Beach Volleyball Ace

. . .

After the two CEOs finished their feast, a beach volleyball tournament caught their attention.

"Oh that looks interesting," Zeirenne said as she pulled Jin towards the crowd. Their employees were competing against each other.

There were many spectators and every player had his or her own support system. ZA International's employees even created their own chat that went like: Make way! Make way! ZA is on the way! Which repeated for six times.

Jin's staff didn't let their creative juices go to waste as they chanted even louder: CONFIDENCE, FAITH, AND HOPE. THAT'S HOW WE ALWAYS COPE. WE ARE CF&H! (This is not the real meaning of CF&H)

The first set burned the dunes with intensity from both teams. People watched in awe as David Jones, the Department head of Zeirenne's team, outspiked their rivals. He caught the attention of so many people in the first set before being conquered by Miss Selena, the Department Head of Jin's PR Team.

As if there was a secret rivalry between these two heads, the audience grabbed their clams in anticipation. Gazes flew from left to right as the volley got tossed, smashed, spiked, or blocked. In the end of the first set, Miss Selena brought victory for her team with a service ace.

Zeirenne's team didn't want to disappoint their CEO who was casually sipping fresh juice from a coconut. She waved with glee every time her employees scored, and cheered them up with a smile whenever something went wrong. She didn't want to put pressure on their shoulders. Watching them having fun was all that she wanted--but her employees wanted more. They wanted victory. But so did the other team.

With sweats glistening on their arms and foreheads, Team ZA managed to salvage the game for a final set.

Before the final set commenced, the two teams went for a short break. During this moment, as if relaying a message telepathically, they all knew what they had to do. Two players from both teams went to convince their bosses into joining.

Zeirenne and Jin furrowed their brows as their employees started walking towards them. She took one final sip before putting her drink down and Jin handed her some tissues to wipe her mouth with.

"Miss Lin, Mister Young, do you want to join for the final set?"

Zeirenne looked at Jin who was obviously cool with the idea, "Sure,"

Jin helped her on her feet and they dusted themselves up. Before she could take a step forward, he leaned over her shoulders, whispering, "Let's make things exciting, winner gets to make a wish."

In a snap, her eyes spelled D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N. She didn't have a wish in mind, but his challenge surely piqued her competitive spirit.

"OWKAY THEN."

The beach got louder as the two CEOs stepped inside the lines. The spectators outside, however, were a bit confused about their appearances. They looked like tourists with Zeirenne in her long sundress that touched her toes, and Jin wearing a pink shirt with pineapple prints, unbuttoned on the first twos. Their attires were obviously not meant to play volley, but their gazes did the job in convincing the people otherwise.

As the ball got served, signifying the start of the final set, the net in between them almost went up in flames just from their fiery intents.

Meanwhile... under the palm trees, Dylan was watching the match in his sunglasses. He had his head facing the game, but his eyes were focused on something else. Right by the shore, a man was taking unsolicited photos of this mini sports fest. He would've found it normal if this camera guy wasn't focusing on the two CEOs alone. Other than this, he was not simply taking photos. He seemed like shooting a live coverage for someone on the other side of the frame.

Dylan brought his gaze towards Assistant Colton who was also doing an incognito mission. They both took off their glasses to converse with their eyes. After a moment, they came into a decision.

Assistant Colton stood up, aiming to bump into the man hard enough to knock him and his camera. But before Assistant Colton could even approach the crime scene, Jin blundered with a service error that "coincidentally" smacked the camera off the guy's grasp. As if in slow motion, everyone gasped as he fell flat on his face--his camera crumbling like foil from the impact.

"OMG! Are you alright?!" Zeirenne came running before slumping down to 'check the man and his injuries.'

"Oh no! We broke your camera. We're so sorry, " she tried lifting the camera up but the lenses were already shattered into pieces.

"That was careless of me," Jin said as he got closer, "Secretary Jones..."

Miss Jones went forward. "Yes. CEO Young?"

"Take his camera and have it repaired right this instance."

"Right away, CEO Yo--"

"That won't be necessary!" The camera guy said with his nose bleeding, "it was my fault you don't have to--"

Jin opened his hand in front of him as if saying, "Don't worry. We got you covered."

Even Zeirenne was smiling at him in assurance, "It's alright. We'll take care of everything," and with that, he had to bid his farewell to his broken camera, and his life.

* * *

On the other side of the screen, Willy found himself panicking from the sudden interruption of his boss's mini sports channel.

"What happened?" Miura Takumi asked while munching some popcorn.

"I'll go check on it, Miura-dono," Willy replied, ready to leave but Miura Takumi stopped him.

"Don't bother, I'm going to take nap. You can tell me who won later." he told Willy.

After an hour, when he finally woke up, he immediately summoned Willy.

"Now tell me... who won the match?"

Willy took a detailed score sheet out.

"With a two-point lead, CF&H won, Miura-dono."

He gazed out of his mansion atop the hill, watching the waves crashing against the sand as he took a sip of his warm milk, "Interesting," he murmured to himself.

. . .