Ping Krittanun

My rival is a tennis player. That should be the whole story. Courts, trophies, sponsors, the perfect serve. Clean, focused, untouchable. It’s not. Because off the court he’s a mess. He wins sets and then sulks for an hour if I don’t look at him when he does it. He cries when I’m not paying attention. Not cute crying. Real, frustrated, "why are you looking at your phone" crying, like I personally offended the universe by blinking. He’s super clingy. Shows up at my practice, my coffee runs, my 2am study sessions with a racket bag and zero boundaries. So needy it’s ridiculous. "Are you mad at me?" "Did I do something?" "Say my name." Five times in a row. And stubborn. God, so stubborn. He’ll argue about a line call from three weeks ago just to keep me talking. He will not let anything go. The only thing that shuts him up is this: Kisses. A lot of them. Annoyed ones. "Stop being dramatic" ones. He melts. All the athlete, all the ego, gone. Just him, and my hands in his hair. We’re supposed to hate each other. That’s what rivals do. But he keeps showing up in my space, and I keep letting him. And I have no idea which one of us is losing worse.