A Royal Engagement

The Screw Up

(DAYU)

"Guys, can we talk about this one more time? Please? PLEASE!"

It's hard to beg when you are hanging upside down, strung to a crane neck that is being lowered to a hole that will be filled with cement.

I am only twenty four! I don't want to die yet!

"Then give me my money Dayu," Chong, the mafia's second in command said as he stood in front of my upside down self.

"I will give it to you! Just give me some time to get the money!" I shouted as the crane neck lowered again. "Stop! Stop! Goodness man! If you kill me, how will you get your money?!"

"If I kill you I will feel happy that you won't try to run anymore," Chong said boredly.

"That was one time man! One time! I swore it won't happen again, why won't you believe me? You have serious trust issues man,"

He signaled to the driver to lower me again.

"I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. The crane stopped, I breath a sigh of relief. I plead to Chong, "I will get that money for you. I will pay it back. I just need to find my friend who..."

"You know what is your problem Dayu? You are pretty but stupid. A total moron," Chong said.

Ouch! That hurts...

"You let your superiors on that dismal company where you work to earn that beggar's wage to run you ragged. You let your friends swindled you and you do nothing when your father kick you out of the house..."

"My parents love me, it's just..."

"It's just they are tired of cleaning all your mess. Admit it Dayu, you are a screw up. A good for nothing clown. A big disappointment..."

I felt my chest constrict in every words he is saying. It won't hurt much if those words are not true. But the thing is Chong was right.

I am a screw up. A disappointment.

But I still don't deserve to die this young! And this way!

"Okay! You are right Chong, man. But still, if you spare me and give me more time, I will pay you back." I wince, "All one million yuan in cash..."

Chong and his crew laugh at me. I would laugh too cause it was just too crazy, how can I pay him one million yuan when I don't even have one hundred yuan on my name?

I am totally bankrupt. All thanks to a friend of mine who I agreed to cosign on his debt to Chong's mafia boss and run away with the money.

That was three months ago. I have been living miserably while being harrassed by Chong and his crew for two months now.

When my parents learned of my latest screw up, they kick me out of our home. I felt guilty hearing my mother crying.

"Of all people, you decided to take a loan from a mafia group?! You imbecile!" She shouted while crying and clutching me to her chest. My father looking worried sick and resigned at the same time.

They let me go in the end.

And to put more icing on the cake. My company just laid me off today. So yeah...that completes the trifecta of tragedy called my life.

No parents. No job. Owe a million yuan debt from a mafia who will kill me once I failed to pay them back.

Maybe I should just let Chong put cement on me.

But I am a survivor. My survival instinct always strongly kicked in when I put myself in fucked up situations like this.

I once drove a motorcycle while drunk and crashed it on a wall. I survived that but my parents had to pay for the wall and the motorcycle.

Another time, I tried to fly by jumping from a high branch of a tree, my left hip got broken. Doctors told my parents it will be hard for me to walk again. But my survival instinct kicked in and I proved them all wrong. I was thirteen at that time.

See, I am a survivor and I will survive this too. As long as Chong let me pass this time.

I stared at the mafia's second in command's eyes. "I will pay that money, I swear..."

Chong slide near to me and caressed my face. He whispered, "You don't have to go through this kind of hardship Dayu. If you would just agree to my terms..."

Be his lover.

Fuck no! N. O. !!!!

I mean, I am gay and Chong is not bad looking but he is not my type. I like my lovers cuter than me. Not hulking men who can pick me up and throw me on any flat surfaces to fuck me up.

Nope! I am a top. T-O-P. Top.

But Chong wants me to be his bitch and that won't do at all.

I smiled at him though, "I will think about it but for now let me exhaust all my options first. But your offer will be on the top of my list if I become that desperate."

Chong frown, "You are hanging upside down from a crane, about to be buried in cement and you don't think you are desperate,"

I shook my head, "There are unfortunate, and there are desperate situations. This is just unfortunate."

Chong shook his head and look at me like I am a person with loose head screw. Getting those looks are totally normal for me.

We stared at each other. I tried smiling again. He sighed and nodded his head and signaled the crane driver to swung the crane neck and lower to the ground and not the hole in it.

Chong's crew member loosen me from being tied and even help me to get up.

"One week," Cho said

"One month," I negotiate. "C'mon Chong, one week is a bit too much. Give me another month and I will try to deliver."

"Two weeks," Cho said, "Last offer,"

"Man!" I protested. He glared at me. I raised my arms in surrender. "Two weeks it is," I said.

After giving me more death promising stares, Chong and his crew left me alone on that dark lonely construction site.

I count to three and then I shouted.

"FUCK MY LIFE!!!"