In the men’s washroom, Tyler splashed some cold water onto his face before staring at his own reflection in the mirror with reddened eyes. He knew he didn’t perform well during the competition, nor did he unleash his full potential.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to do that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do that as soon as he recalled the fact that none of them came to watch him compete. That drained him of his enthusiasm, so he felt no passion toward the competition.
“Liars! They broke their promise even though they told me they would come!” Tyler punched the marble wall beside the mirror as tears rolled in his eyes. Suddenly, his phone began ringing in his pocket. After taking a deep breath, he suppressed his anger while retrieving his phone. “Hello?”
“Fuller, the third section of the match will be starting. Are you ready?” his teammate asked.
Tyler seemed a little down as he spoke. “Okay.”
“Come back then.” With that, his teammate hung up.
Tyler tucked his phone away to walk out of the washroom. As soon as he got out of it, someone detained him. “What’s occupying your mind?”
That voice! Tyler’s pupils contracted as he whirled around. When he saw the man who was leaning against the wall beside the washroom, he was overjoyed. “Toby! You’re finally here!” After Toby grunted in response, Tyler sniffled. His voice broke a little when he said, “When did you arrive? I thought you weren’t going to come.”
“I will come since I already promised to watch you compete. However, I got delayed because of a traffic jam. I’m sorry.” Toby rubbed Tyler’s hair.
Taking a step back, Tyler complained, “I’m not a kid anymore. Don’t rub my hair.”
A smile tugged on Toby’s lips. “Alright, I won’t do that. However, I need you to tell me why you performed so poorly. I know you can perform way better than that.”
“It’s all your fault.” Tyler huffed. “You didn’t watch me compete.”
Toby arched his brow. He thought Tyler underperformed because something was bothering him, but he didn’t expect that Sonia and his absence was the reason behind it. “You’re childish for underperforming just because Sonia and I are absent.” Displeased by the answer, Toby had a sullen look on his handsome face.
Upon hearing that, Tyler shot back, “This is my first ever official competition, so I was really looking forward to your attendance—Hold on, how did you know I also invited Sonia? I don’t recall ever telling you that. Could it be—” Tyler’s eyes lit up, and joy was evident on his face.
Toby found his reaction amusing. “It’s just as you thought. She’s here.”
“Great!” Tyler started clapping.
“So, during the upcoming section of the competition—”
“I get it! I will do my best and win the competition!” Tyler cut Toby off resolutely.
Toby nodded in satisfaction before putting on a stoic expression. “Great. Remember what you said. Other than that, I hope this will be the last time something like this happens. If you’re going to be so crestfallen over our absence again, you should just listen to Mom and quit playing basketball.”
“That won’t happen again.” Tyler made his promise while sticking his chest up. He was so overwhelmed by dejection because it was his first competition. However, that would never happen ever again.
“Alright, let’s go. The competition will begin soon.” Toby gave Tyler a pat on the shoulder.
“I’ll be leaving then, Toby.” Tyler waved his hand before running away. It wasn’t until he disappeared into the distance that Toby wheeled around to return to the auditorium with his hands shoved in his pockets.
When the third section of the competition began, Tyler was no longer as depressed. Instead, he was so full of energy that he managed to miraculously break through the opponents’ defenses to quickly score a point for his team.
As soon as he did that, he jumped up to wave at the audience. The audience began cheering when their passion was lit once again. Sonia smiled at the sight of it. “It seems like he has regained some vitality. What did you tell him?”
Taken aback that Sonia would initiate a conversation, a look of surprise crossed Toby’s face, but he immediately schooled his expression. “He was like that just now because we weren’t here. Now that he knows we have come, he’s feeling better.”
Sonia was visibly dumbfounded. “Is that so?”
“Yup.” Toby nodded.
With a pout, Sonia mumbled, “That’s childish of him.”
A smile tugged on Toby’s lips. Indeed.
After that, they stopped talking to each other as they focused on the competition. Compared to the other audiences, their silence made them seem out of place, especially when the both of them had extraordinarily good looks that stood out among the crowd.
There were a few Internet celebrities that came to stream the competition that pointed their cameras at the two of them from time to time due to their pretty faces. Fans who were watching the livestream erupted.
‘Wow, both the man and the woman are good-looking!’
‘Are they a couple? They look like a good match.’
‘Am I the only one who thinks that they look familiar? Have I seen them somewhere?’
There were a lot of similar comments, but the discussion didn’t last long before the streamer pointed the camera away, for the competition was about to end.
Meanwhile, Tyler was going all out on the court, leading his teammates on an assault to even the scores. The atmosphere in the auditorium was tense as they were quickly catching up to their opponent. The audiences were clenching their fists while fixing their attention on Tyler, who was aiming for a shot.
Under the watchful gaze of over ten thousand spectators, Tyler threw the ball, which went through the hoop just as expected. The whistle was blown, and the score shown on the board was changed to 70-68. The national team managed to surpass Team Kosovo’s score!
“Yeah!”
The audience jumped in elation, and so did the man who was sitting on Sonia’s left. When he leaped from his seat, he bumped into Sonia’s shoulder, which pushed her into Toby’s arms. He caught her by her shoulder to help support her. “Are you alright?”
Sonia shook her head. “I’m fine. Thank you, President Fuller.”
“It’s nothing.” Toby then released her.
Right after Sonia settled down, that man leaped up again. Although he didn’t bump into her this time, he knocked her crutches away, which flew onto the aisle across from her. Seeing that irked Sonia, and it was giving her a headache. How am I supposed to go pick that up?
Just when she considered getting one of the staff members, Toby stood up abruptly to go pick up the crutches before handing it back to her. “Here you go.”
After glancing at him in surprise, she took the crutches from him. “Thank you.”
Toby grunted as he swept a glance at her leg that was still in a cast. “Is your leg feeling better?”
“Yeah. It’s less painful now.” Sonia moved her crutches to the other side so that it wouldn’t be knocked away again.
Having read her intentions, Toby suggested, “Let’s swap seats.”
Sonia froze for a second before she shook her head. “No, I’m fine sitting here.”
“The competition is still going on. Tyler’s getting better at it, so enthusiasm among the audience will continue to rise. Are you sure you won’t be knocked over sitting over there?” Toby questioned while glancing at the man beside her indifferently.
Sonia fell silent, because she wasn’t certain about it. “I will impose on your kindness then, President Fuller.” Sonia smiled as she positioned the crutches under her arms while getting ready to change seats.
However, Toby reached out to carry her bridal style and put her down on his seat before she could even stand up. Astonished, Sonia found herself blushing. “You—”
Toby averted his gaze before explaining casually, “You’re moving too slow. It’s going to block the audience behind you.”
Upon hearing that, Sonia didn’t retaliate. She even had to thank him reluctantly. Toby smiled when he noticed her expression which indicated that she was suppressing her anger. After replying to her politely, he sat down on where she previously sat. In the meantime, the camera of a streamer had recorded the process of them exchanging seats.
