Almost Lovers, Already Falling

Pillow talks that whispered too loudly

The tennis outing wasn’t even his suggestion.

Just another team-building weekend event—nothing special.

Yet I agreed immediately.

Even though I’d never swung a racket before.

Even though just picturing him in a tennis shirt, damp with sweat, left me a little breathless.

I still signed up.

Secretly booked a week of tennis lessons,

not to impress him,

but just to survive it gracefully.

—

The day before the match, he casually asked,

“Want to head to Songjiang a night early?”

My “yes” slipped out embarrassingly fast.

I tried to play it casual.

I’m pretty sure I failed.

—

We shared a hotel room that night.

I can’t pinpoint how it began—

but I vividly recall the warmth,

the confident urgency in his touch,

as if he intended to keep me exactly there, exactly his.

And for a moment,

I genuinely believed he might.

Later, as we lay entwined, catching our breath,

I jokingly asked:

“Are you only with me for my looks?”

He responded instantly, without pause.

“Absolutely,” he said lightly, his smile teasing but certain.

“I’m utterly infatuated with your appearance.”

It was playful. Effortless.

I laughed, hiding a faint pang of uncertainty.

“Perfect,” I joked back. “Then it’s mutual—I’m just using you for your handsome face.”

He nodded easily, like we’d made the simplest, sweetest agreement.

Inside, something quietly sighed.

But still, I found myself wanting to linger,

wishing we could stay tangled up in those sheets indefinitely.

—

We lay close afterward,

breaths slow, fingers lightly touching,

a gentle connection without needing more.

Then, softly, I asked:

“Do you trust fate more, or science?”

He stayed quiet, listening carefully.

So I continued:

“Fate sounds romantic, sure. But science is predictable.

Pheromones, chemistry, biology—

that undeniable logic.”

He nodded slowly,

agreement in his eyes.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

But I held back the real truth—

the words aching to escape:

I don’t know if fate chose us.

But I know with absolute certainty,

I’m falling for you,

far quicker than any scientific explanation could justify.

—

We talked quietly into the night,

laughter softening into murmurs,

time becoming irrelevant.

I drifted off mid-thought,

and for the first time,

he stayed exactly where he was.