Chapter 21

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Chapter 20 | 🌈 Contents 🌈 | Chapter 22

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Translator: Silvery

PR: Decadence

Yu Sheng closes the book.

Jin Linkun doesn’t disturb him, simply folding his arms as he looks at the Olympiad workbook with questionable origins.

In comparison to the other students of Team 7 who like nothing more than to grind vigorously away at their studies, he doesn’t look remotely like he’s studying. No pen nor paper in hand, his eyes skits over 10 lines in one glance, hands flipping a page around every 10 seconds.

The space provided by the chair is a bit tight. Combine that with his arms and legs, and he looks slightly cramp. His feet are in fact slightly bent and perched on the crossbars of the desk as his chair rocks backwards on its hindlegs.

Yu Sheng sweeps a glance over that swaying chair and swiftly pushes it down, making those two chair legs land solidly on the ground.

Having been planted firmly on the ground, Jin Linkun snaps out of it:

“Friend?”

Yu Sheng has already turned back:

“Keep sitting like that if you want to fall again.”

His tone is tepid, the pen between his fingers spinning two rounds. There’s a subtle trace of irritation between his brows as his eyes land on the table.

That problem set has already been pushed open again with a piece of empty rough paper planted between.

Jin Linkun startles, his brows leaping.

A moment later, he chuckles softly and brings his hand up to the other youth’s neck where it is poking out from its collar:

“Thank you.”

The faint warmth radiates off his palm, sinking quietly into the back of his neck.

Yu Sheng freezes for three seconds.

–And snaps.

……

10 minutes later, Jin Linkun, who ended Night Self-Study earlier just like he wished, has one arm slung over his new roomie’s shoulder, hopping on one leg as he earnestly reflects on his newfound knowledge:

“It really is easy to fall. I won’t ever sit like that ever again.”

Yu Sheng steadies him, inhaling deeply as he pulls the other into his side again.

Still plenty unfamiliar to close contact with people, before Yu Sheng even came to his senses, his feet had already lurched out and kicked the chair out from under that guy’s butt.

Jin Linkun had only just released his hand from him and couldn’t react in time. Plunging from mid-air, he tumbled onto the ground just like that.

He still had his foot on the table’s crossbar when he fell. Though he didn’t notice it in the process of falling, it’s when he rose to his feet with the chair as his support that he discovered a some 10cm gash on his right leg due to a nail that was jutting out.

The wound isn’t deep; it is simply long. Jin Linkun initially planned to settle it with returning to the dorm and plastering two band-aids to let it fester or heal as it wished. He was willing to bet it’d be mostly gone within a couple of days.

But in the end, he was still forcibly picked up by Yu Sheng, towed the entire way out of the school’s gates, then driven off on a taxi into the nearest hospital.

When the taxi arrives at the hospital’s entrance, Jin Linkun is still tenaciously hobbling his way towards the ER department and attempting to convince Yu Sheng:

“I saw it. The nail wasn’t rusty. The wound isn’t deep either.”

Yu Sheng turns a deaf ear, heaving him higher up on his shoulder and carrying on his way.

Jin Linkun: “Really. If we keep walking for a bit more, it’ll be healed just fine.”

He still wanted to add something more, but Yu Sheng’s steps have already come to a stop. He turns to him:

“Are you tired?”

Jin Linkun startles.

The other doesn’t look like his normal self. Jin Linkun is still out of his depth and he subconsciously brings the hand slung over Yu Sheng’s shoulder up and down, saying half-jokingly:

“I am. Will you carry me?”

Without a word, Yu Sheng’s shoulders stiffen up.

Jin Linkun didn’t mean it for real. Grinning wryly, he is just about to hobble on forward when his arm’s abruptly held back.

Yu Sheng walks over to his front and bends over, holding him throughout it:

“Get on.”

Jin Linkun’s mouth parts, but no sound came.

Yu Sheng is silent. Showing neither annoyance nor signs of lashing out, he maintains that posture, waiting for him to get on.

The street lights cast a faint shadow over the upper half of his face, concealing his expression from him.

He dons a simple T-shirt. When his arms bend slightly and his shoulders hunch over, that shirt vaguely highlights the lines of his back and shoulders .

Jin Linkun is still. Yu Sheng simply pulls his arms over his shoulders and picks him up.

It’s already quite late. The light from the street lamps cascades down upon them.

The shoulders of the youth which appear frail on the surface is quite powerful in truth. Muscles taut with a lithe but solid strength, he carries him stably on his back, stepping forward without a single word.

Jin Linkun’s heart races for some reason.

The silence around them is a little deafening. After being quiet for a while, Jin Linkun lightly clears his throat and picks a random topic to talk about:

“Teach me how to pen spin when we’re back?”

Yu Sheng’s footsteps pause, but don’t stop. He continues walking forward.

“I mean it.”

Jin Linkun lowers his head and pats Yu Sheng’s shoulder:

“I’ve always wanted to pick up that skill. It looks so cool.”

After giving it a second thought, he offers courteously in turn:

“I’ll study with you.”

Yu Sheng: “……”

This person’s truly far too talkative when they’re in private. Yu Sheng inhales but doesn’t lose patience with him:

“No need.”

“I can study by myself.” Yu Sheng: “Just lend me your books.”

Silence washes over the person on his back.

Jin Linkun drops his head, resting his chin on his shoulder. And he chuckles:

“I’ll lend them all to you.”

His deep voice rumbles through his chest, sending mild vibrations along with his warmth through Yu Sheng’s back.

Yu Sheng’s fist tightens ever so slightly but he doesn’t dump this person away. His arms exert even more strength to heave him upwards on his back.

Sure enough, the wound isn’t deep, but it still requires professional medical treatment.

The doctor on duty looks from the two band-aids sloppily plastered on either ends of the 10cm+ gash, then to the two boys who are obviously students:

“You shouldn’t just focus on studying. Common sense is still essential in your day to day life… Why didn’t you just paste a whole line of band-aids?”

Jin Linkun: “……”

Standing at the side, Yu Sheng coughs and the edges of his lips uncontrollably twitch up.

Jin Linkun still wanted to explain himself initially. After running his gaze over Yu Sheng, however, his brows rise mildly, and he hangs his head in all earnestness:

“I was too careless. Sorry for the trouble.”

The doctor waves it off and rips the two band-aids taped onto either ends of the gash while he’s at it. After he disinfects it, he lathers on some medicine and bandages it:

“Don’t let it come into contact with water. When you get back, have your friend help to apply the medicine every day. The bandages need to be changed once every three days.”

The doctor pats him on the knees, going on to instruct well-meaningfully:

“Don’t use band-aids anymore.”

Jin Linkun takes one glance at Yu Sheng who is listening attentively off to the side and attempts to turn the tides in his favour:

“Rest assured, I am well-aware. The absorbability and breathability of band-aids aren’t the best. They are not effective means of managing wound discharge and they do not guarantee a clean environment for the wound. It is easy to get infected—”

“It’s not that.” The doctor interrupts him very kindly, “It’s easy for you to be taken as a joke.”

“……”

The pair step out of the hospital and take a new ride back to N Uni.

Yu Sheng leans against the window. After telling the address to the driver and dropping his head to set a few alarms for changing the meds and bandages, he can’t hold it in in the end and still whips his head to look out of the window.

Jin Linkun can tell what he’s doing without even looking:

“…Friend, shouldn’t you comfort me at a time like this?”

Yu Sheng inhales raggedly and can’t hold back his grin. Without turning his head back, he stretches out his hand and carelessly pats him over the lap.

“Thank you. I feel much better.”

Jin Linkun is easily content. Pulling himself back together, he pushes himself up in his perch:

“Are you hungry yet?”

Yu Sheng shakes his head:

“Are you? What do you want to eat?”

Right outside the back of the fence surrounding their dormitory is a Snack Street, otherwise jokingly known as Late-Night CBD*. It is wafting with the wicked fragrances of food till late at night. In particular, there is the Mala Crayfish^ and grilled food^ which are the long-time dominating champions there.

(CBD: Central Business District: the main business and commercial area of a town.)

(^麻辣小龙虾: Mala Crayfish. Mala = Numb and Spicy)

Sometimes, when Yu Sheng is happy and free, he would skip over the fence to go for a round of late-night snacks, bringing some for Jin Linkun on the way.

It’s a bit late tonight though. They’ve even taken two rides back and forth. If Jin Linkun truly is ravenous, it’s best if he piggybacks him to the dorm before vaulting his way out.

Yu Sheng is still waiting for him to make his orders. Yet—Jin Linkun doesn’t answer off the bat. Instead, he stretches his hand out towards him.

Yu Sheng looks up.

Jin Linkun eyes him carefully before his arm bends, and he balances himself with the back of the driver’s seat. He stretches his other hand out to settle over Yu Sheng’s forehead.

The edges of Yu Sheng’s brows knit in a frown. He pushes it away:

“What is it?”

“What are you thinking about?”

Having been fended off by him, Jin Linkun’s hand slides down slightly and ends up covering his eyes:

“Try me. It’ll be fine.”

Yu Sheng’s hand freezes.

This person doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes at all, not remembering in the least how he fell to the ground just because he touched him a moment ago. His palm still reaches out to him so unguardedly, quietly laying over his eyes.

The roiling turmoil deep within suddenly gushes out uncontrollably.

It’s foreign. So incredibly foreign. He doesn’t know what to do to stop it.

That’s why he couldn’t think back then. That’s why he instinctively moved into action.

Yu Sheng’s brows wrenches. He can’t help blinking once, his shoulders tensing as he leans on the backrest behind him.

Jin Linkun waits quietly but he couldn’t wait till Yu Sheng speaks up. In fact, the itch due to those fluttering lashes against the heart of his palm grows more pronounced by the second.

He inhales and holds his breath without his notice. Trying to calm his heart which hasn’t been quite right this entire tonight, he is just about to pull his hand away when the youth beneath his palm suddenly speaks—

“I’m sorry.”

Jin Linkun stills.

“I’m sorry.”

Yu Sheng initially thought these words wouldn’t come to him easily, yet only after he has said them then does he discover, it’s actually just that easy.

In the dry, warm darkness before his eyes, none of his emotions is given away.

He doesn’t hide away, letting Jin Linkun continue to cover him as he says it all in one breath:

“I’m not used to people touching me, so it’s reflexive… I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Jin Linkun startles, rendered speechless despite everything.

“You scared me. I still thought it might have been something else…”

He smiles as he retracts his palm, taking initiative to apologize good-naturedly:

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t always be so touchy-feely with you. I’ll take note of that next time. I won’t touch you any—”

Yu Sheng cuts him off: “No need.”

Jin Linkun’s forehead smoothes out, his words stuck in his mouth.

The youth is still in the midst of growing. Slender and lanky, Yu Sheng’s frame seems drawn taut and his words come hard too:

“I’ll let you hit me back.”

Propping himself up with his arms, Jin Linkun stares at him.

Inside the unlicensed cab* they caught at the hospital’s foyer, the backseat is quite cramp, and the engine’s sounds are clamorous, rumbling on consistently.

(*黑车 unlicensed cab: do not belong to any licensed cab companies. Private-owned, to put.)

The phone on the side of his leg suddenly lights up. It’s the message Old Wan @ the whole Team 7 this afternoon. Who knows why it only popped out at this point.

Jin Linkun flicks his eyes down without thinking.

Up till now, the students have already made a vague impression of each other and are getting along better.

Thus, it’s decided that they will have a Group Activity at noon tomorrow and undergo proper self-introductions. They shall deepen their understanding of each other, foster the bonds between them, and move on to the next step of their relationship.

He doesn’t know what exactly he’s thinking himself, but his mind’s just stuck on the last sentence of that message. The hand which had just covered Yu Sheng’s eyes quivers feebly a while before his palm lightly closes up.

“Alright.” Jin Linkun chuckles softly, “You should close your eyes. I’m afraid I might rough you up so badly, you would get scared.”

Yu Sheng frowns.

He’s hardly lacking any in his share of fights. Ever since he was young, he’d always gotten back at those who bullied him by roughing them up. He truly can’t remember a time where he was scared.

But when he thinks about how much BS this guy might spew if he doesn’t close his eyes, Yu Sheng doesn’t protest and merely closes his eyes casually:

“Make it quick.”

“Okay.”

Jin Linkun’s voice rings out:

“Prepare yourself. Now then—”

Yu Sheng has never seen anyone who drops a warning before hitting others. He inhales, preparing to ask whether he needs him to count “one, two, three” for him – when a light pang of hurt throbs against his forehead.

The retracted finger had evenly snapped out at his forehead.

“We’re even.”

Jin Linkun’s voice lowers slightly. He ruffles his hair, his tone much more light-hearted than its usual cadence. With a bit of warmth, his breath passes by the side of his ear.

“Let’s call this water under the bridge, shall we?”

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The Author has something to say:

God Kun: Not to boast, but when I start swinging fists, even I myself get scared : )

Next Time on DTTM! – Chapter 22: <Garbage, money-grubbing App.>

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Chapter 20 | 🌈 Contents 🌈 | Chapter 22

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