History3: Make Our Days Count (Miracle)

Stay With Me

Zhi Gang's been looking for a part-time worker to help him around the shop during nights and the weekends for nearly a month with no luck. He'd gotten seven applications in total, three of which he considered for training and had given a week's worth of a test run for each individual only to be met with disappointment. 

They were late to work four times out of five, had their faces stuck to their phones ninety percent of the time and couldn't keep track of inventory despite the repeated instructions given. They lack the sense of responsibility and discipline he looked for as an employer. Every last one of them had been a teenager. Therefore, Zhi Gang decided not to hire one moving forward.

Or at least that was the plan until a couple of boys in highschool uniform walked into his shop. 

Zhi Gang was not one to eavesdrop but as he listened to them talk across his counter, he couldn't help but be intrigued. They looked no older than eighteen yet were already making plans to save money for college tuition. When Zhi Gang went to prepare their drinks, his interest grew upon hearing the bigger teen refer to himself as the other's boyfriend with not an ounce of shame. As if whatever anyone listening might say about them was of no significance to him.

Watching them at the corner of his eye, he concluded that they were a young gay couple who were probably driven away from their homes because of their unconventional relationship, like he did before when he'd been a teenager himself. They sound like they've been supporting each other but are still having financial problems, thus the talk about saving up early. Zhi Gang knew firsthand the struggles that involved being cut off from family for loving someone your parents and the majority of society think is wrong and still deciding to follow your heart. 

He already assumed by the conversation they had that the taller boy already has a job and is in charge of their expenses after the shorter one had complained about how he wanted to help and didn't want to be a burden. Worries that were put to rest by firm, sincere words.

The way the larger boy acted towards his lover and the general manner in which he looked at him as if he hung the stars, touched Zhi Gang in ways nothing else had done in a long while. It was such a heartwarming sight to witness. They so obviously love and care for each other a great deal and Zhi Gang found himself wanting to help ease their struggles any way he could.

And so he asked the boy, Xiang Hao Ting, as he found out, if his boyfriend, Yu Xi Gu, would be interested in working for him part-time. The mix of joy and relief that lit both pair of crescent-shaped and large doe-like eyes after hearing his offer would stay with him for a long time.

 
💓💓💓
 

This has never happened to him before. Not only did he get hired on the same night he quit his job, but the salary was higher in the new place of work with the manual labor reduced to almost half of what he usually did. He's been pinching his cheeks to make sure he's not dreaming while Hao Ting gave him pecks every few minutes after the short interview to help with his nerves.

Now that they're officially a couple, kissing Hao Ting has been constantly in his mind. Xi Gu has become highly receptive of every small, tender touch from the other boy. But he wanted to make a good impression on his boss. A lovestruck teenager was not how he wanted to present himself. Fortunately, Lu Zhi Gang didn't seem to mind and even called them brave for being so open about their relationship.

"He's so nice. You think so too right? That Lu Zhi Gang-Ge." Xi Gu knows he's gushing but he can't help it. He looks back inside the shop and waves, smiling at his new boss while carefully holding the job contract in his other hand, not wanting to wrinkle even a tiny portion of the paper.