It wasn't the news that Feng Teng Technology had brought forward the demo date, that threw Hao Mei's head for a pin. It wasn't even that Laoan was determined to finish an extremely difficult coding task that was akin to going up against a big boss by yourself and armed only with a beginner's knife. No. These trivial things weren't the reason for Mei's sudden attack of the pouts.

"But if we sleep at the office then we can't sleep together."

"Hmm."

"Why don't we both stay at the hotel? It's close so we don't need to worry about commuting...

"Mei."

"Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm being childish." Mei folded his arms and turned his back to KO, leaning against the stairwell wall.

"Mei..."

"What?"

KO put his hands on Mei's shoulders and gently turned him around. "I will miss you too."

Pink tinged his cheeks and Mei couldn't help but look away from the sincerity in KO's eyes. "Idiot. Being so blunt."

"My Beauty," KO pressed a soft kiss to Mei's pouting lips. "I have something to say."

Eyes on KO's lips, Mei leaned forward. "Yes?"

With gentle fingers, KO tilted Mei's chin up until the younger man couldn't help but make eye contact as their lips hovered millimetres apart.

"Get to work."

Mei blinked as KO pushed him towards the office door, propelling him back into the workplace. What just happened? Since when did he equip SuperFlirt? He shook his head. Was KO laughing at me? There was no time to overthink; however, as Qui Yong Hou called him over a soon as he stepped back into the office. Coding. Right. Think about the coding and not about KO. Even as he sank into the computer chair, he couldn't help wondering just how well that endeavour would go.

Twelve hours later, Mei had taken to pacing alongside the windows to Xiao Nai's office. Ostensibly he was stretching his legs, however his stride grew shorter and shorter until he gave up all pretence of exercise and simply leaned against the window, peering in at the two men fixated one their devices.

"Are you cosplaying as a gecko?" Bei Wei Wei joined Mei, taking note of the way he pressed his hands against the glass as if he could through it.

Mei sighed. "I'm heartbroken, Junior Wei Wei."

"What about?"

"Look at them! They won't let me in," Mei narrowed his eye at the oblivious pair. He hadn't slept for nearly an entire twenty four hours and hadn't exchanged a single word with KO for half that time. He cleared his throat. It wasn't like he could just blatantly admit that to anyone, even if it was Saosan. "Are they scoffing at my IQ? I was at least the best student in my province, okay?"

A smile played at the corner of Wei Wei's mouth but she held it back. "Mr Beauty, I think that you're overreacting. Don't you already have lot's to work on?"

"That stuff is easy," and something he had to do as an individual, not part of a team and definitely not working with his partner. "It's jut physically challenging. It's boring to work on that alone. It's more fun to do it in pairs... look..." He gestured at the coding pair with his chin.

"When we don't share the same opinion, we still get to bicker about it. Most importantly... the way they hold themselves up as the top of the food change is just too irritating." And if anyone had to be stuck with KO in an office with a lockable door and blinds, then why was it Laosan?

Wei Wei considered his words but shook her head. "Why don't I think so? I think that makes them look so cool."

Mei tsked at her. "You have no idea about the world of men."

"Why do I think that you and I are in the same world?"

"Eya! My ass!" Mei pulled away from the window to glare at Wei Wei. "Who's in the same world as you?"

When her only response was a half-hidden smile, Mei rubbed his hands over his face. Just because I wore that bloody dress does not make me a wife! "Forget it."

With a theatrical groan, Mei rolled his shoulders, loosening them up as he prepared to go back to work. "Junior Wei Wei... This is the last day I get to speak to you as a human. From tomorrow onward, I'll turn into a coding robot."

Wei Wei laughed and left him to it, for which Mei was grateful. A thought had crossed his mind and he didn't need Saosan to know what he was doing or she'd make more comment about their similar roles. He knocked on the door and Xiao Nai and KO both grunted without looking up from their work.

"Keys?" Mei held his hand out for them but neither KO nor Xiao Nai responded. "Motorbike keys?"

"Hmm..." KO nodded as he passed a tablet to Xiao Nai who checked the coding against the computer screen he'd been working on. Rolling his eyes at the pair of them, Mei came fully into the office to lean his head against KO's back as he slipped his hands into the man' pants' pockets. The keys jingled as he pulled them free- he refrained from teasing given that Laosan was right next to him- and he swung the keyring around his finger before tucking the keys into his own pocket.

"KO?" He was almost out the door before he spoke and as soon as he did so regret flooded his body. Too late to take it back.

"Hmm?"

"Don't forget to eat."

"Hmm."

Hands shoved into pockets, Mei stomped his way out of the office and down the stair. Don't forget to eat. Gah! Since when did I step out of a drama!

They both had plenty of clean clothes at Mei's hotel room, and he tossed them into a single, carry-on suitcase, along with the bare essentials for showers at the office. Thank goodness the previous tenant had installed a bathroom- Zhi Yi Technologies was going to need that bathroom for the next few weeks. Rather than worry about how to wash clothes for the next eighteen days, Mei stopped at a department store after leaving the hotel, purchasing enough underwear to last both of them then entire time without even needing to turn the inside out!

When he made it back to the office, he tucked the suitcase under his desk and put the keys in the drawer. No one needed to know he'd brought clothes for KO too. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end and he rubbed at it as the weight of a stare made itself felt. Looking quickly around, Mei could only assume the one staring was KO. He scowled at the hacker but the scowl quickly melted when KO smiled at him. It was fleeting- blink and he'd have missed it type of fleeting, but for that heart beat KO had smiled openly at the office... He rubbed his chest. For some reason, his chest hurt. It felt tight and sore. And oh so light.

Maybe it wasn't so bad being the one looking out for his partner.