"Where are you even bringing us?" The Japanese man asked in a confused tone.
"To somewhere good, just trust me!" The Hong Konger replied with a toothy grin.
It was a chill Autumn afternoon. Lesion, Echo and some other operators were all in Hong Kong because of a mission. The mission officially starts in 4 months. But they are here to do early preparations and plannings for it. All of this spare time gave a lot of free time for all of the operators to just hang around the bustling city.
Lesion has always wanted to bring his boyfriend to the place he grew up in. But since their schedule was air-tight all year long he never got to properly plan a trip. Look at this now! This was basically a company funded couple's holiday for them.
To be honest, this place was far from perfect. But it was the city he grew up in, it was his home, it was where he made his most unforgettable memories. How can you not love a place like this?
And whatever he loved, he wanted Echo to feel the same joy it brought himself to him. He shared every little thing that he liked with his lover.
"I used to eat there everyday after school during secondary. It's really tasty!" Lesion said as he scratched the back of his head, "I just... need to remember where the shop is. Surely it hasn't closed down already."
Echo pulled his phone out from his jacket's pocket, "What's the name of the shop? I could google it for you."
"Let me think... Ming gor? No, no that doesn't sound right. Fei gor's tuck shop? Not that either, what is it..." the older man mumbled to himself.
"Jeez grandpa, you're only 44. Don't act like you already have dementia." Echo taunted.
"It's been 17 years since I bought from there! Who even notices the name of the small family-run shop you buy snacks at?!" Lesion raised his voice and defended himself with a playful tone.
Nothing was coming up in the toxicologist's brain so trying to search the name online was hopeless. They decided on just wandering aimlessly around the busy streets of Mong Kok. Looking left and right and hoping the shop that Lesion has in mind would appear somehow.
They eventually stopped at a red light. When they did, Echo suddenly felt a secure grip on his hand. He could recognise whose hand it was in a heartbeat. The hand was rough to the touch. The skin was no longer soft, but rather firm after years of hard work and labour. These were the hands of someone you would feel secure with. Someone you could trust with your life.
Thinking about all of this, the Japanese man couldn't help but feel warm inside. Lesion gently rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb. The Japanese man blushed with a frown. He doesn't know why this always gets him the most.
Realising that they were being intimate in the public's eye, he quickly let go and used his hand to cover his face from the crowd around them. He could feel all of their eyes on him and their little whispers in Cantonese. Oh god, they're probably bad mouthing about them aren't they?
"What's wrong, Masaru?"
"We just did *that*. In public. What do you think is wrong?"
"Oh, the crowd? Haha!" The Hong Konger laughed, "Don't worry about them! Besides, they don't have a problem with it. Or at least the people around us aren't. They're saying we look cute."
Masaru wondered if the man was just comforting him with a beautiful lie. But that thought soon vanished. Tze Long would never do that to anyone. He would always tell the truth, but in a way that made it easier to swallow. That's how he got Masaru to be more active and eat healthier anyways.
"So... do you still wanna hold hands?" Lesion shot him a playful smirk. Slightly reaching his hand out to the Japanese man.
"Tsk, suck a dick. Liu." He mumbled as he snatched his lover's hand. His head facing away as it becomes redder by the second.
"I already did a few days ago though, didn't I?" The Hong Konger laughed loudly at his own joke. Receiving nothing but a unamused expression from Echo.
They walked around and around and around for what felt like hours... and still nothing. Echo kept suggesting that they should just give up and go grab some mixian at Sam Gor instead (he has eaten there 3 times since arriving at Hong Kong and he's already in love with it) but Lesion was denser th n an mercury, refusing to do so and insisting to keep on going.
"Eh? 我地終於搵到啦!" Tze long elmxclaimed triumphantly. Mmm
Masaru, who was basically being dragged along by Lesion immediately shot his head up to see what was up. And lo and behold it was the shop! He could tell by the older man pointing at it with a grin. The Japanese man's mildly kk p no. annoyed face turned into a relieved smile. It was because he didn't have to walk any longer and totally not because lesion was happy... Well, it's a mix of both.
Arriving in front of the shop— it was a small street food vendor called Fei Long's snacks. The food are all displayed at the front while two people are inside attending to the orders. Echo looked up at the menu. A bunch of unhealthy looking snacks, exactly his kind of thing!
After Masaru decided on what to eat. Tze long ordered for both of them. The vendors quickly finished preparing the food and handed it over. The Japanese man had a bag of egg puffs in his hand while the Hong Konger had a handful of Stinky tofu.
"That tofu smells like an abomination. Are you sure they didn't give you a bad batch?"
"Dude, the name of it is literally stinky tofu." He said before grabbing a huge bite out of it which made Echo cringe, "Wanna bite?"
The Japanese man wasn't afraid to show that he didn't want that thing anywhere near his mouth. Tze long was laughing hysterically as he was shoving it up Masaru's face while the man evades it's pungent smell with his best effort. They were spinning round and around together, it almost looked like they were dancing.
After being exhausted to death (which didn't take long) and not wanting to make a scene any longer, only then did Echo finally agree to take a little bite. He held his breath, squinted his eyes and hesitantly bit off a piece.
The disgusted expression on his face slowly faded away as he chewed more and more. It tasted sweet, sour, salty and savoury at the same time. How did something as tasty as this hide underneath a smell like THAT?
"It's... alright." He said with a monotone voice, trying to hide that he liked it.
"See? I told you it tastes good!" Lesion replied as his face lit up with glee.
Masaru humphed. Well now that's over, he can finally dig into his egg puffs. He raised the paper bag up to his mouth and...
Out of nowhere, a hand suddenly popped out, held onto the egg puffs and took a chomp out of it!
"おい ! That's mine!" The Japanese man shouted.
The Hong Konger laughed with a mouthful of delicious egg puffs. "Pwell, you DID just twake a bwite out ofth mine. It's only phair!"
Masaru couldn't help but snicker at his goofy ass. He shrugged it off and took Tze Long's hand. Holding each other's hands as they headed to their next date location.
