Picture Us | Zhuo Zhi

two

t e n n i s p a r k

Lu Xia and his twin arrive at the tennis park. He knows his sister is going to wander around by herself and join his match later because she wanted some alone time after the tense bus ride, so with a reassuring nod, the twins part ways.

Nam stalks a squirrel as she looks at the chubby furball through her camera lens. She strolls through the park, knowing she'll stumble upon the tennis court sooner or later. It's okay to miss watching a set or two, Nam thinks to herself. I like walking by myself anyways.

A balloon catches Nam's eye as she's walking. She takes out her camera, meaning to capture a happy child with his balloon, but she seems to have caught the moment when the little boy realized that he let go of his bright balloon. Lovely. Nam resigns to quickly scooting away and forgetting that she witnessed such an unfortunate memory.

Nam sees a teenage boy lying in the grass, resembling her brother. The white cap with the L symbol, with the same design on her camera bag, was a clear giveaway. But what's Xia doing here? What about his game? With a tiny yelp, Nam hides behind a bench as she watches a girl approach her twin. It's the same girl from the bus. Of course my twin already has fans. Nam eavesdrops, and is shocked as she finds out that her brother was disqualified because he was late. That wasn't his fault! Her shock recovers enough for her to snap a picture of Xia looking back at the girl, revealing her to be relieved to be able to tag along with him. Nam could still see them from her bench, but her love for grape soda overrides her shyness. Seeing her twin buy three drinks, she makes herself known with a quiet, "thanks Xia." The girl looks at Nam questioningly until she responds with a quick, "we're twins."

An accusing, "Kid, it's all because of you," comes out of someone's mouth. Unsurprisingly, it's Huang Jing and Xiuwen, since the Lu twins haven't been in China for too long to anger too many people. Nam tries to ignore this confrontation, but the other girl ends up accidentally spilling her soda on Huang's shirt. Thankfully, Lu Xia steps in, and faster than Nam can readjust her camera lens, the group is heading to a tennis court.