Since their run had been cut short, the two of them were actually quite early and had more than enough time to get ready. Mo Fang was intent on taking extra long to change his clothes but halfway through, Li Ming had already finished and his mind wandered elsewhere.
"Actually, how about packing your things right now? Then you won’t have to do it after your shift is over. If there’s a lot to do today, you’ll probably feel beat by then."
Mo Fang smiled, happy that Li Ming was thinking so much on his behalf. "Well, I guess you’re right." He finally started hurrying up since Li Ming didn’t seem to notice and then looked from his locker to Li Ming’s as soon as he was finished as well. "I guess I should first free you from my clothes, right?"
Li Ming just smiled and opened his locker for him again. "Let me help you. We’ll be faster together." He took the clothes out of his locker, handing them over to Mo Fang who then put it in the bag.
Working hand-in-hand, the two of them were finished in just a few minutes. Mo Fang looked at the bag, not quite sure what to do with it now. "Well, now this is awkward. I can’t just leave it here for the rest of the shift, can I?"
Li Ming couldn’t help but smile at his expression. "I don’t think it would be much of a problem but if you don’t mind a few wrinkles, I could also put it in the locker for now. There isn’t much in mine and we’ll likely go back together anyway, right?"
"Well, I guess that’s also true." Mo Fang pretended to be shy and then handed the bag over. "Thank you, Bro Li."
"You’re welcome." Li Ming turned to the locker. "By the way, you can go to your shift already. It wouldn’t be good if you were late."
"Then what about you?" Mo Fang naturally didn’t want to leave him yet. If he could walk a few more steps with him, there might just be another opportunity to get close.
Li Ming gave him a smile though and just waved his concerns away. "I am at the security checkpoint at the gate today so I’ll be there much faster."
"Oh." Mo Fang couldn’t help but be disappointed. Well, there would be other chances in the future. "Then I guess I’ll go already. Until later then!" He waved and then went ahead, while Li Ming continued to make some room in the locker before putting the bag in there as carefully as possible.
When Mo Fang opened the door of the room, he stopped in his tracks though. Staring at the person on the other side of the corridor, his expression fell. "What are you doing here?"
Inside the room, Li Ming looked up with a bit of alarm. Mo Fang’s tone seemed to have changed at the drop of a hat. That definitely wasn’t normal.
At that moment, the man outside had already pushed off the wall and came over, stopping in front of Mo Fang and crossing his arms in front of his chest. "What? Are you really still angry? Xiao Fang, it’s already been a week. Isn’t it time to forgive me?"
Mo Fang raised his chin, staring at him. "Lan Heng, I wouldn’t forgive you even if you actually apologized to me. And you didn’t even have the decency to do that. What do you think would make me reconsider?"
Inside the locker room, Li Ming closed the door of the locker, barely holding back from smashing it shut. It was actually Mo Fang’s ex! He couldn’t believe that that guy would dare to turn up here!
Li Ming grabbed onto the top of the lockers, holding his head with the other hand. What should he do? Obviously, this was Mo Fang’s private matter. He normally didn’t like to get involved in this kind of thing but he also didn’t feel alright with letting that guy just confront Mo Fang alone.
Anyway, Mo Fang wasn’t completely over him. If he actually gave in now … He really didn’t want that for him. After all, that guy had cheated on him once and probably wasn’t treating him well even before that. Would anything change after this? It was unlikely. Especially with how unapologetic he sounded right now.
No, Mo Fang deserved somebody better than that. He definitely did. But was it really his place to step up and tell that guy to leave?
Outside, Lan Heng gave a deep sigh as if this really was asking too much of him. "I’m sorry, okay? Anyway, it was just once. It’s not like that’s the end of the world. You should really calm down now."
Mo Fang furrowed his brows. He really wanted to slap this guy but Li Ming was still there so he couldn’t do that. He deserved it though. "Well, then go and cheat 'just once' on somebody else. Anyway, I’m not interested."
Mo Fang wanted to move past him but Lan Heng refused to step aside and even held out an arm to stop him.
"I don’t believe that. Sis Zhi told me that you’re still not over me. Since that’s the case, let’s just forget about what happened and start over. Anyway, since you have another job now it’s not a problem anymore, is it?"
Back in the room, Li Ming lowered his hand and finally went over. Screw this! He wouldn’t let that guy walk all over Mo Fang’s feelings just because it was their private matter. Mo Fang deserved better. And anyway, others had already meddled. Why shouldn’t he do so as well?
He really couldn’t believe that Zhi Bao Yu had done this. Why was she talking to this guy? Hadn’t she realized that she was doing Mo Fang a disservice with this? Hadn’t she learned anything from the last time? But he also couldn’t say that he was surprised. Anyway, he’d have a word with her about that later. For now, it was more important to get Mo Fang out of this situation. He definitely wouldn’t let him get into an even worse situation if he could prevent it.
