TVDC 50: Learning to Swim

At this moment, Qiu Xuning stood outside the swimming pool, looking very nervous.

He Zhiyuan walked over with his bag, and naturally placed his hand on Qiu Xuning’s shoulder, blocking his escape route. “Go in,” he said.

Qiu Xuning followed He Zhiyuan into the swimming pool with his legs stiff.

It was already the holiday, and there were quite a few people in the swimming pool, mostly women with children and middle-aged men in their thirties or forties. It was lively, almost like stepping into a busy market.

Qiu Xuning only took one glance and immediately felt like backing out. He tugged at He Zhiyuan’s shirt hem and whispered, “There are so many people.”

“Mm, there are a lot of people, it’s the holidays after all,” He Zhiyuan said slowly, as if he hadn’t noticed Qiu Xuning’s nervousness.

Qiu Xuning pressed his lips together, his delicate brows lightly furrowing.

He really wanted to learn how to swim, but having He Zhiyuan teach him was a different matter. Now, seeing the chaotic scene in front of him, which was completely different from what he had imagined, he was already starting to regret it.

He Zhiyuan, with a calm face, said, “Let’s go to the changing room.”

Qiu Xuning pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

He Zhiyuan glanced down at him, took a swimming cap out of his bag, and placed it on his head. During this process, he carefully tucked the fine strands of hair behind Qiu Xuning’s ears into the cap.

He Zhiyuan’s movements were meticulous, but the proximity was a bit too close. Qiu Xuning could feel the warmth of his breath, like a net, enveloping him in his presence.

Qiu Xuning caught the scent of He Zhiyuan’s fabric softener on him. The smell, touched by his body warmth, exuded a gentle fragrance.

His heart began to race violently, and his thin eyelids fluttered slightly. He lowered his gaze, looking calm and obedient, allowing He Zhiyuan to continue his actions.

He Zhiyuan’s finger lightly brushed across the tip of Qiu Xuning’s ear. Just that one touch, and he saw a faint pink appear on the delicate ear. He paused for a moment, slowly withdrew his hand, and said to Qiu Xuning, “Let’s go to the changing room first.”

He Zhiyuan said this and stepped back a few paces, creating some distance between them.

Qiu Xuning opened his eyes and saw that He Zhiyuan had already turned and was heading toward the changing room. He let out a big sigh of relief, realizing that he had almost been holding his breath just now.

He looked at He Zhiyuan’s tall figure, feeling a bit frustrated and embarrassed as he touched the swimming cap on his head. Could he really let He Zhiyuan teach him like this?

Qiu Xuning seemed to think of something, and a faint pink hue appeared on his face. His gaze flickered uncertainly.

If he had five parts regret before, now it has probably increased to nine.

Qiu Xuning followed He Zhiyuan into the changing room and found his locker.

He Zhiyuan took out the swim trunks from his bag—two of the same style, even the same color, black.

Qiu Xuning became nervous. This was exactly what he had been afraid of. The situation where he and He Zhiyuan would be bare in front of each other.

Before He Zhiyuan had even taken off his clothes, Qiu Xuning’s face had already turned slightly red. His gaze wandered aimlessly toward the ceiling of the changing room, and he stammered, “You go ahead and change first. I’ll step outside and take a look.”

After he finished speaking, he didn’t look at He Zhiyuan’s expression. He quickly turned and ran out of the changing room.

He Zhiyuan watched Qiu Xuning disappear into the distance, then lowered his eyes, looking at the swim trunks he was holding. He let out a “tsk” lightly, as if feeling a little regretful.

Qiu Xuning ran outside, looking at the lively pool, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. After a few rounds of this, the heat on his face gradually subsided.

Just as he was about to turn back toward the changing room, a familiar voice, laced with a hint of surprise, called out from beside him, “Qiu Xuning!”

Qiu Xuning froze for a moment, then turned toward the voice. To his surprise, it was Qin Shouzhe.

Qin Shouzhe hadn’t expected to run into Qiu Xuning here either. A look of surprise appeared on his face as he spoke a few words to his companions, sent them off, and then jogged over to Qiu Xuning.

“How come you’re here?” Qin Shouzhe suppressed the smile tugging at the corners of his lips, trying to act casual as he asked Qiu Xuning.

Qiu Xuning felt a bit embarrassed seeing Qin Shouzhe. He had told Qin Shouzhe before that he would stay at home and focus on studying high school material, but here he was, out playing so soon after the holiday started. “I–I’m here to learn swimming… Are you here to swim?”

Qin Shouzhe replied, “Yeah, those were my cousin and my younger cousin. What about you? Did you come here by yourself?”

Just as Qiu Xuning was about to answer, He Zhiyuan’s voice suddenly came from behind, “Qiu Xuning.” His tone carried a hint of urgency.

Qiu Xuning was startled, his shoulders trembling a little. He didn’t dare turn around, and his lips tightly pressed into a straight line.

Seeing his reaction, Qin Shouzhe curiously turned his head to look. He saw the tall figure of He Zhiyuan.

He had seen this person before. It was after the entrance exams, when it had rained. This person had come over to give Qiu Xuning an umbrella. He seemed to be a relative, maybe his older brother.

Qin Shouzhe turned to Qiu Xuning and said, “Your brother is calling you.”

Qiu Xuning stiffly replied, “I know.”

While they were talking, He Zhiyuan took a step forward, walked up to Qiu Xuning, and stood still. “Aren’t you going to change clothes?”

“Change… I’ll go now.” Qiu Xuning lowered his head, refusing to look at him. However, from his peripheral vision, he could still see He Zhiyuan’s strong, long calves. Further up were his slightly short swim trunks, tightly hugging his firm, muscular thighs…

Qiu Xuning felt the warmth on his face return, his cheeks burning once again. In a bit of a panic, he quickly turned and ran toward the changing room, even bumping into Qin Shouzhe without having the chance to apologize.

Qin Shouzhe watched Qiu Xuning run off in a hurry, feeling a bit confused. After thinking for a moment, he seemed to understand his nervousness. After all, Qiu Xuning still didn’t know how to swim.

Once Qiu Xuning had run out of sight, Qin Shouzhe’s gaze shifted to He Zhiyuan. He didn’t have the guts to talk with He Zhiyuan, and since his cousin had called him, he decided to go over. Anyway, Qiu Xuning wouldn’t leave anytime soon, so he could come find him later.

Qiu Xuning returned to the changing room, trying hard to calm himself down. He knew that he couldn’t look so flustered. He wondered if He Zhiyuan might think he was strange. After all, they were both guys, and his reaction shouldn’t be like a girl’s.

He took off his clothes and changed into the swim trunks. Feeling a little awkward, he instinctively crossed his arms, but then found it odd and quickly dropped them.

Qiu Xuning placed his clothes and personal belongings into the locker, then did some mental preparation in the changing room before finally walking out.

To his surprise, He Zhiyuan had been waiting for him outside. When he saw Qiu Xuning walking out of the changing room with his arms crossed, the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly, but he quickly suppressed it. In a casual tone, he quietly asked, “Why did it take so long?”

Qiu Xuning stammered, unable to say anything. He Zhiyuan, however, was very patient, as if he needed to hear some reason from him.

Qiu Xuning had no choice but to say, “I want to go home.”

He Zhiyuan asked, “Why?”

Qiu Xuning couldn’t come up with any reason, and naturally, He Zhiyuan wasn’t going to let him off easily. He said, “Go rinse off first.”

Qiu Xuning kept his head lowered, his eyes cast down. Surprisingly, He Zhiyuan didn’t say anything more. They kept a certain distance between them, walking one in front of the other to the shower room. After rinsing off, they made their way to the side of the swimming pool.

The swimming pool was large and even though there were a lot of people, there was still plenty of space. Qiu Xuning and He Zhiyuan chose a more secluded spot, the last lane, just the two of them. This somewhat put Qiu Xuning’s mind at ease.

Qiu Xuning had previously participated in an event organized by his school and had been to the swimming pool with his classmates, so he was familiar with the basics. At first, he didn’t appear like a complete beginner. He did the warm-up exercises on his own, and just as he was lifting his face to look at the pool, He Zhiyuan’s broad, sun-kissed back suddenly came into his view.

It was as if he had been burned. Qiu Xuning quickly averted his gaze, lowering his head to look at his curled toes. It felt like all the blood in his body rushed to his face. Even though there was no mirror nearby, he knew his face had turned red again.

He just knew it!

He was always like this. He should have refused. If he had been able to reject He Zhiyuan, he wouldn’t be in this awkward situation now.

Qiu Xuning couldn’t help but feel frustrated, his whole body tensing up.

“Qiu Xuning.” He Zhiyuan called out to him.

Qiu Xuning didn’t respond at first, so He Zhiyuan raised his voice and called out to him, “Qiu Xuning, come here.”

Qiu Xuning couldn’t help but look up and saw He Zhiyuan getting out of the pool, walking toward him.

Qiu Xuning’s breath became rapid. In a panic, he quickly looked away and waved his hand, saying, “I can’t do it. Never mind, I’ll just go home.”

He Zhiyuan reached out and grabbed his wrist, saying, “It’s exactly because you don’t know that you need to learn, right?”

“…” Qiu Xuning was at a loss for words. After a while, he stammered, “But I’m really bad at this. I might not be able to learn.”

He Zhiyuan looked at his bright red ears and whispered, “If it’s you, you’ll definitely be able to learn.”

Qiu Xuning froze for a moment, his heart pounding wildly. His tone weakened, and the resistance in his voice faded significantly. “I… I really can’t learn.”

He Zhiyuan bent down, cupping his face in his hands, and looked into his eyes. His voice was low as he said, “If you can’t learn, I’ll teach you until you can. If you still can’t, I’ll keep teaching.”

Qiu Xuning: “…”

He thought in quiet despair, It’s exactly because you’re the one teaching me that I might never learn to swim for the rest of my life