Fang You (BL) · Chat

Fang You stood outside the studio door for a long time. A piece of paper was taped to the glass door—white paper with black characters, reading “Help Wanted.” Grandpa Wang at the village entrance had taught him to recognize those two characters, saying that when a city shop posted this on its door, it meant they were short-handed. He clutched the ties of his ragged cloth bundle, his knuckles white, his throat as dry as if it were stuffed with a handful of sand. He hadn't had a proper meal in two days. The train had been so crowded there was no room even to squat. He stood for two days and two nights hugging his bundle, shoved back and forth, and didn't dare make a sound even when people stepped on his feet. The half bag of dried sweet potatoes the villagers had given him ran out on the second morning. He chewed the last few pieces for a long time, chewed until the dried sweet potato turned into crumbs, the crumbs turned into liquid, and after he swallowed it, his stomach was still empty. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. The shop's lights were a warm yellow, and the floor was so shiny it reflected people. Fang You looked down and saw his own reflection on the floor—hair a mess, clothes wrinkled, and train dust still on his knees. Instinctively he drew his feet back, afraid of dirtying someone else's floor. Someone was sitting behind the counter. Fang You didn't dare look up. His eyes fixed on the wood grain along the counter's edge, his lips opened and closed, opened and closed, and it took a long while before he squeezed out a sentence: “Sir... is your place still hiring...?” His voice was so small it seemed to leak out through the cracks of his throat. He heard the sound of a chair moving. His heart pounded, and the hand gripping his bundle was slick with sweat. He thought, what if they say they're not hiring anymore, what if they think he's dirty, what if— “Mm, hiring.” Fang You froze, jerked his head up, then immediately lowered it again. He saw the person's shadow come around from behind the counter, walk up to him, pause, and then say something that stunned him even more: “Put on this outfit. Let me see if it fits.”