Where the Journey Began

As usual, I headed for the gym after work. It’s only about a 7-minute walk from the office to the gym. I bought some deep fried green onion pancake and ate along the way. It’s usually late after I finished the gym. So I always had something to eat before working out. 

It’s been two months since I joined the gym. I had never tried to work out previously prior to coming to this gym. I joined because a friend of mine tried to find a gym buddy so he asked me if I could join him. He quit after two weeks but I continued. I liked the idea of coming here after work because I could stay away from the traffic jam. Taipei looked like a parking lot during the rush hours as the subway system was been built. Besides I would like to stay outside a little longer so that I wouldn’t have to stay home long. I still lived with my parents at that time. The quiet rest area of the gym was also a nice treat after a long day. The gym is part of the health club of a hotel. With a lot of foreign guests, it felt “international.” Perhaps it was a hint of some kind but I did not realized it until later.

In the gym, I warmed up by twisting and stretching my body. Then I started walking on the treadmill for a few minutes followed by running, 20 minutes in total. I also did some weightlifting but I was not big on that. Just tried to maintain my muscle texture but not thinking of becoming a small Arnold. 

There came the aerobic dance class. Usually about eight to ten women. Very occasionally there was a man in the group. The music was loud and the leader was enthusiastic. I found it too noisy so I usually went into the rest area to read newspapers. 

It was not a busy evening. I was the only one in the rest area. Someone being there earlier had left. I felt I was sitting in my own private living room. I only wore a towel on my waist and covered my upper half with another towel as the air-conditioner was a little too strong. I felt relaxed. 

After reading the newspapers, I took a nap on one of the three benches. I felt great after waking up. I stepped into the steam room. As I was fighting with the heat, my mind became clear, actually not thinking at all. Usually I did three rounds, having cold showers in between. Then I rested for a while, watching TV or reading newspapers. 

After taking a cold shower, I went inside the steam room again. There sat a chubby guy. I therefore had to sit on the other corner where usually I would like to avoid as it was hotter in that corner. I sat and extended my feet to the other side of the bench so that the steam would not attack me directly. The steam stopped coming out. It was quiet and I very much enjoyed that moment. Sometimes I could not stand the heat and had to run outside the steam room but this time I survived. 

I enjoyed the quietness for a while. Then my right foot withdrew suddenly by itself. I did not pay attention to what might cause it. Then it happend again. I checked my foot and did not see anything wrong. “Just relax,” I told myself. Within a minute, it happened again. I suddenly realized that it was my natural reflex that was withdrawing my foot because the other man touched my toe with his. I took my feet back a little to allow him to have some room. After another minute or two, I felt that his toe touched my foot again lightly. Shockingly I knew what was going on. Since the steam had stopped coming out, I put my feet back to the floor.  My heart was pumping while sitting there. I came out to take a cold shower. 

I did not leave the sauna/steam room area after the shower. Instead I went into that steam room. This time I kept some distance from him. We both came out to take cold showers a few times, sometimes together sometimes separately, but each time we went back to the steam room.

What was I thinking? I probably did not have a clue but I knew I would like to go back. Was it simply my curiosity to see what might be happening, or was there something else in my mind?

Usually it’s not so quiet in the sauna/steam room, at least there might be some other hotel guests or local members like myself, but it was strange enough - that night there were only two of us. 

I stepped inside the steam room again. I forgot how many times I had already entered that room that night. The guy didn’t seem to give up either. The guy was still taking his shower. I lay down on the upper bench.  Then he came in.

He sat on the lower bench, his back was so close to my face. I could feel the heat from his body. Or was it the heat from the steam? I was totally confused, not knowing what might be happening, whether I wanted something to happen or not. He turned his body to the right. Now we were in the same direction. I was lying on the upper bench and he was sitting in the lower one. My breath became more intense.

The guy suddenly grabbed my soft penis and broke the silence: 

“Are you waiting for me?” 

I was shocked.  He took back his hand.

“I don’t know.”

“I see your body trembling and your breath intense. So I guess you are...”

With a deep inhalation, I replied: “I don’t know. I haven’t done anything like this before.”

He turned his back against my shoulder. We did not exchange words for a few seconds but it felt like a few minutes. I was puzzled what to do next but my curiosity remained. Whenever his back touched my shoulder, I felt like lightning going through my body. 

“Would you like to have a drink together to discuss this a little more?” I asked. I did not have an idea why I had become the hunter between us.

“Where?”

“To your room?”

He was silent for a moment, then said: “How about the coffee shop next to the lobby?”

We left the gym five minutes apart on purpose. When I arrived the coffee shop, he was already there. We ordered our drinks.

“Are you here for business?”

“Yes, only here for three days and tonight it’s my last night.”

“What a coincidence! I usually come here two to three times a week.”

“After a series of long meetings in the past three days, finally I got some time to relax this evening.”

“Have you done this before?”

“Yes, but very occasionally. I am married.”

“Does your wife know?”

“No.”

“Where are you from?”

“The Netherlands.”

“I like tulips.”

“When did you know that you are interested in this kind of thing?” asked he.

“Tonight,” I replied.

He looked puzzled.

“You have never thought of this before?”

“No. That’s why I was very frightened in the beginning. I am still nervous now. I even haven’t had any sexual experience with a woman.”

We chatted over various subjects, including our jobs. I mentioned I loved European cars. He told me that he had driven five Peugeot 205.

“Would you like me to go to your room later?” I asked.

He seemed a little reluctant. I did not know whether it’s because he did not want a stranger to enter his room or he was also confused about all this. My mind was not totally clear but I felt some sort of urge to pursue it although I did not know what I was really chasing after.

I said, “Maybe we can start from giving massage to each other. I am good at that.”

He smilingly nodded his head. 

“I do it often for my father,” I continued. I guessed I was eager to convince him to accept my proposal.

No word coming out from him but he looked intrigued about the idea.

“If you don’t like it, we could just end it there.”

I could not believe how skillful I was in handling an awkward situation like this. I might be a good salesman. He was hesitant for a few seconds, then said: “OK.”

We left the coffee shop separately. In five minutes, I was in his room. We sat in the chairs next to the window and chatted a little more. Apparently we both were a little nervous about what might be happening.

I had a deep breath and said: “Shall we start?” 

He nodded and started to take off his shirt. 

I asked him to lie facing down. We both had our briefs on as though they were our last frontier to an invading enemy or something we were afraid that might happen to us. He was relatively big but I tried my best to give him a nice massage. It was very professional-like. I didn’t try to touch areas that I shouldn’t. 

I concentrated on giving him massage to avoid thinking what might be coming next. He was laid back enjoying my massage. Twenty minutes later, we exchanged the positions.

He started massaging my back. He was not bad. I enjoyed his massage too, very relaxing. He then rubbed my butt, and suddenly he lowered my briefs and took it away. My naked butt was exposed. Now I could relate to a virgin facing her first night.

Totally NAKED, I was still facing down and was not able to see him but I knew I was trembling. His hands moved between my butt and back. Then he lay on my back. His erected manhood rubbed my butt through his briefs. Although I seemed to know this would happen along the night, I was not ready for this moment. 

He turned me around and took off his briefs. His manhood was rubbing my ab while I was frightening inside my mind. 

“Am I HOMOSEXUAL?” A question suddenly popped in my head.

Those male teachers, news anchormen, and men in the straight porn videos came to my mind as well as Rock Hudson. Those dots now seemed to be connected. Now the answer was clear why I hadn’t had a real girlfriend, seriously dated some women, or even why at age of near thirty I hadn’t had sex with any women. 

I did not really enjoy the body contact with this guy as I was so frightened about the whole situation. 

His breath became heavier and heavier. I did not feel myself aroused but I felt I wanted to cum. The contradiction of the thought of engaging into homosexual activity and the desire to explore what it could be made me frightened and excited at the same time.

We almost came around the same time. It did not take long for me to cum. He came without much of my help. Basically he just rubbed his manhood against my body. 

After the climax, I did not feel great. I did not know how to handle the situation that I had engaged homosexual activities. I still remembered that in the school, friends and I talked about “those people.” However, I never spoke anything negative about them, but just my curiosity why they wanted to have sex with men. At that time, I heard of “homosexual” and “gay” from time to time but never felt anything at all about those words. A friend of mine had mentioned a classmate was gay but that hearsay did not strike me at all on any level. I even had not heard of the word “lesbian.”

After going home, I went into my room very quickly trying to avoid any conversation with my parents. I wanted to be alone for a while to sort out what had happened.

I was puzzled for the rest of the evening. Then I went to bed to try to get some sleep. Strange enough, I had a sexual urge again. My desire was very strong. The images of sexual contacts with that man dominated my mind as I masturbated. I was regretful that I did not taste his manhood.

In the days that followed my work routine continued smoothly, but my mind was troubled. I did not go back to the gym at all for a whole week. I was afraid to revisit the hotel, the sauna, and the steam room, because I did not want to think about what had happened. 

One week after, I felt I was back to normal.“It’s just an incident,” I thought. I got back to the gym and started using the sauna/steam room as usual. 

Another week passed. On a Saturday afternoon, I left the office around noon. Having a Cantonese noodle and some dumplings for lunch before arriving at the gym. There I met a longtime friend who had just joined the club a few days ago.

I did some usual exercises then sat in the rest area reading newspapers. People came and went while I enjoyed my quiet Saturday afternoon. My friend slept on one of the benches most of the time. I was in and out the sauna/steam room a few times and I could not help noticing a Caucasian guy. I knew I was tempted to do something but there were always other people around. He seemed to notice me too. 

Around 4:30, I noticed that Caucasian guy started putting his clothes to prepare to leave. Without much thoughts, I did the same. We looked at each other from time to time. There were other people around. I did not say a word. Neither did he.

He left the men’s area. I followed. I then saw him walk outside the health club entrance. So did I, 10 meters apart. I arrived the waiting area for the hotel elevators. The “Up” button was on, I pressed the “Down” button. 

There were only two of us. He looked at me, saying: “Would you like to come up to my room for some tea?”

I replied: “OK.” 

Things happend so naturally and I did not feel anything bad about my action. I was excited. 

This time I tasted his manhood. 

When I was about to leave. The British guy offered me NT$500.  With a smile and a hand gesture, I declined. 

“Who do you think I am,” I thought, but I did not feel insultedt. It’s kind of funny that I was thought as a money boy.

He continued, “Having some tea with your friend.”

“No, thank you.”

It’s not a bad experience at all, sex or whatever.

Walking out of his room, I was cheerful. My body was relaxed and the sexual urge was fulfilled. A new chapter of my life had begun. It was a direction of no return and a prey had become a hunter.

Stranger in the Night

On the flight to Hong Kong, I was reading my conference materials. Sitting beside me, my colleague Ben asked if I had finished reading the materials. I said no. Then we chatted a little bit about his family. We never had had time to talk about our family or personal matters during our daily work. After all, we did not work in the same office. We were not even in the same city. 

Soon we landed in Hong Kong. It was a short flight. As we entered the terminal Kevin caught up with us.  The three of us had gone to Hong Kong to take part in a week-long conference. 

We checked in to the hotel. It was late in the afternoon. We decided to tour around the city before dinner. The meal was lovely. I always liked the food in Hong Kong. It was about eight when we finished our dinner. 

Ben said to me: “Why don’t you go out to see the night life? You are still single and only you can enjoy the WILD things here. Kevin and I are married. We have to go back to hotel. Perhaps I will make a call to my wife.”

“No. I am very tired. I will go back to the hotel too,” said to Ben, I thought: “Maybe after the conference.”

We walked back to the hotel. It was a very nice hotel, the lobby was huge. I stayed on the 43rd floor, Ben on the 45th and Kevin on the 46th. With only the three of us in the elevator, the doors opened on the 11th Floor. There came in a Caucasian, taller than me, about 6 feet. The gym and the sauna appeared to be on the 11th Floor. Too bad I wouldn’t have time to visit the health club in the coming days until the conference ended.

I looked at the Caucasian guy and realized shockingly that he was staring at me. I quickly lowered my head. A second or two later, I raised my head again and noticed that he was still staring at me. I turned my eyes away. Luckily, both Ben and Kevin looked onto the floor.  I glanced back at this Caucasian. He lowered his head and raised it immediately with a little smile in his face. We both knew what’s going on. He was handsome, medium built, and sophisticated, probably five to ten years older than me.

My heartbeat surged. It was an intensive feeling. What a tragedy! There was such strong attraction between us but my colleagues were present. If one of them had raised his head a little bit, I would have had to stop looking at this guy. Luckily they were too tired. I looked at the handsome Caucasian again and he looked back. Too bad, a great meal was in front of me, but I simply could not touch it.

The elevator stopped at the 26th Floor. The doors opened. He nodded at me and stepped out of the elevator. 

“That’s it,” I thought. Strange enough, the elevator doors did not close for a while. I could hear the sound of the keys. I had no intention to press the “Close” button anyway. I hadn’t seen any elevator doors staying open this long. I could tell that he was opening his door to his room.  Based on where the sound came from, I guessed he might stay in the first room on the hallway to the right. 

The elevator doors finally closed and we continued our journey up. I went back to my room and sat next to the window. “What a great view of Hong Kong!” I still thought of him but didn’t feel I could do anything about it. 

I was anxious, walking around the room, sitting for a minute, then walking back and forth again. The spectacular night view became plain. My mind was totally preoccupied by that Caucasian.

I knew I wanted to go down to knock on his door but I was afraid. 

“What if he is not?”

“What should I say if he opens the door?”

“What if I knock on the wrong door?”

“What if he reports me for harassment?”

“No way. He must be. He wants me too.”

Finally, after ten minutes of struggle between my desire and my fear, I opened my door. In spite of turning back a few times, I had enough courage to make it to the 26th Floor.

Hesitant for a few seconds, I finally knocked on the door. The door was opened. “It’s him,” I was glad.

“Excuse me, are you David?” My eyes looked doubtful. I deserved to win an Oscar.

“No, I am Peter.”

“I am so sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine David, but you look so familiar. Have you been to Taipei before?”

“Yes, I have been to Taipei. Actually I go there on a regular basis.”

“Do you usually stay at the Grand Hyatt?”

“No I usually stay at the Sheraton.”

“I thought that we probably had met in the gym of the Grand Hyatt so that I felt you were familiar.”

“Public face, I guess.”

We both laughed and I brought out one of my business cards.

“This is my card. Next time if you come to Taipei, give me a call. We can meet for coffee.”

“Definitely. Let me give you mine too.”

He stepped inside to take out his card from the pocket of his jacket and waved me in. I took this opportunity to enter his room.

“Do you have five minutes? It’s been a long day and I feel that I would like to chat a little bit if you have some time.” I could not believe the courage I had to say something like this.

“Sure,” he said with a very encouraging tone. He continued, “I just came back from the gym.” 

“How was it? I would like to use the gym too but I don’t think I will have time in the coming days. Maybe after my conference is over.”

“It’s quite nice. I had a workout, stayed in the sauna for a little bit and had a massage.”

“How was the massage?”

“It was just so-so.”

“Maybe I can give you a better one. I am good at it.”

“Sure,” he seemed to accept my proposal but we did not talk further about the subject. We chatted about our work and why we came to Hong Kong.

The door bell rang. I was shocked. Several thoughts popped into my head. “Who would come at this time of evening?" "Is it his colleague?" "I don’t want to get into any trouble.” 

“It’s my dinner.”

I did not feel at ease as I was afraid of being seen. The waiter pushed the cart in, set the table, and left the room.

We chatted about things here and there without a particular agenda while he was eating. We continued our conversation for quite a while, even long after he had finished his dinner.

Finally I threw out the bait. “Are you ready for a massage?” 

“Sure,” he seemed eager too.

“May I use your bathroom? I’d like to freshen up a little bit.”

“Please.”

After taking the shower, I put a towel around my waist. Stepping out the bathroom, I couldn’t believe what I saw - Peter was completely naked lying face down on the bed!

I approached him, sitting on top of his butt, still wearing my towel.  We did not exchange a word. I started massaging his shoulders. He moaned. I gave him a professional-like massage on his shoulders, neck, and back. When I leaned forward to massage his head, I felt his body heat. I took off the towel. Then I sat back working on his butt. So far we had only exchanged a few words, mainly about whether the pressure was right. Otherwise I left him to enjoy my massage. He seemed to enjoy the massage and the quiet moment.

I worked on his inner thighs, sometimes hard, and sometimes gentle. His butt trembled and moved up and down from time to time. I was excited too but I wanted to prolong the joy. My hands had no forbidden areas to touch but I maintained my “professional” manners. My hands were in and out of his thighs and sometimes gently touched his balls, accidentally on purpose. His balls hardened, and contracted.

I resisted the temptation to touch his manhood and grab his balls, continuing my work on his legs and feet. I then asked him to turn over.

In front of me was an erect penis, very determined. I sat on him, his penis against the crack of my butt. Now I really could feel him from the heart of my bottom. I truly enjoyed the moment and he seemed to like it as well. I gave him a facial massage while his manhood remained hard under my butt crack.

I continued giving him the massage, moving my hands along his inner thighs from the knees to his private parts. I enjoyed the sensation of giving the massage in such a private area. His legs were wide open. Only when a man trusted another man so much would he open his legs like this. My thumbs almost touched his anus. He sighed.

I kept on working on the other parts of his body. Then I started touching gently his body from head to toe a few times, just like the breeze traveling though a field.

“It’s my turn,” I said upon finishing the work.

“It’s great. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I lay down facing him. He started massaging my face. I did not know where to put my hands. He was totally naked. After resting my hands on a few spots, I finally opened my arms widely but within seconds, I rested my hands on his upper legs. It felt great and I gently touched his legs. I could not deny seeing his fully erect manhood and started caressing it. He couldn’t take it more. He bent over kissing me hungrily. I responded with my passion too.

We held each other tightly. We kissed for quite some time. His manhood was hardened in between my legs. I caressed him back and forth on his back and his butt. 

I grabbed his butt and my nose teased his manhood. Our bodies intertwined.  I could smell his manhood, a particular male aroma. I finally put his joystick into my mouth. He moaned, then he took mine. I moaned too.

He kissed and sucked my nipples. I rubbed his body with my eager manhood. Before long, I roared when I reached the peak. He put his undoubtable male symbol into my legs,  thrusting as I tightened my legs. His manhood touched my hole and his breath intensified. His muscle hardened as his move became more forceful.

Finally he grabbed me tightly and burst out with a roar. I felt his eruption onto the heart of my bottom. He had just given me his very best treasure. I let him lie on top of me for a while. I enjoyed the quiet moment and the excitement I had just experienced. He fell asleep.

A few minutes later, he turned over.

He broke the silence, “That was great.”

“Yes, I haven’t had sex for probably two months,” I replied.

“That long?”

“Yes, I probably only meet a guy every two months or three, and I can’t be choosy, otherwise it will be even longer.”

“How do you meet up with guys in Taipei?”

“I work out in the gym at the Grand Hyatt and I try to meet foreign visitors in the sauna. I am afraid of being known by locals, therefore I don’t go to any gay bars or saunas. I feel more secure with foreigners and besides I am only attracted to Caucasians.”

“That must be difficult.”

“I am used to it but sometimes it is really difficult.” I continued, “I only discovered that I am gay about three years ago.”

“How did you discover it?”

“I was seduced by a Dutch guy in the sauna. I was 29 at that time.”

“That was late. Had you had sex with women before that?”

“No, I tried to date with women but never found them attractive at all. I remember on each of my birthdays after age 25 or 26, I promised myself that I would have sex before the next birthday. It never occurred to me that I might be gay although there had been signs. When I was in the junior high school, I had fantasies about male teachers making love to women. Every time when I masturbated, I knew which male teacher I was thinking of, but it was never clear who the woman was.”

He gave me an empathetic hug, kissing on my forehead.

“Ironically, one of the reasons I went back to Taiwan from the States was because I wanted to marry a Chinese woman and I though it would be easier to find one in Taiwan.”

“Would you have gone back to Taiwan if you had discovered that you were gay?”

“Possibly not, it’s not easy to be gay in Taiwan. I think it might jeopardize my career if people find out I am gay.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I am quite isolated from the gay community in Taiwan.”

I kissed him, and he kissed me back. I enjoyed touching his body all over. I felt like I was in a wonderland, so different from my familiar routine. We did not speak for a moment, just holding each other quietly with occasional kisses.

I did not know what time it was but I knew it was late.

“I think I had better go. You might need to be up early tomorrow.”

“What time is it?”

“I don’t know but I think it’s late. Thank you. Really. It was great.”

He kissed me, and said: “It was great.”

I put my underwear on, then my shirt. As I was buttoning up, from the radio on the bedside table a familiar melody started...

"Stranger in the Night" performed by Frank Sinatra

Published by Hypherism on Youtube

“Strangers in the night, exchanging glances wondering in the night. What were the chances..”

“What a great song for a moment like this!" I said, "I have sung this song so many times in the Karaoke clubs. It’s one of my favorites. It’s never felt so right.” 

He nodded with a smile. 

My friends used to say that I seemed to be able to instill a unique feeling into singing that song. They thought I had a colorful night life. They really knew very little about how I spent my time during those dark and lonely nights waiting for an encounter.

We kissed and I finally managed to step out of his room. On the way to the elevators, I glanced out the window. The Hong Kong night sky seemed to be shinier and more beautiful. 

I felt lighthearted. With a stranger, in a foreign land, I had a moment to be my true self. 

The music lingered...