What bothers Lu Hao from the very start is that he can’t recall where he’d seen the boy before.
He knows only that it isn’t his first time seeing him.
It’s Lu Hao’s first badminton lesson, but the other boy seems to have been here longer. He didn’t have an interest in badminton whatsoever, but the private middle school he attends is lax and school lets out early on Fridays. Venerable Mother didn’t fancy him gallivanting about for half a day, so she dragged him to this gym near their house and signed him up for badminton lessons. At first he’d been all sorts of reluctant, but his mother was resolute.
While she’s discussing class details with the coach, he notices the boy.
Sitting on a bench on the court, head lowered and in the process of changing into the same badminton shoes that the other three students in the class are wearing. There’s a black gym bag next to him. His black exercise clothing—half-cut sleeves and shorts—reveal a slender, long figure.
He looks up after putting on his shoes and Lu Hao sees his face, refreshing and clean. He doesn’t talk much with the other students. Reticent, as if he’s got something on his mind.
Lu Hao searches through his memories as he watches that face, wondering where he’s seen the boy before…
“I’ve already bought you a racquet and shoes, come and try them.” Venerable Mother’s voice travels over, prompting him to go. She introduces the thirty-something man in gym clothes standing next to her, “This is Coach Zhang, you’ll be learning with him. He’ll take you to meet the other students later.”
“Hello, Coach.”
“H-H-H-Hello.”
“…”
The hell? Lu Hao shoots a glance at the coach and finds that the man doesn’t seem nervous… so he stutters? This fact is incredibly amusing to Lu Hao and he almost laughs, but Venerable Mother is standing right there so he swallows it.
“Go on with Coach Zhang, I’ll come pick you up after class. Don’t you even think of running off in the middle of class, or else I’ll cook you for dinner.” With that last warning, Venerable Mother makes off.
“F-f-funny lady your m-m-mum is, huh?”
“…Right.”
Zhang Xiaosong leads Lu Hao to the court, making short introductions along the way. At first Lu Hao keeps wanting to burst into cackling because of the coach’s stuttering, but as they near the court, he sees the boy in the black gym clothes again and his attention is drawn inexplicably towards him.
“Coach, what’s his name?”
“Who?” Coach Zhang follows the direction of Lu Hao’s gaze. “Oh, that’s Xing-Xing-Xing, Xing—”
This is a struggle.
“Xingze, his name is Chen-Chen, Chen Xingze,” the coach finally manages.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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While these thoughts are running through Lu Hao’s head, Chen Xingze seems to sense a pair of eyes on him and turns his head inadvertently. When their eyes meet, Lu Hao starts, shifting his eyes away. Chen Xingze doesn’t spend a lot of time on him and moves away after a while. When Lu Hao looks over again, the other boy is doing his own thing.
He’s seen him somewhere before…
Lu Hao is even more sure of the fact now. His brows crease as his mind spins, but he just can’t figure out where he’s seen him before.
“Here, y-y-y-you all split into groups and practise h-h-h-high serves. Lu Hao, you come with me.”
He has to learn the basics separately because it’s his first lesson and everyone else is ahead of him. He half-listens to the stuttering coach, all the while sneaking glimpses at the neighbouring court through his peripheral vision.
Chen Xingze has paired with the other boy who looks somewhat older. Lu Hao knows next to nothing about badminton, but even he can tell that between the two, Chen Xingze’s moves are textbook and precise. He’s tolerant towards his partner, easily sending the ball back at the other boy no matter where the ball ends up.
Lu Hao doesn’t understand badminton, but he’s good at basketball. He can tell by watching the way Chen Xingze moves with practised ease that he must be familiar with the sport.
“That’s your h-h-h-h-handsome senior.” Coach Zhang supplies, noticing Lu Hao’s continuous glances. “He’s the s-s-s-same age as you, also in seventh grade.”
So they’re the same age; Lu Hao is surprised. He’d thought Chen Xingze was a year older.
Maybe it’s just that the sober and steady type looks more mature.
Lu Hao is confident in his physical prowess. He wants to hurry up and finish learning the basics so he can train with the rest of the class.
He and Chen Xingze are the same age and have almost the same build. If they split into pairs, the coach would definitely pair them up together. The thought fills him with motivation; he can’t be bothered to wonder why he wants to be Chen Xingze’s partner so badly.
But it’s easier said than done. He spends longer than expected learning how to hit the ball, how the basic footwork goes. When the coach serves him with a high serve, he often can’t catch the ball, and he can barely manage to use the proper swinging method to send the ball back. He gets hit on the head by the flying shuttlecock multiple times.
“Aiya!”
“Hahaha!” When the little primary school kids catch him suffering, they burst into laughter that draws Chen Xingze’s attention. He looks over, and Lu Hao’s face instantly flushes.
“What’re you laughing at?!” He yells, but his desperately indignant air makes them laugh even harder. Lu Hao darts a glance at Chen Xingze. His face is relaxed, but he doesn’t laugh like the others.
He seems to have something constantly weighing on his mind…
Lu Hao forgets the other kids because he’s too focused on Chen Xingze.
The lesson lasts only half an hour, and soon enough time drags by and it’s over. Lu Hao never gets the chance to practise with Chen Xingze. But towards the end of the class, everyone gets called into a group to practise rallying the ball with the coach, who serves. It’s too early for Lu Hao to rally in his first class, but the coach makes him practise nonetheless, saying that boys learn fast at his age and he can benefit from advanced exposure.
In the beginning Lu Hao is nervous, afraid of humiliating himself by performing badly. But the minute practice begins, Lu Hao discovers that his skills are actually on par with the rest of his classmates. All their balls go flying sideways, landings determined purely by luck.
Except Chen Xingze.
He’s the only one capable of sending the shuttlecock flying where it should.
How impressive, Lu Hao can’t help but think.
Lined up behind Chen Xingze, he’s blessed with a clear view of all his moves. His footsteps are swift, particularly when he lunges forward. His knees seem especially springy from the back, not to mention when comparing to the incompetent rest of the class, he practically glows with a blessed light.
Thoughts digressing, Lu Hao randomly wonders if Chen Xingze is good at basketball.
“T-T-T-That’s it for today! Everyone ti-ti-tidy up!” Coach Zhang calls an end to the class in his stuttering voice. When Lu Hao snaps out of his internal meandering, everyone else has already left. Chen Xingze goes to the resting bench to grab a drink, then starts packing up his bag.
Lu Hao, wanting to chat with him, goes over. “Hello.”
Chen Xingze looks up. From this angle, the bridge of his nose is especially straight. He seems nonplussed that Lu Hao would seek him out. Nodding, he says, “Hi.”
It’s the first time Chen Xingze has spoken all day. His voice is neither high nor low, it sounds almost reserved.
…Or maybe reserved isn’t the right word; just that he doesn’t seem invested in conversation.
“Say, have we met before?” Lu Hao can’t let it go, but as soon as the words are out of his mouth, he regrets it. It sounds like a bad opening line.
Chen Xingze shakes his head, “No.” And then he stuffs his water bottle into his bag, grabs a light jacket to put out, and walks off with the bag on his shoulders.
“Ah!” Lu Hao points at the jacket, “Yuying’s uniform! You’re a student at Yuying Middle School!”
Chen Xingze lets out a “mm” and walks on without turning his head.
Lu Hao finally figures out where he’s seen Chen Xingze before. Yuying Middle is near his house. The pedestrian street nearby is filled with Yuying students every day after school. His own private school lets out earlier than the public schools and he’s usually home by the time Yuying ends classes for the day. His bedroom faces the pedestrian street; sometimes he looks outside the window. Chen Xingze must have appeared then.
He’s so excited that the mystery bothering him for so long is finally resolved that he feels like summersaulting on the spot.
What serendipity, so coincidental that he almost wants to curse out loud.
When Venerable Mother comes to pick him up, Lu Hao leaves the gym with the two primary school kids.
Number One sees something and his eyes go round like saucers. “Holy cow! A Benz!”
Number Two echoes him, “Holy cow! A Benz!”
Lu Hao knocks both of them on the head. “What are you screaming for?”
He runs into the car. Before his mother dearest can even ask him how the lesson went, he excitedly recounts the matter of Chen Xingze to her.
“Isn’t it crazy?! I thought I recognised him the moment I set eyes on him! And then I actually remembered!” Lu Hao gazes at his Venerable Mother with shining, sparkling eyes like an excited puppy—all that’s missing is the wagging tail.
Venerable Mother chuckles as she drives. “You just like fooling around.”
Lu Hao starts looking forward to badminton class, and starts to wait deliberately at the window each day Yuying Middle lets out for the day. He never tells Chen Xingze this story; firstly because he doesn’t get the chance given Chen Xingze’s perpetually aloof attitude that makes it difficult to ever tell what he’s thinking. Lu Hao always finds him mysterious. And secondly, because Lu Hao is an easygoing boy who passes his days in naiveté. He rarely ponders complicated things.
He only genuinely thinks fate destined them to meet, so he wants to be Chen Xingze’s friend.
But a pity, his warm exuberance doesn’t yield any response. Not long after eighth grade begins, Chen Xingze stops coming to badminton class. When Lu Hao wants to go looking for him, he realises he doesn’t even have any way of contacting him and it puts him in a bad mood.
“Should’ve at least given a head’s up that you were leaving.”
Lu Hao mutters about the matter for days, but his private school starts caring about grades in eighth grade and at night he spends all his time at cram school. He never gets another chance to watch Yuying’s students after school, and Chen Xingze’s silhouette gradually vanishes from his mind…
Until a year later, at Experimental High School’s opening ceremony, where they meet once again.
I wonder if all 3 will meet at the high school…
Thanks for the chapter <3
I approve of Lu Hao. His enthusiasm to the other boy is exactly the same as Chen Xingze’s was before. I wanna see sparks between those two.
Thanks for the chapter!