CAN'T STOP TEASING YOU

Lin Zhu ended up getting scolded after he asked the coach to let him go back to China first.

["Why do you suddenly become so selfish, Ah-Zhu?" The coach questioned him after they reached the changing room. "It's not about money or anything else, but it's about your support to your teammates. I know that you and Ah-Quan couldn't pass the first round, but you can still support your teammates, right? Maybe you can learn more by watching their matches."]

He got a lecture from his coach instead of getting a permiss, and he was so embarrassed by that. He was in a room to change his clothes, and he sighed heavily as he recalled the embarrassing memory.

He shouldn't have asked that stupid question to the coach. It was not the first time he participated in this kind of tournament in another country, and he should have known that the team management wouldn't let him go back to their country so easily even after he and Ye Quan failed to win their first match.

Lin Zhu sighed heavily again after he threw the red jersey into his bag. He was shirtless now, but he could care less. He only started to care about it when he felt a chilly sensation press his exposed back.

He yelped in surprise as he arched his body. The next second, he could hear someone laughing behind him.

With a frown on his forehead, he turned his body around and found Ye Quan laughing loudly while holding his stomach.

"What the hell are you doing?" Lin Zhu asked the other man angrily.

Ye Quan tried to stop his laughter as he raised his hand in front of Lin Zhu's face. "An icepack," the older man answered. "I saw you stupidly fell on the ground several times earlier, and maybe you need an icepack for your legs?"

Lin Zhu looked a bit surprised as he glanced down at his legs. They weren't scratched or anything, but he indeed felt his legs a little bit sore. With a heavy heart, he grabbed the icepack from Ye Quan and muttered a thank you.

"Huh? What did you say? I couldn't hear it..."

Ye Quan started teasing again. It was a tease because he could see the man trying to hold back his smile.

"I'm not going to repeat myself," Lin Zhu replied as he walked over to a bench in the room.

He calmly sat on the bench and started bending down his body to press the icepack on his sore legs. He was still shirtless, but he seemed to not realize it. He only realized it when he felt the chill on his upper body.

Lin Zhu straightened up his body again and was about to get up when he noticed Ye Quan was still standing stiffly not far from him.

"What's wrong with you?" Lin Zhu asked the other man in confusion.

Ye Quan didn't immediately answer his question and just blinked at him innocently.

"Your body looks like a girl's body," he then commented.

Those were the words that just escaped Ye Quan's lips after a few minutes the owner of the lips remained quiet, and Lin Zhu was speechless before he regained his composure and immediately got up from his seat.

He hurriedly grabbed Ye Quan's collar despite their height difference. "Can you stop teasing me?" He asked angrily.

But Ye Quan didn't seem to be offended and just smiled calmly. "We couldn't win the match today, so I can't stop teasing you, can I? We've made a bet before."

Lin Zhu gritted his teeth angrily as he responded, "I've never agreed to make a bet with you!"

Ye Quan laughed again as he pried open Lin Zhu's fingers on the collar of his jersey one by one. "Do you think the team management will kick us out of the team after we lost our first game?"

Lin Zhu's anger dissipated for a bit upon hearing Ye Quan's question.

"That's impossible," Lin Zhu replied. "It's our first match, and it didn't do enough to prove anything. The team management should give us more chances before we can prove ourselves."

"It's 'our' and 'us' now? We're a team now?" Ye Quen responded to the statement with a question.

Lin Zhu was stunned by Ye Quan's question. They were indeed in a team since a month ago, but Lin Zhu only thought about himself and not about his partner. He just realized that he was so selfish before.

"Even if I hate you, we are indeed a team. We played together, and we also lost together. We're a team."

Lin Zhu no longer looked at Ye Quan and looked down at his feet in a pair of sandals.

"I still can't believe that I ended up partnering with you. It feels like a dream for me," Ye Quan replied.

Lin Zhu hastily looked up at the older man upon hearing the surprising words. "What do you mean? You didn't look surprised when we first met at the office building. You just want to tease me again, right?" He asked.

Ye Quan looked down at him and smiled a little. "I'm not going to tease you this time," he answered. "I will tell you one important fact about me." He suddenly acted mysteriously. "I wasn't kicked out from the men's singles team, but I was the one who requested to be transferred to the doubles team. Do you know what was the reason, ZhuZhu?"