A Good Addiction - Volume 1

Chapter 5 - Planning the Future

Jingyu leaned over to grab his phone, and sat up quickly. It was already past 11am. "Hey, it's past 11 and we haven't heard from Li Hao or Zheng. We should get up, get some food, and find out what's going on."

Weizhou and Jingyu climbed out of bed and hopped in the shower. Their bathroom had what could be called a shower room, as opposed to a stall. With three shower heads dumping hot water out, the room could turn into a steam room pretty quickly. They showered quickly and got ready. In the kitchenette, breakfast goods had been laid out, awaiting them.

"Hey Li Hao, our two lovebirds have emerged!" Zheng Ge yelled out. From the living area around the corner, Li Hao yelled back, "It's about time!"

Jingyu playfully sneered at Zheng as he grabbed a steamed pork bun and a cup of tea. Zhou decided to tackle the intricately designed automatic coffee machine.

"Why didn't you call or message me?" Jingyu asked Zheng.

"We're just giving you a hard time. We felt it was better to let you two have as much downtime as possible, given the coming days.", he replied.

"Well even though Zhou's feeling better, I don't want to push it too much."

"Don't I have a say in what I can or cannot do, you big oaf?" Weizhou joined in.

Jingyu's glance told him enough, while Li Hao walked in.

Weizhou demurred, "But let's keep things on the lighter side, if possible, while I'm recuperating." he instructed the two managers.

Li Hao smiled, "It'll be fine. I've already put out the word that you are sick, and that's the reason for the sudden cancellations in your schedule, Weizhou. It buys us time, and frankly, it's not spinning anything."

Jingyu went straight to the point, "Zheng Ge, I know when we renegotiated my contract with you, I had a clause put in that allowed you to break the contract risk-free, should you feel your reputation and or business suffer from dealing with me. I don't know if you remember, so I wanted to remind you that is still an option."

"Of course I remember, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that the path I want to take with this, is to be open about it. And I'm fully aware what that may mean for my future career. And Weizhou's, for that matter." Jingyu worriedly glanced at Zhou.

"And I'm with him." Weizhou added.

The two managers exchanged glances, and Zheng Ge replied, "After your phone call to each other the other morning, Li Hao and I both understood where you two stand." Zheng then looks at Jingyu, "And I understand what you are saying. But I'm not leaving."

Jingyu smiled. He thought Zheng Ge would say as much, he felt like he needed to press the issue anyway.

Li Hao continued, "That's why we decided to circle the wagons here, together. Zheng and I are not new to this world, and understand what the path ahead may bring. We're here for you two."

"Thank you." Weizhou replied solemnly. Jingyu nodded in agreement. "So, what's next?"

Li Hao answered, "It all depends on how you want to take this. The way I, well, we see it, is you can address the issue publicly and fade to a private life together.... Or address the issue publicly and become a lightning rod on the issue, working publicly to change the system."

"And whichever path you choose, we'll support you 100%." added Zheng Ge.

"While it may seem like a short period of time, we think you should at least begin to publicly address the issue tomorrow. You don't have to decide on the final path forward, but you have some hard thinking to do. So while Zheng and I take today to make some visits around the city, you two will have a meeting with the Digital Crimes Unit Chief here at 3pm, and then the rest of the day......and night, to talk." Li Hao gave a grave smile to them.