My Mr.Mermaid

Yun Duo saw that his hair was still wet — his not-very-long hair had been casually pushed to one side, giving him a very, very unusual hairstyle. Of course, a truly handsome man would still be handsome even if he shaved himself bald. Still affected by the strenuous exercise earlier, his complexion was pink and his eyes were, as always, as bright as stars and as clear as crystal.

Striding over with his teammates to stand before the TV reporters, his gaze cut across the cameras and the microphones to hone in on her figure at the fringes of the crowd.

She was currently staring at him with a pair of beautiful almond eyes, which were shining brightly at him, and a silly smile hung on her lips.

Tang Yi-Bai was amused and only managed to suppress a smile with some effort. He was very serious going into the interviews.

These post-race interviews were time-limited; there would be an additional press conference later on for more extensive questioning. China Central Television (CCTV) was the overlord of the media, so of course they were the first to interview the athletes. Of the four swimmers, Tang Yi-Bai was the last one to be interviewed. By the time CCTV was done with him, the time allocated for the China reporters was basically depleted. At the end, Tang Yi-Bai gave Yun Duo a pointed glance. His meaning was evident: Lady, I can give you the time.

Unfortunately, however, Yun Duo could not make proper use of it. She was still very worked up — as soon as she opened her mouth, her lips would tremble. She felt that she would not be able to say anything coherent if she spoke, so she could only gently push Qian Xu-Dong in front of her and let her senior finish the job.

As a veteran reporter, Qian Xu-Dong was much calmer than Yun Duo under the circ.u.mstances.

By the time Qian Xu-Dong was done, it was about time for Tang Yi-Bai to leave. Before leaving, he waved at Yun Duo and mouthed at her: Come here.

Yun Duo went over to him. He looked down at her with a bright smile. She felt slightly embarra.s.sed, patting herself lightly on the chest and saying, "Um, well, from today onwards, I"m your hardcore fan."

Tang Yi-Bai rubbed her head, chuckling, messing up her bangs. He said, "You"re not suited to be my hardcore fan."

She tilted her head and asked, "Then what am I suited to be?"

He grinned, lips pressed tightly together, and did not reply. Then, he suddenly leaned over and whispered into her ear, "See you at the old spot tonight."

His warm breath caressed her cheek, stirring up a red glow like fire across the sky. Yun Duo abruptly felt extremely hot and also rather speechless at the same time. This was such a strange thing to say! Where"s this "old spot"? Who has an old spot with you?!

After he said this, he straightened up and left without a care for anyone else around them. All the media staff present were casting knowing looks at Yun Duo, causing Yun Duo to flush deeply.

That night, after returning to the hotel and putting down her things, Yun Duo"s legs were no longer her own, rushing to head back outside again. She was stopped at the door by Lin Zi. He was leaning against the wall, as if waiting for her, and when he saw her open the door, he asked, "What"re you heading out for?"

"Nothing much. Just going for a walkabout."

"What if you b.u.mp into some hooligans? Let me go with you."

Yun Duo quickly shook her head. "No need! Have you forgotten how valiant I am?" Having said that, she did not wait for his reply, rabbiting down the stairs in a flash.

Lin Zi saw her figure vanish and his expression turned a little gloomy.

As agreed, Yun Duo came to the "old spot" — that little patch of forest. Yesterday, she had been especially worried after the fact about Tang Yi-Bai flipping himself over the wall, afraid that he could have grazed himself or twisted something or another. So tonight, she was determined not to let him flip over the wall, which was why she had charged over here in a hurry to stake out the spot.

As she waited, she pulled out a bottle of {花露水: This was new to me so I felt it might be worth making a note on it. It"s basically a version of Eau de Cologne with a flowery scent. It is regarded as a unis.e.x cologne.}Florida Water and spritzed a considerable amount all over herself. The mosquitoes in j.a.pan were ferocious — it was already October, yet they were still full of energy; it was like they were on drugs.

After waiting for a while, she saw Tang Yi-Bai"s tall figure approaching. She lowered her voice and called out softly, "Tang Yi-Bai — over here —"

Tang Yi-Bai saw her and walked over. His voice carried faint amus.e.m.e.nt as he said, "So impatient?"

"Cough, no." Yun Duo saw Tang Yi-Bai grabbing hold of the railing of the fence about to flip over again and she quickly stopped him. "Don"t!"

Her hands pressed down on his hands. The touch of her soft palms and cool fingertips was transmitted from the skin of back of his hands up to his brain. Tang Yi-Bai"s heart skipped a beat; his attention became solely focused on the place where skin met skin. He was motionless, afraid that the slightest motion would startle and disperse this sudden intimacy between them.

Yun Duo kept her hold on him, saying, "Don"t flip over the wall. Let"s just talk like this."

"Okay."

Yun Duo let go then, wiping her hands a little in embarra.s.sment. The lights coming from a distance was rather dim, so she did not see the faint regret on Tang Yi-Bai"s face. She sprayed some of the Florida Water around Tang Yi-Bai as well and then asked, "You needed something from me?"

Tang Yi-Bai smiled, "Can"t I meet you if there"s nothing I need from you?"

Huh?

Yun Duo"s heartbeat became a little erratic. She stared dumbly at him for a moment then said in a small voice, "What do you mean by that?"

What else could I mean? Tang Yi-Bai could not help but laugh lightly. His hand pa.s.sed through the s.p.a.ce between railings to pat her head, gently yet firmly. Feeling the dry, cool strands of hair in his palm, he said, "I just want you to spend time with me and chat. You help me relieve stress just by doing that."

"Really?" Yun Duo was very happy. So she was that useful? Still, it made sense if she thought about it. There would be some communication gap between him and his coach, after all, and his bros were rather flaky — either a chatterbox or struck with Chuunibyou syndrome — and though Zheng Ling-Ye was at least slightly more normal, he was extremely reticent, dispensing words like gold...

Erm... she suddenly pitied him a little...

"What do you want me to talk about?" she asked.

"Anything"s fine. Just tell me about your life."

On this topic, Yun Duo had a lot to say. She had not seen much of the world, having spent all of her life before this within the country. The only time she had left the country was those two days she went off to Greece to play. This time, she had been able to see and speak with people from so many different countries, sometimes even chatting with reporters from the various nations. It was very enlightening.

Tang Yi-Bai listened quietly as she nattered on. In the dark of the night, she did not notice his smile which was as warm as spring.

After ranting a little about the English p.r.o.nunciation of the various Asian citizens, Yun Duo paused. "Tang Yi-Bai, why aren"t you saying anything?"

"I want to hear you speak."

Yun Duo was a little embarra.s.sed. She felt that she was being too talkative, not at all like a demure lady, quiet and modest... after another brief pause, she asked, "Don"t you have anything at all you want to say?"

"I do, actually, I have a lot I want to tell you", thought Tang Yi-Bai, "It"s just that it"s not the right time now."

Right then, a strobe of light swung towards them. A person not too far off from them said in fluent Mandarin, "Who"s there?"

Yun Duo was fl.u.s.tered. "Oh no, we"ve been discovered. I"m going now. Good luck for tomorrow!" As she said this, she patted him heavily on the shoulder and then, without waiting for his reply, she turned tail and ran.

Tang Yi-Bai did not know whether to laugh or cry. "You don"t have to be so anxious. It"s fine. It"s not like we"re having a secret tryst..."

When Yun Duo heard this, she ran even faster, disappearing swiftly into the little forest.

Tang Yi-Bai remained where he stood, smiling as he gazed into the vast darkness of the night. Some things just felt amazing when one has thought it all through. The storm clouds have scattered, the skies turn bright, even breathing felt easier. Since he could not stop himself from drawing close to her, then why should he resist? The future was important, but the present was more real and tangible and most worth grasping.

I"m not sure what the future holds, I just know that I cannot lose you right now.

When the person holding the flashlight finally arrived, he said with some surprise, "Tang Yi-Bai?"

"Yes, it"s me, Leader Xu."

The newcomer was the team leader of the China swimming team, Xu Tian-Xiang.

Xu Tian-Xiang cast a suspicious look at Tang Yi-Bai and asked, "Who were you talking to just now?"

"My girlfriend."

Xu Tian-Xiang saw him grinning from ear-to-ear and did not doubt otherwise.

Tang Yi-Bai returned to his room as composed as ever. Along the way, he b.u.mped into the wandering Xiang Yang-Yang. Xiang Yang-Yang sniffed around him and said in surprise, "Yi-Bai, you actually use orchid-scented Florida Water? That"s so feminine!"

When he arrived back at the dorms, Qi Rui-Feng looked at Tang Yi-Bai and seemed like he had something to say.

Tang Yi-Bai asked him, "What"s up?"

"Do you really like Yun Duo?" asked Qi Rui-Feng.

"Of course, I really like her." Tang Yi-Bai sat down, and suddenly his gaze turned wary as he stared intently at Qi Rui-Feng. "Bro Feng, don"t tell me you"re going to try and steal her from me?"

"What the h.e.l.l?! Am I that kind of person to you?!" Qi Rui-Feng was disgruntled, and then suddenly he became sullen. "But why can you date while I can"t?!"

"Because I met a girl who I cannot let slip away while you haven"t."

Qi Rui-Feng was left musing.

After a long silence, Qi Rui-Feng suddenly said, "Since you like her that much, I"ll tell you another thing."

He had initially promised Yun Duo to keep it a secret, but secrets are meant to be spilled, so Qi Rui-Feng had no qualms whatsoever in telling Tang Yi-Bai about the matter of the goggles now.

"So you"re saying that those goggles are a present from Yun Duo for my birthday?" Tang Yi-Bai asked, happiness sparkling in his pretty eyes. He stretched out a hand towards Qi Rui-Feng, "Give them to me quickly."

Qi Rui-Feng did not want to. "But she had already given them to me. Get her to buy you another pair."

"No, give them over."

"They are my backup pair. I can"t give them to you."

"I"ll trade my backup for yours."

Tang Yi-Bai finally received his belated birthday present. He stroked the frames of the goggles as he asked Qi Rui-Feng, "What present do you think I should give her as compensation?"

"I don"t know!"

Tang Yi-Bai said in realisation, "Right, how would you know about such things."

"..." Qi Rui-Feng felt like he had received damage.

The next day, the fifth compet.i.tion day of the Asian Games swimming events, Tang Yi-Bai partic.i.p.ated in the men"s 100-metre freestyle finals wearing new goggles. As soon as Yun Duo saw his goggles, she was dumbfounded. She watched the rest of the race with a red face.

The final results — Tang Yi-Bai"s time was 47.74 seconds, breaking his own personal best time in the event as well as breaking the Asian record and the event record, earning him an utterly indisputable gold medal.

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