DTTM – Chapter 24 : I’m fighting for the sake of a toilet?

Chapter 23 | 🚽 Contents 🧻 | Chapter 25

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Translator: Silvery
PR: Decadence

Having been his roommate these past few days, truthfully speaking, Yu Sheng is starting to see when Jin Linkun truly cares about someone.

But with that said, he still doesn’t understand – How can such a considerate action turn out so tender yet infuriating in this person’s hand?

He thinks he might even be seeing a halo that’s a manifestation of fatherly love floating over Jin Linkun’s head.

……

Lifting his legs through his blanket, he evenly boots the other back into his seat before he realizes the source of that halo might have been the desk lamp behind his head.

Jin Linkun is quite particular about returning favours, not stopping at just helping to fill in the form; He pulls out his own empty form which he hardly took a close look at, props it up on the workbook, and copies Yu Sheng’s phone number over to fill in as his own emergency contact.

There isn’t a bedshelfie attached. Therefore, when Yu Sheng lays down, Jin Linkun is hunched over right beside Yu Sheng’s pillow, busily casting a look at the phone number and scrawling the newly memorized digits onto his own form.

Yu Sheng’s eyes flutter closed.

Jin Linkun doesn’t write fast. With every stroke, the scratching of pen on paper drifts over to him.

“And done.”

Jin Linkun is quite satisfied with what he’s done. The pen in his grasp makes a bold twirl as letters and numbers unravel under it. He even tags on:

“If you can’t find me, just meet me at that Internet Café behind the fence.”

Yu Sheng doesn’t think he’ll ever need to find him. Shuffling deeper into his bed, he blinks and scans those sheets of paper.

The light which slips past Jin Linkun’s back blurs everything out a little, but he can see their names and phone numbers filled into the same space within each other’s form.

The unspacious form is thus stuffed to the brim.

“Looks good to me.”

Yu Sheng yawns, pulling the blanket back over himself:

“But have you considered it before? What if there comes a day where they need the both of us but neither of us can get up?”

Jin Linkun: “……”

In response to this never-ending spiral, Jin Linkun resolves to never wake up late.

Seeing the exhaustion that is close to overcoming Yu Sheng, Jin Linkun stuffs both forms into the workbook and heaves his stool back before his desk, turning off the lamp on this side along the way.

When the streaks of light plunge into darkness, soft sounds rebegin within the room.

Yu Sheng lays in bed, not knowing why the mess of thoughts which had been in his head are suddenly quieting down one after another.

Many of the things in his head fade into nothingness, leaving behind a fuzzy, bleary something that seems like a warm yellow light.

Yu Sheng nudges his face into his pillow, shutting his eyes once more.

This time, he didn’t take long to doze off.

The Basic Particulars Form is submitted only three days thereafter.

It’s just as Jin Linkun said: these forms mostly go unnoticed. Even if they’re submitted, it’s no different from pebbles sinking into the ocean; There are no visible ripples in sight.

Rather, it is Team 7 that runs into a not to say unimportant, but also hardly trivial problem.

The cause of said issue? There is some other team out there that has snatched Team 7’s exclusive Night Study Toilet.

When Yu Sheng hears about this, he’s so caught off guard for a moment, his writing hand comes to a rare halt and he looks up:

“What toilet?”

“What else but the toilet meant for the Night Study? The 4^th floor has always been our Team’s. There’s no room there to begin with, and yet, they actually dared to use buckets to take over the place!”

The boy currently making a fiery speech neglects to notice who had asked that question. After his curt reply, he goes on, filled with indignation:

“It’s always been on a first-come first-served basis for everyone. We’ve always dashed over the moment we’re done freshening up. What right do they have exactly to set such a horrendous rule?!”

“Alright, that’s enough, Xia Junhua. Take a moment to cool your head first.”

Team 7’s Captain sits in the centre of the circle, rubbing his forehead:

“We should attempt negotiations first. Let’s take a look at their attitudes. If we can’t reach a satisfactory conclusion, then we shall talk about what comes after… Cen Rui, has there been any progress over on your side?”

A skinny and tiny lad in the corner jabs his phone for a brisk couple of times then adjusts his glasses:

“The one taking over our territory is Team 2. I shall send you their names and photos in a while…”

This gang shuffle closer and put their heads together. Kong Jiahe is squeezed out to the edge of the group and is slightly incapable of mixing in. He stammers as he persuades:

“T-Teacher Wan said. We ought to have work-life balance—”

“What work? What balance? You actually take what Old Wan said for real? Don’t tell me, are you a student of H High?”

A boy seated in the row before Yu Sheng smacks him on the head. He throws down his books to roll up his sleeves and get over:

“If it’s Team 2, then I know them. There’re a couple of them who come from the same school as me. Those guys are all a bunch of tricky opponents. You’ve got to outsmart them, you hear me? Go in with at least three game plans on hand.”

“……”

Yu Sheng puts down his pen and turns in ready to ask Jin Linkun if this is the normal state of mind for most top high schoolers. Upon seeing the sheer flabbergasted shock in the other’s eyes that does not fall short of his own, he chooses to swallow his own words in the end.

“Friend.”

Jin Linkun is the first one to crack between them. Bumping him subtly with his elbow, he drops his voice to a whisper:

“I haven’t returned for a year, so I am slightly out of my depth. Are all the third-years in this new cohort this passionate?”

Only then did Yu Sheng remember this guy’s not too familiar with the things here either. He shakes his head, looking forward.

Old Wan’s methods seem to have worked indeed. The students of Team 7 have established ties that run incredibly deep after their self-introduction.

Splitting the tasks while working in tandem, they eagerly rev up their engines and make a whole discussion. Soon enough, they have an entire foolproof plan done up. Now, they are ready to go talk to the enemy Team about the right to use the toilet.

Before Night Self-Study has even begun, a swarm of people gush out from the classroom like water breaking from a dam.

The few girls in the team do not share similar toilet-related sentiments, but they, too, are inexplicably roused by this sensational call for action, and they follow suit in case their aid is needed.

Poor Kong Jiahe has failed to convince even a single person to stay. Stuck between a wolf and cliff as he looks between the door and the corridor, his gaze lands upon the two Boss Bros who hadn’t budged an inch in the back of the classroom. He stiffens on instinct. Alas, shaking like a leaf on a stormy day, he dashes out of the door and lightly, gently, closes the door up.

Yu Sheng puts down his pen, thinking back on this entire event carefully.

Central Third does have her share of studious students, but they have never been fired up to this extent.

To these academic tyrants, things like snatching their place for study is most likely closest to them losing their soccer field, then coming back to fight for it.

Jin Linkun has his eyes downcast, pen in hand, eyes not focused on that Competition Question Booklet. It’s hard to say what he might be thinking.

With that, Yu Sheng has finally made some sense of their actions. He sits up and he bumps into Jin Linkun’s elbow.

Before his words can come, Jin Linkun has already beat him to it:

“Yu Sheng.”

His tone is not quite the same as usual. Yu Sheng startles before he turns around:

“What is it?”

Jin Linkun’s right hand twitches. His pointer and middle fingers flick. That pen turns half a round in mid-air, but still fails to land between his fingers. Cla-ank! It tumbles back onto the desk.

“Tell me.”

He doesn’t go to pick up that pen. With a relatively calm tone, his voice infiltrates the wide, empty classroom:

“Is there a meaning – to making friends?”

Yu Sheng scrunches his brows.

He hardly says a word, reaching out to take that pen from Jin Linkun’s side.

Then he adds on his own pen cap so as to balance out the weight on that pen. He tests it out with a spin, and he hands it back to him.

Jin Linkun raises his brows slightly. Eyeing the hand holding the pen out to him, his light chuckle comes between them:

“Thank you.”

He looks like he’s no longer intending to pursue this matter. That tiny bit of abnormality which sprouted out of nowhere is withdrawn, leaving behind a laidback smile that’s the same as always.

“I wouldn’t know.”

Yu Sheng waits for him to take it back before he abruptly answers. He draws his hand back and closes his workbook:

“I’m not well-acquainted with good students.”

Jin Linkun freezes up and an uncontrollable smile takes over his face. He nods:

“Okay. Let’s study—”

Before he’s done speaking, he’s dragged up to his feet by Yu Sheng, his wrist in his grasp.

Although the long digits have circled his wrist loosely without using much strength, they just seem quite tough for him to break free of.  

Jin Linkun lets himself be pulled along for two steps, feeling a little uncertain:

“Yu Sheng?”

“You won’t know till you try it out.”

Yu Sheng tugs him towards the door:

“It’s not like it requires money. Just come back if it turns out meaningless— to quickly study with me.”

Jin Linkun has actually mentioned studying with him countless times, but it’s still a first for Yu Sheng to be the one saying it.

The youth’s tone is a bit rushed. It is plenty stiff too, somehow revealing more than he tries to hide.

That hand pulls him along without allowing for a struggle. It pulls open the door, and they leave the classroom.

Towed the entire way by him, thoughts of stopping actually fled Jin Linkun.

Every team’s activity room is different. But with that said, the Night Self-Study classrooms are all quite close.

Turning around a hallway, a bunch of people making a huge clamour appear at the classroom door at the corner.

The entire progression of the talks didn’t go very well.

Team 2 insisted on the washrooms being public property; It should be open to everyone, and everyone should have the right to use it.

Team 7 backed up a step and suggested that they remove the buckets; Everyone should stand an equal chance to get it by first-come first-served basis. Still, they were unable to reach a consensus.

“……”

Listening to all this from the back of the crowd, Yu Sheng drags a palm down his face despite himself.

Jin Linkun stands at his side. That tiny bit of rarely seen abnormality seems to be all but gone. He regains his usual casual indolence, even dropping his head and speaking to him, rather intrigued:

“Friend, I heard that back in Third Central, you would often help fight for territories when there are disputes occurring…”

Yu Sheng deadpans:

“What will they say when this gets out? That I’m fighting for the sake of a toilet?”

Jin Linkun truly can’t hold it back. He bursts out laughing. Then, he meets Yu Sheng’s gaze and coughs lightly, holding it back in the nick of time:

“My bad. I won’t laugh anymore.”

Listening to these Academic Overlords hurtle literature references at each other in an intense debate, Yu Sheng can feel a migraine building up behind his eyes. He lifts a hand to massage his temples:

“Which toilet is it? Can I just go and help them throw those buckets out the window?”

“No. It is no longer a simple matter of those buckets.”

Jin Linkun is quite a good listener. Even while talking to him, he still kept half his focus on those bickering people. With his arms folded, he points at the crowd and summarizes with due diligence:

“Now, it is a matter of pride between these two teams. They are currently discussing the best method to duke this out.”

Yu Sheng: “……”

Yu Sheng: “I don’t think they’ll use fists as a way of settling the issue.”

Jin Linkun nods and pays a careful ear:

“They have decided on the Rubik’s cube, Sudoku, and Tetris Game for now. Through randomized lots, they intend to pick the people participating.”

……

Yu Sheng seriously contemplates retracing the steps he’d taken in bringing his roommate out to make friends and going back to study before this venture bears any fruit.

“Now that I’ve taken a second look, it does seem to be quite interesting.”

Jin Lin Kun looks like he’s totally interested already. He pulls Yu Sheng back:

“They’ve written index numbers for the lots. For all we know, you may be the one chosen…”

Yu Sheng denies off the bat:

“That’s impossible—”

Yu Sheng: “……”

He knows he’s doomed the instant those words leave his mouth. Eyeing the still clueless Jin Linkun before him, he takes a deep breath and spits it out, loud and clear:

“If I’m drawn, the next one thereafter shall be you.”

Jin Linun’s brows leap up: “?”

Yu Sheng stares at him, lapping over his tiger’s teeth.

Team 7’s Captain draws out 3 paper slips and slaps them before Team 2’s Captain. He violently snatches over the offending team’s 3 paper slips and pulls them open one after another.

Two squads on either end thrust their heads over impatiently.

……

Bit by bit, without a single movement or word, the noise in the entire corridor dies down. 

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Next Time on DTTM! – Chapter 25: <I guess. They’re arm-wrestling.>
Preview: Are you ready? This is where the story begins.

Decadence: 
*Caw Caw* said little Yu
*Meooow* answered little Jin
Words spoken by a crow are a sin
But I’ll use them to turn your face blue
(LOL)

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Chapter 23 | 💩 Contents 💩 | Chapter 25

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