What Happens In Rome.... [Lgbt] [✔]

Chapter 1

Shen Wei woke up panting, covered in sweat, his breathing erratic, his eyes wild; he felt something soft beneath him and reality hit him, it had been just a bad dream, he was on his bed, in his home away from home, alone. There was no one he could call but that was good, it meant that nobody could see him like this.

He didn't remember the dream, nor he tried to. In fact he was doing his best not to think about it.

He sat up straight and closed his eyes, trying to slow down his crazy heart. The call to his parents had shaken him more than he had realised.

He really wanted to help them, if they only let him, after all it was his fault if people didn't buy his father's products anymore, his fault for being so weak.

Sometimes he wished he was still a nine-year-old with his dreams, his idol, his easy life. He thought of his friend Chu, how close they were until he moved away.

Chu lived far away now, he had lost contact with everyone but Wei, so he was definitely the best chance he had for what he had in mind. Not to mwntion that he was basically Wei's only friend.

After much thought, Wei decided that if he was engaged people would stop blaming him and things would change for the better for his family, and Chu was the only one who could help him, so he wrote him an email.
>I need a wife, can you find me a girl willing to share a fake marriage with someone not interested in a romantic relationship?

Many emails followed. Chu thought it was a joke at first, and it took a lot to convince him that he was serious.

~~~Three weeks later

Shen Wei checked his phone and saw that his friend from China had replied.
>You really sure about this? You went all the way to Italy to be free and start a new life, you can do anything you want now, but this marriage idea sounds crazy.

Wei read it and sighed deeply, 'free' was a nice word but nothing more, Chu didn't know the whole story, so he wrote back:
>I'm sure, it's the easiest way, but I don't want my parents to be involved or know anything. Please, you're my best friend, I can count only on you.

He pressed send than looked at the hour, he had to go back to work.
The store had been opened eight years ago by a Chinese family, and he had started working here right after arriving in the Country ten months ago.

His short absence had not been noticed so he hurried to the clothes section and began putting things in order.

A blonde woman approached him and asked something he didn't understand.
"Che ce n'ha una con Stella? (Do you have one with Stella?)"

He looked at her in a way that clearly showed he had no idea what she wanted.

She repeated the question a little annoyed but Wei was at a loss, he had only learned a few words, the most likely to be useful in his job, but he didn't recognise any of them in all those she had said; he was already panicking when he got rescued by a coworker.

Yunlan had been working there for five years now and was much more comfortable around people than he was. Wei admired his easy bearing, everything seemed lighter when he was around.

Yunlan seemed to understand what the woman wanted, and with his help she quickly found what she was looking for.

Yunlan came back with a grin on his face and Wei thanked him.
"What was it that she wanted?"

"She was looking for t-shirts with Stella on them."

Wei still look puzzled. "What's a stella?"

Yunlan laughed. "A character liked by little girls. Did you see the child jumping up and down? She can't be more than six or seven."

Wei looked impressed. "How do you know about these characters?"