Li Ming rushed to finish and then followed Mo Fang over. They left the train station together and made their way over to Si Tao’s restaurant. Walking inside, Mo Fang immediately rushed up to the bar with a bright smile.
Li Ming wanted to speak up to tell him that it would be better to sit down somewhere else but finally didn’t dare to. Mo Fang would certainly ask why and … he wasn’t sure how to explain.
He didn’t want to have this talk in front of Yao Chen. It was bad enough that Bian Huan had been pulled into their relationship problems, to have Si Tao’s barkeeper get embroiled in it too … Also, who knew if things wouldn’t get back to Si Tao himself? This whole matter would get completely out of hand and he wasn’t ready for that in any way.
Thankfully, Mo Fang didn’t intend to talk at the bar either. He flashed Yao Chen a smile and just ordered some drinks and food before he pointed over to one of the tables. "We’ll be back there, Bro Yao. Also, when you see that we’re done with the first round, you can just send somebody over with the next one. Don’t bother waiting."
Yao Chen nodded and finished up their drinks, handing one to Mo Fang and one to Li Ming before he watched them go over to the table that Mo Fang had indicated. As soon as they turned their backs, he took out his phone, sending Si Tao a message. Anyway, even though his boss and Mo Fang weren’t together anymore, he knew that Si Tao liked to know what was going on. So even though he wasn’t in tonight, it would be better to let him know.
Meanwhile, Mo Fang and Li Ming reached the table and sat down. While Li Ming was still nervous and obviously tensed, Mo Fang gave him a splendid smile and leaned back. He kept the glass in his hands and slowly started to sip. Ah, he had a feeling that this would be a great evening.
Li Ming smiled back and tried to calm down a little. Anyway, they were already here. He just needed to voice his doubts and ask Mo Fang for an explanation. Maybe things weren’t as dire as he had imagined. Maybe there was an explanation and they could make it work. He’d see about that.
He glanced around, trying to see whether the waiter was already on their way. Even though he was hopeful that things would turn out well, he also didn’t want to talk about this directly in front of another person, and stopping right in the middle of their conversation also didn’t seem right.
Opposite him, Mo Fang just continued to smile. Looking at how his boyfriend was still nervous even after coming here and sitting down, he was even surer of the reason they had come here. If this wasn’t because there was a special occasion up ahead, he’d be really surprised.
Ah, he wondered how Li Ming would do it. His boyfriend was definitely the type to make a lot of talk even around something as simple as moving in together. He wasn’t sure but he figured that he would also like big gestures so maybe he would hand over the key to his apartment in a special manner. Anyway, whatever Li Ming had decided on, he would love it!
Thinking of that, he took another long sip and then put the glass down, reaching over the table to grasp Li Ming’s hand. Li Ming actually flinched a little but Mo Fang just chuckled. "I’m sorry. Are my fingers cold?"
Li Ming looked up at Mo Fang and then at the glass, where a couple of ice cubes lay gathered at the bottom. No wonder Mo Fang had thought so … It probably would have been easy to just say yes in this situation but with his stance on honesty, Li Ming naturally wouldn’t do so. He also didn’t feel right about just ignoring the question. Anyway, he had visibly flinched. If he didn’t give an answer, Mo Fang would feel odd about it.
He cleared his throat and then turned his hand, grasping Mo Fang’s hand in his. "I’m sorry, I was in thoughts just now. You surprised me."
Mo Fang didn’t seem bothered by that answer. "Well, as long as it was a nice surprise." He leaned over the table and kissed Li Ming on the lips when the steps of the waiter already approached from behind.
Mo Fang leaned back and the two of them also pulled back their hands while the man put the plates down. He also placed another glass in front of Mo Fang and took the empty one.
Mo Fang smiled at him and then sighed when he left. "You know, this is what I like about Si Tao’s place: They’re really observant. At any other place, even if I say I want a refill later on after I finish the first, they’re still going to take forever to actually bring it. I can understand if it’s at a busy time but it’s still annoying and sometimes I feel like they just forget about me." He pouted and picked up the glass.
Li Ming only gave a hum, not quite in the mood for small talk. He glanced at his own glass that was left untouched so far and couldn’t help but remember the day they had gone out with their coworkers. Back then, Mo Fang had also been drinking like this and he had gotten tipsy in no time. Maybe going to a restaurant hadn’t been such a good idea.
He hurriedly looked up and saw that Mo Fang had actually drunk half the glass by now. "Maybe you shouldn’t drink so much or at least slow down a bit."
Mo Fang just laughed though. "Why? Are you worried about me?"
Li Ming stared at him and finally nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am." And no matter what the truth was about the situation he wanted to confront him about, he knew that that wouldn’t change easily because … he just loved him so much. In fact, he was terribly afraid of having this talk and finding out that maybe the person he had fallen in love with wasn’t the one he actually had in front of him.
