austenland | junhao

序幕

it is a truth universally acknowledged that a twenty-something year old man in process towards a satisfying career and a (already) fabulous hairdo must be in want of everything, and xu minghao, though handsome enough and clever enough, is thought to have little to please him. there are no boyfriends, but those aren't necessary anymore. not that there was any single man ever interested in him, anyways.

but minghao has a secret. by day, he literates and lectures and luncheons and e-mails and over-times and just-in-times, but sometimes, when he has the time to slip into his cartoon pajamas and lounge on his hand-me-down sofa with a bowl of butter cheese popcorn, he dims the lights, turns on his nine-inch television, and acknowledges what is missing.

sometimes, he watches Pride and Prejudice.

you know, the blu-ray version of the 2005 adaptation, starring matthew macfayden as the dreamy, delicious mr. darcy and keira knightley as the proud elizabeth bennet we all had imagined her to be. minghao watches and rewatches the scene where lizzie gently takes mr. darcy's hand into hers and kisses his knuckle as the morning sunlight plays between them, mr. darcy then cupping her face as their foreheads meet and there's that zing where the intimacy of their souls meet, and the previous pride and prejudice they once had for each other melts into nothingness.

each time, minghao's heart bangs, his skin chills, and he clamps down on the distracting ache in his gut with the said bowl of naughtiness. that night he would dream of gentlemen in stiff tailored jackets and white cravats, and in the morning laugh at himself and toy with the idea of hauling all his dvds, merchandises and all his austen books to the second-hand store.

of course, he never did.

sure, minghao had first read Pride and Prejudice when he was sixteen, read it a dozen times since, and read the other austen novels at least twice. but it was not until studiocanal put a face that those gentlemen had stepped out of austen's readers' imagination and into minghao's fictional hopes. Pride and Prejudice is the most stunning, bite-your-hand romance ever, the kind that stares into minghao's soul and makes him shudder.

it's embarrassing. he doesn't really want to talk about it. so let's move on.