Paradise Street

18

There are two things Yang Yu Teng does every month, taking an STD test and taking a bag full of cash to a drug dealer across town. But today is the last time he does that, just one more payment and Yu Teng is a free man. He won't have to sell his body anymore, he'll be able to be with Zi Hong simply because he wants to.

Lin Zi Hong;

Yu Teng still doesn't believe that Zi Hong came after him, that he loves him and that he actually asked for a divorce. He had already forgiven him the moment he saw Zi Hong leaning against the door.

Maybe he's a fool for that, but he's a lovesick fool.

After a week of feeling like shit, seeing Zi Hong made him feel better because he came back for him. There are no drugs or alcohol that can make Yu Teng feel what Zi Hong makes him feel.

---

Yu Teng's taxi stops some streets away from the address, which is normal, is a dangerous place, and usually, Yu Teng comes by bus, but when he said that to Zi Hong, he was completely opposed.

"You must be crazy to think I'm going to let you walk around Taipei with a bag full of money," Zi Hong said when they were having breakfast, "if you don't want me to take you, at least take a taxi."

Yu Teng accepts the second option because he likes Zi Hong's concern and also has no chance of him letting Zi Hong come with him. Also, because Zi Hong was right, at other times, he would carry a backpack, which could be disguised, but now what he's going to take is a giant Louis Vuitton bag, and that screams 'hey! I have a bag full of money.' The last streets he has to walk to get to the place never seem to end, he's walking as fast as he can. When Yu Teng finally arrives, he's panting and sweating, but that's okay, it is for a good cause.

"Look if it ain't my favorite bitch," Ray Jiang says when Yu Teng arrives.nRay Jiang is an old drug dealer with a lot of patient, part of that patience comes from the interest that late payment of the debt causes? Probably, but 20 years is still a long time. "Did you rob a bank?" he asks when Yu Teng hands him the handbag. Yu Teng just rolls his eyes, and Ray Jiang gives the handbag to another guy, telling him to count the money. "With this face you wouldn't last a day in prison."

Ray Jiang knows what Yu Teng does to pay off the debt and he also knows how much he normally earns, so it's normal to be surprised when Yu Teng arrives with a bag with a lot more money than he normally brings.

"I didn't rob a bank, why are you so interested in know that?" Yu Teng says.

"Curiosity," Ray Jiang says.

Ray Jiang is not a bad guy, he is a drug dealer, taking care of his business. He gave Yu Teng time to figure out what he was going to do when his mother died and accepted the debt to be paid in small installments, as long as they were paid every month, which Yu Teng always did.

The man who had gone to count the money comes back, "all right, two million US dollars."

"You got a rich guy, didn't you?" Ray Jiang asks.

"I'm going," Yu Teng says.

Yu Teng practically runs out of there, not because he's feeling bad or something like that, but because he's happy. Everything inside him is bubbling, he wants to run, scream, sing, anything, everything, he has a future now, he can do anything he wants. And what Yu Teng wants now is to return to Zi Hong's arms, because that's the only future he wants.

---

The way to the hotel is long and it gets even longer with the agitation and anxiety that Yu Teng is feeling and when he finally arrives at the hotel, the first thing Yu Teng does is throw himself on Zi Hong.