The Prince(ss) Of Tennis

Old Flame II

Aifang sprung up from her seat, squinting her eyes to get a better look at her allegedly former acquaintance, to confirm her suspicions. Baiyang placed his large palm on her head, which blocked his view, to lower it - "sit down, I can't see"
- "just a sec" she got a good look, and satisfied flopped back down.
- "it really is him" a warm sensation slowly spread in her chest.
- "it's a small world indeed, you found me, even when I failed to keep my promise to you"
She decided to ask someone, just to be sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Without taking her eyes off Jingwu, she pulled at Siyang's jacket sleeve - "who's he?"
- "oh that, he's Ji Jingwu, Xing Yao's captain" he replied placidly.
- "captain? Ha of course, I wouldn't expect less of him"
Qiao Chen slung his arm around Aifang's shoulders, preparing to brag - "may I also add that our one of a kind captain over here beat Ji Jingwu last year"
- "OHH OF COURSE, OUR CAPTAIN IS THE BEST, Mu Siyang who's doing it like you?" She clapped vigorously.
- "alright alright, enough bragging, and let's focus on the matches. Because although I won against Ji Jingwu in the first singles, we lost overall, and didn't make to the Nationals. This year I'll do whatever it takes to lead our team to the Nationals. And right now Xing Yao are no ordinary team, they're our main competitors" his eyes always sparkled with zeal and hope, when he gushed about his current dream, being able to participate in the Nationals with the team.
Aifang listened to him intently, almost losing herself in his sparkling eyes. Momentarily pushing aside any previous thoughts, she was having about Ji Jingwu.
She locked eyes with him and blurted out - "captain, I want to go to the Nationals with you"
She paused for a second, realizing that what she had just blurted out came out as flirtatious - "I meant with the team" she gestured with her hands, to include the others.
He nodded in understanding - "I'm glad we're on the same wavelength, let's do this"
Aifang's attention shifted back to the matches, as she strained to concentrate, and not gush over Jingwu. It was an arduous task, yet she succeeded in the first four matches. The moment the umpire notified them the first singles were about to began, and she heard Ji Jingwu's name, she lost all self-control in her possession.
She leaped in her seat, joining the Xing Yao cheerleaders chorusing a deafening chant - "JI JINGWU, JI JINGWU"
- "you're a Ji Jingwu fan" Qiao Chen looked betrayed.
- "don't cheer for him, he's our enemy" Baiyang growled.
Jingwu emerged from the stadium, God knows from where, making a grand ostentatious entrance. He fiddled with his arm guard, and his confident gaze racked the crowd, till they fell on the cheerleaders, he flashed them a smile of a proud father.
With one flick of his finger, they all shushed down. Save for Aifang, who was still going at it, like a broken radio.
- "sit down, you're embarrassing us" it was Jiale who grabbed her shoulders from behind, trying to subdue her.
She shoved him without ceremony, sending him sprawling onto Dayong's lap.
- "sorry man" he gingerly moved his heavy load away, with the help of Dayong's guiding hands.
- "JI JINGWU, YOU'RE THE MOST IMPRESSIVE" she screamed her lungs out, till her voice went hoarse.
Zhuo Zhi could be heard dissolving into laughter, while clutching to his stomach, till tears had formed in his eyes.
Meanwhile Siyang, in his inability to control this ridiculous fiasco, put some distance between him and Aifang. Pressing his palms over his ears, waiting for this storm to pass.
Jingwu spun around to locate this ceaseless chanting. Seeing it had come from one of Yu Qing's players, he couldn't suppress a pleased scoff - "at last, I see that someone from Yu Qing has taste"
His tongue-in-cheek salute to her set her insides in a flutter.
She reverted to the thirteen year old girl that cheered him on, and attended all his matches.
She didn't notice that all along, she had entwined her hand with Siyang's. In contrast to her warm hand, his was freezing cold. She swallowed hard, then slowly unclasped their hands, setting his hand on his thigh.

< FLASHBACK >
Thirteen year old Aifang turned the school upside down, in order to find out the mysterious boy's name. He had given her the impression of being a popular kid, since the entire soccer team knew him by name. Aifang drew the conclusion that he must be her senior, because if he was her age, she would've come across him in the hallway everyday, which didn't happen. Although she spent her every recess meandering the hallway, she made a habit of scanning the faces of every male student passing by, in search of him. Four days had passed with no luck whatsoever.
She perched her chin in her palms, while staring reflectively out of the window, at the vacant field.
- "did he disappear off the face of earth or something?"
Her earphones played a slow somber tune, matching her downhearted mood.
A classmate of Aifang's stormed into the classroom, nearly slipping in her haste. She slammed her open palms on Aifang's table, causing her to start.
Aifang unplugged her earphones to see what was the problem
- "what are you sulking about here? When there's an intense tennis match taking place in the gymnasium"
Aifang recalled having a tennis team in the school, but she wasn't familiar with any of it's members. The classmate yanked her arm, when she didn't get a response.
- "come on, I know you're a jock, trust me you wouldn't want to miss this match"
Aifang allowed herself to be wheeled all the way to the gymnasium. She was staggered by the exuberant energy in the there, the stands were packed with students, as if the whole school came to witness this match. The match was in full swing by the time Aifang got there. It enticed her, so she didn't bother to try and find a seat, and made peace with sitting by the steps.
According to the scoreboard, the player from her school was one point away from winning. Aifang cheered for him despite not knowing who he was - "COME ON, ONE MORE POINT, YOU CAN DO THIS"
He whirled around to get a bottle of water during his brief break, Aifang's eyes widened when she saw who it was - "ah it's him, it's really him"
- "I found you" she murmured under her breath.
Aifang left the gymnasium pre-match satisfied with the new information she had acquired. She had asked around for his name, and got it - "Ji Jingwu" each syllable of his name made her heart race for some reason. A sensation unfamiliar to her.
Aifang kept a significant distance from the other dozen girls, peeping inside the boy's locker room - "pervs" she rolled her eyes disapprovingly.
She lingered there contemplating whether she should stay and give him the protein bars and smoothies she got, or if she should just leave.
She weighed her options, and after realizing that she had bought enough protein bars and smoothies to feed an entire village, she decided she'd hand them over and dash off.
The locker room's door flung open, Jingwu reemerged from it, standing in the doorway. The girls clustered around him, save for Aifang who watched from a distance.
- "he really is popular" feeling something resembling a pang of jealously, she flickered her gaze to the ground, finding more entertainment in the triangle shaped tiles.
A pair of black sneakers crossed the tiles, and came to a halt before her - "Liu Aifang" he called her name with his breaking voice.
In that moment, she lost all her senses, and didn't think twice before asking - "how did you know my name?"
He pointed to her name tag, which he stood close enough to see, his smirk visible - "right" she knew for sure that a pink shade of embarrassment colored her face.
He segued to another subject, saving her from saying anything stupid - "are those for me by any chance?" She handed everything to him in a haste - "share them with your team" she beamed widely, and he fell captive under the spell of her charming smile.
He gulped hard, looking away from her face, and peeked inside the stuffed bags - "my, my looks like you bought the whole cafeteria. Thanks, the boys will appreciate it"
- "and what about you? Won't you appreciate it too?" She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, feigning being hurt.
- "how could you say that? of course, I appreciate it the most" their eyes locked for a sec, and they both burst into peals of laughter.
- "you were brilliant out there, although I didn't make it in time to watch the whole thing" she raised her thumbs up.
His lopsided grin ascertained his ideas about his self-worth.
- "from what I have observed, you have high athletic abilities, have you ever considered playing tennis before?" Jingwu hardly handed out any compliments, but he made an exception for the girl with the twinkling eye smile he couldn't stop thinking about.
She gave a slight nod of her head - "I do play from time to time, as a recreation, I never took it seriously. The coach who taught me in elementary school told me that I've potential to join the national youth team someday"
- "what do you say to giving it a whirl once again? You might come to like it instead of soccer. Just a suggestion tho, I'm not telling you what to do"
< END OF FLASHBACK >

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If you know which tv show the line "just a suggustion tho, I'm not telling you what to do" is from, I'll give you a cookie 🍪🍪