The Love Score || Zhuo Zhi

91: Why Are You So Wet?

"I have a suggestion," Zhuo Zhi said, making my turn around to face him. "My home isn't far from here. You can wait there for the rain to stop."

"I-- what?" His idea rendered me momentarily speechless. "Your... home?" I gulped, all sorts of thoughts racing through my mind.

"Yeah...?" Zhuo Zhi nodded, looking puzzled as to why I was acting so sceptically.

"B-but--" I stuttered. "Will it be too inconvenient for you? Aren't your parents home? Xiao Yu?"

"That's what you're concerned about?" Zhuo Zhi asked, seeming to heave a relieved breath like he had expected something worse. He shook his head, "My parents have business trips often and they aren't here for the week. Xiao Yu should be in school."

How can Zhuo Zhi not find this invitation awkward? I closed my mouth lest I becoming a stuttering blabbering mess in front of Zhuo Zhi, fiddling with my fingers as the wind continued howling in my ears.

It's Zhuo Zhi's house, Yue En. Your senior's house. It feels inappropriate somehow.

But then again, I'm his friend. Friends aren't supposed to have this big of a reaction to being invited to their house.

Friends, Yue En. Even today after getting off the Ferris wheel Zhuo Zhi agreed that you were just friends.

Just friends. Okay.

I sucked in an anxious breath through my teeth to calm my nerves and adjust myself. "Uhm, alright. But I'll just be waiting there until the rain stops, and I'll have to go home."

It was like a spark darted across Zhuo Zhi's eyes when I finally accepted his invitation. His previously worried frown vanished and was replaced with a relaxed smile. With a tilt of his head, he wordlessly beckoned me to walk beside him as he raised the umbrella again. My pace matching his, we walked out from under the bus stop together.

I felt my hair self-consciously, my hand touching over the rough, metallic bump of my pinwheel hair clip. The wind kept whipping around my bare legs and the socks in my shoes squelched wetly with every step. I was thankful for the umbrella Zhuo Zhi held above me, otherwise, my clothes would have been soaked. The raindrops were only grazing my left sleeve and shorts.

"Your competition is important to your team," I said to fill in the silence, continuing our conversation from before. "When I see all of you working so hard-- every single day-- it inspires me. It amazes me how a bunch of teenagers can push themselves past their limits to win glory for their school. You guys are bonded like a family, going through blood, sweat and tears together. Encouraging each other to persevere till the end. It's not just your diligence that makes me so proud to know the Yu Qing team, it's your friendship, too."

A silence fell between us, with just the sound of raindrops on the umbrella breaking it. After a moment, I heard Zhuo Zhi breathlessly reply, "We treat every competition as another step we have yet to take. We work hard for the championship, but we work even harder because we want to look back on the progress we've made. To know that our efforts were not futile. It's always the journey that makes it worthwhile, not what we have achieved in the end."

"Your team is very lucky to have such people who play tennis passionately," I stated, "Not just because they want to be better than others or to win anything, but because they love it." I raised my head to look up at Zhuo Zhi. Rainwater painted around his pale cheeks and dripped off his midnight-black bangs. I noticed how well-defined his nose was, how sharp his jawline was, how reddish-pink his lips were despite the chilly weather. Simply just looking at his delicate features could somehow make my heart flutter.