That night at the hospital, Mr. Tang queried the two siblings about their day to which both responded with a shrug, boringly repeating it was okay like always. Jia Li glanced at her brother, who was perched on the couch, switching channel after channel, eager to find something entertaining to watch. Jia Le hadn't been the same after his argument with Da Yong. He became more reserved, stubborn, and ignoring everyone, who questioned what happened between them. Jia Li attempted to intervene and help them mend their friendship. But with their attitude, it seemed too useless.
Sighing, Jia Li threw him under the bus as she nonchalantly blurted out to their parents, "Jia Le wants to stop playing tennis."
He halted and glared at her, which she ignored and kept fixing the blanket to make their father comfortable. Mr. Tang turned to his son with an exhausted look. Despite the chemotherapy, their father's condition seemed to worsen, making him more exhausted from working on his therapy.
"Why do you want to stop, Jia Le?" He calmly asked.
"It's no use staying in a team where everyone feels like giving up." Jia Le muttered. "Xing Long just quitted; Si Yang had been leaving the team without telling us the reason; and Da Chi's just so hard to understand. We're partners but it doesn't feel like it."
Mr. Tang just sighed as Jia Li began helping their mother prepare dinner, "But do you really want to quit tennis? Just because your team faced these problems, are these enough to give you the reason to give up your dream?"
"How would it still be a dream if none of the guys are there to fulfill it with me?" Jia Le questioned back.
"So I'm guessing you won't be attending the training with Yu Feng, considering you want to quit playing tennis." Jia Li piped in, much to her brother's annoyance. She was obviously doing this on purpose. If she couldn't knock some sense into him, then at least their parents could.
Mrs. Tang laid out their food on the table and sat beside her husband, "What training?"
Jia Le rolled his eyes, "Our coach arranged a one-week training with Yu Feng outside school. Si Yang told us that whoever wants to continue playing, they should attend the training."
"They actually gave their jersey uniforms to Yu Feng because they lost the matches this afternoon." She once again, intervened, and Jia Le could feel himself about to burst in anger at her actions.
"Honey, why don't you go and attend the training?" Mrs. Tang suggested, sending a knowing look to Jia Li to shut up. "You never know your teammates might attend. And maybe this one-week training can help your team get fixed."
"I'll still think about it." Jia Le mumbled and began scooping food on his plate.
Their father sat up on his bed, "When is this training by the way?"
"The day after tomorrow."
He nodded, "Bring Jia Li with you."
"What?" Jia Li paused and stared at their father, "But who's going to take care of you, Dad while Mom's at work?"
"I'll just ask our boss to allow me to work here instead." Their mother answered dismissively. "You should go with your brother and keep an eye on him. He might go rampage and always make decisions rashly."
"Thanks a lot for having faith in me." Jia Le sarcastically answered. "Did you know that I'm the one who should keep an eye on Jia Li? She's been attracting dangerous guys like they're magnets."
Their parents turned to her with curiosity, amusement visible on their faces, "Really? Seems like our little Jia Li isn't little anymore." Mr. Tang chuckled, "Tell me, Sweetie, has any of them caught your eye?"
She shook her head vigorously, shooting a glare at Jia Le's direction, "If they're dangerous, why would I associate myself with them?"
"Then, is it anyone from the team?" Mr. Tang continued to tease her.
Jia Li choked on the food she was eating. Her face went beet red as his name entered her head. She immediately downed a glass of water, which made Jia Le look at her skeptically, "So it is someone from the team. God, I hope it's not Bai Yang, or Lu Xia, or worse, Qiao Chen."
"No, it's not! What makes you think it's someone from the team?" Jia Li raised an eyebrow at him, covering her nervousness.
"Little sis," Jia Le deadpanned, "You're blushing, like deeply blushing. And you're a terrible liar."
"I am not!" She protested, hands slapping her cheeks that felt warm, betraying her words.
He squinted his eyes at her, pretending to think deeply by rubbing his chin whilst their parents only laughed at her, "If I find out who it is, I'm going to make sure he gets interrogated and passes mine and Dad's tests first."
"And what if the person that I like doesn't like me?" She raised an eyebrow at him, putting on a funny look.
"So you do like someone." Jia Le wiggled his eyebrows, forgetting how he was pissed at his sister earlier.
"I do not! It was just a question!"
Jia Le laughed, "You really are a terrible liar."
She huffed as their mother interrupted, suppressing her own laughter. The family was obviously enjoying the way Jia Li got flustered about talking who her crush was.
After dinner, the two siblings bid a goodbye to their parents, who practically forced them to go home and start packing earlier to prevent last-minute packing. It was weekend tomorrow, so Jia Li planned to buy a few snacks for the trip.
Upon arriving to her room, Jia Li first plugged her cameras to charge, knowing how she would definitely need those for the training. Then, she freshened up herself and began rummaging through her closet to fish out the clothes that could fit inside her travel backpack.
In the middle of folding her clothes, Jia Li heard her phone vibrate on her study table, its screen lighting up for a split second, signaling a notification. She stood up and grabbed her phone before retreating to her previous position on the bed. She unlocked her phone and was greeted by a text message.
'Are you at home?' - zhuo zhi
A smile lit up on her face as she realized the message was from Zhuo Zhi. She typed out a response, forgetting what she needed to do and laid down comfortably on her bed.
'Yep.' - jia li
But she quickly huffed, eyes flaring with determination as she dropped her arms to her sides.
Nope, I do not like him. He's just friendly, that's all. Like an older brother.
Her phone dinged and Jia Li immediately opened it.
'That's good. Don't go out anymore at this time of the night, okay? Get some rest now.' - zhuo zhi
'Alright, Senior. Goodnight :)' - jia li
'Goodnight, Jia Li. Sweet dreams :)' - zhuo zhi
Jia Li groaned as she couldn't contain the smile dangerously growing on her face.
Jia Le's right. I'm a terrible liar, I do like Senior Zhuo Zhi.
YOU ARE READING
𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙝 ➝ Zhuo Zhi
FanfictionIn every tennis game Jia Li had witnessed, she believed that whenever a ball comes bouncing to your court, all you had to do was return it. But after transferring to Yu Qing for her last two years of High School, Jia Li realized there's more to it i...
