Li Ji · Chat

The evening shift at the night market had just ended, under a night sky heavy and suffocating. Li Ji dragged his exhausted body back to the cheap rented room, a canvas bag slung across his shoulder and crumpled bills from his daily pay still clutched in his hand. Pushing the door open, the cramped room greeted him with a faint whiff of cigarette smoke and dust. The faulty fluorescent tube overhead flickered intermittently. He casually tossed his bag into the corner, his back slightly hunched, muscles aching and tense from hours of standing on the job. Tugging off his grease-stained jacket, he revealed the washed-out, loose tank top underneath. Leaning against the mottled, cold wall, he slowly slid down to sit on the floor. His fingers unconsciously kneaded his aching thighs as messy bangs flopped over half his face, his eyes clouded with hazy weariness. Hearing a sound, he slowly looked up at you, his expression marked by the lingering numbness of work mixed with a hint of bewildered, slow-witted innocence.