Zhihao was overjoyed when Suyin finally came back to school, fully recovered and healthy. Although she of course didn't outwardly show her relief, Suyin already knew.
It was currently lunch time, and Suyin was scrolling through her Instagram feed, which was full of actors, showing Zhihao which men she liked the most.
Excitedly, Suyin tapped on one post in particular and shoved her phone into Zhihao's face. "Oh my god look how hot Cha Eunwoo is!" Suyin sighed dreamily at the man.
"I am never straying from the Suho ship," Suyin then declared, referring to the main male lead from the live action show of True Beauty, a webtoon. "He's such a thoughtful gentleman, with just a little mystery to his character."
Zhihao shook her head, disagreeing. "Nah, Seojun is better. He's even more thoughtful and funny, while also protective over his friends and family."
Suyin looked at her friend in disbelief. "But Seojun is so complicated and acts like a tough guy all the time while Suho is so polite!"
Zhihao contemplated Suyin's argument. "Well not really. Seojun is really sweet, he just shows his soft side to the people he actually cares about, not bothering with others."
Suyin just huffed. "I disagree, but I'll let you win this one just because I don't want to argue on my first day back."
Zhihao smirked at her friend. "Suho is hot though, I gotta admit."
Suyin snorted. "That we can agree on," Suyin said, accepting Zhihao's peace offering. She continued to scroll through her posts full of men.
Spotting a particularly handsome face, Zhihao stopped Suyin's hand before pointing at the screen. "That man. That man I like."
Suyin peered at the man's face. "Zhang Yijie? He kind of looks like Zhuo Zhi a bit, don't you think?"
Zhihao squinted her eyes at the picture. "I don't see it," she said, scrunching her face.
Suyin shrugged. "I don't know, might just be me. I can't deny that he's hot though."
Zhihao laughed in agreement, and then a wave of morality suddenly hit her. "Alright Suyin, stop looking at men, they're not eye candy, they're real people too."
Suyin teasingly rolled her eyes but obliged, setting her phone down. "Well I can't look at hot men, but you can't stop me from talking about them..."
~~~
Zhihao visited the tennis team after school again, seeing that there was nothing to do.
That turned out to be a grave mistake for her.
Zhihao had been doomscrolling through her Instagram feed (which was full of Marvel memes and cat pictures, unlike Suyin's), when Siyang fatefully announced that it was break time.
Zhuo Zhi wasted no time in acquiring a Yan-Juice from Zhiming, intent on having Zhihao drink one today. He refused to let the girl get away from him for a third time.
Zhuo Zhi promptly plopped himself next to Zhihao at her table, uninvited.
Zhihao looked up, not missing the sickly green glass of juice that had come with Zhuo Zhi's arrival.
Tearing her eyes from the glass with a lot more effort than she'd like to admit, Zhihao asked cheekily, "What, no courtesies this time?
Zhuo Zhi tilted his head in acknowledgment, appeasing the woman. "You look thirsty. Drink."
Well that was a bit too direct for Zhihao's taste. Zhihao had expected some teasing games from Zhou Zhi but no, he went straight for the kill.
Zhihao swallowed hard. "Mm, I don't think so," she replied with false confidence. Her voice, although barely noticeable, quavered, Zhuo Zhi noted with a suppressed smile.
"Are you sure?" Zhuo Zhi replied, with ease. "Because 'A-Yan' over there," he pointed, "will be disappointed if you don't. He's been wanting you to drink his juice."
He won, and he knew it. There was no doubt in Zhihao's mind that Zhuo Zhi had remembered the admiration and appreciation the girl had openly showed to A-Yan, the first time she met the team. He had probably planned this since after the first time Zhihao visited the team.
Zhihao looked at the other tennis team members, who were eagerly watching the spectacle, unsurprisingly, before her eyes landed on A-Yan.
The man adjusted his glasses, but didn't say anything to disprove Zhuo Zhi's words.
Curse her past self for being so excited to greet the famous A-Yan.
Zhihao sighed in defeat, warily glancing at the glass of juice as her confidence slowly seeped out.
Seconds passed as Zhuo Zhi strummed his fingers along the table, waiting.
Zhihao took a few deep breaths, gathering as much courage as possible, and then after a few moments, she snatched the glass from Zhuo Zhi's hand.
Before she lost the courage, she took a big swig from it, throwing her head back with force.
As soon as the neon green liquid hit her tastebuds, Zhihao gagged, causing a bit of the juice to trickle down her chin.
And then an intense wave of sheer bitterness (and a hint of tanginess as Zhuo Zhi had said, not that Zhihao would ever admit that the man was right now) washed over her, completely overtaking her senses.
"I hate you" was the last thing Zhihao remembered saying to a highly amused Zhuo Zhi before she blacked out, head slumping over the table.
~~~
Rubbing her eyes groggily, Zhihao groaned and propped herself on her elbows. "Where am I?"
"Oh? Was your blackout so bad that you've temporarily gotten amnesia?" Zhuo Zhi grinned at Zhihao's state.
Zhihao pulled a face as soon as she heard the man's voice. "Don't talk to me."
Zhuo Zhi mockingly pouted a bit before a satisfied smile spread across his face again. Of course you would find joy in my suffering, you sadist, Zhihao thought bitterly.
The sound of Zhihao's gravely voice caught the attention of her brother.
"Well don't you look like absolute death!" Jiale cheerfully skipped over to Zhihao and Zhuo Zhi's table. Of course Jiale is happy at my distress too.
"Sucks doesn't it, jiě? Don't worry, the juice gets better with time and practice!" Jiale patted his sister's shoulder twice. (sister, elder)
Dachi quickly followed in Jiale's steps, wasting no time in walking over to check on the girl.
"Zhihao, you're awake! How do you feel? Here, this will make you feel better." Dachi shoved a water bottle into Zhihao's hands.
Zhihao gratefully smiled at Dachi's mother-henning. "Dachi, have I ever mentioned how much I love and appreciate you?"
The corners of Dachi's mouth lifted up at Zhihao's words, clearly touched. "Drink up, okay? Make sure you drink a lot of water, that was a long blackout."
Zhihao furrowed her brows. "Wait how long was I out for?"
Zhuo Zhi snickered. "Long enough for practice to end 15 minutes ago."
Zhihao half-heartedly glared at the smug man. Well that explained why everyone was gone. "Why are you still here then?"
Zhuo Zhi shrugged, casting a neutral mask over his face once again. "Someone had to watch over you while Jiale and Dayong were flirting," he replied coolly.
At this the Golden Partners flushed, immediately protesting against Zhuo Zhi's shameless words, also effectively giving him the reaction he clearly wanted.
Despite herself, Zhihao's own mouth curled. Finally someone else saw what she saw too.
Ignoring her brother, who was still blabbering weak defenses while avoiding eye contact with Dachi (Dachi himself was just curled on the floor looking highly flushed to the point that it was somewhat concerning), Zhihao asked Zhuo Zhi, "Wait were you sitting here the whole time? During practice too?"
Once again, Zhuo Zhi shrugged. "I don't need to practice. And Siyang was here too."
Oh. How embarrassing.
"You didn't snore or anything, if that's what you're worried about."
Zhihao chose to disregard that comment. "Well thanks I guess for looking over me... even though you were the one who caused my blackout to begin with," she couldn't help but jab.
A smile appeared on Zhuo Zhi's face again. He was probably reliving the moment Zhihao fainted. Sadistic bastard.
"Does this mean you don't hate me after all?" Zhuo Zhi cheekily teased.
Zhihao just huffed, sassily turning her face away from him. She didn't know how she was going to face the team after today.
Suddenly remembering that Dachi was still on the ground, Zhihao rushed to his side, feeling his forehead with the back of her hand. "Dachi are you alright?? You look and feel like you have a fever!
Jiale abruptly stopped his external monologue and rushed over to Dachi's side too, putting his own hand on the man's forehead.
"Ah Dachi, I'm going to carry you home alright, don't move!" Panicked, Jiale picked Dachi up with a bit too much force, despite the man's protests, and began to march away.
Without looking back, Jiale called out to his sister, "Tell mom that I'm going to be late, I'll see you later!"
Zhihao and Zhuo Zhi just glanced at each other with knowing grins, each seeing exactly what the other saw.
Zhihao then picked up her school bag and told Zhuo Zhi, "Alright, I'm off too. It's getting late, you should too."
Zhuo Zhi nodded in agreement. "Do you need me to walk you home again?" He inquired.
Zhihao shook her head, "Thanks for the offer though." Zhuo Zhi bowed his head in reply, before beginning to walk home, waving a goodbye to Zhihao.
After an awkward wave back to Zhuo Zhi, Zhihao began to walk her own way home.
~~~
Zhihao finally arrived to her house's doorstep after about a 15 minute walk. It would be a while until Jiale would come home, and Zhihao had already texted their mother that the two of them would be home late.
On a split decision, Zhihao turned around and headed to the park instead of entering her house.
The sun had already set by now, so the streaks of color in the sky were faded.
It was still a very pretty sight nonetheless, and Zhihao wished she could capture it with a camera.
Zhuo Zhi wasn't here to snap a picture for her unfortunately, so Zhihao instead simply gazed at the sight in front of her, attempting to commit it to memory.
After a few more peaceful minutes, Zhihao headed back home, arriving just moments before Jiale did.
~~~
A/N: While I love Seojun's personality a lot, I'm personally a Suho shipper for Jugyeong in the webtoon (I'm a Seojun shipper for the show and for me tho). Fr tho that dang show made me cry every single episode at least once or twice..
Anyway the Chinese prince of tennis drama came out in 2019 so technically the true beauty show hasn't come out yet (came out in 2021). I forgot that true beauty came out after the cpot drama until I was like halfway done writing this chap, so just go with it lmao.
So anyway this sadistic side of Zhuo Zhi is because I've noticed how he will sometimes make subtle comments that start or result in someone's embarrassment or teasing, for some harmless fun (for example, he asked Qi Ying who he cheered for during this one match, knowing fully well that she cheered for Lu Xia lmao). His sadistic side is a lot more milder compared to the one shown in the anime tho and more teasing for amusement I feel like.
Also I know I'm always talking about the anime even tho I've never watched it, I swear its just cause I researched about Zhuo Zhi's character in both the show and the anime to get small details about his character and came across this info.
- Apple <3