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How a teenage Romeo wooed his Juliet by a whisker

By Craig McIntosh ( China Daily ) Updated: 2009-05-26 14:03:08

It would be fair to say I'm a romantic at heart. Don't tell anyone, but I love a good cry after a romantic comedy; you know the kind, when it looks like love is lost until some amazing turn of fate.

How a teenage Romeo wooed his Juliet by a whisker

"Oh, they do end up together after all," I can often be heard cooing with glee to my girlfriend after a regular screening of the Accidental Husband.

I think it is partly the reason I'm always so observant of my surroundings, I'm constantly ready to witness a heart-plucking exchange: a flash of "love at first sight" across a crowded bar, a brief flirtation as a man hands his pen to a woman.

But who would have thought my wish would be granted on Line 10 of the Beijing Subway?

I was on my way to the hutong alleys when I boarded at Zhichunlu station and assumed my usual position, leaning against the doors (I know it says you shouldn't, but I'm also a rebel at heart).

I quickly noticed a young man in my carriage who had taken a particular liking to a young lady sitting nearby. He could not take his eyes off her; her beauty had enchanted him.

Maybe it was the hooped stockings, messy hair and Doraemon (Japanese Magna) backpack that did it. I don't know. Either way, he was a man besotted.

Sadly, the feeling did not appear mutual. So, as a gorilla may beat his chest to attract a female, the enchanted teenager began his mating ritual, a tried and trusted method among the Chinese youth of today, I am told.

Our "Romeo" edged closer to the girl and withdrew from his pocket his mobile phone. And with a graceful tap of a button, the lucky folk on my carriage were soon enjoying the mellow warbling of some Canto-pop sensation. But our "Juliet" paid little attention.

What is wrong with women today? This guy, looking no more than 20 years old, cuts a dashing figure in his black, skinny trousers, red polo neck shirt and over-sized faux-leather coat.

Undeterred, he blew his uneven fringe from his eyes, edged a little closer to his pretty prey and added more volume.

But I could sense all was not well at 2 minutes, 55 seconds, when he began to fidget and perspire. As feared, the song ended.

The silence was deafening, snapping me momentarily out of my daze. But it was for only a moment, as within seconds the same tune was again ringing (I suspect, like most teens on China's subways and buses, he only had the one song).

I had thought it impossible but, yes, to my utter astonishment the girl looked even less impressed by his obvious show of courtship and began squirming in her seat.

How a teenage Romeo wooed his Juliet by a whisker

It was crunch time and the game looked lost for our spotty romantic champion. The train was approaching Anzhenmen, one stop before the Line 5 interchange at Huixinxijie Nankou, where, if this were a Hollywood movie, the girl of his dreams was sure to alight.

At this point he did something I think no one was expecting.

In one last attempt to showcase his masculinity, he flipped his mobile phone, removed a cap, flicked a switch and, before I knew it, he was shaving!

Although it was obvious he had the kind of stubble a strong wind could probably have taken care of, he was now staring at his reflection in the window and grooming himself.

I looked over. The girl was now staring at our young hero and smiling like, I released, everyone else.

Unable to hold my laughter, I alighted at the next station in my customary fashion by falling out when the doors I was leaning on opened.

I can't help but wonder what happened to these star-crossed lovers.

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