I LIKE HER

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Lin Zhu asked the older man back instead of answering the man's question.

"Why?" Ye Quan asked him back as well. "Did the way I call you make your heart flutter?"

Lin Zhu was shocked by Ye Quan's question, and once again he felt a funny sensation in his heart. Did his heart just flutter?

Shaking his head to brush off the weird thought, Lin Zhu then scowled at the older man. "Please listen to me well, Senior Ye," he spoke up seriously at the man. "I'm not gay, so please restrain yourself and please stop teasing me!"

"Restrain?" Ye Quan asked in confusion. "Do you think I have that kind of desire toward you because I keep teasing you?"

Lin Zhu was quite thankful because the senior didn't use vulgar words to ask him for clarification. They were still in a public place, and there were eyes and ears everywhere.

In a low voice, Lin Zhu answered the question, "You squeezed my dick, and you even said that you would kiss me! Do you think those two things are normal? You called me gay before, but I think you're the one who's not normal, Senior Ye."

Lin Zhu didn't mean to be polite. Instead of wanting to act politely toward the older man, Lin Zhu wanted to act sarcastic toward the man. That was why he kept calling the Senior with courtesy.

"You cried when I called you gay two days ago, right?" Ye Quan asked.

Lin Zhu's memory went back to that night when he was offended by Ye Quan's words. He indeed cried two days ago, so he couldn't deny the accusation.

"You're still the same, Lin Zhu," the older athlete spoke again. "You're still the weak Lin Zhu who easily cried when we first met three years ago."

Lin Zhu's body tensed upon hearing Ye Quan's next words. He couldn't even reply to the previous words, but Ye Quan continued to give him pressure.

His memory wandered to the event that happened three years ago when he first saw Ye Quan.

There was no direct interaction between them back then. They just accidentally met in the restroom of a bar in the city, and both of them just stared at each other for a full minute before Lin Zhu's tears wetted his cheeks. He then immediately ran out of the restroom.

That was a bitter memory Lin Zhu wanted to erase, but Ye Quan casually opened up his wound once again.

That 'fateful' meeting in the restroom was also the reason behind Lin Zhu's hatred toward the taller man.

"Men shouldn't cry, but you cry so easily, Lin Zhu. That's why I hate you, and that's why I keep teasing you. Stop thinking that I keep teasing you because I have a feeling for you. That's not true because I only have hatred in my heart for you."

Ye Quan's long declaration caused a painful sensation in Lin Zhu's chest. It wasn't the first time he heard Ye Quan proudly announce his hatred toward him, but he still felt a pinch in his heart the second time he heard the statement.

"The feeling is equal, then," Lin Zhu finally replied as he turned around towards his bag. " I hate you too, so the feeling is equal. I just don't understand why you keep teasing me when you hate me that much. You should've treated me like a plague instead of teasing me."

Lin Zhu took out a shirt from his bag and started putting it on his body. He was shirtless for about a dozen minutes, and only now did he think about wearing a shirt. He wasn't even proud of his body, but he was shamelessly topless in front of someone who had a perfect body like Ye Quan.

That annoying man probably had been laughing in his heart for a while now, but his mind was so chaotic that he embarrassed himself in front of his enemy.

"It won't be fun if I just ignore you like a plague," Ye Quan replied. "Tormenting you is my new hobby. At least now I feel a bit comfortable in the men's doubles team."

Lin Zhu ignored the word "tormenting" and focused more on the continuation of Ye Quan's statement. He suddenly remembered Ye Quan's confession earlier.

"Didn't you say that you're the one who requested to move to the men's doubles team? Why do you feel uncomfortable here when you're the one who asked for that?"

The conversation seemed normal now, and Lin Zhu looked relaxed as he sat down on the bench. Surprisingly, Ye Quan walked towards the bench and sat down next to him.

"Your question is not quite right," the taller man corrected. "I indeed requested to move to the doubles team, but it's not the men's doubles team. Actually, I requested to move to the mixed's doubles team."

Lin Zhu was a bit surprised upon hearing Ye Quan's explanation, but the shocked expression didn't remain for too long because he quickly understood the situation.

"Is it because of Zhao Jia?"

Lin Zhu felt a bitter sensation on his tongue when he spelled the goddess' name. Yes, the girl was his goddess before, but now she was more like a witch which made him uncomfortable.

"I didn't think you would guess it accurately, but yeah, it's because of Zhao Jia."

Even when he heard the name being mentioned by Ye Quan, Lin Zhu still felt uneasy in his heart.

"Did you really ask the team management to transfer you to the doubles team? I thought you were kicked out because you couldn't go back to your top performance?" Lin Zhu decided to change the subject as he folded his jersey and put it in his bag.

"Do you think I'm that weak?" Ye Quan asked in disbelief. "I just pretended to play badly after I recovered from my injury, and I told that baldy coach that I wouldn't be able to go back to my top performance again and asked him to transfer me to the doubles team instead. Everything was so perfect because that baldy said yes, but unfortunately, I was sent to the men's doubles team instead of the mixed's doubles team. It turns out Zhao Jia has gotten a new partner in her team."

Lin Zhu's brows twitched when he heard the 'baldy' word, but he ignored it as he knew who the baldy was. The brown-haired athlete chose to focus on something else.

"You deliberately requested to be transferred to the doubles team just because of Zhao Jia. Do you like her that much?"

Ye Quan was a bit stunned when he heard the question, but then he smiled as he answered, "Yes. I like her so much."