level was like an oven and the pair had started sleeping on the lounge room floor with all the windows open. Not for the first time, Mei wished he'd listed air-conditioning as a condition for the house. Winter had been hard enough without heated floors, but thick socks and house slippers had helped and there was the added benefit of snuggling closer. To share body heat, of course.

At the moment, it was so hot and sticky that they were sleeping next to each other on the floor... an arm's length apart.

"KO?"

"Hmm?"

"You awake?"

"No."

Mei thought about that for a minute before shrugging.

"Eh. It's not like you'd say much anyway so I guess I don't need you to be awake."

"Hmmm."

"Next month is the Dragon Boat festival. I thought we could go and have a look around."

"Hmm."

"And we haven't been out for a date since we got here. We've been so busy with work that we've forgotten to do something just for us."

"Hmm?"

"No. Dates at home don't count. I mean a real date. We couldn't really do anything as a couple in Beijing but it's different here. We could actually go out together."

"Hmm?"

"I want to do things that couples do on dates. I want to go out for coffee and share a cake. I want to go shopping and hold hands in the mall." He stared up at the roof, gleaming white in the darkness. Outside, the night life rustled leaves in the garden and the bones of the house creaked as they cooled down in the night air. He could hear KO's deep, even breathing next to him and rolled towards the sound. They'd been living together for nearly nine months and in Taipei for eight of those months, but he still struggled sometimes to believe that this, that they, were happening.

Sometimes he wondered if they'd made the right decision.

If being together was the best thing for them.

He missed Beijing with its familiar streets and sounds and smells.

He missed Drunk Monkey and Old Man Yu. Playing with them online wasn't the same as playing altogether. He even missed Li Qiang, Wang Wei and the rest of the Zhi Yi family.

In the relatively short time that Wei Wei had been with Xiao Nai, she and Mei had grown close and he missed being able to chat to someone who understood him. Not that KO didn't understand him- that man could read him like a book and wasn't that annoying sometimes. But his relationship with Wei Wei was different. Sisterly.

Then there was laosan. Despite talking on a daily basis, Mei desperately missed his brother. The phone calls lately were always about work- both filling Mei in on what was happening with his family, and hearing what Mei and KO were up to with their programming. That was particularly interesting as Xiao Nai and KO had started arguing lately. The programming had reached the stage where they needed to start testing it- Xiao Nai wanted them to build a secondary system and test their program within that, while KO wanted to test it against real-world systems to see how the program compared to the current programs available. The problem with KO's suggestion was small... just a minor issue of legality. Or lack thereof. Lately, phone calls between the two ended with Mei reassuring Xiao Nai that they wouldn't do anything too stupid, and reminding KO that he was no longer a hacker. Or, at least, he was a white hacker trying to design a security program to stop a hacker of his capability.

Mei's interference between Xiao Nai and KO was starting to get stressful and the increasing heat was only making his temper rise. Just today he'd hung up on laosan and kicked KO out of the shared office space because he was tired of the stubbornness of them both. KO was right- they needed to test the program on a real world system. But Xiao Nai was just as right- doing so without permission would be illegal.

He rolled onto his side, facing the windows and closing his eyes as a faint breeze teased his face. His partner was lying next to him... but he missed his KO.

There was a rustle behind him; the only notice he received before KO wrapped an arm around his waist and burrowed his nose against his nape.

"Okay."

"Huh?"

"A date. Tomorrow. We'll go on a proper date tomorrow. Let's tell laoda that we're taking the next fortnight off- we'll return to work after the Dragon Boat festival."

"Really?"

"Hmm."

"Really? That's great because I found this café that... hmph..." Mei's excitement was muffled with KO's lips and before long it was his moans and sighs that were muffled with the kiss. They were hot and sweaty from the heat... what harm would it do to get slightly hotter and sweatier?

"You planned this from the start." KO looked at the street sign, then back at his partner.

"I swear. I didn't."

"So we've accidentally stumbled across a district in Taipei called Oppa." He didn't sound all that convinced. Mei struggled not to grin because then KO would be convinced it was deliberate when in reality it was just a very happy coincidence.

"I promise I didn't know. Wei Wei told me about a café in the Daan district and we need to go through here to get to it. Although," he did have to admit, "if I knew there was a district called Oppa, I'd have brought us here ages ago."

That logic, twisted as it was, convinced KO that Mei wasn't playing a huge prank. Rather, it was some cosmic practical joke that had them walking hand in hand, on their first public date, through a district named after the one word that never failed to get a reaction when Mei said it. Meanwhile, Mei was internally chortling at the name of the district and keeping a sharp eye out for a very specific type of stall. It didn't take long for his eagle eyes to spot what he was after and he ducked off, leaving KO standing on the footpath scratching his head with bewilderment. Less than a minute later, Mei was slipping his hand into KO's once more, but something was different.

"What are you wearing?"

"You like it?"

"E-Mei... what are you wearing?"

"Ooooh, strict voice."Mei's grin lit up his face and all KO could do was shake his head at his partner.

"You still haven't answered the question."

"What am I wearing? Just a souvenir shirt," and that was all Mei would say as they walked hand in hand, KO with his all black and shades and Mei in jeans and a white shirt that proudly proclaimed "I ❤️ Oppa".

The cafe Wei Wei had told Mei about was in the Daan district and was named Cafe Tabby after the owner's three cats who acted as hosts to the guests. As soon as the pair sat at their table, KO found a furry companion jumping onto his lap. He frowned and put the cat on the ground.

"How did Wei Wei know about this cafe?" KO put the cat back down on the ground.

"She found it online on a blog. She knew I like cats so told me about it." Unlike his partner, Mei was more than happy to pet the cat sniffing at his knee. To his surprise, the cat wasn't interested in pets from a victim. It did no more than deign to sniff his fingers before sauntering off.

"Take a selca and send it to her?" Frowning, KO put the cat back down on the ground. Again. "She would like it here."

"I'll have to bring her when she and Xiao Nai visit." Mei watched the persistent cat once more jump in to KO's lap. This time, it's paws barely settled on his knees before KO put a hand under its butt and continued its forward progress off his knees and back onto the ground. "We have a problem."

"Hmm?"

"I don't think we're going to work out."

"What are you saying now?" If this was a video game, KO would have flattened the cat already. As it was, he had to settled for some pretty fierce glaring.

"Us. You and me. This isn't going to work."

"Why not?"

"I don't think I could marry some one who didn't like cats."

"That's good."

"Eh?" That wasn't the reaction Mei was expecting.

"That's good. Don't marry someone who doesn't like cats. Marry me."

"What? Idiot. I don't know what to say first." Cheeks pink, Mei downed his glass of cold water to cool himself off, almost choking in the process. "First- that had better not have been a proposal. Because that sucked. And second, you don't like cats."

"I do."

"You don't. You keep pushing it away."

"It's a her. And she has a white belly and I'm wearing black. That's why she's not welcome on my lap. Besides, that seat is reserved."

"So you like cats?"

"I do."

"Are you deliberately making "I do" puns and ignoring the proposal question?"

"No. It wasn't a proposal. Besides, you brought it up first. You should propose."

"Idiot. I'm not going to."

"Why not?"

"Because...." Mei floundered. "I don't know. Just... because."

"Ah. Logic. That's okay. I don't mind living in sin. It's fun."

The cat jumped back on to KO's lap but this time she promptly put her paws on his chest and touched his nose with her own. He sighed and let her stay. The damage was already done. The men made eye contact and both struggled not to laugh. Well, Mei struggled not to laugh while KO allowed himself a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. Which was basically a laugh.

"It's not like we have parents-in-law to worry about." Awkward silence greeted Mei's words and thankfully the waiter delivered their iced coffees and cake, breaking the tension and conveniently delivering comfort food.

"Have you heard anything from your parents?"

"Only what Xiao Nai has shared. After we left Beijing, he sent copies of the phone calls we recorded to my parents and warned them that if anymore unsavoury rumours about his business were found to originate from them, or any of their associates, then he might accidentally email the recordings to a tabloid."The chocolate cake was delicious: the perfect combination of sweet and bitter but Mei, ever loyal, couldn't help comparing it to the cake KO made him for the new year. It was also dense and tasted like he was ingesting warm hugs with every mouthful.

"I haven't heard anything after that. Did anything else happen that you haven't mentioned?" KO watched Mei lick his fork clean and struggled not to reach across the table and kiss him senseless. Did he not know the picture he made: deep in thought yet subconsciously and sensuously licking the utensil clean?

"Hmm... I know I haven't been legally disowned. I'm not sure if that's a surprise or not. The rumours were bad enough. Xiao Nai faced so much pressure from some of the directors he was collaborating with for Feng Teng, trying to get him to denounce us or lose their support." Rather than dwell on it too much, he had enough sleepless nights to know dwelling on his parents and the consequences of their spite would just lead to heart burn. Instead, he scooped up a piece of cake and offered it to KO.

"Do you want to go back to Beijing?"KO accepted being fed and returned the favour.

"I'm not sure. I do like it here. I think I'd like it more than Beijing if I became more familiar with the place. But I do miss everyone."

"You know Xiao Nai is planning on opening a branch of Zhi Yi here on Taiwan. He's planning on keeping the game design and the security programming separate. So even after we sell the program to Xiao Nai, we could stay."

Leaving Beijing for the long term hadn't really occurred to Mei and when he sank into silence, KO left him undisturbed. The cake was gone, and all that was left of their iced coffees was a rim of condensation on the table beneath their glass, before Mei lifted his head once more.

"It's not too far away. I mean, it's still China. We can visit them and they can visit us."

"We have to return for Xiao Nai and Wei Wei's wedding anyway." They both knew it was still years away, at least until after Wei Wei's graduation, but it felt good to make plans for the future. KO cleared his throat and looked down at the cat purring on his lap.

"Which reminds me... Mei, my E-Mei... I have a question to ask you."

"Yes?" Mei raised an eyebrow.

"Would you... please..."

"Spit it out Idiot before everyone thinks your doing something you're not."

"Wouldyoupleasegetacatwithme?"

"No."

"Eh?" Stunned, KO blinked at Mei.

"Let's get two. If we're staying here then let's get two cats so they can play with each other while we work."

"Mei..."

"Shut up. I love you too."