Races: Online

It couldn't be helped that his cooking skills brought the people to his yard—well, diner. But regardless of that fact, he wished that Han Jing had arrived at a better time. He was doing something else… but if he couldn't help a friend in need, something, something deed. Mou Gu probably messed that quote up but he still watched his old classmate's expression with a hawk-eye look.

Han Jing didn't know it—but he was a bad liar.

Though maybe they weren't exactly lying but not telling the full story either. Mou Gu was a bit of a hypocrite as he flashed the other man a smile, he wanted to know of it despite harboring secrets of his own. He glanced a furtive glance towards the kitchen door for a split second and looked back at him.

"Come onnn, what are friends for? How much are they paying you?" He put on a winsome grin. Mou Gu had heard much more than snippets and it was something that made him curious—it was only possible through his ability to hear clearly. Then again, he could have possibly misinterpreted it but there was no harm in trying to see what exactly his old classmate was spending much of his time on.

"One thousand US dollars—I have um, my freelance job made it necessary to have a bank that was—"

Mou Gu let out whistle, "That's pretty dang high—are you pulling my leg? It feels that way to me." Maybe Han Jing wasn't actually bad at lying. He wished he could have a better sense for this kind of thing but he wasn't at that level yet. 

. 

Han Jing wished he didn't say too much but there was no going back on that—he nodded and mustered a serious look, "Yeah. I'm serious, but it's a long-term kind of testing. Checking out for bugs on a regular basis and trying to make sure that the simulation is seamless. But it's not like a thousand dollars is actually big and that's why I was looking for a part time job when I wasn't playing—er testing the game."

"I didn't know you grew so hard working now." Mou Gu rested a hand on his cheek and sighed aloud. "I still remember when you told me that you were… eh, I actually forgot what you said. Been too long."

Was this guy trying to mock him or something?

But it didn't matter right now. It was much better for them if he talked less of Races: Online. Shift the conversation. Han Jing reached for his plate of rice paired with stinky tofu? "Thanks for the meal." The man ate it without complaint and savored it. Before he looked up and grinned, "Well, you're the one taking side gigs, not me. How's that going for you?"

Mou Gu coughed loudly and thumped his chest. It was as if his chest was seized by some kind of deadly virus. It all ended with a minute as the man looked at him and managed a smile, "Ah, good good. Nothing special with it but I do get paid well. Probably not a thousand dollars but it's decent work."

"Are you really sure that I can't get into that?" Han Jing raised a brow and swallowed his food. He would be a fool if he didn't notice Mou Gu's weird spasm at this time—but this food combo was enough to make his mouth water and pass it off as the man overreacting. And yet the mere fact that this guy who was accomplished in culinary school could get a second job, well, it was a sour point. He tried to keep his tone light, "If it paid that well, aren't you holding me back from that?"

His friend laughed. "You don't fit the description, I'm afraid you wouldn't get hired."

"...I see. Geez, what exactly do you need to be? Some guy with pink hair and green eyes?" Han Jing didn't want to be affected but he always heard those words from employers—and that didn't stop it from making him feel a bit more down as usual. Or just a tad annoyed. 

"You need to be a Mou Gu." 

Han Jing rolled his eyes. "That arrogance is—"

"The girls dig it." Mou Gu shrugged and managed a smirk.

As if Han Jing was going to believe that.

"Sure they do." He felt his phone vibrate but he didn't make a move to reach it now. Not when his old classmate was snoopier than they ought to be, instead he began to eat at a moderately quick pace. He ended up disrupting whatever Mou Gu was working on, but he wouldn't pry into that when he wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Or something else.

He could check his actual Skills.

The thought of visiting Bo Lifen sounded good this time—although she probably was working to even have time for an old spar between them. Han Jing sighed and continued to eat. "Hey, Mou Gu do you know any kickboxing place or something like that?" He had to look for other options and the better person to ask besides the internet was a person who spent more time outside than him.

And they were just in front of him.

"My word! Are you going to start exercising?!" Mou Gu's tone was dripping with exaggeration and dramatics. "I suggest you do qigong now, old man."

Han Jing pushed his plate forward and scratched his head, "You don't understand, I was in the martial arts club when I was in our uni—I don't want to get stale so I was thinking of sparring with someone is all." That was a lie. Well, half a lie. If he wanted to keep the lessons he learned in university… then he would have actually gone out and exercised a year ago instead of being a NEET. 

But he wasn't going to think about that. He continued, "So I need a good place to hit someone without getting sued." That sounded weird now that he said it but he'd roll with that. 

"Kickboxing is a completely different thing to what you've learned for sure." Mou Gu pointed out. 

"...Er, just fighting in general. Besides, when did you even become an expert on this?" Han Jing raised a brow at the man in front of him. "As far as I can remember, you spent your time on—"

Mou Gu stuck his tongue out, "Being the cool guy?"

"No. Just being well-liked, that's different." Han Jing rubbed his face. It was like he was dealing with a Sir Leon de Harrington that had a bigger ego to go around. "Anyway, it's nothing for you to worry about, dude. Can I get the bill so I can leave you be?"

"You want to get out so soon?" Mou Gu raised a brow and swiped the tray off the table. "If you want to spar or something, why don't you do it with me?"

"...Are you serious?"

"Yeah. You're not the only one who's an active exerciser—lemme show you how I'll sweep the floor with qigong." The pink-haired guy raised his chin up and gave them a rambunctious grin. 

"I may have believed you more if you said it was taichi. Qigong is what the old ladies at the park do early in the mornings." Han Jing made a face, "I didn't know you were way into older women."

"You're disgusting, you know that?" Mou Gu laughed as he moved towards the kitchen, "Don't run off and push the tables back a bit, let's have a match here."

Han Jing watched his friend slip into the next room and frowned for a bit. It wasn't like he was wanting to punch the guy in the face—sometimes he did. Like right now maybe. But even without Races: Online and all of that Skills, his old classmate looked pretty weaker than him. The man got away with things by being the affable and even flirty guy that he was, but in an actual fight? Han Jing was sure he could knock the guy out.

His mother wasn't going to like it if she heard of this… but he wouldn't mention it. He stood up, stretched and bent his body to get his limbs more flexible before Han Jing pushed the tables and chairs to the walls. If they took out the spar in the open street or somewhere else—well, he didn't want to embarrass Mou Gu. 

.

Mou Gu stepped into the kitchen and placed the dirty dish in the sink. He slapped a hand over his face, "I probably shouldn't have offered it. I don't actually want the guy to get hurt—both the body and the ego. And he's got one of the easiest egos to bruise. Still, he did ask for it." Spinning towards all the items laid out on the floor made him sigh.

All of his necessary tools to make a half-step progress was spread out. He cleared all of them up and placed them in his storage for another time. Once he was done with the clean up, Mou Gu looked at his hands. "I'll try not to hit him too hard. Would be a shame to hit that face."