It Started with a Kiss

No Pain, No Gain

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No Pain, No Gain

Part 19

Arthit's POV

Finally the day for the tennis match has arrived. I swallowed nervously, my heart beating extremely fast. I caught sight of Mike about fifteen minutes ago. He had this huge grin that was threatening to split his face in two. It was so obvious that he was completely sure that history would repeat with him and Jessica whipping Kongpob Suthiluck's and my asses. I'm sure they will tho...

As I watched him snickering to himself, I had to remind myself that he is actually a friend and is always very nice to me, outside the tennis court. Otherwise, I would have cheerfully poured my bottle of water over his irritatingly smug face.

I started to do some warm-ups and accidentally knocked into a chair. Ouch! I sighed and shook my head ruefully as I saw a new bruise appearing alongside my existing collection of colourful bruises. 

When Kongpob Suthiluck wants you to train hard, he definitely means it. I'm lucky that I suffered only bruises and no other more permanent injuries such as broken bones. 

I was shaking in my shoes as I walked next to Kongpob Suthiluck. 

When we walked into the court, he threw me a quick look. I must have looked as nervous as I felt, because he was actually decent enough (for the first time) to make an attempt to calm me down.

"It's okay Arthit, you're not alone. With me here, you don't have to worry." 

Although his face was expressionless as his voice, I was so touched by his concern that tears almost came to my eyes. On second thought, maybe it wasn't so much concern as trying to calm me down so that I would perform better, I shouldn't be so presumptuous. Whatever his reason for, I was still pathetically grateful.

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Kongpob's POV

Why wasn't I surprised when he missed Mike's first serve? And if that wasn't bad enough, instead of gearing himself for his next serve, he had to spin around immediately and bow to me in apology!

"I'm so sorry Kongpob Suthiluck!"

"Baka! Focus on the ball," I gritted out. How dare he!? He decides to have a conversation with me in the middle of a match! God please spare me... 

A second later, he actually manages to hit Mike's next ball, but when he tried to return his serve, the ball fell to the ground after hitting the net.

"Didn't you have enough breakfast today? Where's all your energy gone to? Baka!" I gave him a tongue lashing. He lowered his head meekly, but when he turned to face Mike and Jessica again, his face was set with renewed determination. 

I secretly smiled to myself. I always knew that the more Arthit was reprimanded, the harder he would try. What a strange person! 

I glanced at Mike and Jessica and this time, I could not prevent the slight smile from appearing on my face. They both looked totally shocked that Arthit could even block the ball with his racket. I couldn't help feeling smug — I know I had only trained Arthit for three days but they should never have underestimated the capabilities of a genius...

My smile appeared more frequently as the game continued. After the first two poor attempts, Arthit actually managed to return the rest of the serves from Mike and Jessica.