2024 Tropes & Fandoms - Square: Ladder - Positive Trope: Crush
Food For Thought
Months had passed since KO's eye opening revelation about his failed online video game marriage.
Nevertheless, at first, he still logged into Fantasy Planet regularly with the hope that his in-game spouse had come to terms with the issue...in one way or the other.
Who cares if you're a guy, too? he thought dispassionately. I just want you to return to the game...and to me. That's all that matters.
Unfortunately, his open-minded hope proved to be in vain since the Heavenly Physician never signed back on to the game. Even if he did, it was not on their usual server, so KO had no way to know about it.
Consequently, after too many disappointments, KO finally stopped checking their game account, as well, and reluctantly decided to move on himself. It was all he could do since Fantasy Planet no longer held any appeal for him. After all, the best part of that virtual world...the relationship he had shared with his Celestial Doctor...and the kind of person he could be when they were together...was obviously over.
There was simply no more hope left for him there.
...
At least that was what he thought until he began his new day job in one of the Qing University cafeterias. After all, he was almost as good of a cook as he was a computer hacker. At any rate, on one particularly lucky day, he happened to look up from his place behind the serving line during the lunch rush to see the guy who had goodnaturedly pushed past his fellow diners in order to claim the last portion of sweet and sour pork ribs.
At his first sight of the young man with the big friendly smile, however, KO found that he had to force his features to remain even and calm...even while his heart threatened to burst out of his chest in excitement. That was because he instantly recognized that the student in front of him was actually the Hao Mei.
More importantly than that, he also was his former gaming partner...his online spouse...and the person he had fallen in love with as the Heavenly Physician!
It was true that KO had never seen the man before in real life, but he still knew there was no way that he could ever be mistaken about his identity. After all, even though he would never admit it aloud, the stoic hacker had looked at his Celestial Doctor's hacked profile pic so many times that he had actually memorized every inch of that adorable face.
In the end, however, KO never said a word to him. After all, what could he say – especially around so many other people? He knew that if he tried, he would probably just end up scaring the other man away again. That was especially true since...unless he was being pulled out of his taciturn shell by one particular playful game partner...KO was a man of very few words himself.
At any rate, he knew that Hao Mei had no idea that he, the anonymous person behind the lunch counter, was actually Plucker of Stars ...or that he had figured out why the college student had left their online life together in Fantasy Planet in the first place. Nevertheless, KO found that...for the life of him...he could not stop the slight upturn of his lips as he dished up the most impressive portions of food that he could for the cheerful young man on the other side of the counter.
Maybe that will get his attention, KO thought hopefully, or at least make him happy.
The strategy seemed to work, too. After all, when the lunch crowd had dispersed, his eyes automatically searched for...and found...the other man at a table with his friends. KO then just happened to overhear Hao Mei praise the food and tell the others that he was going to eat there for the rest of the semester...even though it was located further from their dormitory than their regular cafeteria.
That announcement pleased KO immensely...both as a cook and a man. Frequent visits meant that the two of them were bound to see each other again...and, therefore, possibly even have the chance to get to know each other in real life, as well. Maybe then, he could eventually tell Hao Mei the truth. However, KO also knew that he had to proceed with caution. After all, the other man had been spooked before...and he still may not be willing to admit the truth about his relationship preferences – even to himself.
Plus, there was always the possibility that KO himself was mistaken...not about the identity of the man, of course...but about what Hao Mei might really want in a partner. If that was the case, KO hoped that they might at least become friends...and maybe even get to play some games together like old times. That was not what he truly desired, but he would take it - especially if it meant the difference between getting to know the other man in real life...or not.
...
After that first visit, Hao Mei was true to his word and returned daily to KO's assigned cafeteria. Even though the young man always seemed to end up in his line with a playful grin and a friendly word of thanks to him, as the server behind the counter, KO never had the opportunity to answer with more than a word or two of his own.
After several such missed opportunities, the disappointed cook by day/hacker by night had all but convinced himself of the impossibility of ever really meeting the man...much less furthering their relationship to something even remotely close to what they had experienced together in their Fantasy Planet marriage.
Consequently, he could not believe his luck when the man himself showed up with his friends to KO's official night job at the restaurant. Not only that, but Hao Mei recognized him right away, as well...at least as the cook from the university cafeteria.
Still, it was a start...and KO found that he would take whatever he could get when it came to that guy with the adorable face that he just could not get out of his mind.
When Hao Mei continued to seek him out during the group dinner, as well...and prove that he was just as laid back as his online persona had been...KO was thrilled. He did his best not to let his feelings show, though, of course. After all, it was quite easy for him to hide his emotions because he had a lifetime of practice in doing so.
In fact, it was only at the end...when the other man finally asked for his personal number...that KO felt his happiness and confidence falter. After all, he was suddenly very aware that the gorgeous man in front of him was a university student and was going places...whereas he... well...without a formal education, he was just stuck in a series of dead end jobs where his only escape was video games and hacking.
"I'm just a cook," he therefore told the man the unvarnished truth. "Kitchen staff."
He wanted to make certain that that Hao Mei knew that he, KO, was nothing special. After all, they had already had more than their fair share of misunderstandings. He did not want this situation to turn into one, as well.
He need not have worried, though.
"So? I'm just a programmer...a coder," Hao Mei replied with his usual easygoing nature as he definitively proved that he did not care about KO's lack of success or career prospects.
His obvious nonchalance gave KO renewed hope that even though the other man may have first noticed him through his food, now...at the very least...he wanted to get to know him better and become his friend, as well. That reassured KO, even though he realized that Hao Mei still had no idea who he really was...or what they had once been to each other in Fantasy Planet.
Nevertheless, KO also knew that he was becoming just as increasingly drawn to the man on the real life side of the computer screen as he once had been in their game world.
It's definitely food for thought, he mused as he wondered what his next step should be.