Would You Mind If I Play?

Shu Guang High’s soccer field.

“Zhang Jun!”

“…”

“Hey! Zhang Jun!”

“…”

“Zhang Jun!!!”

“…”

*Bump!*

“Ouch!” Zhang Jun rubbed the part of his head where Yang Pan had kicked him. “Dude! Are you trying to kill me? You know how strong your kicks are, what if I get a concussion, man?”

“Then reply me, b*tch! I called you three times. You didn’t even hear me once, so I had to do that. What’s up with you? You’re not focused.”

“Why isn’t Su Fei here?” Zhang Jun looked around and scanned the place in search of the team manager.

“Oooohhh! You punk…”

“No, no, no! It’s not what you think!” Zhang Jun shook both of his hands.

“Judging from your reaction just now, I think it’s exactly what I think it is!” Yang Pan teased. “Alright, I’m gonna quit messing around. Su Fei had some stuff to do at home, so she left school after the second period.”

“Oh.”

…

Zhang Jun had just gotten home from school, and he was about to get into the house when he heard loud noises coming from next door. That was odd, because the house next door had always been empty. Why were there noises coming from there? Could it be… As Zhang Jun wondered about the chances of there being ghosts in the vacant house, the doors opened with a creak and gave him a big scare.

“Zhang Jun!” a voice rang out.

“W-wh-who’s there?” Zhang Jun’s voice was shaking.

“What’s wrong with you, Zhang Jun? Why is your voice shaking? It’s your dad!”

Zhang Jun turned his head and saw that it really was his father. “I thought you were a ghost! You scared me!”

“What?” His father was annoyed at being called a ghost. “Our new neighbors just moved in, so we’re having a small gathering. Drop your bags off and come greet them!” his dad said before going back into the neighbor’s house.

…

“Umm…” Zhang Jun could not find the words to describe the scene before him. There were lots of boxes of random household items all over the place; some unpacked and some still sealed. With a few people there for the gathering, it seemed a little too cramped and chaotic for him. What made him cringe the most was perhaps the amount of dust that covered every inch of the place like snow. If anything, the place was absolutely inhabitable!

Zhang Jun stood at the entrance, undecided on whether to enter or leave when a familiar voice greeted him, “Come on in and grab yourself a drink! We just moved in, so it’s still very messy. I hope you don’t mind.” He turned to see who it was greeting him and was surprised to find a familiar face.

“Zhang Jun?!”

“Su Fei?!”

The two schoolmates shouted each other’s names at the same time.

…

Su Fei hummed a tune as she walked in front, lightly skipping like a rabbit. Meanwhile, Zhang Jun and Yang Pan were both walking behind her as they stared at each other.

“How did she end up becoming your neighbor?” Yang Pan whispered, trying not to let Su Fei hear.

“How would I know?” Zhang Jun whispered back.

Su Fei then suddenly turned around and pouted at the two. “Hurry up!”

“Oh!” they both replied.

And as soon as she turned away, Yang Pan turned to his friend and sighed. “You lucky bastard!”

…

The school grounds were lively even after classes had ended. Many students did not go home right away, and chose to have a few games of basketball before calling it a day. The soccer field however, was reserved just for the school team. Fortunately, all the students who preferred to play soccer were already on the team, so no one complained about their monopoly. Plus, not sharing the field with any of the other student bodies meant that they could train all they want everyday until the late evenings, and no one would mind.

Liang Ke had targeted for the team to enter the top four in nationals. This news then spread and became well-known among the students. Shu Guang High had never made it past the first round in the preliminaries before, hence that target was very much like a big joke to everyone else. But Liang Ke thought otherwise: They had some really strong freshmen joining the team this time around and he firmly believed that getting into the top four was not a very distant dream like it used to be. Yang Pan, Zhang Jun and Ren Yu De; with these few people in the front, the team’s offense was no small matter, and their new goalkeeper An Ke was really reliable when it came to defense. As long as he did his job well, Shu Guang High’s soccer team would no longer be the one team everybody else picked on anymore!

“Zhang Jun! Wait up for me! Hey, whatever happened to bros before hoes man?” Yang Pan shouted as he ran.

“What the hell are you talking about? You’re as slow as a snail!”

Su Fei laughed, seeing the two boys arguing. They were on their way back home after training.

“Hey, Su Fei? There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you for a very long time,” Yang Pan suddenly said.

“What is it?”

“Why did you suddenly move here?”

Zhang Jun eyed Yang Pan. The guy had been teasing him for being so lucky after they became neighbors.

“My old place was too far from school and there aren’t any dorms in our high school, so traveling to and fro every day was a real problem. Besides, Luoyang District has been investing a lot into Jian Xi over the past few years. They even built a high-tech industrial park. And, lots of big companies are moving here as a result. My parents said that this place is going to become the heart of a big city soon, so they decided to buy a house here since they believe the value’s gonna go up. Because of that, I chose Shu Guang High for my high school entrance exam. Shortly after, we all moved here.”

“Oooohhh!”

“Besides,” she continued as she smiled, “I even have you guys escorting me to and from school now. I don’t have to be afraid of meeting bad guys!”

Yang Pan looked at Zhang Jun and smiled. “Don’t worry about that Su Fei. If a bad guy shows up, Zhang Jun will be the first to run!”

“What did you say?” Zhang Jun held his bag up with his hand. “I’m gonna beat this perv up, right now!”

“Help!”

“Stop running!”

Su Fei watched as the two boys ran ahead and laughed.