Suying wasn’t looking at the screen anymore but at the face, an inch from hers, side by side, leaning over her so intimately and like they hadn’t only met once. Side on, his gaze on her screen on the table before her, she could get an unadulterated view.
He had the cutest little nose with a slight upturn at the end. Pouted lips that were puffier in the center top, ripe for kissing, and such pretty cheekbones she wanted to reach up and touch one. His eyes were almost hazel in the light, and she caught flecks of green scattered as he followed the character in concentration, which brought seriousness to his cute features.
He was mesmerizing.
He had such a nice face, super smooth skin, and a jawline more suited to modeling.
Suying’s body was melting into goo at his proximity, and she snapped her eyes back to the screen. Her cheeks were probably the color of beetroot, and she felt hot and clammy. Wondering why he felt so confident about caging her in and swooping in like this. Had any other guy done this, she would have thrown him over her shoulder and twisted his arm up his back. She had been a black belt in taekwondo since school.
“You smell nice. The scrubs suit you too.” Dee gave her a half smile, eye scanning the usual hospital attire with no hint of sarcasm, and returned to the game.
She followed his eyes and gave herself a look over, suddenly feeling shabby and underdressed. Especially compared to him in all-black expensive sportswear that molded to tight thighs and a stocky torso. He looked comfortable yet somehow sexy with it.
She wondered why she only ever saw this guy when she looked her worst, and her hair was tied up and out of her face, making it more obvious that she was makeup-free. She inwardly sank, fumbling with a sudden lack of confidence.
He, seemingly not having the same inability to function as she was, lifted her cell right out of her hands.
Dee slid into the seat, hunched forward in a bro-like manner, lifting his feet to hook them under the table and playing the level for her. She leaned in, watching with tension, wanting that closeness back, forgetting for a second how hot he was when she saw him reach her failed spot.
She had died at this point so many times it was becoming an obsessive need to see it defeated. She leaned in with wide eyes to observe.
“Sorry.” She pulled her hands away, embarrassed that she hadn’t even been unaware of grabbing onto him, and stopped in shock as he caught her hand with his further one. Dee pulled it back and slid it through his arm again before squeezing it against his body to hold it there. His eyes were back on what he was doing, and no hint of anything but a straight, calm expression.
“It was helping me focus.” He smiled to himself. The panty-dropping sexy boy smiles that girls were powerless against when in a face as handsome as this. She couldn’t tell if the boy was an experienced player of both games and women or if he was serious.
Suying blushed furiously to her roots and tried to stare at the screen as he resumed playing. Aware of how her hand was curled around his arm, lying over his untensed bulging bicep, pulling her close so their shoulders touched and her face was near his. Her breathing shallowed, and she was sure she had started sweating.
He was doing crazy things to her with this seemingly innocent touchiness, yet hope rose in her chest and heart. Maybe he did have a mutual attraction, and this was his way of making it obvious. Perhaps he wasn’t this way with girls unless he actually liked them.
Could he like her?
Suying slid her arm out of his with reluctance, and sudden shyness overtook her without the game between them. She didn’t have it as an excuse to stay that way, and now she was more than aware of how she could still feel his heat in her hand and arm.
She took them and peeled back the lid again before absentmindedly stirring them.
“What else do you do for downtime? Surely, you get some time off to do more than eat instant food in a grocery store?” Dee leaned one elbow on the counter to turn to her, his eyes never leaving her face, and he stayed close enough to make this still feel intimate.
She couldn’t read him at all, though. Whether this was the kind of flirty guy he was, in an understated, very casual way, or if this was him steering the conversation to ask her out. So far, besides getting very close and stealing her phone, he wasn’t giving her any flirt vibes. He seemed like a normal guy bumping into a friend and casually catching up.
Was he just a friendly person who talked to everyone?
The cashier had said he was charming, so maybe he did. Perhaps he was one of those rare people who treated everyone equally regardless of age and gender, and the thought depressed her.
Ling never understood it.