1.65 Meters - Chapter 7: The Boomerang — What Do You Think Now?

Chapter 7: The Boomerang — What Do You Think Now?

After the mixed interview area cleared out, I didn't go back to the locker room.

I took the match ball and walked toward the stands.

It was the official match ball from the final, with the league logo and the final score printed on it.

I had asked the referee for it.

He looked at me, didn't ask any questions, and handed it over.

By then, most of the people in the stands had already left.

The seats were left in disarray.

Plastic water bottles and scraps of paper covered the floor.

I stood beneath the stands and looked around.

Third row.

Toward the left.

There was one seat that hadn't been flipped up.

Chen Hao was sitting there.

He was wearing a gray hoodie.

The hood was down.

His elbows rested on his knees, and his head was lowered as he looked at his phone.

But his phone screen was black.

He wasn't looking at it at all.

He was just pretending.

I walked over and stood in front of him.

He looked up.

We hadn't seen each other in three years.

After middle school, he went to a different high school.

We occasionally kept in touch through WeChat, but not often.

His face hadn't changed much.

Still the same thick eyebrows and round nose.

Only now he had a faint shadow of stubble along his chin.

When he saw me, his mouth opened slightly.

Then closed.

“You came,” I said.

“Yeah.”

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and stood up.

He was still half a head taller than me, just like in middle school.

“Was passing by.”

“Figured I'd take a look.”

“Final tickets aren't cheap.”

He was silent for two seconds.

“Bought one from a scalper.”

I didn't expose his lie.

I didn't ask why he had bought a scalped ticket just to watch my match.

I looked at him for a while.

Then I moved the ball from my right hand to my left.

“You saw it.”

“Yeah.”

“Three goals.”

“Yeah.”

“First one was a low shot.”

“Second was a poacher's finish.”

“Third was a volley.”

“I saw all of them.”

His voice was slightly muffled.

“You don't have to explain.”

I held the ball up in front of him.

The writing on it faced him.

Final Match Ball. 3–1. Best Striker: Lin Ye.

“So what do you think now?” I asked.

Chen Hao stared at the ball.

He stared at it for a long time.

There were only two of us left in the stands.

In the distance, workers were taking down advertising boards.

The metal frames dragged across the ground with a loud scraping sound.

The setting sun slipped through a gap in the roof and fell across his face.

Half of it was bright.

Half of it was in shadow.

He didn't take the ball.

“I was wrong,” he said.

Three words.

Very soft.

So soft they almost disappeared into the wind.

“In middle school, I said you were too short to play.”

He raised his head and looked at me, his eyes slightly red.

“I said badminton didn't count.”

“I told you to prove yourself in soccer.”

“I said someone your height couldn't play striker because you couldn't win headers.”

“I said…”

“That's enough.”

“Let me finish.”

He took a breath.

“Back then, I just thought it was impossible.”

“You were so short.”

“How could you possibly be better than me?”

“I was half a head taller.”

“My arms were thicker.”

“Why would I be worse than you?”

He put his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

Then took them back out, clenching them into fists.

“Then you scored four goals.”

“I was the goalkeeper for our class.”

“I watched every one of those balls go past my hands.”

“Every time, I wanted the ground to swallow me.”

He paused.

“But I didn't disappear.”

“I switched to defender.”

“You once said that you didn't need anyone to think highly of you.”

“You just needed to do your own job.”

“I can't do that.”

“I can't stop explaining myself.”

“I can't stop caring about what other people think.”

“But you can.”

“You fucking always could.”

I took the ball from him after he handed it back.

I spun it once in my hands.

“You don't have to apologize.”

“I know.”

He smiled.

It was different from the smile he had in middle school.

His mouth didn't curl up as much.

His eyes didn't narrow.

“But I still wanted to say it.”

“I owed you those words.”

“For three years.”

I pushed the ball into his arms.

“Take it.”

“What?”

“The ball is yours.”

“You bought that scalped ticket.”

“You can't come all this way for nothing.”

He lowered his head and looked at the ball.

His fingers rubbed over the printed score.

I noticed calluses on his knuckles.

In the same place as mine.

The gap between the middle and ring fingers.

“You still play?” I asked.

“University team.”

“Defender.”

“Starting?”

“Yeah.”

“Anyone who has defended me should have no trouble playing defense.”

He laughed.

This time he actually laughed out loud, a nasal sound.

He held the ball against his chest.

Then suddenly said,

“That sandbag around your ankles.”

“You really wore it for three years?”

“I did.”

“During the final too?”

“I did.”

“Didn't it hurt?”

“It hurt.”

“Then why didn't you take it off?”

I thought about it.

“If I took it off, they wouldn't be able to see me.”

He looked at me for several seconds.

Then nodded.

He didn't say anything else.

He tucked the ball under his arm and turned toward the exit.

After taking a few steps, he stopped and looked back.

“Lin Ye.”

“Hmm?”

“My school has a match next month.”

“Will you come watch?”

“Do you have scalped tickets?”

He froze.

Then laughed and cursed at me.

“Get lost.”

I watched him walk away.

His gray hoodie disappeared through the exit.

The setting sun painted the steps orange-red.

He didn't look back once.

But when he reached the exit, he lifted the ball above his head and waved it twice behind him.

I turned around and walked toward the field.

The field was empty.

The grass had been trampled into a mess.

The goal was still there.

The net was still there.

I walked to the goal line and stood in front of it.

I lowered my head and looked at the goal.

7.32 meters wide.

2.44 meters high.

I reached up toward the crossbar.

I couldn't reach it.

But I didn't jump.

I knew that if I jumped,

I could reach it.

(End of Chapter 7)98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFimGue9oSB

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