The Sweat-Drenched Truth

It looked as if a thin membrane had been lifted from her eyelids, and Hunter's figure was freshly engraved on her cornea.

Tall frame, broad shoulders, long legs.

With every precise swing of the racket at an angle, subtle ripples spread through his entire body as the muscles moved.

She was one of the few people who had watched him train every single day to reach this form.

Knees softly bent, Hunter fixed his lapis lazuli-like dark blue eyes on the opponent, wiping a drop of sweat that had slid down his chin with the wristband.

'Did I ever realize the side profile was like this?'

Sweat-soaked brown hair hung halfway over the headband.

Beneath it, a perfectly flat forehead appeared.

The area below the sharply raised thick eyebrows, which served as a warning, was hollowed out like a dip, and the high, smooth nose ridge rose elegantly.

Thwack!

The ball he slammed with a forehand slice into the left corner of the opposite court bounced in an unpredictable direction as wild as Hunter's character.

Dmitri slid across and reached out with his arm, but he missed the ball by the slimmest of margins.

Hunter, who had secured the game point, clenched his fist and gave a faint smile.

Jiyu felt an inexplicable wave of disappointment wash over her.

'...He really is handsome.'

It had been nine years since she first met him. Only now did she reluctantly admit the truth.

Why hadn't she known before? Because she saw his face every single day? Or because she had never truly looked at him like this for so long?

Jiyu stared blankly at him until the sound of the crowd's applause jolted her.

The first set score stood at 6-3.

Hunter had won the set with an aggressive attack that set the tone.

After the first set ended and before they switched courts, a three-minute break was given.

Hunter approached the player bench without even wiping away his sweat and snatched the drink to be handed over, twisting the lid off.

With every gulp of the sports drink that tasted strangely sweet instead of salty, the Adam's apple that protruded from his throat bobbed.

Even though she hadn't been the one playing, just watching Hunter made Jiyu's throat dry.

She swallowed dryly with a gulp, then pulled a water bottle from her bag and took a small sip.

When the break ended, Hunter rose from the bench and passed the sideline, their eyes meeting.

Then he pointed at himself with his finger again.

Keep watching.

Jiyu looked away from his gaze and lowered her head.

It felt like something bigger than she could handle was about to happen.

A premonition stirred in her.

That rainy day in the tree house.

Even when Hunter had stared fixedly at her lips, a feeling had pulled her to run away somewhere.

The second set began.

Jiyu forced her eyes away from Hunter and pinned them on Dmitri with all her might.

Dmitri stepped onto the court with a vicious expression, biting his teeth.

To provoke Hunter, he used every dirty trick he could without a break.

Hunter, whose concentration wavered, made consecutive double faults on his serve.

Dmitri shouted 'Yes!' as if to hear it and punched the air.

Every time he returned the serve, the audience's nerves were scraped by his grunting sound, which sounded like a pig's squeal.

At the end of the long, tense rally, when he won the point, he jumped up and laughed loudly, even trying to get the spectators to clap.

Jiyu frowned.

She had heard stories about players who played dirty, but seeing it live was the first time.

At the junior level, where sportsmanship was valued more than the outcome, such blatant lack of manners was extremely rare.

With an uneasy heart, she glanced sideways.

Hunter's expression was filled with anger from the tips of his hair.

Yet the fact that he suppressed his anger and didn't let it run wild like his opponents, and the fact that he didn't retaliate with the same dirty play, was astonishingly impressive progress.

Dmitri, who had tied the score at 4-4 from 4-3, finally reversed it to 4-6 and won the second set.

Each had won one set.

Before the deciding third set began, a three-minute break and coaching were allowed.

As soon as the game ended, Jake rushed to the player bench.

Even against an opponent who was challenging just on skill, Hunter had endured non-game factors and was drenched in sweat until his entire body glistened.

He nodded half-heartedly to Jake's passionate words.

He replaced the sweat-soaked dark blue wristband and headband, now turned deep navy, with fresh ones.

Then he looked up at Jiyu and flicked his index finger.

Watching him anxiously, Jiyu trembled.

Was he really saying that to her? She glanced around, but the seats on both sides were empty.

As she hesitated and dawdled, Hunter furrowed his brow and glared.

It meant 'Get up quickly.'

Jiyu stood up with a start and approached the player bench at a brisk pace.

She couldn't even guess why he was calling her at this precious timing.

But she knew it was a moment that demanded precision, so she couldn't ignore it.

As soon as Jiyu came near the bench, Hunter panted roughly and berated her.

'Where the hell have you been looking!'

'Eh...?'

Sweat dripped like rainwater from the tips of the hair hanging halfway over the headband.

'I told you to focus on me.'

He bit out through clenched teeth.

It seemed he had noticed that she had deliberately avoided him throughout the second set.

Had that kept her from focusing in the match?

No way... That couldn't be.

Panicked, Jiyu nodded.

'Ah, I get it. I'll focus.'

Hunter glared at her for a moment, then rummaged through the tennis bag with a snort.

Then he suddenly extended something.

'Put this on. Hurry.'

It was the damper she had given him.

He had only given it to tease her, so was he really going to put it on?

As Hunter extended the racket, she instinctively accepted the racket and the damper.

Jake pulled Hunter aside from the side and drew his attention.

'Hunter, listen to me carefully. When you serve with a kick, keep the accuracy. Don't twist the angle too much with your arm rotation. And remember the Batter Ram strategy I mentioned earlier. Make sure to send the ball toward the backhand side as much as possible. And most of all, don't get caught up in those childish taunts. Got it?'

Jiyu glanced at the large digital clock on the wall and carefully peeled off the blue damper attached to the racket with her trembling hand.

Hunter nodded to the barrage of advice from Jake, but kept glancing sideways at her.

If he was willing to put the damper she gave him on the racket despite the shame, it meant he was treating this situation as an emergency.

At that thought, Jiyu's heart sped up too.

Before the third set began, under the pressure of having to attach the damper, she tore the packaging without any tricks.

Then she cut her finger on the sharply torn plastic.

It stung, but a thin line of blood seeped out.

She had no time to care.

Only after she attached the pink damper with the lip pattern to the very center of the last string of the racket did she finally breathe out the breath she had been holding.

'Here.'

Jiyu extended the racket to Hunter.

Just before he took it, she impulsively brought two fingers to her lips and then lightly touched those fingers to the lip pattern on the damper.

Shocked at what she had just done, she caught her breath.

Her cheeks instantly flushed red.

Hunter, frozen in the pose of reaching out, moved only his eyes and looked down at the damper.

Then his gaze slowly rose again and stopped on her lips.

The unusually explicit stare left Jiyu panicked.

She covered her lips with the back of her hand and lowered her head.

At that moment, the umpire returned to his chair and declared the resumption of the match.

Only then did Hunter look at the umpire and finally take the racket.

It was time to return to her seat.

Jiyu bit her lip tightly and gathered her courage.

She raised her flushed face and faced him.

Hunter stared at her with eyes as blue as bullets.

Every time his broad, angular shoulders rose, hot and irregular breaths spilled out.

Jiyu backed away toward the bleachers and shouted quietly so only he could hear.

'Hunter! You have to win!'

She was surprised to realize she had sincerely cheered for Hunter.

Seeing how desperately she had used the childish pink damper he had jokingly given her, she no longer wanted him to lose.

His expression, which had been darkly hardened, slightly relaxed and the corners of his mouth twitched.

He quickly closed his lips and gave a short nod.

'Of course.'

Suppressing his anger and impatience, bold and daring confidence returned to his gaze.

Only now did she see the Hunter she knew.