"Hey! Get up!"
Henry patted Jay, who was already falling asleep. Jay woke up and rubbed his eyes, looking around in a trance.
"We've arrived. Didn't you say that you wanted to come to my place? Here we are."
Henry patted Jay on his shoulder again. Jay suddenly remembered that he was in Henry's van. He stretched himself and got out of the van.
Henry closed and locked the van, beckoned to Jay and walked to the gate of the four story apartment building. Jay followed Henry upstairs. Henry took out his key and opened the door of his studio apartment. He held the door open and let Jay go in first.
"Your place is so small!" Jay said, looking around the room, a bit disappointed. "Why, you don't even have a couch!"
"Do you expect that everyone's place is as big as your home?" Henry said, sounding a bit upset.
Jay shook his head a bit, seeming to feel that it was very strange for a place to not have any couch. Then he took off his t-shirt and threw it on a small chair. "It's so hot here. Don't you have any air conditioning? And I'm starving. I can't eat too much before performances, so I'm always very hungry after the show. Do you have anything to eat?"
Henry looked at this immature boy with a wry smile. He had been rude enough to sneak into Henry's van like that, and after getting into Henry's apartment he hadn't stopped complaining.
Henry watched Jay for a while and said, "No, no air conditioner, only an electric fan here. Not everyone is rich enough to have all those things. If you feel too hot, you can take a shower to cool yourself. I have some stewed meat for my night snack. If you are really hungry, I'll heat it and you can eat after your shower."
Jay nodded and walked into the small bathroom. Then Henry heard a very disappointed shout, "What, no bathtub?"
Henry really didn't know whether to laugh or to be upset. He snapped back, "No! If you keep complaining, just get out of here!"
Jay didn't say anything more. After a few seconds Henry heard Jay start taking his shower. He took out some stewed meat from the refrigerator and put it into the electric pot to heat.
Jay walked out of the bathroom after a few minutes. Henry saw Jay and his mouth fell open.
Jay wasn't wearing anything. He walked up to Henry in the nude.
"Where's the food? I'm starving."
Henry didn't answer Jay right away, because he had already been deeply amazed by the beauty of Jay's nude body. Jay had been beautiful enough in just a t-shirt and shorts. Looking at his nude body, Henry felt that he was even more attractive. His body was quite white and well-formed; not chubby, and not skinny either. His round face was also white, not too much different from how he looked on TV. His legs were both slender. He hadn't entered puberty, so his dick was not big, but his penis head seemed to want to squeeze out of his foreskin to see the world. Henry felt that though Jay hadn't grown up yet, he was really a beautiful example of young male manhood, created by God who wanted to please all females.
Henry gathered back his ability to speak after a few seconds. He said, "Why aren't you wearing anything?"
"Well, I'm always like this at home. And it's too hot here. Will you tell me to get out of here if I don't wear anything?"
Henry laughed. "Well, no. Okay, just stay nude if you like."
Henry took out the heated stewed meat and put it on the small table in the center of his small studio apartment. Jay sat on a small chair, and almost immediately he started to attack the food.
Henry felt hungry too, but he still decided to let the boy eat his late night snack. He just sat beside the boy and watched him. Jay seemed to be very, very hungry. He didn't take too long to wolf down the whole plate of food. After finishing it, Jay raised his head and seemed to have something to say, but then forced himself to swallow those words back when he saw Henry's eyes. Henry looked at Jay's antics and snorted a laugh.
"I know what you want to ask. No, that's all for tonight. I have more food but it's for later. If you want to stay here, you have to accept that," said Henry. He stood up and put the plate into the small sink in the kitchen. "I'll take a shower now. Please just wait here for a few minutes. When I'm done I'll make a bed for you to sleep."
Jay nodded.
Henry walked into the bathroom and took a fast shower. Then he wrapped a big towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom. However, as he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw that Jay had already lain on his bed, with arms and legs stretched, and was sound asleep.
Henry had a wry smile again. He walked to the bed and sat beside Jay, looking at the sleeping nude boy. He caressed Jay's hair softly. What could he say? Just a bit earlier that evening, he still felt envious of that young boy who had such great talent and a successful career. However, at the moment, this incredible boy, who he'd only seen on TV, was in front of him, and even sleeping in his bed.
Henry looked at Jay's sleeping face, thinking about Jay's words.
'Take me anywhere you like. How about going to your place?'
Henry wondered what on earth could have happened. Why did Jay sneak into his van like that? Why did Jay just want to find a place to hide?
'Don't! Please... I finally ran away from them. If you send me to the police station, they will send me back. Please! Just take me to your place. Come on, please, please, pleeeeeease?'
Suddenly Henry felt pity for this little kid. He couldn't imagine why, if this boy was so successful, he just wanted to escape from everything he had? Did this boy experience something very bad?
He recalled the storekeeper's words.
'A charming boy, isn't he?'
Henry looked at Jay's nude body. Again, Henry felt that he was deeply attracted by it. Jay's arms and legs were both stretched, showing off the contours of his body. His slender waist and broad shoulders made his upper body a triangle. His body was that of an athlete. It must be because he needed to dance a lot. His muscle definition in his chest was not quite clear, and his two little nipples fit perfectly on his young chest. His torso and his long legs formed a perfect golden ratio. Henry wondered how one's body could be so perfect.
Henry kept staring at this sleeping boy, as if the north arrow in a compass had no choice but needed to point to the north. Suddenly, a word jumped into his mind.
Innocence.
Maybe the real charm of this boy was his innocence. However, Jay seemed to be too naive; too naive to be aware of any possible danger. He just hid in a stranger's van, went to the stranger's place, and even slept naked in the stranger's bed. Henry couldn't imagine how much danger Jay would be in if he met a malicious person.
Henry took his thin quilt from the bed to cover Jay's sleeping body. Then he caressed Jay's head again.
"Have a good sleep, kid," whispered Henry.
Henry stood up and looked at his own small room. Well, he had no choice but to move the table and chairs away, and take out his thick quilt from the bottom of his small cabinet and put it on the floor. He used his own t-shirt and shorts as his pillow, and used the big towel as his thin quilt. He lay down and soon fell asleep.
-- To be continued.