The sand on the speaker thing."
Jian's expression doesn't change, but his eyes do that focusing thing, that I'm being patient with you thing. "We need to stay focused," he says. "After we finish studying, we can look at this."
Alex doesn't like it. He wants to talk about it now, wants to chase that vibration feeling, that frequency thing he saw at the crosswalk. But he also knows Jian is right, and he hates that Jian is right, and he hates that he's going to agree anyway. "Fine," he says, pulling out his laptop. "But we're starting with the Rankine cycle problems. I already did the first three."
Jian shakes his head. "We should review the conceptual framework first. The equations are meaningless without understanding the thermodynamic principles."
"They're not meaningless, they're just math. We plug in the numbers, we get the answer, we move on."
"But you will not understand why the answer is correct."
"I don't need to understand why. I need to pass the test."
"That is a very Alex way of thinking."
"That's a very Jian way of being annoying."
They stare at each other for a moment, the old argument, the old dynamic. Alex with his shortcuts and his desperation, Jian with his patience and his need to get it right. They've been doing this since freshman year.