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[What is it? I don't have much time, so make it quick.]
She felt satisfied that her voice sounded quite cold.
She heard the sound of Hunter pushing back his chair and approaching. He then came to a stop in front of her, as if blocking her path. She stubbornly ignored him, keeping her eyes cast down.
[Do you really not know what I'm trying to say?]
Even when asking for a favor, Hunter didn't know how to humble himself. Jiyu turned her head and let out a pointed sigh.
[If you have nothing to say, I'm leaving. I have to go home and do my homework.]
As Jiyu tried to brush past him, he stepped in front of her in a single stride.
[Where do you think you're going? I'm not finished talking.]
[…….]
[There's a tournament on Friday. My first L1 tournament.]
Jiyu waited a moment longer, but that was the end of the explanation.
Junior tennis tournaments were structured so that players climbed steadily from the lowest Level 9 to the highest Level 1.
She had already heard through Ae-jeong that Hunter, who had recently surpassed a UTR of 7, had been given a seed in the USTA (United States Tennis Association) National Indoor Championships, a Level 1 tournament for under-14s. It had inevitably reached her ears because Ae-jeong constantly prattled on about the news from the Hamilton household.
When she remained silent, Hunter added, sounding frustrated.
[This is Level 1. A National tournament. Do you not understand what that means?]
[No. I understand. So? What does that have to do with me?]
Jiyu knew that, as always, she would eventually be the one to lose. Since they were children, there had been an invisible hierarchy between them, similar to a master-servant relationship.
But this time, she didn't want to bow her head so easily. It was a strange stubbornness she had never felt before. Perhaps her raging adolescent hormones were pushing her to rebel against Hunter instead of her parents.
[Kiss me.]
Hunter reached out toward her.
[No.]
She stubbornly turned her head away.
[Hah… are you still sulking because of what I said? Don't be childish, Jewel Parker. Back then, you were definitely the one who started saying weird things—]
Jiyu grabbed his fingertips, pulled him in, and gave him a half-hearted, perfunctory kiss before throwing his hand away. Then, she glared at him with sharp eyes.
[Satisfied? I'm really leaving now. If you block me this time, I'm going to scream. Move, Hunter Hamilton.]
Because it was her first time rebelling, her knees felt weak and her voice trembled. Jiyu hugged her notebook and books tightly against her chest like a shield. Leaving the shock-frozen Hunter behind, she exited the playroom and practically sprinted across the living room.
Throwing open the elevator doors and stepping inside, she pressed the lobby button repeatedly, fearing Hunter might chase her. As the elevator began its descent with a chime, she let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall as if collapsing.
This was the first time she had ever been cruel to Hunter. Her body was still shaking slightly. While she felt a sense of liberation, she was also anxious.
What if I can't get math tutoring because of this? It'll be too expensive if I do it on my own.
Mom loves visiting Hunter's house the most; what if she can't go because of me?
Hunter… probably hates me even more now.
Feeling strangely sad, Jiyu sat on a bench in the courtyard for a while, breathing in the cold air before returning home. It was an early winter night, and the solitary treehouse looked somehow lonely.
✾ ✾ ✾
Hunter suffered the worst performance of his life at his first L1 tournament in Chicago, failing to win a single set. His UTR score also dropped.
Unable to resist her curiosity, Jiyu visited the tournament website to check his results, and although she knew it wasn't her fault, she felt a bit sorry.
Not only the main match, but the consolation scores—the losers' bracket for those who lost their first match—were such a mess that it looked as if he had simply given up on the tournament.
Hunter usually played even better when facing opponents who were ranked higher and more skilled than him. Thus, even if he didn't win the championship, the scores usually showed that he had fought with tenacity and spirit.
However, she was surprised to see that this time, he had lost with a terrible score even to a player with a lower UTR, someone he had always beaten easily.
On Sunday, after returning from Chicago to New York.
Hunter called her out to the treehouse in the courtyard. Jiyu, who had intended to ignore his text and not go out, impulsively changed her mind just before the appointed time.
When she stepped out of the courtyard door wearing a hastily thrown-on sweater, the yellow late-afternoon sunlight was barely clinging to the edge of the garden. The winter courtyard, where even the sound of the fountain had ceased, was a bleak, blue-gray color.
The cold wind seeped through her loose sweater. Jiyu shrugged her shoulders and walked toward the treehouse, wrapping her arms around herself.
Thump, thump. She heard the sound of a tennis ball hitting a wall. A few tennis balls Hunter had left behind usually rolled around inside the treehouse, and children visiting the playground often played with them.
But right now, it was clearly Hunter throwing the ball inside the treehouse. Even from the violent sound of the ball hitting the wall, she could tell he was determined to break something.
He was anxious and angry.
Jiyu hesitated, contemplated for a moment, and then turned around.
'I shouldn't have come.'
She didn't want to deal with an angry Hunter. Just as she took a step to return home, the sound of the ball stopped abruptly.
[Jewel Parker, stay right there.]
It was definitely Hunter's voice, but she couldn't tell when it had become so deep and low. Until recently, his voice would awkwardly crack into several tones if he raised it even slightly.
Jiyu didn't want to turn around. She wanted to fling open the courtyard door and run home to hide. But her legs felt as if they had been poured with wax, frozen and unable to move.
As always, Hunter jumped down from the entrance of the slide in one go and approached her with fast, heavy strides.
Holding a tennis ball in his hand, he looked down at her, panting. Wrapping her arms around herself, she stood there staring only at the ground.
Jiyu forced her voice out.
[…Why did you call me?]
[I have something to say.]
[What is it?]
She peeked up slightly, but for some reason, she didn't have the courage to meet Hunter's eyes. Rationally, she knew his defeat wasn't her fault. But a strange guilt, as if she had contributed to it, tugged at her.
'I should have kissed him properly when he asked.'
She hadn't known that Hunter would ruin his match to this extent because of a stupid superstition.
[Jewel Parker, you are no longer my winning jinx.]
At those words, Jiyu snapped her head up to look at him. His deep blue eyes flickered violently, like the sparks of a welding torch.
[…Is that why you called me out here?]
[Yes. Begging you miserably every time I had a match was fucking disgusting. But I don't need you anymore, Jewel Parker. You're not a winning jinx or anything to me anymore. Nothing.]
Hunter bared his teeth menacingly, emphasizing the last word.
Jiyu's lips trembled. Her limbs felt numb, as if they were cramping. The fleeting feeling of apology evaporated instantly, replaced by a surge of anger.
Her nose began to sting, and her eyes grew hot. She felt wronged and miserable.
She bit her lower lip hard enough to hurt. Only after the trembling of her lips finally stopped did she look down and take a deep breath.
[That's great.]
She was glad her voice sounded calmer than she expected.
Perhaps it wasn't the reaction he expected, as Hunter scoffed and asked back.
[What?]
[I'm relieved that I don't have to play along with your ridiculous jinx anymore.]
Jiyu looked up and glared at him. She couldn't stop the tears from rolling down from the corners of her eyes. Many things had happened since she first met Hunter at age six, but this was the first time she had shown him tears.
[I hated it and found it annoying too, Hunter Hamilton.]
Jiyu's voice was as cold as the winter wind.
She felt a strange sense of satisfaction seeing the shock slowly seep into the eyes fixed upon her face. Tears tickled her cheeks, flowed down to her chin, and fell drop by drop.
Drained of color, Hunter opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something. He swallowed hard, and something protruding in his throat bobbed up and down.
He didn't have that before.
Jiyu stared at his throat for a moment, then turned away coldly.
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