NOVEL NEXT 031. Learning to Play Tennis
The two guys went to the cafetaria to eat, and after that, because He Jin had the habit of napping, he went back to his dormitory for a while. At three o’clock, He Jin met up with Qin Yu downstairs while following Qin Yu’s earlier advice to wear a jersey and some loose clothing.
Once downstairs, He Jin saw that Qin Yu had brought a racket with him. They did not say much and went straight to the tennis court.
Because of the popularity of the tennis team, the school invested heavily in tennis courts. The courts were divided into indoor and outdoor courts: one indoor, six outdoor, along with a training ground for novice players.
The weather was good that day, there were several pairs of students playing in the outdoor arena. When they saw Qin Yu, all of them immediately called out to him; some called him “Qin Ge”, some said “seniors”, while some others called out “vice president.”
He Jin was surprised: “You are the Vice President of the Tennis Club?”
Qin Yu glanced around and waved at the students, while saying to He Jin: “That’s just a casual title, actually I don’t really have much work to do.”
As Qin Yu was talking to He Jin, they were approached by a few freshman students, one of them asked curiously: “Qin Ge, who is this?”
Qin Yu patted He Jin’s back softly, prompting him to take a little step forward, then said in a familiar tone: “He is He Jin, my friend.”
His introductory words surprised He Jin once again, because he did not say “senior” or “someone from the student union”, but said “friends” instead… Hearing the word “friend” really made He Jin feel somehow comfortable.
Those freshmen greeted him simultaneously, calling him Senior He Jin. Meanwhile, Qin Yu put aside the racket he was holding, and asked those students to watch it for them. He began swinging his arms, causing small cracking sounds to be heard from his joints: “How about we run two laps first to warm up?”
He Jin kept up with his pace while the two of them started jogging. Qin Yu asked him as they ran: “Do you normally exercise?”
He Jin shook his head. Hua University required its freshmen to do a morning run every day during the first semester, however it was no longer mandatory starting from the second semester. At first, He Jin maintained this habit and ran once in a while with Tong Xuan before breakfast, but with time, he slowly forget to do this until finally he stopped exercising completely.
After only a while, He Jin had begun to gasp; and after doing two laps, he directly fall to his knees, his body bowing slightly.
On the other hand, Qin Yu’s face did not even show any sign of tiredness. He did some more stretching movements while criticizing He Jin at the same time: “You can’t be like this ah. No wonder you got a fever just because of a little rain, and you are also so sensitive to cold. After this, I’ll accompany you to do some running every night, just 15 minutes is enough, it can relieve some pressure in your body, help you to sleep, and also enhance your physique.”
He Jin gasped, Qin Yu’s proposal was good; he also thought he couldn’t go on like this.
Slowly, He Jin felt his whole body warmed a lot. Qin Yu handed a racket to him: “Is the weight OK?”
He Jin held the racket in both hands and commented: “Heavy!”
Qin Yu chuckled, “The one I gave you is fairly light.” Then he took his own racket to compare.
He Jin’s eyes widened: “This is heavier! Why?”
“Beginner’s rackets should not be overweight. This is the racket I bought when I first started playing tennis, it’s relatively good to use in matches compared to some others. I found it yesterday, and wrapped it with a new sweatband…” Qin Yu turned to look at the racket in He Jin’s hold, and then exclaimed in surprise, “How are your hands so small?” pretending like he had only just noticed…
He Jin clenched his hands, feeling a bit embarrassed. He hung down his head and answered: “Yeah, it has always been like this, I don’t know why they stopped growing.”
Qin Yu couldn’t help but laugh in his heart, but still maintained a calm face on the surface, “This racket is a big size, the handle may be too thick for you. If you feel uncomfortable holding it, I can help you to change it into a smaller size, those usually used by women.”
He Jin quickly said: “No, I’m just going to play casually, so this is good enough, don’t need to be too professional about it.”
Qin Yu refuted him seriously, “Using a racket with a too-thick handle will put pressure on your wrist, you won’t be able to use much power, and instead will lose your hold and strength easily… But we can’t do anything about it today. Let’s just play for now, and if you find yourself liking it, then we can go to pick a more suitable racket later.”
He Jin nodded, “OK.”
They went to the novice’s training ground, and practiced squash first. Qin Yu did a demonstration, before throwing a ball to He Jin: “Come on, give it a try.”
The previous night, He Jin himself had learned two or three tennis strategies from the internet. Originally, he thought that Qin Yu would explain the rules to him again, but who knew, the other guy unexpectedly let him try it directly!
He Jin tried two times, but still could not catch the ball. Qin Yu patiently kept on sending the ball his way, “It’s all right, find the feeling, just take it easy.”
After 10 or so balls, He Jin was finally able to successfully connect, and after that, his success rate kept raising with each ball. The sense of achievement in He Jin’s heart grew higher and higher. This tennis seems quite simple!
At that moment, Qin Yu suddenly said: “He Jin, stop, keep this action, that’s right…”
He Jin maintained his raised-right-hand pose, and stopped moving. He felt Qin Yu behind him and thought that the other guy would help him correct his posture like before, but never would he have guessed that Qin Yu would directly position himself behind him!
-Yes, his whole body was pressed up against He Jin’s, chest to back. Because Qin Yu’s body size was bigger than his, in this close proximity, He Jin only felt a strong sense of oppression, like he was going to be attacked!
Qin Yu’s left hand clasped on He Jin’s wrist, pressing it slightly downwards; while his right hand wrapped around the smaller guy’s palm, which was holding onto the racket, and lowering it forcibly: “Relax your shoulder, arms straight, squat a little, put your center of gravity low…”
Feeling that warm breath so close to his ear, He Jin’s ear tingled, and his scalp turned numb. He looked like a puppet who had completely lost its control, only able to let the other guy swing his body around freely.
This … This posture …
He Jin’s heart was filled with a burst of one sentence: “Fuck me
” ……… Is he the only one who finds it strange? Orz …
(↓ you are not alone ↓)
“Ah ~…” a few girls could be heard screaming from afar, instantly jerking He Jin’s soul back to reality!
Qin Yu showed no intent of stepping back; He Jin turned his gaze stiffly and saw a lot of girls had gathered outside the squash court since who-knows-how-long. Their eyes were bright and their faces flushed, while they stared at him and Qin Yu… and pulled excitedly at the iron net separating the place!
Qin Yu remained unmoved, he didn’t even look at them, and said to He Jin with an expressionless face: “Go on.” He acted like a tough, cool tennis coach, with no hint of a joke in his face.
He Jin felt stuffy, but began playing the ball again without saying anything, while also trying to tone down the burst of embarrassment inside him at the same time.
He did not suspect anything abnormal from Qin Yu’s actions. Qin Yu seemed so serious, it might appear odd if he behaved so surprised… So even if he was faced with this kind of ambiguous move, He Jin would not hide himself from the other guy.
The problem is in himself; because of those things that Fire had said to him before, his mind was filled with love-related stuff now. (=_=)
After that, Qin Yu let go of him and did not come near him again. He stayed looking at him from the side, while doing some demonstrations occasionally.
Exercise is indeed a stress-reliever. The tangled mess previously left in He Jin’s mind had all been thrown out ouf his brain; the more sweated, the more excited he felt, as if all feelings of boredom were sweated along out of his body, making him much more relaxed.
“You actually have some sports cells in you,” Qin Yu praised him without thinking.
He Jin felt very happy; he took off his jersey, and tugged at his t-shirt’s collar to wipe the sweat on his face, before saying a little proudly: “I played badminton in junior high school, and once won in a distric competition on behalf of my school team.”
Qin Yu: “Oh. So tennis, you want to continue playing?”
He Jin: “Yes, it’s quite fun… Why aren’t you playing ah?”
“I’m looking at you,” the way Qin Yu said ‘look’ was as if he was talking about watching a child, “Lest you move wrong and play disorderly, your whole body will be sore for several days.”
“You are really dedicated,” Feeling tired, He Jin sat down directly on the ground, and breathed heavily, “I’m taking a break. You play for a while ah, I’ll look and learn from it.”
Qin Yu weighed the racket in his hand, holding it firmly, and turned around.
Toss, serve, strike … Qin Yu slowly warmed up his body, each play was done steadily and accuratly!
After mastering the tempo, Qin Yu began to speed up and beat back every balls two times faster than what He Jin had practiced.
He Jin was speechless, but he was going to be even more shocked, because Qin Yu obviously wasn’t satisfied with this—he watched as Qin Yu began swinging more and more quickly, and hitting back the ball more and more strongly… No ball fell from his rally; his body was like a net, with his arm waving wildly and swinging at the shadow in the air, catching every ball accurately and hitting it back with even more power each time!
He Jin also found that unlike him, the taller guy’s hitting points were all concentrated in the same area. That area was hit continuously by Qin Yu’s high-speed tennis balls, creating a piercing illusion in every onlookers’ eyes.
The girls hanging outside the court began screaming once again. He Jin unconsciously gulped, suddenly able to understand why so many people praised Qin Yu as ‘handsome’… Because this current Qin Yu here, did look really handsome… very handsome.
Thinking of his previous bragging act for winning a competition in “Junior High School’s badminton”, He Jin suddenly felt embarrassed!
Later that evening, after taking a bath, He Jin laid his tired body down on his bed, and thought back of Qin Yu’s heroic figure.
That kind of boy, made him feel envy ah, made him yearn for… He wanted to run with him, wanted to play against him, wanted to see him as his opponent, to be the focus of his attention, and then to have a showdown.