Three Good Lucks - A Short Story (JUNZHE AU FF)

Two, is to make you fall in love with me (1/2)

Is he a ghost or what?! Zhe Han squeezed his eyes shut out of exasperation. It was the fourth day he had purposely got off his work late to take the night train home but the man was nowhere in sight.

He opened up the zip on the inside of his backpack and took out the earbud he had forgotten to return. Afraid he might damage the expensive earbud, he forced himself to buy a pair of new one so that the one he borrowed could be safely kept in the casing.

Borrow? He did not actually borrow the earbud per se. Wasn't it given to him? Nevertheless, it still needed to be returned. He opened his eyes, sitting near the seat he sat a few nights ago, watching around him as the door of the train opened and closed, again and again. In the end, he reached his station, feeling disappointed and most importantly, sleepy. He could have used his time in the train to catch on some of his sleep but because of this mystery man, he couldn't.

What a nuisance!

A week had passed and Zhe Han no longer bothered to look for the man again, much else even think about him. It was six p.m., a horrible time to board any kind of public transport in the city of Beijing but what choice did he have? Even if he wanted to pay for a cab, the road would be too congested.

When the loud engine sound approached the station, he watched as the other passengers swarmed towards the entrance and he reluctantly followed along, or else, he would have to wait another 15 minutes for a train that would still probably be packed to the brim.

During that time, it was as if the pandemic was not a real thing and social distancing was just a joke of the past.

Damn it! He cursed inwardly, failing to board the train, despite his willingness to sacrifice his health just now.

Taking out his phone, he took a seat in the now almost deserted station and played a game on his phone; the fastest way he knew to get the time moving.

He glanced for the tenth time at the large digital screen hanging on the ceiling of the subway station and turned his phone's screen off as he realized the train was only five minutes away. There were less people around but Zhe Han wanted to be prepared, so he stood up and lined at the marked tiles so he could be the first person in when the train arrives.

Easily bored, he took out his earbuds from the casing and placed it into his ears. Since he had bought it, he might as well use it. He fiddled with his phone for a couple of minutes to get the earbuds connected to his phone for the first time and played a Jay Chou's playlist from an app.

When the song finished its first paragraph, Zhe Han noticed that his earbuds were not working well; only the left side worked.

What the hell? Like a rookie at wireless earphones he was, he tapped on the right earbud, taking it out, shaking it roughly, and putting it back in again while changing the songs to make it work somehow. And he was doing so even when he entered the train. Zhe Han stood by the window seats and grabbed the grab-handle to steady himself as the train moved, his backpack was already on his chest.

He gave up working on the earbud now that he needed to focus on not accidentally humiliating himself by tumbling down the shaking coach.

~Wo hao xihuan ni wu~

~Ai ni wu~

~Ni shi shang di song gei wo de li wu~

His face screwed up. This song again? A certain voice came playing in his mind.

Shaking his head, he looked up, trying to hear if the song was from the train's speaker but since when did the train play songs? That's not it, he thought. Maybe it was from other passenger's phone? Rude if it was so.

But he noticed that the other passengers were not as bothered as he was. In fact, they were not bothered at all. When the train stopped again, ceased momentarily from the screeching of the engine, the song was louder and it was clearer in his right ear. Instantly placing his hand over his ear, he realized, it was the earbud. Playing over his Jay Chou's song was another one. That overly sickening sweet song. Zhe Han turned his playlist off to listen more carefully.

Swiftly, he looked around to see if the man was nearby, he must be nearby, but he had no idea what the man looked like. Afterall, everyone looked basically the same with their masks on.

With the song playing on a loop in his ear and the man nowhere in sight, he thought that he was doomed. His hairs stood on ends. It must be a ghost.

More and more people got off at every station as the train moved further from the city centre and when there were finally empty seats around, Zhe Han caught notice of a man, standing near the door on the other side; he was lean and tall, his black hair in Korean cut heavily contrasted his fair skin.

And the man was looking at him, he believed, with a twinkle in his eyes. It was that familiar eyes.

Zhe Han did not know what had gotten into him, but he stayed that way for far too long and the man did not bother to break their stare for that matter. He only blinked when the man advanced towards him, dragging a small suitcase along.

"Da ge."

Da ge? Me? Zhe Han's pupils moved in its sockets, turning his head back to see if the man was talking to someone else.

"Do you remember me?"

It's me. "Uhh, yeah." Now that they were standing side by side, Zhe Han noticed that the man was very tall, taller than him.

"Wait," the man said as he took out his phone from his pocket and clicked on it. Then the song in Zhe Han's ear stopped. That reminded him to take out the earbud in his ear and give it back to the other man.

"Ouh, there it is. I've been looking for it everywhere."

Aren't you the one who put it in my ear? Zhe Han wondered if the man has bad memory. Even so, he said sorry.

The man nodded and leaned forwards towards Zhe Han's ear, "You're not wearing your cap today."

Is this man seriously making small talks here? Zhe Han looked at the people sitting in the seats in front of his standing position, afraid that talking may disturb them.

He lifted his hand towards his hair, tucking an unruly strand behind his ear and simply nodded at the observation. He in fact would always wear a cap of some sort since his jaw-length hair would surely go all frizzy from the wind that gusted through the subway tunnel. But that day, he plainly did not feel like wearing one, letting them hung freely like dark river.

"You should wear it." The man added, "Next time."

Is that an opinion or an order? If it was just the two of them, Zhe Han would have responded with 'I'll wear whatever I want,' but he could not possibly make a scene there and the innocent eyes looking at him was telling him that the man did not mean anything bad by saying so. So, he just ignored the remark.

The train stopped again when Zhe Han's arm was pulled by the elbow and his legs yielded to the man leading the way out of the train. Puzzled, he read the big rectangular sign on one of the thick pillars at the station, Guamao. He was supposed to debark at Sihuidong, another three stations away.

"What the hell?" He regarded the man who was still holding his arm.

"Buy me dinner, da ge."