Boys of Ice and Fire

The Offer

Ethan plopped onto his bed, relishing the moment he talked with his beloved Shaun in the online interview. And he was not satisfied with those 15 short minutes, so he sat up and flipped open his Mac again.

"Shaun Chang".

He entered his interviewer's name into Google and bit his lower lip, with lustful sparks in his eyes, as if probing into the private life of his new-found eye candy.

As Ethan rolled on the mouse, the scanty information about Shaun's college life was revealed. The first picture that caught Ethan's eye was one where Shaun was standing in a large hall receiving an award for a college computer skills competition. Judging from the picture, he had exactly the kind of build that Ethan liked.

Shaun's clothes were also to Ethan's liking, with casual T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers. It was trendy in the year 2014, when Shaun was a junior. Ethan couldn’t help feeling turned on a little bit. He had always felt strongly about college guys wearing typical outfits and winning assorted awards.

From another school announcement, Ethan learned that Shaun got a college fund for poor students with high academic achievements. Ethan got a heartache. He felt it unfair that such a cute guy could come from such a poor family. But he also felt respectful that Ethan had the ambition and fortitude to train himself with all sorts of skills and excel in school, and later, in society. Moreover, Shaun was young! Probably six years younger than Ethan himself, judging from the year Shaun went to college.

Everything was what Ethan wanted, but this only aggravated Ethan’s fear that he could not get the post. Even so, while he waited for the result, Ethan was still seeing other interviewers around Beijing. But none of them could pique Ethan's interest. They offered jobs with even higher payment, but that small raise in pay could not make up for the loss of not being able to work around Shaun on a daily basis. Since his graduation from Peking University in 2018, he had worked on several posts in several companies. He just knew how important it was that he really liked his direct leader.

It was two days later that Ethan received his fateful phone call. He looked at the caller ID: HR, Monkey Education, and his heart made a somersault. He steadied himself, picked up the phone like it was just a normal call, and tried to talk like a professional with perfectly cool reason.

“Hi, Gigi.”

“Hi, Ethan,” said Gigi genially. “Did the other two companies call you yet?” Gigi knew that Ethan had been seeing other interviewers as well and feared that Ethan would be snatched away by companies with higher payment or better conditions. Gigi also knew that Monkey Education had another demerit. It was a long way from where Ethan lived and Ethan had to commute 90 minutes one-way every day to get to the company.

“No, not yet,” said Ethan, trying to be calm, but deep down he couldn't wait for Gigi to pass the sentence to him. He also prayed that Gigi wouldn’t cut his pay from what he desired too much. So much that he would have to give up the post due to financial concerns.

“That's cool Ethan,” said Gigi. “I'm happy to announce that you have passed our interview. The supervisor thinks you really fit for the post. And our colleagues like the animation scripts you submitted too.”

Ethan’s heart skipped a beat. He thinks me fit! Ethan’s heart fluttered like a butterfly as if Shaun had just said yes to his marriage proposal. But he had to focus on what Gigi had to say. After all, money was as important as working around a cute leader at that very moment.

“So we have applied for a premium pay package for you. That is...”

Ethan heard Gigi out explaining the benefits Monkey Education could provide and did not hesitate to take the offer. The payment was a bit lower than what he desired in the interview, but the difference was tolerable.

“It’s... fine with me. I’ll take it.” Ethan said calmly, but in his heart he felt his life had turned a new page, with both an agreeable paycheck and an admirable leader coming up. He hung up his phone and looked at his computer with misty eyes. He had been brushing up on Shaun’s information day and night for two days. He couldn’t wait a day to meet him.