บท 11: Chapter 11- A New Team Member
It seemed the green drink did have hulk-like abilities. Rather than being able to go home and sleep until his alarm woke him, Hao Mei found himself reliving his late night- or should that be early morning?- conversation with KO; mulling over every word, or grunt, like a cow chewing the cud. Did KO really think so little of him that he believe Mei would turn his back on his brothers and their business? But then why would he look after him when he got drunk and what was with that 'hmm'; did he really not notice the shining pair because... because what? He needed glasses... or because he was looking at Mei? But why would he look at Mei if he thought he was the type of person to just quit?
Burying his face in the pillow, Mei pummelled the mattress. Each punch released a waft of powder scented air and he groaned. It smelled wrong. The smell of the powder was making his nose itch and his eyes sore. It was definitely the fault of the powder, and not because he was lying in bed agonising over an imagined hidden meaning. Tomorrow... he rolled over and checked his phone... not tomorrow... later today, he was turning over a new leaf. Starting from a decent hour and not, he peered at the phone again, at 3:27am, he was going to remember that he was a grown man and not a teenage girl.
For some reason, upon arriving at work and entering the elevator with Qui Yong Hou and Yu Ban Shan, his mental reminder to act like an adult had been forgotten. Playing with his tie, he entered the work place laughing and joking with his two friends. His good mood lasted as long as his reminder did; Xiao Nai's announcement that a hacker would be joining their team was shocking enough but his assertion that it was the hacker who had accessed Hao Mei's computer was too much. Mei spiralled back in to his thoughts again, spending more time through the day chewing on his thumbnail and pacing the hallway, than he did on any productive form of work.
Waiting for midnight to come around was torture for Hao Mei. The mind that he'd tried to rein in just that morning was now in over drive and he found himself stooping to the level of a high school bully as he came up with plans to drive the hacker away. Or at least severely scare him so he regretted ever stepping one cyber foorprint on Mei's computer.
"Will the person who hacked Hao Mei's computer really dare to come? Isn't he afraid of being beaten up?" Yu Ban Shan's pacing was making Hao Mei dizzy. Unable to bring himself to join the others just yet, Hao Mei leaned against the far corner of the office, weapon at his feet, watching his eldest bro burn nervous energy. In comparison, Laosan and Qui Yong Hou looked surprisingly calm and self-contained. Okay, maybe it wasn't surprising for Xiao Nai to nonchalantly wait for an impending disaster but generally Qui Yong Hou reacted in much the same manner as Ban Shan so Mei was surprised that he looked so calm.
"Don't most of these experts like being free and not tied down? Why would he want to work for us?" Eh, Yong Hou had a good point. Mei was impressed.
"Laosan, what did you do to him?" Ban Shan brandished a rolled magazine in the air.
"I didn't do something to him." Xiao Nai looked past Ban Shan, making eye contact with Hao Mei as he said, "It's what he wants to do."
Mei froze. Heart pounding. Skin prickling. What was that? Why would Laosan look at him like that? It's not like Hao Mei knew who the hacker was to ask him to join. And all the people he knew with the skills to do it were already part of the team... It's not my fault! His internal wail went unheeded by the other three.
"Bro, can you speak human words? I don't understand." Ban Shan paused in his pacing as a thought occurred to him. "But he's quite weird. He's showing up in the middle of the night... We're not in any danger are we?"
Hao Mei picked up his weapon, wrapping his fingers around the handle, comforting himself, even as Yong Hou laughed. "Bro, are you afraid? You think the four of us can't even beat up one person? What danger can there be?"
"That's true."
"Eh, where's Mei?"
All three looked in his direction and Mei stiffened his back and marched over, weapon in hand. Ban Shan stared at him in disbelief and even Xiao Nai had a twinkle in his eye.
"What's that for?"
Mei scoffed at Ban Shan's ignorance. "Do you know what this is? This is the mop we use specifically for the restroom. When he comes, I'm going to use this to poke him to death."
Yong Hou hid a laugh behind his hand and Mei glared at his doubting peer. "If it doesn't work, I'll stink him to death!" He waved the mop at his friends' faces and they recoiled with disgust. Ha. Served them right for laughing at him all day; saying he was being 'courted' by a hacker, asking if he would choose marriage or the monastery. He sniffed in insult and immediately regretted it as the aroma of the mop made his eyes water. Whoever was last on the rotation to clean the bathrooms needed to do a better job cleaning the equipment afterwards! Urgh!
A footstep scuffed on the stairwell, and the quartet turned as one to look at the doorway. A figure peeled away from the shadows, slowly striding into the light. Mei raised an eyebrow and mentally scoffed. Such a poser; walking in slow motion just to look awesome. Despite himself, he had to admit that it was an effective techni...
"How come it's you?" Bewildered, Mei could only stare at KO before turning to his friends. "Which one of you ordered delivery?" Breath trapped in his throat, Mei pleaded with his eyes, desperate for someone to make a joke and laugh it off as a really tasteless prank. Instead, Xiao Nai and KO seemed to have entered into some sort of alpha male staring contest, neither giving anything away and both filling the air around them with testosterone.
"So it's you." Xiao Nai broke the silence.
KO gave the barest tilt of his head. "It's me."
The silence grew heavy until KO continued. "Per our agreement, I lost so I'll work for your company for free for a year.
Wait? What?! KO? Work here? Lost... agreement? Mei felt like his brain was a broken record skipping tracks and missing the best parts of a song. He was definitely missing the complete song but was trying to follow along as best he could despite his mind still rejecting the idea that his friend, the chef, was actually a hacker.
"Waiving your salary isn't necessary." Xiao Nai took a step towards KO. "Welcome to Zhi Yi. I have yet to know your name."
"You know it. KO."
The two men gripped hands and to a dazed Hao Mei it seemed as though they'd positioned themselves precisely so their manly agreement could be backlit by an office light. Posers. Both of them. Not that he'd say it out loud where either could hear.
"KO... why does that sound familiar?" Ban Shan tapped a finger against his forehead as he thought.
"I remember!' Yong Hou turned to KO, excitement lighting up his dark features. "You're not that super incredible, super famous hacker are you?"
Super incredible, super famous? Mei wondered how long it would take before Yong Hou was starting a fan club and looking for a club name. It finally felt like the implications of the night were starting to sink in. "Laosan... could he be...?"
Xiao Nai nodded in response, his face turned away from Hao Mei, hiding the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"You..." Mei stared at KO. "You..."
"It's me." KO flicked his eyes to Hao Mei before returning his attention once more to his new boss. "And also, I said for free, so it'll be for free. I don't go back on my word."
Only KO saw the smile flitter across Xiao Nai's face as the younger man nodded. "Then I'll let Hao Mei handle it. Hao Mei, you're the one who brought KO here. You'll be responsible for him."
Stunned, Mei could only point at himself in disbelief. "Me?" This isn't fair! It isn't my fault!
It didn't take long to show KO around the empty office. The others had left, heading home for their beds and some sleep, and with no one else around Mei found himself feeling nervous. Sitting on KO's new desk, he now understood why Xiao Nai had insisted that Mei be the one to set it up. And why he had decided it needed to be next to his own work space. Mei's responsibility indeed. Huh.
"You're not angry any more?" KO kept his hands in his pockets, refusing to make eye contact.
Mei took his question seriously. "I was until just now. You actually dared lie to me and even hacked my computer. But later on, I felt a bit of excitement." Oh. What did he just say? Man, why did he have to just blurt that out? He couldn't very well say that he was excited to know he would be seeing KO at work every day, so why... "Think about it; I went to a late night food stall and met a chef. He turns out to be the famous hacker KO! Isn't that like seeing the Sweeper Monk?"
"What's the sweeper monk?"
Great. Good cover up. Now he doesn't think you're an idiot... he knows it.
"You don't know Sweeper Monk?" Mei sighed. Nope. There was no salvaging this. "I'll explain to you next time." Quick... distraction! "However, I do have one question."
"What is it?"
What was it? Ah, yes... "Why did you change my wallpaper from my goddess to a monastery?"
"She doesn't look good."
"Let me tell you, you can insult me, but if you insult my goddess I'm going to take this up with you! No, I've thought of an even more serious problem. You'll be my colleague from now on. Then, the question of where I'll eat..." Mei ran his fingers through his hair, digging them in to his scalp as though trying to pull an answer out of his frazzled brain. "How will I solve that?"
KO shifted his weight from foot to foot and cleared his throat. "Ah... I can still cook for you."
"What?" Mei looked up at him, uncertain if he'd heard properly. He might have something in his ear that was making him hallucinate answers. It was more feasible than the idea he might be hearing KO correctly.
"I can still cook for you."
Suddenly ashamed of making more work, even in thought, for his friend, Mei slid off the desk to stand in front of KO, and waved his hands in the air. "No, no. It's okay. I'll work it out. You don't have to do that."
KO caught one of Mei's hands and the jolt that ran through Mei's body when their fingers touched made him realise just how close they were standing. "I like cooking for you."
Their eyes met. Mei's throat went dry and his ability to breathe took a vacation. All he could think about was the sensation of falling in to KO's dark gaze, the feel of KO's fingers still holding his, and the shiver that ran along his spine when KO lifted his other hand and lightly stroked down his cheek to trail along his jaw.
Without another word, KO left and a shell shocked Mei found himself holding on to the edge of the desk as his knees suddenly decided to join his breath. "That... wha..."
Maybe, at heart, he really was just like a teenage girl with her first crush. Stumbling over to the keyboard lounge, he collapsed against it, eyes closing as a grin lit up his face. He had to admit... he kind of liked the feeling.
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