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Suddenly, Dmitri approached the umpire, thrusting his index finger into the air and strongly appealing that it was out. He then turned his head toward his family in the stands as if seeking support.
His parents also stood up from the bleachers and loudly protested. This, too, was a serious breach of spectator etiquette.
Jiyu did not miss the flash of anger crossing Hunter's face.
Fortunately, he seemed to be controlling his emotions well, taking a deep breath. Though his jaw twitched and veins popped in his neck, he didn't add a single word to the controversy, merely glaring at Dmitri while monitoring the situation.
Looking at the two with an expressionless face, the umpire did not change his decision and declared:
[The ball is in!]
As Dmitri turned back toward the baseline with a dissatisfied look, his lips clearly moved as he muttered curses under his breath. It was obvious that his intention wasn't actually to change the umpire's decision, but to provoke Hunter—who had just scored a brilliant point—and break his momentum.
If Hunter scored just one more point, he would be the tournament champion. It happened to be his turn to serve. However, if Dmitri managed a counterattack and took a point, they would be back to a stalemate.
Hunter took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Out of habit, he flicked the racket handle in his palm, spinning it a couple of times. But this time, just before bouncing the ball on the ground, he did something Jiyu had never seen before.
He placed two fingers against his lips, then brought them down to touch the edge of the racket strings. His expression was as serious and earnest as someone praying.
Jiyu's shoulders trembled as she instinctively touched her own lips.
A pink dampener with red lips painted on it. The fact that he had given a hand-kiss to the victory Jinx she gave him, just as she had done, was a secret known only to her.
He hadn't actually kissed her lips, yet she felt strangely embarrassed, her ears burning.
Thump, thump, thump.
Hunter tossed the ball high and vertically after bouncing it three times. Then, he leaped up, arching his shoulder back to open his body. He poured all the strength of his entire body into the racket and struck. The sound of the ball hitting the strings echoed with a loud thwack.
Dmitri barely managed to return the serve, which had plummeted like a bullet toward the backhand side. However, just as it had been at the start of the match, the ball became a high moonball and landed far outside the sideline.
7:5.
A serve ace, and match point.
Jiyu sprang to her feet. Hunter won!
[Hic….]
Something hot surged up in her throat. Surprised, she covered her mouth. Suddenly, her vision blurred. At that moment, someone scooped her up.
[Kyaak!]
Startled, she let out a scream. Hunter's face was right in front of her, his arm wrapped around her waist as he lifted her high. He breathed heavily, smiling like an angel.
[I won! Jiyu, I'm the champion!]
[…….]
Jiyu couldn't say a word; she could only blink. Her heart hammered so loudly she could hear it in her ears. Hunter's smile faded, and he blinked with a puzzled look.
[…Are you crying?]
[No, I'm just… tired, I was yawning.]
Quickly wiping her eyes, Jiyu patted his shoulder with her palm.
[Put me down, Hunter.]
At that, Hunter's eyes widened. It seemed he only then realized that the moment the match ended, he had rushed over and hugged her, lifting her up without warning.
He immediately released his grip and dropped Jiyu. As she stumbled upon landing, he quickly reached out and grabbed her shoulder. The moment she regained her balance and stood straight, he pulled his hand away as if burned.
When their eyes met, both simultaneously looked away in opposite directions.
[Con-congratulations. Um, it was a really great match. You worked hard.]
[Uh… yeah. Thanks.]
Watching them from the side with narrowed eyes, Jake bit his lip and chuckled silently.
* * *
Inside the car heading back to the Upper East Side.
Hunter, who began nodding off as soon as he got in the car, struggled to keep his eyes open, but as soon as they entered the Long Island Expressway, his head tilted sideways. He fell asleep with his head resting on Jiyu's shoulder.
Jiyu froze, motionless. Hunter's regular breathing tickled her hair. She shifted only her pupils, stealing a glance at him from the corner of her eye.
Thick, long eyelashes, a straight bridge of the nose, and slightly parted lips.
Her heart pounded as if it were about to burst through her ribs. The feeling was suffocatingly agonizing. A sense of crisis washed over her again. She felt an impulse to jump out of the moving car and run away.
For the first time today, he had called her 'Jiyu.' She had been pretending not to notice, but the moment the name 'Jiyu' instead of 'Jewel Parker' came from his lips, her heart sank.
In the past, she had wanted him to call her by her name properly, but now that he actually did, it felt so… so strange.
'Get a grip, Jewel Parker. This could turn into a real disaster. If no one else, Hunter Hamilton is the one person you absolutely, absolutely must not like!'
Swallowing hard, she finally tore her gaze away and firmly resolved herself with a grim expression.
That night, Hunter dreamed of embracing someone slender and sharing a passionate kiss. And the next morning, upon feeling a strange sensation and lifting his blanket, he was unable to leave his bed for a while due to shock and shame.
Thus began a nocturnal emission that arrived slightly later than others, followed by a full-scale hormonal explosion.
The supernova of Hunter Hamilton's puberty had begun.
✾ ✾ ✾
"Your beauty is really blooming lately. It's a pleasure to dress my daughter. Maybe it's because you take after me, but the fit is just… amazing."
Ae-jeong smacked her lips with satisfaction, turning Jiyu around in front of the mirror.
Jiyu had grown significantly over the past year. While not as tall as Ae-jeong had been as a model, she had reached 5 feet 6 inches.
She was still very thin. However, her chest had grown to the point where she could no longer wear training bras. Her once flat waistline had become slender, and the soft curves leading to her hips extended smoothly down to her long, straight legs.
"Don't you think the skirt is too short?"
Jiyu asked, pulling down the hem of the dress, which sat more than 8 inches above her knees. The shimmering black Lurex dress with thin shoulder straps clung to her body like a well-fitted glove.
"Hey! Even your mother is fine with it, so why are you talking like a loser?"
"…What's a 'loser'?"
"What do you mean? Someone nerdy, like you and your father!"
Ae-jeong grumbled.
"Anyway, you should be glad your mom is someone who understands 'fashion.' Other old-fashioned mothers wouldn't buy a dress like this even if you asked for it for a party."
Jiyu had actually intended to wear a modest one-piece dress she bought during a trip to Paris last summer. With short cap sleeves, a fitted waist, and a slightly flared hem, it wasn't too short and was plain—which was good because it didn't stand out.
However, Ae-jeong, having heard something from somewhere, had bought a party dress and presented one with a design that looked like something one would wear to a club. A shocked Jiyu had been hesitant, saying she had never worn such a daring outfit, but she was no match for Ae-jeong.
But there was one thing she gained in exchange for wearing the dress. There was one thing she refused to give up.
"Ugh, why won't you wear high heels! Does that outfit go with those shoes?"
Ae-jeong shouted.
"I can't give this up. Since I wore the dress like you wanted, I'm doing this my way."
With a determined face, Jiyu stubbornly slid her feet into her Converse sneakers.
It wasn't the 90s; wearing high heels that were hard to walk in with such a short dress was out of the question.
She absolutely hated it.
"Sigh, fine. Just bring your face here."
After applying simple makeup with professional skill and blow-drying her straight hair into soft waves, Ae-jeong finally draped a chain bag with diamond quilting over her shoulder. The logo of two interlocking, inverted C's shone in silver.
"You need at least this much so you don't get pushed around by the rich kids."
"What does 'pushed around' mean?"
Though Jiyu understood the context even if she didn't know the specific word, she sometimes pretended not to know and asked for the meaning. It was a small bit of mischief on her part.
"What do you mean 'what'! In English… hold on, what is that in English? Ah, I don't know, I don't know!"
Ae-jeong waved her hand dismissively.
Jiyu smiled bitterly and looked at the stranger in the mirror. Going to a single party was not easy. Just then, a text popped up on the phone in her hand.
"Mom, Chloe says she just arrived in the lobby. I really have to go now."
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