Paradise Street

1

Has at least one hour that Zi Hong is inside his car, parked on the curb at the entrance of that famous street, known for all the types of pleasure you can have along the road. He has already come here many times but never really done anything. No, he is too coward for that, the far he can get is the beginning of the street.

The 'a lot', is two months.

Two months since his life become a hell that he can't handle anymore, he can't pretend to be the perfect husband and children anymore. Every time that he listens to his mom asks, 'when am I gonna win my grandchildren?', he just wanna die. And this makes him feel bad because he knows that Joyce knows he doesn't love her anymore, that actually he never loved her.

But, he is too cowardly to do a drastic change in his life, the same way he is for getting out of the car and getting in that fuckin street. He even doesn't know why he is so scared, it is an innate thing inside him, something that some people would call auto preservation, and others, cowardice.

Stay inside the car isn't bad, he is safe here. He keeps sitting and still, looking at the people get in and out of the clubs, sex clubs and love houses. Young men are looking for fun without commitment, old men are trying to get their youth back, and men of all ages enjoying the only time of the day that they can be themselves without shame.

A knock on the closed glass beside him makes his attention get out of the drunken people on the street and go to the men standing on the sidewalk beside the car.

"Are you planning to stay inside the car all night?" The man asks when Zi Hong finishes lowering the window.

The only light they have is a dim light that comes from a single-pole a few meters ahead but is enough for him to see how beautiful he is. The fringe of his black hair makes a shadow on his face that doesn't let him see his eyes clearly, but these beautifully drawn lips make Zi Hong think this is the most handsome man he has seen. Zi Hong saw that the men are waiting for an answer, he came closer and leans in the open window, leaving his face very close to his. Now Zi Hong can see his eyes more clearly, and they are as beautifully drawn as his mouth, has a mole on the inferior side of his right eye that looks like the full stop of beautiful poetry.

He tries to speak, but nothing gets out, his mind is blank, and he can't form any logical thought, he only can face those lips as if he was hypnotised.

"Do you want company?" The beautiful men try again.

The way his tongue moves when he speaks is the most obscene thing Zi Hong's ever seen. The blank on Zi Hong's mind turns a bit of panic, he doesn't know what to do or what to say, his breathing becomes uneven, and he tries to turn the head away, but the man holds his chin gently and firmly.

He just gives up thinking when the man asks, "yes or no?"

"Yes," is the only thing that Zi Hong is capable of saying.

The other takes a few steps away from the car and says, "follow me."

In an almost involuntary movement, Zi Hong quickly gets out of the car and approaches that handsome man, now standing in the middle of the sidewalk.