Picture Us | Zhuo Zhi

fifteen

s u r p r i s e  g i f t

"Xia, there's some food in the fridge... I'm, um... I'm going to head out. Good luck to you both," Nam says to her twin and Qiao Chen, who're still working for their doubles game.

"Where are you going?" Xia asks.

"Um... to the tennis park," Nam answers.

"We should go too!" Qiao says.

"Uh... Don't you guys still need to learn to, um... coordinate?" Nam asks.

"Fine. Come back soon."

"Thanks Xia!" Nam says as she leaves through the garden, with the camera bag slung over her shoulder.

-

As Nam walks to the tennis park, she runs into Zhuo Zhi, who she finally sees out of a school uniform, whether it be the class one or the tennis one. Today, Zhuo dons a normal pair of shorts, and a hoodie like Nam.

"Hey Zhi," she says.

"Hey Nam. I was actually looking for you."

"You were?"

"Yes. Are you free right now?"

"Yeah... I was just going to walk to the park to take some pictures."

"Can I accompany you?"

"Sure." Nam slightly flushes as she takes in their close proximity. She notices a gift bag in Zhuo's hand. "What do you got there, Zhi?" she asks.

"A gift... for you."

"Huh?" Nam stops in her steps, causing Zhuo to halt beside her.

"That's why I was looking for you."

"Oh." Zhuo hands the bag to Nam with a smile. She gasps as she looks at what's inside. "Zhi, when... how'd... where... Thank you!" Nam eventually gets out as she tries on the tennis team jacket. "It fits perfectly!" she gushes.

"That day at practice I noticed even Lu Xia's jacket was too big for you, so we got one in a woman's size... Did you see the back yet?"

Nam takes the jacket back off to see YU QING PHOTOGRAPHER proudly etched into the fabric. "I love it!" In her excitement, Nam jumps and hugs Zhuo, shocking the both of them. "Uh... s-sorry," she apologizes.

Zhuo quietly chuckles. "I don't mind, Nam." Both are unaware of the blushes forming on their cheeks as they bashfully look in the opposite direction of each other.

Nam puts the jacket back in the bag, and the two start walking again. An awkward silence lingers, and Nam can't stop worrying. Have I made things awkward? she wonders.

"Zhi-" "Nam-" they both start at the same time.

Seconds later, Nam giggles at this while Zhuo seems to just softly chuckle.

"Ah... sorry, Zhi... You go first," Nam says.

"Did you notice that the tennis park is the other way?"

"Oh... Really?"

Zhuo chuckles once again. "Nam, I have somewhere we can go," he says.

"Okay."

-

Zhuo and Nam walk around a lake as they head to a gazebo overlooking the water. "It's so pretty here!" Nam gushes.

"I thought you might like it here," he says. Zhuo frowns as he sees Nam internally struggle with something. "What is it?"

"Oh... I... it seems silly, but... I wanted to um... Can you model for a photoshoot?"

"For you... yes," he replies.

Nam blushes, but she continues on, not allowing her flustered state to get in the way of photography. When they're done, she hands her camera over to Zhuo.

"These look amazing!"

Because of you, she thinks. But Nam manages to say a little "thanks" as she laughs off her own thought.

-

Nam hums to herself as she walks through the front gate of her house. "Hey Xia," she greets.

"Hey. You've been out for two hours. Did you go shopping?" he asks upon seeing the gift bag.

"No. I, um... I ran into Zhuo Zhi, and we went to the lake."

"What about the bag."

"He, um... gave me a team jacket."

"Okay. Qiao Chen left."

"Ah, okay. I'm going in now," she says, leaving her brother alone in the garden.

-

Alone in her room, Nam uploads the photos she's taken today onto her computer. Oblivious to her own self, she can't stop staring at a particular photo of Zhuo Zhi from when they had a photoshoot. She had instructed him to throw flower petals while she was snapping photos, and he looked absolutely magical with petals flying around him. And for some reason, Nam keeps this photo to herself, uploading other ones of Zhuo to her blog, but deciding to keep this little trinket as a private, cherished memory.