Crossing The Line (fanfic) ~ Completed

4. Massage Therapy

Xia Yu Hao plopped on his bed with a huge sigh. It was past Ten o'clock and he was so bone-weary, he didn't even have the strength to shower before bed. As soon as his body came in contact with the mattress, his eyes closed.

These past couple of days had been too busy and tiring. He had hardly gotten any time to spend with Zi Xuan lately. They would meet up briefly during lunch break but that too never alone. They were always accompanied by the Wang Zhen brothers. During practise both Zi Xuan and himself would be engrossed in training, what with the coach monitoring the team's every move.

The coach, Ms. Zhong Zhong (physics teacher and elder sister of Xiao Xiao) had been real tough on the team. Because of the match that they had lost to Ren He High she had given them an earful of scolding. Lately she had been very active in monitoring their training and gameplay. The entire team had been practising mercilessly after school to improve on their attacks and defence.

Brrrrrr...........the phone buzzed. Xia Yu Hao woke up with a start. He searched his room pointlessly unaware of his phone ringing. It took him a while to realize that someone was calling him. Eyes groggy, hair tousled he reached for the phone on his bed stand. Try as hard as he might, he couldn't shake the sleep from his eyes. Giving up he closed his weary lids and placed the phone on his ear.

"Hello."

"Xia Yu Hao?"

"Hmmm."

"Are you asleep? Did I wake you?"

"Hmmm."

"Oh! I'm sorry. You must be tired."

"......................"

"Hello...... Hello......... Hello."

{Sound of snoring} click....(phone disconnected).

*******************************

Zi Xuan sat on his bed......Staring at his phone's screen. A tender smile played on his lips.

Xia Yu Hao must have been genuinely tired. He thought to himself.

That boy had been working extra hard, juggling between volleyball practise and his part time job.

How many days had it been since they had spent time together?

He tried to recall, "Ah....Right." he snapped his fingers.

It had been in the locker room after practise. Recollecting the day in the locker room brought forth a different memory. It reminded him of Xia Yu Hao's shirt that had been totally ruined by someone. He recalled the shock that was etched on Xia Yu Hao's face. Both of them staring in disbelief  at one other through the hole in the shirt. They couldn't fathom, why anyone would dare to do such a heinous thing.

It had been already late in the evening and everyone had left for the day. It was pointless to look for the culprit in an almost empty school. To top it off Xia Yu Hao was running late for his part time job. Zi Xuan had handed the stricken boy his spare t-shirt that he kept in case of emergencies. Xia Yu Hao had snatched it from his fingers and worn it recklessly still lost in his own thought.

They hadn't had the time to discuss about the shirt incident any further and the matter was left forgotten.

Zi Xuan lay back on the bed. He tucked his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling. He was trying to figure out the reason or the person behind such a childish trick. But had it been a trick? Or was it someone purposely trying to target Xia Yu Hao.

No....no....It couldn't be that. Why would anyone target Xia Yu Hao without a reason? He shook his head......pfft....he was thinking too much. Maybe it had been just a silly prank, he consoled himself.