LOVE:ZERO

The two sat side by side on the old, cramped sofa, their shoulders almost touching. The children’s sofa was now too narrow for two grown people, but the chair at the tea table was even smaller, so there was nothing they could do.

For a moment no one opened their mouth.

It was a familiar and cozy place. Maybe because they always came here together, even Hunter felt like a part of the tree house.

The heavy rain pounded loudly against the wooden roof of the tree house. Water droplets fell rhythmically through the gaps, briefly pooled on the round tea table, and then trickled down the edge.

“Kissing the wrist doesn’t really work anymore”

Hunter broke the silence and blurted out.

Jiyu, flustered by the unexpected words, opened her mouth and stammered

“Oh, why? Last time, you clearly won…”

Hunter, who only made it to the quarterfinals of a tournament he entered after giving Jiyu a first edition copy of Douglas Adams ‘The Palm Kiss as a gesture of reconciliation, insisted that palm kissing was no longer effective.

“Nothing lasts forever in this world. I’ve used it so often over the years that it’s clearly exhausted its energy as a winning jinx.”

He added such a ridiculous analysis. Then he pestered her by asking if there was another method recommended by the famous psychologist who wrote the book Jiyu had read.

When Hunter wanted something, he was incredibly persistent. Whenever they met, he would yell, threaten, and pressure her. He would follow her around, demanding that she come up with a solution, and shamelessly harass her as if he had entrusted her to him.

“Ju Parker, avoiding me is useless. Hurry up and think of another way. Then I won’t bother you anymore. Is there really no other way in the book written by that famous psychologist? By the way, what’s the title of that New York Times bestseller? Let me read it.”

Jiyu was so shocked that she thought it was actually a picture book for children with separation anxiety that she improvised and said something. And she regretted it deeply.

“Hey, how about kissing somewhere other than the palm?”

“…Somewhere else? Where?”

Her face turned pale as she saw the ahock and curiosity on Hunter’s face at the same time. Her heart pounded.

‘I’m crazy. I’m kissing somewhere else. Where the hell is it?’

She rolled her eyes, avoided his gaze, squeezed her hair as if squeezing out used toothpaste, and answered in a questioning tone with uncertainty.

“Uh… wrist?”

“Wrist?”

Hunter looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

“Huh?”

“Hmmm… Wrist, wrist… Alright. But if this doesn’t work, promise me you’ll come to the tournament next time.”

Jiyu reluctantly nodded. Then he put his arm out in front of her nose. It felt really weird to kiss her wrist instead of her palm. Then her face got hot and she couldn’t raise her head for a while. That’s why she didn’t see Hunter’s face turn red either.

Anyway, after receiving a kiss on the wrist, he continued his winning streak for a while. But now even that has worn off, it seems like he is going to ask for something else.

Jiyu glared at him with her eyes wide. Hunter tilted his head with a shameless expression and stared at her intently.

This time he’s trying to turn my stomach inside out with some absurd words.

“Maybe you’re no longer my winning jinx, Ju Parker.”

He declared in a rather solemn tone.

Jiyu froze, unable to find a word to respond, and just blinked. A complex mix of emotions swirled around her, difficult to express in words.

‘You’ve just realized that? That does mean I don’t have to do this damn jinx anymore? Is this really the end?’

So many emotions were mixed together that even she  had a hard time determining whether what I was feeling was relief or disappointment.

Knock, knock—

As the sound of the rain hitting the roof grew fainter, the sound of raindrops hitting the table became noticeably louder.

Hunter, who had been staring blankly at the table with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together, slowly raised his upper body.

“No, come to think of it, you’re probably right about my jinx. It’s just that high-level tournaments might not be enough to just be played with your hands or wrists.”

Jiyu’s shoulders slumped. Then that’s right.

In the darkness, Hunter turned his head to face her.

“Try it somewhere else this time”

“What, what?”

I could see him frowning in the dim light coming in from outside.

“Are you asking because you don’t know? Try kissing somewhere else.”

Jiyu’s heart raised.

“Huh? Where?”

Her voice trembled thinly.

“…I don’t know that either.”

Jiyu, who was biting her lower lip and rolling her head, thought of various body parts related to tennis.

‘Fingers? Forearms? Elbows? Shoulders? They’re all weird. This is driving me crazy.’

Then, raising her head, she asked him with some hope.

“Hey, How about doing it on your palm like before? I haven’t done it in a while.”

“Are you kidding me? Didn’t you know that the palm has already lost all its effectiveness last year?”

Hunter immeditely refused bluntly.

“The back of your hand?”

He laughed and shook his head.

“The hand part is now useless.”

“Then, where on earth do you want me to do it?”

Jiyu turned her gaze with a resentful look and shrugged her shoulders. Hunter’s face was too close. She stared at him frozen.

Hunter blinked silently and swallowed hard. Then he moistened his dry lips and opened his mouth.

“That…”

The weak light coming through the two entrances and one window illuminated half of Hunter’s face. In the black and white space, his eyes seemed to be the only ones emitting a bluish light. His blue gaze slowly moved down her face and stopped at her lips.

Jiyu took a deep breath and unconsciously covered her lips with the back of her hand.

Suddenly, I remembered the gym class on a rainy day last year. I could feel my pulse throbbing like crazy at the pulse point without even touching it.

Maybe 125 times a minute.

She lowered her eyes and awkwardly lowered her hand.

‘There’s no way Hunter would do that.’

Jiyu raised her gaze again. Hunter’s eyes, which were looking at her with a gaze she had never seen before, shook unsteadily.

The meaningful silence was louder than the sound of the rain. I don’t know why, but it felt even more scared. My heart lounded again with the anxiety that something unbearable might happen.

“I’ll go!”

Jiyu tightly closed her eyes to avoid his gaze, then carefully opened them.

Hunter nodded, his gaze fixed on her, and opened his mouth in a slightly cracked voice.

“Okay, then there…”

He paused in his mid-sentence, tilted his head slightly, and frowned.

“What did you just say?”

“I’m going.”

“So, where?”

Hunter, his patience exhausted, pushed the words out through his teeth.

“Your tournament!”

Jiyu also raised her voice.

“…My tournament.”

She nodded slightly. Hunter’s shoulders, which had been raised for a moment, sank slightly.

He slowly straightened his upper body, which had been leaning toward her, and leaned against the back of the sofa. Then, he rested the back of his head against the wall of the tree house and let out a long breath.

Jiyu also turned her head in the opposite direction and let out a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of liberation from something she couldn’t explain. Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to hit her ribs.

The rain pounded mercilessly on the roof again. The rhythm of the raindrops falling on the table continued like staccato.

Hunter stood abruptly.

“Come to the lobby at 9:00 AM on Sunday.”

Then he went to the entrance with the slide, grabbed the pole with one hand, and jumped down. Jiyu, who had relaxed, collapsed onto the sofa.

The howling sound of the rain covered the sound of Hunter’s footsteps getting further away. The raindrops that mercilessly hit the roof of the tree house resembled her pulse.

ꕥ

Three minutes before nine in the morning, Jiyu stood in front of the front door , carrying a canvas bag filled with reading materials and homework on her shoulder.

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Oh, have a nice trip. Study hard. If you think you’ll be too late, call me. I’ll ask Dad to pick you up.”

Aejeong, who was sprawled on the couch watching a Korean drama on Netflix X, poked Alan in the ribs as he was reading the Wall Street Journal next to her, Alan nodded.

“Have a nice trip, Libby. If you’re late, Daddy will pick you up.”

Although Alan couldn’t speak Korean at all, strangely enough, he could understand the nuances of Aejeong and Jiyu’s conversation.

“It’s alright, Daddy. My… friend will drive me home after.”

Only then did Aejeong look away from the TV monitor with curious eyes.

“Oh? Who? A rich kid?”

“Huh?”

Jiyu felt guilty and tried to cover it up. After all, Hunter was a rich kid.

Then Aejeong smiled brightly and waved at Jiyu.

“Got it. Go on, you’ll be late.”

Alan also put down the newspaper and smiled, his lips pursed into a point.

“Have a nice trip, Libby!”