Youth and love - A love020 fanfic

Chapter 7 - Human Behavior

Hao Mei had always been an exceptionally observant person. Growing up in a household with a temperamental father had made him sensitive to subtle changes in people's interactions and behaviors.

Over the past few days, Hao Mei noticed that Xiao Nai seemed to be smiling more and more. If it had been any other person, that would have been totally normal. But Xiao Nai had always been extremely reserved and his face had always been neutral and composed. But now, his self assured state had a permanent, content smile. He also noticed that Xiao Nai hadn't joined them for a single dinner. Normally, they would get together at dinner to discuss progress on their start up. Nowadays, Nai always seemed to have a perfect reason to miss dinner and he would often return to the dorm exactly at curfew. After a round of gaming or so, he would debrief them. He also seemed to log on to the game at random hours in the day.

Hao Mei was also an extremely curious person by nature, he wanted to know what or who was making his brother so deliriously happy. With those thoughts in mind, he logged onto the game this evening.

Today, the boys and Luwei Wei Wei were fighting Meng-boss. As they started fighting, Hao Mei noticed that Wei Wei and Nai seemed to be more in sync with each other, anticipating each other's moves, without needing to exchange a word.

After seeing her ducking to cut off the bosses' legs at the same time that, Nai sent a wide area attack spell on the boss, Hao Mei decided to tease them.

"Nai and Sansao are so well matched" he typed

Yugong joined in "Their relationship is so deep that they are now of one mind."

Not to miss out on the fun, Yu Banshan added "Is there something you two love birds are not telling us?"

Deciding to kick things up a notch, Hao Mei typed "Has your online relationship gotten IRL?" Almost choking, but maintaining a smooth expression, Nai responded "Humans are always curious about what they don't have", implying they might be.

Meanwhile in her dorm, Wei Wei spat out the tea she was sipping. Deciding she needed to gain a semblance of control she responded "Aiyah, it's because we have been participating in the couples tournament. We have just gotten used to fighting with each other. Don't read much into it " .

Xiao Nai couldn't help but appreciate this beloved's quick thinking skills and her uncanny ability to get out of sticky situations. The conversation then quickly turned into a discussion about the couples tournament and how Nai and Wei Wei were the frontrunners.

The last competition is tomorrow at 8 pm, Wei Wei reminded Nai. He said, I have a meeting that evening, but I will be there by 7:45 pm at the latest.

Wei Wei also had a busy day ahead and they all logged off that night. Despite a busy schedule, Nai had meticulously worked on editing their submission for the in-game video contest. Sure, it had been Luwei's idea and they had all contributed but Nai seemed to be going above and beyond to ensure it was perfect.

Only Hao Mei suspected that Nai may have known more than he was letting on. Team mate or not, Nai never volunteered any reasons for his behavior or expended so much effort into a contest . The fact that he explained to Wei Wei why he was going to be late, was unusual. Neither party was saying anything and his other brothers were woefully ignorant , so Hao Mei decided to keep his observations to himself till he had confirmed them.

While Wei Wei was chatting with the boys, her roommates were gossiping amongst themselves about her. They had noticed that she had missed more than one dinner, always seemed to arrive just in time before curfew and disappeared into the shower before they could ask her any questions. Then there was all that smiling and day dreaming. Er Xi had caught her lost in thought more than once in class. That was highly irregular for Wei Wei. They were worried that her strange behavior may have been a symptom of exam anxiety. Xiaoling said to Er Xi and Sisi "I don't think this is anxiety. There is something else going on. I will confront her tomorrow", with that they all went to bed.