A Bite of Love

6. Missing A Bite

"Hong Mu Ran!" Ou Yang exclaimed as he saw Mu Ran pass him towards the tables without even sparing a glance at him.

Mu Ran half turned around and looked at him aloofly, "what?"

Ou Yang put his hands on his hips, irritated, "don't you have anything to tell me?" he asked with a demanding tone.

"I prefer not to talk with you as I saw the consequences," Mu Ran declared coldly and went to sit without waiting for Ou Yang's reaction.

"You little ungrateful..." Ou Yang cursed the other. It was what you got when you helped people. "Next time I won't even move a finger!" he shouted loud enough for Mu Ran to hear, but the latter pretended not to hear while other customers looked at him with confusion.

Boiling with anger, Ou Yang decided to prepare Mu Ran a terrible latte when he ordered, but to his dismay, as if to feel his intention, Mu Ran didn't order anything even when his client arrived.

The same thing repeated for a week whenever it was Ou Yang who was behind the counter. He watched Mu Ran as he handled his clients diligently and smiled at everyone he encountered except him. Ou Yang even thought maybe he was invisible to Mu Ran and that bothered him profoundly without a specific reason.

"You are gonna bore a hole in his face," Li Rang snapped Ou Yang out of his thoughts.

"I hope I can do that," Ou Yang snorted.

"Well, good news that you will have more time to practise it today," Li Rang said as he patted his friend's shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"Ge Lin requested me to let the cafe open for half an hour longer for an important client Mu Ran handles."

"And you agreed?" Ou Yang asked, horrified. He was already on the verge of jumping on Mu Ran, claiming he wasn't invisible, so it wasn't a good idea for him to be in the same place with Mu Ran more than necessary.

"Of course," Li Rang shrugged.

"Then you deal with them, I am out."

"No no!" Li Rang grabbed his arm tight, "I have a date today! I can't stay!"

Ou Yang tried to save his arm, but failed miserably under Li Rang's dead grip. "Then ask An De Lu," he said, rolling his eyes, but Li Rang shook his head again.

"He has an exam tomorrow, you are the only one available."

Ou Yang heaved a sigh, "you get a free date, An De Lu get more time to study while I am stuck here, ha?"

Li Rang nodded hesitantly, "pleaseeeee!"

"Okay, whatever, just let me go," Ou Yang gave in and Li Rang finally let him go.

At eight thirty, Ou Yang watched with envy as Li Rang and An De Lu left the cafe.

At eight forty-five, the last customers and his clients left the cafe and Ou Yang cleaned the tables.

At eight fifty-five, Mu Ran collected his stuff and attempted to leave the cafe for a quick dinner until it was time for the last client to come, but a phone call from one of his clients spoiled his plan. He sat back and listened to her story about her second date whom Mu Ran matched her with. As she was super excited, Mu Ran didn't have the heart to hang up, so he just kept listening to her...

At nine-fifteen, the client arrived, so Mu Ran finally hung up and focused on his client under the eyes of Ou Yang who tried to understand why Mu Ran was so diligent about this job. Surely, Tian Hua and Zhang Hua were doing the same job, but they were much more relaxed and didn't have that many notes with them. Was it because of money? Out of job ethics? Or he just loved the job? Ou Yang wasn't sure.

At twenty to ten, the client left the cafe, leaving Mu Ran and Ou Yang alone. Ou Yang watched Mu Ran collect his stuff with slow moves and wondered if he could speak to him before leaving. Once done, the match-maker rose to his feet, but then he leaned on the table and sat back a second later.

Excusing the empty coffee cup left by the client, Ou Yang approached the table. "Are you not leaving?" he asked, but seeing Mu Ran pressing on his eyes, he changed the question to "are you okay?"

Mu Ran raised his free hand to gesture to Ou Yang that he was okay, but the latter knew it better. He moved Mu Ran's long silky hair from his face and checked his temperature.

"Do you feel sick? You don't have fever though," he said concernedly as Mu Ran looked as if he was on the verge of fainting. His breathing was laborious and he couldn't even open his eyes, let alone answering the question.

"Mu Ran, can you hear me?" Ou Yang shook him gently, "do you want to go to hospital?"

"No..." Mu Ran answered in the end, "I am just dizzy."

"Dizzy?" Ou Yang repeated, then he realised that Mu Ran didn't eat anything since he came to the cafe in the afternoon. "Sit still, I will bring you something to eat," he said and rushed to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he came back with a cup of warm milk with sugar and a sandwich.

"Drink this first," he said as he helped the cup to Mu Ran's hands. After he finished the cup, his complexion looked better as he already felt heaps better.

"Thank you," Mu Ran said genuinely as he put the cup onto the table.

"Are you a child? Why don't you care about yourself?" Ou Yang snapped at him as he was fine now. On the other hand, while he was reprimanding him, he handed the sandwich into his hand, contrasting his harsh words.

Mu Ran could only gape. With the sandwich in his hand, he couldn't laugh or cry. Although Ou Yang was like an annoying kid, he was actually quite helpful and caring.

"Why are you staring at my handsome face? Just eat your sandwich," Ou Yang pushed his hand towards his mouth so that his mouth could meet with the sandwich. Mu Ran smiled indistinctly and started to eat it.

Seeing him munching on the sandwich obediently, Ou Yang grinned widely with the sense of achievement. As he was glad that Mu Ran was okay and happy that he stopped ignoring him, he even brought him some tea to accompany the sandwich.

His efforts were seen by Mu Ran and appreciated in forms of "thank you, really."

Ou Yang just nodded, trying to hide the satisfaction.

After cleaning the empty dishes, they turned off the lights, left the cafe and locked the door.

"Good night then," Mu Ran uttered and attempted to leave, but the hem of his jacket was captured by the other.

"I will drive you home to be sure you won't faint on the street," Ou Yang said and without waiting for his reply, he dragged the shocked match-maker to his car which he parked nearby.

The ride was silent as neither of them knew how to start a conversation. It was a bit awkward, but still fine for the first time. Ou Yang even managed to hold his tongue as he didn't ask why Mu Ran was living so far from his work.

When they reached Mu Ran's apartment building a good while later, he repeated his mantra for the day which was 'thank you' and got out of the car.

Not wanting to leave without a clarification, Ou Yang lowered the passenger window and shouted behind the walking figure, "so, we are cool, right?"

Mu Ran halted his steps and turned around. Thanks to the street light shining on him, Ou Yang saw he was smiling.

"Yes, we are cool until you screw up again," he replied teasingly and walked into his building, disappearing from Ou Yang's sight.