[ HIM IN MY HEART, THE WORLD IN MY HANDS ]
CHAPTER 08 ♦ I WON'T ABANDON YOU
last edited on ZLT: 14.02.21
“What, you want to duel Shen Yi Jie?”
Xia Xiao Kui’s voice was loud. At her voice, the entire canteen of students turned to look at them. She could almost hear the cliche female lead line by her ears: “Stop, quick— I don’t want you to hurt each other because of me—”
“It’s just a basketball competition, it’s not that serious.” Lu Xi looked down, not meeting her gaze. He voice was a little anxious, “if I win, he’ll end things with you, and all this will be over.”
When she heard the entire story, Xia Xiao Kui couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. So it was not a battle to death in the name of love, Lu Xi was just doing this as her friend. Despite this, she was still very touched: “You’re good with computers, yoga and basketball too?”
“No.” Lu Xi cupped his chin, his curled fingers covering his mouth, “I don’t know how to play basketball.”
Xia Xiao Kui’s facial muscles convulsed. She returned him an are-you-joking-right-now expression.
From that day on, Xia Xiao Kui accompanied Lu Xi as he practiced basketball. The competition was next Saturday, but Lu Xi didn’t even know how to dribble. She had no idea how he got through his physical ed classes, did skip ropes like the girls or something? When she saw the ball rolling away for the umpteenth time when he dribbled and ran, she couldn’t help but sigh in defeat. Why in the world did he agree to such a duel? When he had zero chances of winning?
The sun rose and set, the handsome guy on the court had no intentions of stopping though. When she saw him working hard at this, Xia Xiao Kui felt something in her chest rippling, her heart full.
When Lu Xi had somewhat gotten over his drills, Xia Xiao Kui started practising against him one on one. Luo Qian couldn’t help but tease her: “Hohh, does he keep hitting your hand and fouling?”
“What are you talking about?” Xia Xiao Kui’s face flushed, “Lu Xi has no feelings for me.”
Very quickly, the day of their duel came. Xia Xiao Kui was particularly nervous the night before. After all, Lu Xi was not a basketball genius, there was no way he could pick up basketball within ten days. If he were to lose…
When Shen Yi Jie brought a team of people to the court, Xia Xiao Kui almost wanted to slap him with her shoe: “What’s with all the people?”
Shen Yi Jie replied in an aggravating voice: “A competition in basketball, isn’t that a basketball competition?”
He was referring to a team competition. They were completely unprepared!
Just as Xia Xiao Kui was about to explode, Lu Xi beside her replied calmly: “Alright, let’s compete like this then.”
Half an hour later, Xia Xiao Kui was laughing so hard at Shen Yi Jie’s pale face: “Hahaha! How’s that, you can’t deny the outcome now can you? Now get out of my sight, as far as possible!”
The score difference was huge; Lu Xi had pretty much KOed the lot of them.
Shen Yi Jie stared at her: “Xia Xiao Kui, you gave me hope but left me disappointed in the end, is it very fun to play with my feelings?”
“What?”
“Remember in high school year two, I heard you talking in the hallways, you said all guys looked the same, like vegetables, except for me, I was different. From that day onwards, I noticed you. You were always peeping at me, asking around about me…” Shen Yi Jie had wanted to appear deep in love, but he seemed to recall something else, and couldn’t help sounding amused when he continued, “the way you eat, you look like you’ve starved for days, your loud voice, robotic movements… you make it so difficult to not notice you!”
“This is a misunderstanding, I said that because Xiao Qian liked you! Even if you were ugly, I’d tell others that you were handsome and attractive!” Xia Xiao Kui shook her head hard, “it’s because Xiao Qian liked you, and I was very curious what kind of guy she liked, so…”
Shen Yi Jie’s face darkened, and he seemed to emit a deathly aura. It was after a long moment before he asked bitterly: “So you think this is all over? I want to add on to this competition.”
“You’re shameless!”
“I am, if you don’t agree, we’re not over!”
Lu Xi walked over to stand in front of Xia Xiao Kui: “I agree, hope that you mean what you say, that this is the last one.”
Shen Yi Jie squinted at Lu Xi, before he suddenly gave a malicious smirk.
The last item that Shen Yi Jie came up with was an adventurous one. The challenge was that they had to take all the roller coasters three times, whoever could sit through everything would be the final winner. The roller coaster at this amusement park was very scary. Xia Xiao Kui herself almost couldn’t even finish one round. Halfway through their challenge, Shen Yi Jie suddenly disappeared. Before long, Xia Xiao Kui received his text.
“I’m heading home first, y’all continue.” He even ended his text with a smiley face.
What the? Lu Xi beside her suddenly leaned over. Both hands on his knees, he panted, inhaling in large breathes. When she saw his pale face, Xia Xiao Kui panicked, and gently patted his back.
Lu Xi turned away, covering his mouth, trembling: “Don’t stare at me… I, I think I’m gonna puke…”
Xia Xiao Kui asked: “Have you taken roller coasters before?”
Lu Xi’s face reddened: “No…”
Xia Xiao Kui suddenly wanted to give him a gentle hug.
That day, fireworks appeared right above the amusement park. The fireworks exploded in the air, with countless sparks splaying all across the vast sky, lighting up a large part of Lu Xi’s face. Xia Xiao Kui said softly: “You’re really brave.”
Lu Xi shook his head: “There are some things that I still don’t have the courage to do.”
Xia Xiao Kui’s heart skipped a beat, she felt as though she knew what he was referring to. She inhaled deeply: “Then you should gather your courage and share your feelings with them. If you don’t face them, things will never change, no?”
Lu Xi turned to look at her: “Enh.”
After the two of them made their way home separately, Lu Xi unlocked his phone. There was a picture that he’d saved for really long. There was a girl with beautiful brown curls leaning against the wall.
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