.jpg)
Hunter, being left-handed, hit his forehands and served with his left hand.
Looking at her with suspicious eyes, he trudged over and flopped down into the opposite chair. After hesitating for a long while, he held out his hand. His fist was clenched tight.
[Turn your palm up and spread your fingers wide.]
With a short sigh, Hunter rotated his fist and slowly unfolded his fingers. Perhaps because he practiced so much, the palm that gripped the racket was covered in calluses. Jiyu knew well that Hunter was dead serious about tennis.
Using her index finger, she wrote the letter 'J' on his palm.
[Wha—what are you doing! That tickles!]
As Hunter clenched his fist to pull his hand away, she grabbed it again.
[Listen carefully, Hunter Hamilton.]
His face twisted in a grimace as he glared at her, breathing heavily. His shoulders heaved irregularly.
[Since you're left-handed, I'm going to write my name on your left palm. It's a very effective method featured in the New York Times bestseller, so open your hand again and bear with the tickling.]
Looking at her with a gaze full of uncertainty and distrust, Hunter slowly unfolded his fingers. Jiyu quickly wrote the remaining letters on his palm.
[i, and another i, then u. All done.]
After a moment's thought, she closed her eyes and leaned her head down toward his palm. For about 0.1 seconds, her lips brushed against his palm and pulled away.
[Gasp!]
She heard Hunter catch his breath.
[Wha—what just...!]
Jiyu lifted her head and finished her explanation with a face full of confidence.
[Now, when you grip the racket with this hand, it will have the same effect as if I were watching your tournament.]
Then, she gently curled his fingers back in for him.
[Now grip it tight. Don't let it go.]
'Please work. Please believe it.'
Jiyu stole a glance upward, gauging his reaction.
'What if he gets angry and asks if I'm treating him like a fool?'
Hunter stared at her with his mouth slightly open, simply blinking. She had never seen him make such a vacant expression. She was barely biting her lip to keep from bursting into laughter when Hunter suddenly clenched his fist tight.
'Hick. Is he angry?'
As Jiyu hunched her shoulders, contemplating whether to escape via the slide, she heard a loud sound of him swallowing hard.
[I—if this doesn't work, you, Jewel Parker, are in big trouble!]
His voice, attempting to sound threatening, cracked in two.
As Hunter bolted upright from his seat, the small chair tumbled backward with a loud clatter.
Without even bothering to right the chair, he walked toward the entrance connected to the slide with heavy, thumping footsteps. As if even the time it took to slide down was a waste, he grabbed the iron bar above the entrance with one arm and leaped down beside the slide.
[What a temper,] Jiyu muttered softly to herself.
Hunter's footsteps echoed loudly across the stone floor of the courtyard before fading away, followed shortly by the heavy thud of the iron gate closing.
Jiyu shrugged, stood up, and leisurely slid down the slide. Since she had successfully shaken off Hunter Hamilton, who had been pestering her not to go to the birthday party, she had achieved her goal.
Sunday afternoon.
Ae-jeong flung the door open. Jiyu, who had been curled up in a round swing chair reading a book, looked up in surprise.
Ae-jeong waved her hand toward her.
"Jiyu, hurry up and go up to the penthouse. You're supposed to have a playdate with Hunter."
"Now? Suddenly why...?"
"Oh, just come out. Your father is busy working and your mother can't go because she has a mani-pedi appointment, so go play by yourself. Let me see, should I cancel the mani-pedi...?"
Looking down at her nails, Ae-jeong shook her head.
"Ugh, they're such a mess that I really have to go. Jiyu, stop dawdling and get up."
Since she happened to have a book to return, Jiyu nodded readily. It was about time she checked what new books had arrived in Hunter's playroom library. New books were added to the library once every two months.
[It would be so nice if only Hunter wasn't at Hunter's house,] Jiyu muttered as she left the house. With Lauren's permission, she occasionally visited the playroom even when Hunter wasn't there to return or borrow books. Lauren often said that Jiyu reading in the playroom had a 'positive influence' on Hunter.
Every time she heard that, Jiyu felt a strange sensation. Hunter Hamilton was not a child who would be influenced by anyone, especially not someone like 'Jewel Parker.'
Upon entering the lobby, Jiyu raised her index finger toward Mike, who was standing behind the concierge desk. It was the signal that she was heading up to the penthouse.
Mike no longer stopped Jiyu or Ae-jeong from using the penthouse elevator. Nodding without a word, he placed a call via the intercom.
As soon as the elevator doors opened on the family floor, the security door inside swung open abruptly.
Before the startled Jiyu could even step back, Hunter thrust something forward with a triumphant look on his face.
It was a shimmering silver trophy.
The Mayor Dinkins Cup, Elementary School Division Champion.
Reading the inscription on the trophy base, Jiyu murmured blankly.
[Oh my. He actually won.]
Once Hunter confirmed that Jiyu was a 'winning jinx,' the look in his eyes changed. He no longer treated her like a piece of built-in furniture in the playroom.
Previously, even when they were in the same space, he would give her one indifferent glance and lose interest; now, he watched her with a gaze mixed with suspicion and curiosity—so intently that his bright blue eyes became burdensome, and she began to avoid him.
When they bumped into each other at the sports center shared with Alton School, if Jiyu quickly lowered her gaze and pretended not to see him, he would slam his fist against the wall as if offended, even though he hadn't greeted her either.
Jiyu wished Hunter would go back to how he was before. The gaze that used to pass her by casually, as if looking at a beanbag chair in front of the library, had been much more comfortable.
The bigger problem was that he summoned her to the treehouse every time there was a tournament. He would incessantly pester her, thrusting his left hand in front of her face and demanding she write her name.
However, Jiyu drew a firm line. Unless it was a truly important tournament, she refused to be his winning jinx.
[Don't rely on a winning jinx and focus on improving your skills, Hunter Hamilton.]
The moment those words left her mouth, goosebumps rose on Jiyu's arms.
Could she really be safe after saying such a thing to Hunter Hamilton of all people? From what she knew, he wasn't the type to just sit back when things didn't go his way.
Sure enough, blue sparks flew from his eyes. Frightened, Jiyu's pupils shook violently. She already regretted saying it. Hunching her shoulders, she braced herself for the backlash that would return tenfold, whether in words or otherwise.
Hunter breathed heavily, pressing down his unvented rage with his molars. His jaw tightened. But he didn't say anything to Jiyu. Or rather, he couldn't.
Because he was the one who desperately needed a 'winning jinx.' And though she hated to admit it, she wasn't wrong.
In that moment, the seesaw that had always tilted toward Hunter since they first met gently tipped toward Jiyu. Sensing this instinctively, Jiyu held her breath.
The immature sense of superiority was as sweet as cotton candy. She fully savored that thrilling feeling.
Unaware of how futilely that tilt would eventually be overturned.
✾ ✾ ✾
Twelve years old. The era arrived where hormones began to override brain activity.
In the first semester of 6th grade, there was a joint musical production of 'Peter Pan' between Aster School and Alton School. The musical, which required the participation of every 6th grader, was an extension of the 'Plays and Drama' unit in English Literature class.
Hunter, claiming he detested dancing and singing, volunteered for the role of a pirate, where all he had to do was run around with a sword in his hand. Jiyu also breathed a sigh of relief after being assigned the role of a child of Neverland, an ensemble part with no lines.
After the musical, Hunter and Rex, who played Captain Hook, split the popularity of the 6th-grade girls at Aster School. During lunch, heated debates would break out at the cafeteria tables over which of the two was 'cuter.'
It was a bizarrely strange debate.
It was an open secret that Hunter was Sienna Reed's crush. It was absurd to listen to the girls moan and sigh, attributing great meaning to a single glance or a word he had uttered.
.jpg)