Buck or love

Harry stood in the middle of the square and tried to find a suitable character for his video among the passers-by. The hobby from the university of KVN years to shoot short videos by the end of the third decade of life suddenly turned out to be relevant again and, unlike those times, it also took off, and grew quite quickly. And so much so that it allowed him to leave the boring office and became the only source of income. And I had to say, very solid. He didn’t need a big team. Harry easily came up with questions for quizzes himself, ideas for new headings also came more often than he had time to enter them, he also figured out the installation quite easily himself. So the only person who worked for him was an assistant, to whom he referred advertising issues, and an old friend of Niall. He generally had his own business, and not even driving a taxi, which he confidently said every time Harry started joking about it, because he was connected with cars. However, Harry still sometimes did not understand when he even had time to work, given that Niall always agreed to any of his ideas to shoot something after ten in the morning. Niall explained this by saying that it was just fun for him to watch how Harry reacted to periodic tackles from both boys and girls whom he approached. Allegedly, his expression was too funny. And Niall even somehow cut a close-up from the recording and showed him this expression, but Harry did not understand what was so funny there that he agreed to work and shoot it almost for thanks. But I did not become indignant and refuse his help. It didn’t bother him at all. After all, Niall, in addition to his love of shooting, had another important advantage in the form of a stern appearance and the ability to threaten with one glance if desired, and this despite his short stature and kind nature. But this always remained his backup plan in case of his puncture and the choice of an inadequate homophobe in the crowd. Even if there were different topics in his repertoire, and Harry did not look only for gays, and even more so exclusively for those who were ready to openly say this on camera. So he usually had rounds at the ready, designed specifically for both straight and gay people. But all the questions were still focused on a friendly audience, and I did not want to communicate with informal staff. However, he was lucky so far. Well, either in two years of running the channel, the eye has simply been trained to easily weed out homophobes from the crowd. A scowling man in a grey jacket? By. A strange guy in a cap who stopped to talk to a squirrel? Definitely not the format. A dark-haired girl with big headphones and a blue coat? Perhaps, however, not exactly what he was looking for now. And only Harry wanted to sigh because of the lack of suitable options and arrange a smoke break, when his gaze caught on a tall man in skinny jeans and a pink hoodie, walking lightly towards them. And Harry realized at the same moment that he had found what he was looking for. Quickly nodding Niall in his direction, Harry did not even wait for his reaction and headed towards the man until he disappeared from sight. — Excuse me, are you straight? — he immediately began a conversation, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Niall had managed to orient himself and had already started recording. The man, who turned out to be even cuter up close with his light stubble and expressive blue eyes, took a short look at Niall with the camera and, slowing down a little, deliberately arched an eyebrow and held out a mischievous grin. — Are you blind? — So you’re gay? Harry decided to confirm, not taking his eyes off him and feeling a slight excitement inside. —Well, definitely for you,” he said, standing up half—turned, and, catching Harry’s gaze, tucked a strand of hair falling over his eyes behind his ear. Harry would have liked to roll his eyes at such a cheap tackle, but the tone in which it was said only made him smile sheepishly and return a little faster to the essence of the video for which he started the conversation. “Then I have five thousand, and I’ll give it to you if you answer my three questions.” Is it okay? — I don’t need money, I’m already rich, — the man waved off his offer, but before Harry could start to convince him, because he didn’t want to let him go at all, he leaned over to the microphone, which he held in his hand, and added with a flirtatious smile. — I’ll talk to you because you’re hot. Harry nodded mechanically, having heard from him the consent to participate, and even mentally noted the smooth transition to you. And only then did I notice the compliment in my direction. It was definitely pleasant, but the tips of his ears and cheeks began to burn as if he had suddenly become literally hot or turned into a salamander. And if Niall hadn’t filmed their communication, he would have tried to come up with a return compliment, since there were enough reasons in front of his eyes, but under the camera’s scope Harry decided not to focus on this and in response only adjusted his bangs, hoping that his embarrassment was unnoticeable. —Let’s get started,” Harry nodded, glancing briefly at the open notes on his phone, where he wrote down all the questions and turned his gaze to the man whom he had already dubbed “blue—eyed” in his head. — Which singer is considered to be a people’s princess? — Oh, that glamorous popcorn singer, — a man immediately found himself and, while Harry was trying to figure out what he was talking about, snapped his fingers and continued. — Taylor… Swift. The blue-eyed man, looking extremely pleased with himself, looked away from the camera again, and Harry caught his gaze and nodded with a smile, a little regretting that he had not asked his name before the questions began. Although such a nickname suited him too. And in general it was not so important, it was still more important for him to conduct a quiz. — That’s right. The second question,” Harry returned to the topic and, after a dramatic pause, licked his dry lips and continued. — Can you name three straight stars? Niall sharply raised his eyebrows with a mute question directed in his direction, but Harry did not react to this in any way. Yes, he himself said that he would no longer ask questions that could have more than one correct answer, but from such a… bright person, I wanted to hear more than a couple of words. — I don’t really like to think about straight people.… — But what can you do, — Harry could not resist commenting, to which the “blue-eyed” grunted approvingly. — Indeed. Well, then let’s have Eminem… “Not a bad choice,” Harry agreed, while the man thought about other examples., “Killian Murphy and… Jake Gyllenhaal,” Harry pursed his lips, holding back a smile as he looked at the man’s sly expression. Inside, everything was either trembling, or curiously shrinking from the anticipation of what this man could still give away. And so far he has not disappointed at all. — Although I have some suspicions about the latter. — Okay. Jake Gyllenhaal. Counted until proven otherwise. And the last question,” Harry looked down at his phone, trying to remember the exact wording of one of those highly complex questions that he usually reserved for special occasions. And people who easily found answers to previous questions. — The last question is the most difficult. Most straight people calmly answer this question… The blue-eyed man curled his lips, apparently beginning to doubt the adequacy of the question. However, noticing that Harry was paying attention to him again, he tried to hide it and shook his head in his direction, either trying to cheer him up, or urging him on with a question. Whether it’s all at the same time. Because in the end he got such a complex expression on his face that Harry could hardly keep from laughing. — Let’s see if you can do it, — Harry returned to the question, to which the man nodded without further ado, clearly determined to win his quiz. And Harry decided not to torment him anymore. — Who became the best player at the FIFA World Cup in 2000? — Hmm, I want to say Ronaldo, — after a couple of moments, the “blue-eyed man” began to think out loud, and Harry tried to keep his face impartial and not prompt in any way. Which was quite difficult to do under a scrutinizing gaze. — But I remember that he was so short and in a blue T-shirt… So, I think I’ll focus on Messi. — And this is the right answer, — Harry was sincerely delighted, holding out his palm, and the man immediately gave him a high five. They exchanged wide smiles, and, remembering that he now owed the blue-eyed girl another five, he took one of the pre-prepared bills out of his pocket. — I remember that you are already rich, but as I promised, here are your honestly earned five thousand… — Louis, — finally shared his name “blue-eyed”, quickly took the bill, and so much so that Harry did not even have time to snort, remembering “I do not need money”, and after Louis intercepted the microphone, just below his palm, and spoke in one breath. — Buy clothes from my brand “take away the fish”. — And subscribe to me, — Harry added at the end of the shoot. Niall gave them a thumbs-up, lowered the camera and without further ado began to watch the resulting video. And Harry put his hands in his pockets and silently looked at his friend. Now that the prepared topics for the dialogue were over, Harry did not know, and struggled to think of what to say until Louis left. I didn’t want to let him go completely, and when a hand gently touched his forearm, he jerked and turned to Louis in an instant. — Why don’t you give me your number as a win? If you don’t have anyone,” he asked softly, with a slightly more uncertain smile compared to those moments earlier. And suddenly it hooked him almost more than anything else in blue eyes. It’s been a long time since this happened to him.