The Love Score || Zhuo Zhi

3: My Breath Isn't As Bad As Yours

The thin corridor looked to be crowded with cliques of students gathering at corners, whispering and discussing their own matters. I prayed that they weren't talking about me; my clothes really stood out amongst their grey and white and blue uniform. And I hated being in the spotlight. I pulled up the hood of my jacket over my head and walked down the corridor.

The teachers' staffroom... 2C... 2B! I found my class, easier than I thought it would be, thanks to Zhuo Zhi. Ah, the moment I remember his name, I keep replaying that embarrassing moment again and again in my head. Hopefully, we would never cross paths again, I didn't think I would ever be able to get over that incident. I might just crawl into a hole and die there from shame.

I stood awkwardly outside the door, peering into the classroom. The numbers of people in the corridor were ceasing; the class was about to start soon. I peered inside the classroom, but I could only see the first row of students and the teacher's table from my limited line of sight. The teacher seemed to be sorting out her notes, paying less attention to her students at that current moment.

I sighed and rapped my knuckles twice on the wooden door. "Hello, teacher?" I called out softly, unsure.

The teacher looked up from her work, and sudden realization flooded her expression. "Ah, Yue En, you're here!" She got up from her seat, ushering me inside to the front of the classroom. I shuffled in, my head bowed low so I couldn't make eye contact with the rest of the students. I could feel their eyes all on me.

"Class, we have a new transfer student from overseas coming to join us for the year," the teacher smiled warmly, although I knew better than to trust the smiles that teachers gave you. "Give us an introduction of yourself, yes?" She prompted.

"I'm Yue En," I answered shortly. "Hi."

There was a tension-filled pause in the room, and I clenched my fists in my pockets. Just let me get to my seat already, and continue with the lesson!

"Hello!" I spotted a friendly wave from the far right corner of the class. A girl had responded unexpectedly to my introduction, and she wore a welcoming, bright smile on her face. The class laughed a little, and I couldn't help but grin a bit myself.

The teacher, however, looked slightly dissatisfied with my short answer. "Yue En, tell us your hobbies or something you like to do, perhaps?"

"Well," I hesitated for a second, "I like dancing, I think?"

The class burst into whispered discussions then, although I couldn't hear what they were talking about. Was it too obvious that I was anxious? Were they judging me for liking dance? Was I being too arrogant? Again, I squeezed my fists together in my pockets.

The teacher still looked unhappy, like she had wanted me to speak more, but it was all I gave. "That's great, Yue En. Well class," she turned to the students, "I hope you would give her a warm welcome and make her feel at home at Yu Qing. Yue En, there is an empty seat right over there, once you settle down we will begin our lesson."

I walked down the aisle and towards my designated seat. It was in the second column to the left, and the second row to the back. On either side of my seat were seated two boys, both of them looking as if they could tower over me like giants. The boy on my right had the darkest hair, as black as night, and he had especially dark pupils as well, so dark that it was close to black. And his face? It could beat Si Yang's scary 'serious face' by five times more.

Meanwhile, the boy on my left had lighter brown hair, and he looked gentler, friendlier as well, and the silhouette of a dreamy expression remained on his face. The similarities between them both were that they were tall, built and athletic-looking. Other than that, these two were just almost complete juxtapositions of each other. I sat down in my seat, took my pencil case and notebook out of my bag, getting ready for the lesson.

"Hey,"

I turned to my left. It was the dreamy-looking boy, smiling in my direction. I whipped my head in the other direction just to confirm that he wasn't talking to anyone else. I turned back to him. "Uh, hey."

"You're a transfer student here from overseas?" He asked curiously. "I have a junior who also transferred from overseas a couple of months ago too, funny. Anyway, my name is Qiao Chen," he held out a hand to shake. "I'll be here if you need any sort of help!"

"Qiao Chen?" The name rang a bell in my head, as I shook hands with him. "I know you! You're from the main tennis team!"

Qiao Chen looked surprised but pleased. "That's correct, how did you know?"

"Si Y-" I stopped my speech, collecting myself. Damn it, I almost let the secret out. Uhh, how should I explain this? I had heard almost everything about the Yu Qing tennis team all from Si Yang himself. He had spoken in the most detail about his teammates every so often, about any trouble they made, the matches they won, nearly everything he could describe related to them. He had never told me, but I could tell that he cared for his team very much.

"I heard about you from the magazine 'Tennis Monthly'." I answered hastily. "You can do an impressive vertical smash, right?"

Qiao Chen's eyes widened with astonishment, looking pleased. "Wow, Xiao Sha must have done a great job taking notes of us!" Qiao Chen beamed. "Yes, I must say that without me, the team couldn't have won the matches and gotten the champion. Xing Yao was tough, but definitely they were no match for me--"

"Hey," A deep, low voice hissed beside my ear. I jolted in my seat suddenly. The dark-haired boy was glaring at Qiao Chen, and said, "Keep quiet, can't you ever keep your mouth shut?"

"You-- you snake, why don't you keep your mouth shut and speak less?" Qiao Chen retorted. "I can smell your breath all the way from here, you'd better apologise to poor Yue En."

I stifled a laugh, amused by their bickering. What an interesting way to start my first lesson. I grinned. 

"My breath?" Dark-hair scoffed. "I'm pretty sure my breath isn't as bad as yours, with you eating burgers all the time, and you probably don't brush your teeth either. Now apologise to Yue En."

"At least my breath isn't even as unpleasant as how your face looks!"

"You--"

"BAI YANG! QIAO CHEN!" The teacher shouted across the class. "Stop talking right this instance or both of you will be sent out for punishment!"

Both boys were silenced and shrank back down in their seats. I giggled. So, these two, Bai Yang and Qiao Chen, were the Year Two boys who liked to bicker and fight with each other so much. Si Yang wasn't wrong in saying that these two were troublemakers. I'm in for an interesting year, I assume.

☆☆☆

Bai Yang and Qiao Chen are so adorable, they fight so much but they care for each other when they aren't throwing insults or trash-talking each other >.< I recommend finding and watching the bloopers of the actors of Bai Yang and Qiao Chen when they finish a shoot, they're so cute.

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~ Snowy ♡