I was now at the hospital in the room, waiting for the doctor with Zhou Zhi.
"Why did you do it?" He asked as I held my shoulder.
"I had to. I knew how to handle that ball but..."
"But what?"
Just then, the doctor walked in.
"Okay. Lu Lian. It seems like you have an injury on your shoulder and it looks like it has been there for a while. I guess the tennis match that you did made your injury even worse. Would you tell me what happened to your shoulder?" The doctor said.
"Well, it happened before I moved here..."
FLASHBACK
"Are you ready for your match, Lu Lian?" Lu Xia asked as I gave him a thumbs up.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I told him with a smile.
"Be careful." He told me as I went to my position on the court.
The match started off quick and easy but at the last match, I switched my racket to my right hand and got ready for the ball but this ball was different. The person hit the ball with a different technique.
The ball was coming at me so fast and I didn't know what to do so I got ready to hit the ball and when I did, the ball hit my shoulder.
I screamed in pain and dropped my racket.
Lu Xia ran up to me in concern and asked me what was wrong.
"I can't move my shoulder." I told him in pain.
The next day, I went to the hospital and the doctor said that if I continue to play with the shoulder, the injury will get worse and he also told me that I couldn't play tennis for a few months.
END OF FLASHBACK
I glanced at Zhou Zhi who was staring at me in worry.
"I guess your best decision is to lay low on tennis which means that you can't play tennis for a while until your shoulder gets better." The doctor said, making me nod.
Few minutes later, Zhou Zhi was walking me back to the tennis court and it started to get awkward.
"Who else knows about your injury?" He asks, stopping me in my tracks.
"Just Lu Xia." I told him, not glancing at him.
"Why didn't you tell the team about your injury?" He asks.
"I didn't want you guys to worry. Lu Xia didn't want me playing on my arm either."
"Then why did you do it?"
"I had to. It was either you or me to get hurt and I chose me."
"Wait. Does that mean you like me?" He asks with a smirk.
"No. I just don't anyone to get hurt." I told him, nervously but he clearly knew that I had a slight crush on him.
"Well. Why did you want to accompany me to the hospital? The other team members would've accompanied me." I ask him with a smirk as well and he just looked away, not answering the question.
"We should go." He said, clearing his throat and started to walk away from me.
I started to smirk before catching up with him and continued to walk to the court.
TIME SKIP
I was now at the court to see the team members gathering around under the bench.
I then noticed it was Lu Xia.
"Lu Xia!" I yelled as Zhou Zhi and I both ran towards them.
"Lu Xia..."
"I'm fine, Lu Lian. How is your shoulder?" He asked, making me look to the floor as if I didn't want to answer the question.
"Please bring my spare racket." Lu Xia said.
"What? No. You can't play like that, Lu Xia. Please." I told him with worry.
"I can continue playing." Lu Xia said as he started to get up.
"Lu Xia. You have only ten minutes. If the game doesn't end in ten minutes, you have to give it up." Siyang said to Lu Xia, handing him his spare racket.
"Fine." He replied, walking to the court with his racket.
"The game continues."
I sat down in between Zhou Zhi and Qiao Chen and watched the game.
"Let's be serious." Lu Xia said as he switched to his left hand.
'Come on. Lu Xia. Don't let me down.'
"You're left-handed?" The other player asked.
"It was just temporarily paralyzed."
The match then started, but Lu Xia missed the ball. He missed the ball again and angain and again until he finally got it down.
The next match started and Lu Xia started to switch his hands throughout the match untile he missed the ball.
The next match, it was Lu Xia's turn to serve. The match continued until Lu Xia did a Backspin Ball, which made the ball hit the ground, almost hitting the guy in the face but he caught it before it hits his face.
"The game is over. Yu Qing won."
I silently smiled and cheered, happy that Lu Xia got the point.
Next thing you know, we were shaking hands with the other team until Lu Xia started to faint but I caught him before he actually fainted.
"Lu Xia!"
We then started to bring him to the hospital to get an actual bandage.
Sooner or later, Lu Xia and the others came out.
"His injury is nothing serious. But remember, ensuring your own safety is also important for the team. Got it?" Siyang asked, making us leave.
TIME SKIP
We were now at XingLong's restaurant at the table.
"Lu Xia, you are the biggest hero today."
"Chi, Jiale, and Baiyang also won, right?" Lu Xia asked.
"Okay, boy. I was grateful that you said that and that you think that way."
"It's just a victory."
"Right, it is teamwork. We are all heroes."
"Here's a little secret." Jiale said, playfully looking at Ying,
"Ying. Who did you cheer for today?" Zhou Zhi asked.
"I didn't." She innocently said as she looked at Lu Xia.
"We don't need to point it out. We all saw who you were cheering for today." Jiale said, making me smile.
"Jiale, don't talk anymore." Dayong said to Jiale.
"Then you talk more." Jiale said to Ying.
I then noticed someone smiling at me. I look at Zhou Zhi to see that he was smiling at me.
"Stop it. You all did a good job today. Let's do our best and achieve the final victory. Bound to win!" Siyang said as we all raised our glass, my shoulder burning.
I winced in pain and held my arm down.
"Lu Lian. Are you okay?" Zhou Zhi asked, looking at me with worry.
"I'm fine. Don't worry." I replied back with a smile.
I saw that Lu Xia was also looking at me worriedly so I shook my head as if I'm fine.
Just then, Xinglong and his dad came out with the food.
"Lu Xia, what else would you like? My father cooks for our celebrations."
"Help yourselves." Xinglong's father says with a smile as he walks off.
"Excuse me." Xinglong said as he followed his father.
"Okay. You're all hungry, right? Let's eat." Siyang said as we started to eat.
"Jiale, give me some goose." Qiao Chen said as Jiale gave him some goose.
"You eat like a horse even though you didn't play today." Baiyang said to Qiao Chen as he takes a bite of his sandwich.
"Lu Lian and I saw Qiao Chen talking with a girl from Yu Feng today..." Zhou Zhi said.
"And they looked happy." I finished, looking at Qiao Chen with a smirk.
"Do you perhaps know each other?" I continued.
"Really? It's breaking news. Qiao Chen, who is that girl? How's your relationship? How did you meet?" Jiale asked Qiao Chen as everybody glanced at Qiao Chen.
"She is Xu Ziping's younger sister, my middle school classmate. I often borrow her money for hamburgers back then. So we got to know each other more and more." He said with a smile, making me choke on my drink with a laugh.
"You're killing my appetite. How can a boy be so sentimental?" Baiyang said to Qiao Chen.
"Zhou Zhi, what sauce is this?" Jiale asked, as he took some of the sauce and put it in his mouth before fanning his mouth.
"Is it good?"
"Oh! It's so spicy." He coughed as he spit out the food.
"What is it?"
"My newly made spicy sauce."
"Xinglong! Bring me some water. It's so spicy." Jiale said as he continued to fan his mouth.
"Just a minute."
"Who made this?"
"Zhou Zhi... Please tell me your recipe." Zhiming said, interested to knowing the recipe.
"No. It is too spicy." Jiale said as Ying started to shush him and pointed to Lu Xia who's sleeping as usual.
Qiao Chen then took out a pen and opened it menacingly before writing on his eyepatch.
"Okay, everyone. Go home and have some rest. We have practice tomorrow. Bye." Siyang said before leaving.
I was about to leave with Lu Xia but Ying wanted to talk to him so I told him that I will be okay to walk back home.
"Are you sure?" He asks, making me nod.
"I can walk her home, Lu Xia." Zhou Zhi said as he puts his arm over my shoulder.
Lu Xia gave him a glare, which Zhou Zhi understood and slowly moved his arm away from my shoulders.
"Okay. I guess I'll meet you at home, then?" He asked as I nod.
"Yep." I told him as Zhou Zhi walked me home.