Chapter 23
"You've fallen for him, haven't you!" Xiaowei said with absolute confidence, looking like she had all the answers.
I stared at her, mouth hanging open.
"Oh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. These days, it's not unusual to fall for someone of the same sex, let alone fall for an alien. And please don't worry about me—he and I are absolutely, completely ordinary friends. I only came along today because I wanted to see the golf course. There's absolutely nothing special between us, you know…"
"What are you talking about!" I jumped up, abandoning all pretense of politeness. "That's completely impossible. How could I… ahem, definitely impossible!"
My voice was too loud. Both guys in front turned to look. I immediately turned away, trying to look completely nonchalant, while fixing my eyes on Xiaowei and preparing to pounce—at the slightest hint of her saying something she shouldn't, I'd clamp my hand over her mouth!
The Shangguan brothers finally looked away. Xiaowei didn't say anything inappropriate either, but she kept watching me with that smirk.
"Really nothing?"
"Of course not!" I couldn't afford to be vague about this. Falling for someone was麻烦 enough, but falling for someone of the same sex was麻烦 squared. And if that person just happened to have seen me at my most embarrassing—Shangguan Yun—it wasn't just麻烦 anymore. It was an absolute disaster! Being misunderstood like this was already a disaster!
"Then why were you blushing just now?"
"I'm hot!" I said through gritted teeth.
Xiaowei snorted, wearing that "sure, keep lying to yourself" expression. I rolled my eyes and pretended not to notice.
In most situations, substitutes are the ones sitting on the bench, especially me as Shangguan's backup. My purpose at the golf course was to walk around and sunbathe. If they actually let me swing a club… hmph, who knows where the ball would end up.
Of course, Shangguan would occasionally secretly invite me to hit a few balls, but today he clearly had no intention of doing so. I was extremely grateful for that. I mean,丢人 in front of him was already bad enough—was I supposed to丢人 in front of the whole world too?
But while Shangguan was kind enough, that guy who went by both Shangguan Yun and Yang Yun was absolutely at odds with me. He kept insisting I join in. I declined repeatedly, saying I didn't know how, but he just kept saying everyone was just playing for fun, skill didn't matter, and this was a group sport—the more people, the more fun.
Hmph! Does he think I've never watched TV? Those rich guys all play one-on-one. You never see them piled together like a soccer team. But he kept at it, and even Xiaowei had swung a couple of times. If I didn't move now, I'd really be giving him a hard time.
No wonder they both have the surname Shangguan—every single one of them is so domineering! I cursed silently, walking forward reluctantly.
Plant my feet, steady my stance, take a deep breath, shift my weight, raise my arm, take a practice swing—swing! My posture was excellent, and the ball's arc was beautiful. I smiled slightly, relieved. Even if the landing spot was terrible, my form and the arc should earn me some credit.
A gust of wind blew through, making the grass ripple like waves. I watched that ball proudly. Heh, wasn't I starting to look like an expert? But… wasn't the ball flying a bit too high?
One second, two seconds, three seconds—the ball that should have started descending was still flying high, flying over mountains and rivers, past the sun, beyond the horizon, flying out of sight…
After Yang Yun and Xiaowei's expressions shifted from admiration to shock, a scream finally rang out from somewhere far away: "Who threw that ball—"
…
Silence. More silence. I swore I'd never attend any gathering with more than two people ever again. I couldn't stand this atmosphere.
I glanced at Shangguan. His expression was still relatively calm. I took a deep breath, gathered my courage, and said in the most sincere voice I could muster: "There was a gust of wind just now…"
Boom! Like poking a hornet's nest, all three heartless people burst out laughing. Yang Yun lost all his so-called princely composure, Xiaowei was practically rolling on the ground, and even Shangguan was clinging to me, laughing so hard he was falling apart.
I gritted my teeth and glared, doing my best to project an air of "neither wealth nor poverty can shake me, neither power nor force can subdue me, laughter cannot—ahem, anyway"—maintaining my superficial calm.
There WAS a gust of wind! I clearly felt it! Otherwise the ball couldn't have flown that far. I definitely don't have that much strength! What are you laughing at? What are you laughing at? What are you laughing AT?!!!
I screamed internally, feeling my face burn hotter and hotter. Now I finally believed that saying—there's no worst, only worse. Why did I even bother hitting the ball? The starters were right there; why did a substitute like me have to insert himself? Wasn't this karma? I was dying of regret.
But that disastrous swing did bring me one benefit: after all that laughter, the three of them lost interest in playing anymore. Unfortunately, though, those two pieces of super sticky taffy latched onto us again.