Walking Through Open Doors

Chapter 6 - Defibrillator

After four years of not writing a single word, not counting grocery lists, emails, or helping Zhou Cheng Ling with his homework, he is suddenly inspired. And he's inspired at the strangest of times. He's used to writing at odd hours and in odd places, but today has been odd.

He'd woken up at the crack of dawn with bits and pieces of a memory infused dream floating around in his head, things that he couldn't quite reach but that wouldn't fully dissolve either. Those dark eyes on that young boy had fluttered around in his peripheral vision and unable to swat them away, he had felt a pull towards his studio where he had taken his previous attempt at thoughts and turned it into an actual high level outline of what could very well be his next novel. Or maybe even a series of seven novels, if it all worked out.

Driving up from the village—a solo trip to call in a favor from Jing Bei Yuan, who had howled with laughter at the turn of events—he'd called one of his most trusted private investigators. After hanging up, he'd clicked on the speech to text app and chatted whilst navigating up the mountain. By the time he reverse parked the truck, he had a proper outline of the first chapters, which was more than the skeleton he had drafted in the morning. Before Wen Ke Xing had walked in and distracted him with those stormy eyes, cheeky smiles and a laughter that made his ears tingle.

Standing in the doorway when he got back home, watching their guest teach his son how to stir-fry beef and veggies the authentic and accurate way, sparked emotions that led to thoughts that grew into inspiration. So here he is, trying to get as much of his thoughts into the document that he can before the dinner is ready. He is also hoping that the private investigator can find what he needs.

He feels more than hears that Wen Ke Xing is standing in the doorway and when the man speaks, the same shiver ripples up his spine. And just like this morning, his entire body freezes. Thanks to his rigorous undercover experience he avoids giving any facial expressions away, but the fact that his body is reacting at all, is slightly concerning.

"A'Ling guessed that you were here when you didn't come into the house after your trip down to the village," Wen Ke Xing says and Zhou Zi Shu can hear him walking into the studio, speaking as he moves closer. "Dinner is ready, but we can leave you a hot plate if you want to keep writing."

Keeping his eyes on the computer, he types the last few characters, ending the paragraph. "No, I'll join you," he responds and saves the document with a gesture as automatic as blinking.

"Are you sure? I know what it's like when you're on a roll and need to get things written down before you forget."

It's at this point that he realizes that Wen Ke Xing hasn't actually told him anything about himself. Everything he knows about the man is what he has read in the emails and what is written on the internet. Which, to be fair, only included his time at the University and the growth of his company. He hasn't even told Wen Ke Xing that he remembers him from the book reading.

His inner investigative journalist just can't help himself though. He lifts his gaze from the laptop to meet Wen Ke Xing's gaze in the window reflection, "You write too?" And even though the window isn't as clear as a mirror, the eye contact is still intense enough for another ripple of that something to flutter up his spine and prickle around the back of his neck and up his ears.

He sees Wen Ke Xing smile before responding, "Oh, not the same kind of writing that you do. I write code. Pythonmostly (1)."

"Python? You're a programmer?" Zhou Zi Shu asks as innocently as he can, but probably fails.

Wen Ke Xing looks at him with an amused expression. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I work in cyber security."

Zhou Zi Shu wonders if Wen Ke Xing can see straight through him. Though, he has to admit that looking at their current situation, it is a little bit ironic. He blinks and has to bite his lips to keep from smiling, but still fails and it's really inappropriate. It has not been long enough for this to be one of those funny stories that he can look back on and joke about.