Boys of Ice and Fire

First Encounter

The guy receiving them introduced himself as the IT assistant and explained that he would help the new workers through the orientation process, by setting up their laptops and giving out a few brochures, where all the rules were laid out.

Normally, in previous schools or workplaces, Ethan just ignored such rules and went about his life as he desired. But Monkey Education obviously invested a lot of money in building a culture for itself. The brochure itself was printed in the fine orange color that could be seen everywhere in the tower as well as on its nationally renowned logo. During the Spring Festival, when everyone in China was watching the Spring Festival Gala on CCTV, they saw that logo pop out of the screen numerous times.

After setting up his laptop, Ethan took some time reading through the brochure. It was stated that, apart from the agreeable salary, they would have snacks all day long as well as a gym for workout at night after work. In previous companies, Ethan had known nothing of this sort. So he was itching to try out such enjoyments as soon as possible. As for rules concerning stuff like attendance, well, let’s say Ethan was not the kind of guy who cared about them.

When all had been done and the contract had been signed, Ethan was led out of the hall into the hallway near the HR office, which he had passed by on his way to the hall two hours earlier. Ethan texted Gigi and was told he would have to wait in the hallway for Shaun to pick him up. Ethan’s stomach lurched with fear at the mere mention of the name. He wondered what kind of changes had befallen Shaun since his college years. Had he stayed the same or had he developed all the traits of a middle-aged working-class man, with a sluggish attitude and greasy body? Ethan prayed for the former.

Shaun must have been really busy. It was fifteen minutes ago that Gigi said she had texted Shaun, asking him to pick up Ethan, but he was still nowhere to be seen. Ethan had been glancing up and down the hallway fidgetively for like a lifetime. To ease his anxiety, he would, from time to time, shuffle around the hallway, holding the bag containing his new Macbook, texting Chuck to talk about his upcoming first encounter with Shaun. Even though Chuck worked in the city of Ningbo almost 800 miles away from Beijing, he kept a close eye on Ethan’s development with Shaun.

Chuck had been ridiculing Ethan for days, citing the lyrics in the latest Tik Tok hit song, which said: “I throw myself at you, for you are just like stars and seas.”

“You are totally worshiping this Shaun guy, dude,” Chucked texted. “You were a student of the Top university in China while he graduated from this obscure institution in Anhui Province in central southern China. I’m wondering what you see in him at all.”

“I guess guys really don’t care about the things they already have,” replied Ethan.

Just as Ethan was burying himself on the phone texting with Chuck, a familiar voice caught Ethan’s attention.

“You had your hair cut”.

Though Ethan had never met Shaun in person, from the video interview he had half a month ago he knew this was the voice of Shaun himself. There could be no mistake.

Cracking down on all the butterflies rising up in his heart and putting up his age-old mask of casualness, Ethan raised his head to meet Shuan’s eyes, with a subtle and polite smile.

“Yeah... I... cut my hair” said Ethan, as goofy as he could be.

Ethan wanted to explain how Spring Festival was a good time for hairdressing. It kind of signaled the start of a new year. But he was too nervous to produce more words from his mouth, lest he would say something wrong and get fired by this young supervisor.

“Follow me then.” said Shaun, waving for Ethan to follow him out of the labyrinth, into the huge lobby where the counter was located, and then towards one of two lifts.

As Ethan followed Shaun, he checked him out from behind stealthily, almost with the goo goo eyes of a stalker. Shaun was walking in a casual yet assured way, perfectly consistent with his style of talking. He was wearing a black jumper, gray pants, and off-white sneakers. OK. Typical Internet company wear. When Shaun and Ethan entered the lift, Ethan had already made some rough mental notes as to what kind of person Shaun was. For now, it was basically in line with what he had expected.

In the lift, Ethan felt a bit uneasy, wondering if he was too quiet with his young supervisor. Just as he was about to say something to initiate a conversation, their bodies touched for a second but then split up in a manner of human reflex. Ethan’s heart skipped a bit. Did Shaun touch me on purpose? Is he trying to step up the level of intimacy between us? Ethan could feel petals flying around in his now numb skull. His leap of imagination grew wider and wider. Could he even be gay? Will this develop into the most epic bromance I’ve ever known in my search for love over the past 30 years and then suddenly crumble into a tragic story that I’m gonna lament for the rest of my life?

But before Ethan had answers to those wild-goose questions, the lift had opened. After another long walk through another maze-like area, Ethan found himself on the spacious 3rd floor, with its rows of desks for workers and scanty meeting rooms in several spots. It was in this place many stories would unfold. Ethan did not know then that they would last a lifetime in his mind.