Don't talk to me (DTTM)

Chapter 23

The self-introduction session that is like a large-scale offline meeting for Internet friends continues till the skies darken.

His roomie who had been keeping his head down and focusing on his studies suddenly began to fiddle with his phone. Every jab seems incredibly vicious too.

Thinking he might be playing some game, Jin Linkun tries to lean over so he can volunteer his assistance, but he's forcibly shoved back in his seat with a $2 non-quick-drying ball point pen thrusted into his hand.

"No fears of being dropped."

Yu Sheng is curt. The pen in his hand spins once before coming to a stop between his fingers:

"Speed up your hand. Stop zoning out."

Jin Linkun is slightly shocked. Freezing with the pen in hand, his brows rise mildly, and his eyes abruptly glimmer with a bit of mirth behind his glasses.

He had originally been draping over his chair, looking a bit lackadaisical. But this time, he actually pushes himself seriously so he can sit up straight and wield the pen again according to the given directions.

Yu Sheng doesn't know what's there to teach about pen spinning either. Still, he does his best to summarize what he'd gathered from his own experiences:

"...Got that? It'll be fine so long as you spin it."

Jin Linkun nods, grave as a funeral.

Seated with a ramrod straight back for once, he rests his wrist against the edge of the table as he grasps the pen, trying to get a feel for it.

Yu Sheng lifts his head up.

Jin Linkun has his gaze cast downwards, shoulders and back drawing a prominent arc as those long, pale fingers curve ever so slightly. That bland-looking gel pen quivers slightly between his fingertips.

It adds a ridiculous, yet charming aloofness to him.

A scowl creeps onto Yu Sheng's face despite himself.

Guys who have neat-looking wrists truly get under his skin.

Yu Sheng abruptly puts an end to their short-lived, friendly tutoring session. Tearing his gaze away, he ducks back down to return to his exercises.

He has only just flipped open the workbook when that pretty-looking hand suddenly shoots out to grab at the pen.

It fails; The pen clanks as it falls onto the desk once again.

......

When they make it back to the dormitory, Jin Linkun is still hung up over the pen spinning.

Having ran through the practice questions for a whole afternoon, Yu Sheng is already done with the workbook. He tosses it back to him and he heads over to the washroom to wash his hands.

Jin Linkun catches it but he remains persistently seated at the desk, trying repeatedly to complete a pen spin. As he does so, he gives himself a reassuring pep talk:

"It's okay. This is probably something that requires more practice..."

Yu Sheng squeezes a large chunk of soap on the back of his hand and scrubs hard at it. Only after a period of time then is he able to get rid of the black dot that was on the back of his hand for the entire afternoon.

He is about to say that with Jin Linkun's talent and feel for it, he can forget all about practicing. But though the words are already right on his tongue, he still does not say them.

"...It could be due to the pen."

Hands covered entirely with soap bubbles, Yu Sheng bumps the tap with his wrist and stretches them into the gushing waters: