Near a tranquil city overpass, by a public basketball stadium, the golden lights illuminated the seating area where two figures sat together.
Bam! The sound of plastic and glass lightly colliding.
Alister held a tangerine while Fujitani Nisuke held a Red Island beer, both draped in the cloak of the starry night. They resembled fishermen by a lake or river, observing the fish freely swimming in the sports stadium.
"Alister, if I remember correctly, you don't actually live around here, do you?" Fujitani Nisuke looked at the athletes, gulping down his beer.
Alister propped up his chin, casting a sidelong glance, then sighed helplessly.
"I was invited to work here, so I came to the city center. I've been strolling around until I ran into you."
"You were invited to work?" Fujitani Nisuke suspected he had misunderstood the Chinese grammar. "Can companies actively invite people to work for them? Am I hearing correctly?"
As a salaryman from the Land of the Rising Sun, being sought after by a company to join them was something he wouldn't even dare to dream of, at least not in his middle-aged, seemingly ordinary guise.
"Yeah," Alister waved the tangerine in his hand, a smile forming on his lips. "The Himeji Group took the initiative to invite me to work for them."
"Wha--?!" Fujitani Nisuke nearly lost his grip on the beer bottle. "What? The top-notch Himeji Group from Country Z?"
"Yes, that's right, exactly." Alister squeezed the drink bottle, making a rattling sound. "The head of the HR department personally called me to extend the invitation."
"Boasting isn't a good habit, Alister." Fujitani Nisuke crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Believe it or not." Alister took a sip of his fruit juice.
"I really don't believe it," Fujitani Nisuke made a mischievous face from his childhood, "Are you some kind of super dragon soaring in the sky? Did you reincarnate as Doraemon? The head of the HR department specifically sought you out?"
Back in the day, even as an outstanding graduate, he still had to gauge the interviewer's mood during job interviews.
"I couldn't believe it myself at first, especially since I'm just an early graduate from City A University, staying home all day," Alister revealed that he was an early graduate from a prestigious school, City A University, causing Fujitani Nisuke to inhale sharply in surprise. He didn't expect this peak-level combatant to be so successful in his academic pursuits.
In comparison, ah... I'm such a failure... Ahhh, I can't take it...
While Fujitani Nisuke was feeling down, Alister sighed and continued, "But when I met with her, she said the reason for hiring me wasn't that..."
"...Not that?" Fujitani Nisuke became curious. "So they don't consider qualifications for employment, then what do they look at?"
"Because she found me handsome and decided to hire me--"
"Damn it, so it's a case of Versailles Syndrome? You're making me feel so inadequate?!" Fujitani Nisuke said that, but deep down, he still admired Alister's excellence.
"So, what kind of compensation did she offer?" Fujitani Nisuke put the beer bottle on the ground, seemingly analyzing the situation. "Even though it's a big company, with my wealth of experience, I've seen plenty of deceptive jobs."
"Just be a mascot, clock in at nine in the morning, leave at five in the evening, with a monthly salary of 30,000, all the standard benefits and subsidies..." Alister said, observing Fujitani Nisuke who lay down on the seat, his head turned away like a zombie, looking lifeless.
Looking hear, Alister asked with concern, taking another sip of his fruit juice, "What's wrong with you?"
In a low voice, Fujitani Nisuke muttered something, and after a moment, he turned around, looking at Alister with a melancholic gaze.
"You go ahead, I need some time to recover. I can't do it anymore..."
"...Actually, I don't really need that much of this salary. I can give you some," Alister noticed his envy.
However, as Fujitani Nisuke regained his spirits, he stood up and made a "stop" gesture with his hand, firmly refusing, "Alister, although I do envy you, I've always relied on the money I earned myself. Remember that."
"Are you sure you don't want it?" Alister reevaluated Fujitani Nisuke, and he seemed sincere.
"No, I don't want even a single bit of it," Fujitani Nisuke had his principles, "Although I may not be good at anything, I haven't reached the point of needing charity. Children in impoverished areas need this money more than I do."
"I didn't expect you to have such integrity," Alister had already finished half of his fruit juice and planned to persuade him, "Cast off your decadence and work a little harder. Perhaps you could also become a heroic figure in history?"
A hero, huh...
"Now that you mention it..." Fujitani Nisuke pondered for a moment and suddenly recalled the past. "In my youth, when I was full of vitality, I was once nominated as a local hero in a newspaper..."
"Tell me more."
"I saved a driver who drove into the river when I was young."
Alister looked at him with newfound respect. "I didn't expect you to be a real hero. I couldn't tell..."
Upon hearing that, Fujitani Nisuke smiled bitterly, wiped his nose, and said with regret, "A hero? I stopped being one a long time ago."
"Well, considering your current state of decadence," Alister glanced at the sports stadium.
Fujitani Nisuke, full of emotion, sat back down and took another sip of his Red Island beer. "Time flies. I have indeed changed a lot. Perhaps soon, I will be lost."
"You're not at the age of dying yet, are you?" Alister sarcastically remarked.
However, Fujitani Nisuke embraced Alister's shoulder and spoke with the tone of a life mentor, "Alister, you must understand that life is unpredictable. Death, that bastard, takes lives in various ways—I've already bought insurance."
"...Your smoking habit is a deadly dose, indeed..." Alister noticed the cigarette box in his pocket.
"Hahaha, right? It's called taking preventive measures..." Fujitani Nisuke happily patted the cigarette box.
Then he let go and sighed with apparent distress, "But when the time comes, I might be willing to be a hero again, as a final contribution to this world..."
"Donate all the insurance money?" Alister had already finished his fruit juice.
Fujitani Nisuke made a sound of agreement and added, "Something like that."
Haha... I'm so decadent that I'm considering my own death... What a failed life... He had criticized himself countless times.
The vast sports stadium before him, with the youthful figures moving about, reflected in Fujitani Nisuke's melancholic black pupils. Those were the remnants of his lost youth...
"There's nothing I can do... In this world..." he suddenly murmured inexplicably.
The leaves of the roadside trees rustled, insects chirped crisply, and under a nearby street lamp, four young men surrounded a girl with blue hair, trouble brewing.
"It looks like something's happening over there," Fujitani Nisuke directed his gaze.
"Yeah," Alister stood up and casually tossed the empty bottle into the trash can. "I'll go take a look."