Assistant Architect

Assistant Architect by Xi He Qing Ling

Chapter 157: Osaka Part III

___________________

Almosteveryone that walked by the men's table, showed a surprised expression. Theinteraction between Gu Yu and Zhang Siyi was engraved in their memories asthere wasn't any sense of being a fake couple.

Like theother male and female couples playing the game, Gu Yu held the box in one handand used a fork with the other to spear an octopus ball and held it out forZhang Siyi. Zhang Siyi was looking down at his phone. He leaned over, stretchedhis neck and opened his mouth, ready to receive the food. When Gu Yu placed itin his mouth, he cried out: "Mmm, hot, hot!"

Looking at him in concern, Gu Yuhanded the fork to him and said: "Take your time."

This little interaction between them wasintimate and exuded love more than any of the interplay of the "normal" heterosexualcouples in the group!

Their surprising behavior wasn't onlylimited to Gu Yu feeding Zhang Siyi. There were other moments of strongintimacy. For example, when Gu Yu wiped the sauce from the corner of Zhang Siyimouth and then handed him the napkin. In addition, when Zhang Siyi was usinghis phone to load the road map, the two of them would consult the screentogether. The ease with which they communicated with one another screamed love.It was sweet and more loving then a real couple!

Xu Jia and Bi Lele could not resistgossiping about what they were witnessing on the side…….

Xu Jia: "Oh my God, Auntie Fourand Gu Yu are so good together!"

Bi Lele: "I didn't think the Bosswould play the game."

Xu Jia: "Me neither. At first, Ithought the boss passed us for Four so he wouldn't need to play."

Bi Lele: "I thought so too, butnow, I think Gu Yu is really playing."

Xu Jia: "It's a scene right outof a book. There is so much "Moe"!"

With thoughts of their favorite books,the two women smiled excitedly.

In contrast, the aura between theother couple at the table wasn't good. Tao Fei was having a heated argumentwith Lu Qiao.

Lu Qiao: "Hey! I only ate one,but you ate three!"

Tao Fei: "One is plenty. Sinceyou ate two meals on the plane, the box should have been mine alone."

Lu Qiao: "That's your own fault!

"That's enough to eat!" TaoFei was annoyed by Lu Qiao. He grabbed the box and ran off with it.

Angry, Lu Qiao waved a fork at him andquickly jumped up to run after him: "Hey! You stop right there!"

Tao Fei wolfed down five balls in onebreath before Lu Qiao caught up to him. He left the last two remaining in thebox and handed it to Lu Qiao: "I'll give you the rest."

Lu Qiao: "…"

From the onset, one of the pairs exudednothing but love while the other pair seemed to be bickering like a marriedcouple. As a whole they acted like one happy family and as a result, theybecame the focus of everyone's attention.

After eating for a little while, ZhangSiyi discovered his colleagues were staring at him and Gu Yu with a questioninglook.

…… Uh, werethey being too explicit? Were they seen?

Feeling anxious, Zhang Siyi started tosweat and his heart began to race. He glanced at Gu Yu to see any reaction fromhim and without showing any hints of wrongdoing, Gu Yu remained calm and stoicas ever.

He took a deep breath to calm himselfand stopped himself from feeling like he did something wrong. Just as Tao Feisaid, the more he obsessed over his actions, the easier it was for onlookers tothink there was something strange going on. Since they were playing a couplesgame, it wasn't unusual to show a little intimacy and in fact, it was expected.This was a rare one-time opportunity to show their love in front of so manycolleagues.

After disposing the empty food boxesin the trash, the group continued on their way to their original destination.

On the ground floor of the Umeda SkyBuilding, there was a sunken open-air natural courtyard. Planted with common mapletrees and decorated with hills and pools, the courtyard was quite ordinary. However,because it was located between the modern skyscrapers, like an oasis in a desert,it was a stark contrast to the extremely rigid man-made steel structures of thebuilding.

Arriving at the building at nearly sixin the evening, the sky was starting to darken. When they finished takingpictures, the group queued in line to buy tickets for the observation deck. Partof the reason why the observation desk was so special was because of the escalatorride to the platform. It was located of the on the fifth floor of the buildingand it brought tourists up to the sightseeing area through the air byconnecting the two buildings.

Surrounded by cool blue light, theinterior lighting in the escalator shaft made it feel like a person wastraveling on a space-ship. An hour later, the wait ended and they finallyarrived at the top of the building in the open air.

As the sun was setting, Osaka was enshroudedin a satin-like rouge color in the summer evening. The view was breath takingand as a result, everyone flocked to the guardrails to take pictures silently.

From the vantage point on the desk,the entire Osaka plain and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Osaka Bay could be seen.As the setting sun dipped below the horizon, the neon lights of the citygradually shined brighter and brighter.

Neon lights were embedded in the guardrailseffectively making it blend seamlessly with the neon lights of the night time cityscape. As a result, it made one feel like they were floating in the sky as partof the milky-way galaxy. The fairy-tale like surroundings and romantic atmospheremade it easy to shed tears.

No wonder it was a sanctuary for lovers.Whether it was holding hands, or arms wrapped around each other's shoulders andwaist, all of the couples walking on the platform were displaying their love.

Fortunately, being paired, the group didn'tappear so different, however because the participants knew their display wasonly a game, they couldn't help but feel a bit depressed and disappointed.

Paired with Bi Lele, Yuan Zhicheng lookedat the picturesque scenery in front of him and sighed: "Hey, when I really havea girlfriend in the future, I must come here again."

She replied: "I agree. It really isbeautiful. After all these years of being dedicated to work and not having achance to date, I'm starting to feel like life is incomplete."

……

Of course, in addition to this kind ofclear sentiment, there are others with ulterior motives, like Ji Feiyu and DuRui….

Du Rui held her face: "Ahhh, It'sso beautiful. If I really had a boyfriend, this is the place I would like to go."

Ji Feiyu: "Hey, you cantemporarily treat me like your real boyfriend."

Du Rui: "……"

……

And then, there is this……

Tao Fei: "Why are there so manycouples here? I feel like I'm the only single dog in the world!"

Lu Qiao: "You aren't alone."

In order to make amends, Tao Fei hadgiven Lu Qiao a bag of chocolate covered nuts and now that their relationshipwas reconciled, Lu Qiao asked: "Have you ever been in love?"

Tao Fei: "I have been with severalgirls in the past but deep feelings never developed while dating them. It's notdifficult to find a girl to be with. I simply can't be bothered to look for agirlfriend.

Lu Qiao: "…." The boat of friendship has capsized……

In an effort to avoid members of theirgroup, Gu Yu and Zhang Siyi moved in the opposite direction. Once they were onthe other side, they pressed the sides of their bodies close together.

Eager to see the scenery, Zhang Siyiforgot about his troubles. As the cool wind blew, Zhang Siyi shrunk his neckdown and untied his jacket from his waist to put it on.

Gu Yu looked at him with concern andwhispered: "Are you cold? Do you want me to hold you?"

Flushred, Zhang Siyi felt hot in an instant: "Here? How can we with so manypeople!"

Gu Yu: "Hmm……"

Zhang Siyi: "What are you smilingabout?"

Gu Yu: "I feel very happy with youbeing by my side."

Zhang Siyi: "……"

Zhang Siyi whispered to Gu Yu: "Ifeel the same way."

Gu Yu couldn't help it. He reached outand gently grabbed Zhang Siyi's waist, holding him close: "We will go tomore places together later."

Zhang Siyi was a little scared by hisbold move: "You, you… What if someone sees……?"

Gu Yu smiled: "Give me five more secondsat least."

Before releasing each other, silently in their hearts, they counted to five.

__________________