Chapter 88
In the men’s washroom, Tyler sshed some cold water onto his face before staring at his own reflection
in the mirror with reddened eyes. He knew he didn’t perform well during thepetition, nor did he
unleash his full
potential.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to do that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do that as soon as he recalled
the fact
that none of them came to watch himpete. That drained him of his enthusiasm, so he felt no passion
toward thepetition.
“Liars! They broke their promise even though they told me they woulde!” Tyler punched the marble
wall beside the mirror as tears rolled in his eyes. Suddenly, his phone began ringing in his.pocket. After
taking a deep breath, he suppressed his anger while retrieving his phone. “Hello?”
“Fuller, the third section of the match will be starting. Are you ready?” his teammate asked.
Tyler seemed a little down as he spoke. “Okay.”
“Come back then.” With that, his teammate hung up.
Tyler tucked his phone away to walk out of the washroom. As soon as he got out of it, someone detained
him.
“What’s upying your mind?”
That voice! Tyler’s pupils contracted as he whirled around. When he saw the man who was leaning
against the wall beside the washroom, he was overjoyed. “Toby! You’re finally here!” After Toby grunted
in response, Tyler sniffled. His voice broke a little when he said, “When did you arrive? I thought you
weren’t going toe.”
we
“I wille since I already promised to watch youpete. However, I got dyed because of a traffic
jam. I’m sorry” Toby rubbed Tyler’s hair.
Taking a step back, Tylerined, “I’m not a kid anymore. Don’t rub my hair.”
A smile tugged on Toby’s lips. “Alright, I won’t do that. However, I need you to tell me why you performed
so
poorly. I know you can perform way better than that.”
“It’s all your fault.” Tyler huffed. “You didn’t watch mepete.”
Toby arched his brow. He thought Tyler underperformed because something was bothering him, but he
didn’t expect that Sonia and his absence was the reason behind it. “You’re childish for underperforming
just because Sonia and I are absent” Displeased by the answer, Toby had a sullen look on his handsome
face.
Upon hearing that, Tyler shot back, “This is my first ever officialpetition, so I was really looking
forward to your attendance-Hold on, how did you know I also invited Sonia? I don’t recall ever telling you
that. Could it be-” Tyler’s eyes lit up, and joy was evident on his face.
Toby found his reaction amusing. “It’s just as you thought. She’s here.”
“Great!” Tyler started pping.
“So, during the uing section of thepetition,”
“I get it! I will do my best and win thepetition!” Tyler cut Toby off resolutely.
Toby nodded in satisfaction before putting on a stoic expression. “Great. Remember what you said.
Other than that, I hope this will be thest time something like this happens. If you’re going to be so
crestfallen over our absence again, you should just listen to Mom and quit ying basketball.”
“That won’t happen again. Tyler made his promise while sticking his chest up. He was so overwhelmed
by
dejection because it was his firstpetition. However, that would never happen ever again.
“Alright, let’s go. Thepetition will begin soon.” Toby gave Tyler a pat on the shoulder.
“I’ll be leaving then, Toby.” Tyler waved his hand before running away. It wasn’t until he disappeared into
the distance that Toby wheeled around to return to the auditorium with his hands shoved in his pockets.
When the third section of thepetition began, Tyler was no longer as depressed. Instead, he was so
full of energy that he managed to miraculously break through the opponents’ defenses to quickly score a
point for his
team.
As soon as he did that, he jumped up to wave at the audience. The audience began cheering when their
passion
was lit once again. Sonia smiled at the sight of it. “It seems like he has regained some vitality. What did
you tell him?”
Taken aback that Sonia would initiate a conversation, a look of surprise crossed Toby’s face, but he
immediately schooled his expression. “He was like that just now because we weren’t here. Now that he
knows we havee,
he’s feeling better.”
Sonia was visibly dumbfounded. “Is that so?”
Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g
“Yup.” Toby nodded.
With a pout, Sonia mumbled, “That’s childish of him.”
A smile tugged on Toby’s lips. Indeed.
After that, they stopped talking to each other as they focused on thepetition. Compared to the other
audiences, their silence made them seem out of ce, especially when the both of them had
extraordinarily
good looks that stood out among the crowd.
There were a few Inte celebrities that came to stream thepetition that pointed their cameras at
the two of them from time to time due to their pretty faces. Fans who were watching the livestream
erupted.
‘Wow, both the man and the woman are good-looking!
‘Are they a couple? They look like a good match!
‘Am I the only one who thinks that they look familiar? Have I seen them somewhere?’
There were a lot of simrments, but the discussion didn’tst long before the streamer pointed the
camera
away, for thepetition was about to end.
Meanwhile, Tyler was going all out on the court, leading his teammates on an assault to even the scores.
The atmosphere in the auditorium was tense as they were quickly catching up to their opponent. The
audiences were clenching their fists while fixing their attention on Tyler, who was aiming for a shot.
Under the watchful gaze of over ten thousand spectators, Tyler threw the ball, which went through the
hoop just as expected. The whistle was blown, and the score shown on the board was changed to 70-68.
The national team managed to surpass Team Kosovo’s score!
“Yeah!”
The audience jumped in tion, and so did the man who was sitting on Sonia’s left. When he leaped
from his
seat, he bumped into Sonia’s shoulder, which pushed her into Toby’s arms. He caught her by her
shoulder to help support her. “Are you alright?”
Sonia shook her head. “I’m fine. Thank you, President Fuller.”
“It’s nothing.” Toby then released her.
Right after Sonia settled down, that man leaped up again. Although he didn’t bump into her this time, he
knocked
her crutches away, which flew onto the aisle across from her. Seeing that irked Sonia, and it was giving
her a headache. How am I supposed to go pick that up?
Just when she considered getting one of the staff members, Toby stood up abruptly to go pick up the
crutches before handing it back to her. “Here you go.”
After ncing at him in surprise, she took the crutches from him. “Thank you.”
Toby grunted as he swept a nce at her leg that was still in a cast. “Is your leg feeling better?”
“Yeah. It’s less painful now.” Sonia moved her crutches to the other side so that it wouldn’t be knocked
away
again.
Having read her intentions, Toby suggested, “Let’s swap seats.”
Sonia froze for a second before she shook her head. “No, I’m fine sitting here.”
“Thepetition is still going on. Tyler’s getting better at it, so enthusiasm among the audience will
continue to
rise. Are you sure you won’t be knocked over sitting over there?” Toby questioned while ncing at the
man
beside her indifferently.
Sonia fell silent, because she wasn’t certain about it. “I will impose on your kindness then, President
Fuller.” Sonia
smiled as she positioned the crutches under her arms while getting ready to change seats.
However, Toby reached out to carry her bridal style and put her down on his seat before she could even
stand up. Astonished, Sonia found herself blushing. “You,”
Toby averted his gaze before exining casually, “You’re moving too slow. It’s going to block the
audience behind you.”
Upon hearing that, Sonia didn’t retaliate. She even had to thank him reluctantly. Toby smiled when he
noticed her expression which indicated that she was suppressing her anger. After replying to her politely,
he sat down on where she previously sat. In the meantime, the camera of a streamer had recorded the
process of them exchanging seats.