Crush Me Not (English)

5: What Do You Mean

LEXUS actually felt uncomfortable since he entered the court. He had a feeling that someone was watching him. However, he didn’t find it creepy or anything—he was used to it. He was completely accustomed to attention. He figured it was probably just one of the girls watching their practice game, so he decided to ignore the strange sensation.

It was a Saturday, so Lexus had a lot of free time on his schedule. His original plan was to just hang out at Xander’s condo for the rest of the day. However, when he arrived at Xander’s unit, his cousin invited him to join their basketball team’s practice game. Since he was quite good at the sport, he simply accepted the offer. Besides, he was bored and had nothing else to do.

They played for several hours, and now that the game had ended, they were resting on the bench. Lexus realized how cool Xander’s teammates were. Even though it was his first time hanging out with them, he didn’t feel out of place at all. In fact, it felt like they had known each other for a long time. He was instantly at ease with them, as they were friendly and easy to get along with.

“So, what do you think, Lexus? I hope you’ll consider joining our basketball team,” said Luke, the team captain. He had been persuading Lexus to join since earlier, saying he liked his playing style. According to him, Lexus would be a great help to the team and could strengthen them even more.

“Come on, bro! We need another good-looking guy on the team,” Peter joked. From Lexus’ observation, Peter was one of the star players. Most of the team’s points came from him. He wasn’t the type of player who hogged the ball, but it just so happened that most of the passes ended up in his hands.

“But of course, I’m still the most handsome one here, okay? Don’t forget that, bro,” Miggs chimed in playfully. He even flashed a grin as if to intentionally show off the deep dimple on his right cheek. He was a fair-skinned guy with slightly chinky eyes.

Their attention was suddenly drawn to a man approaching them, closing the bottled water he had just drunk from. “Oh no, one of these guys just turned on the electric fan again,” he muttered sarcastically.

That was Jiggs—Miggs’ twin brother, who seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Unlike the lively and playful Miggs, Jiggs was serious and moody. If they didn’t look like they had been split from the same mold, no one would believe they were twins. It was easy to tell them apart because while Miggs was always smiling and cracking jokes, Jiggs always had a serious expression and an intimidating aura.

“Hey, twins! Stop fighting! Have some decency in front of Lexus. You might scare him off even more,” Luke scolded before the tension could escalate between the two. Miggs just flashed a peace sign, while Jiggs completely ignored the comment.

Luke then turned to Lexus and placed an arm around his shoulder, smiling. “Just join the team, alright? You won’t regret it, I promise,” he said, attempting to persuade him again.

“You guys should be asking Lexus first if he has an open mind, just like in networking schemes,” Xander suddenly quipped, laughing.

His joke made the entire team burst into laughter.

“You’re crazy, Xan! You and Miggs should team up!” Peter said, laughing.

“Kidding aside, you should really consider it, bro,” Xander added as he patted Lexus on the shoulder. Then, he grinned mischievously and whispered, loud enough for the others to hear, “You’ll make some good money off of this. Luke will even share the gifts he gets from his fangirls.”

“Hey! What are you telling my cousin? He might believe you! I’m a good boy, okay?” Luke protested, making everyone laugh.

He was about to say more when a girl suddenly approached him and handed him a small box of cookies. The girl’s face was flushed red as she shyly gave him the gift. Before Luke could even respond, she quickly ran off.

When he turned back to his teammates, they immediately started teasing him while Xander looked extremely proud of himself, as if the situation had just proven him right.

Lexus could only laugh and shake his head at their antics.

He actually didn’t see anything wrong with joining the team. However, if he did, he would attract even more attention. He couldn’t let that happen, so he had to carefully think things through.

“I’ll think about it, guys,” Lexus finally said, offering a small smile. It was better to be cautious than to make a hasty decision.

Luke nodded in understanding and patted him on the shoulder again. “Alright, I understand. We’ll wait for your decision,” he said before shaking hands with him.

“There’s no way Captain is letting Lexus go. He’s just too good,” Peter teased.

“Well, he did make several three-pointers and rebounds earlier,” Jack added, pretending to shoot an imaginary ball. He had just returned from the locker room, already changed into fresh clothes. He had somewhere to go, so he had excused himself earlier.

“He showed off! Game over!” Xander joked as he high-fived Miggs.

Lexus just kept laughing at their jokes. At this point, he wasn’t even sure if they genuinely thought he was a good player or if they were just buttering him up so he would join the team.

“Xander, it looks like your cousin plays better than you. What do you have to say about that?” Jack teased with a grin.

The whole team, including Lexus, burst into laughter. It seemed like all they did that afternoon was joke around. Jack was the biggest troublemaker on the team—he had been messing with his teammates all practice long. And now, his target was Xander. But despite his playful nature, Jack was a good guy who knew his limits.

“No comment,” Xander said, laughing. He didn’t look offended at all—he was used to this kind of teasing.

Besides, their friend group had a motto: "Those who get mad, lose." Getting offended was simply not an option for them.

“I bet he plays better with girls, too,” Miggs jokingly added after a moment. It seemed like he was about to team up with Jack in teasing Lexus. It was on another level whenever the two of them joined forces.

“Oh, I heard a bet! How much?” Jacob suddenly said as he appeared out of nowhere. Everyone turned to look at him and the food he was holding.

“You’re eating again!” Miggs said, laughing.

“You’re just jealous. Go buy your own,” Jacob replied, sticking his tongue out like a child at Miggs. Then he turned to the others and asked again, “So, what’s the bet? How much? Let’s go!”

“Don’t join in. You actually pulled out your wallet? As if what’s inside would be enough for this bet,” Peter teased, playing along with the idea.

“Why? How much is it?” Jacob asked with a frown.

“One million,” Peter said with a grin.

“Oh, just one million? That’s nothing. I’ve got plenty of that. Our printer at home still has a lot of ink, and we have plenty of paper in stock,” Jacob joked.

“You guys are crazy! You actually placed a bet on my cousin,” Xander said, laughing as he scolded them. “And hey, what ink and paper are you even talking about?” he asked Jacob, still laughing. “You’re full of nonsense!”

Everyone laughed, and Lexus couldn’t help but laugh along with them. Well, to be honest, it was true that he used to be a playboy. But that was before he left the States. He needed to straighten up now. He didn’t want to push his parents’ patience any further.

“Hey, I’m a good boy now,” Lexus defended himself. “I’m allergic to girls.”

“Ohh…” the boys said in unison.

“Yes, that’s true! He’s allergic to girls, especially those named Reena,” Xander teased with a laugh.

Lexus subtly gave him a warning look. He had already told Xander to stop teasing him about that girl. In fact, he had been avoiding her. Even though she was his classmate in some subjects and there were times when they had to talk, he deliberately ignored her.

Fortunately, she also didn’t pay attention to him, which he was grateful for. Although there were moments when he would catch her looking at him—or maybe that was just his imagination. Yes, he was still affected whenever she was around. And he didn’t like it. Even just hearing her name was enough to affect him.

“Oops, I was just kidding,” his cousin said, giving him an awkward smile and raising both hands as if surrendering.

“Don’t mind what my cousin said. He doesn’t mean it,” Lexus said, laughing after a while. He was trying to fix the mess. He couldn’t let more people get involved in the issue between him and Reena. That would only make things more complicated.

“No, Xander said Reena. The name sounds familiar,” Jacob suddenly said, looking somewhere as if trying to recall a memory.

“Wait, Reena who?” Luke asked as if something had just clicked in his mind. He also froze when he realized who Xander was referring to.

“I only know one Reena. Just Reena Jessica of this university,” Peter said, as if confirming that she was indeed the girl they were talking about.

“Wait, do you mean she’s the one you’re talking about?” Jack also asked, seeking confirmation from Lexus or Xander. His forehead creased as he suddenly stopped, realizing that it was indeed Reena they were talking about. He hadn’t gotten an immediate answer from them.

Neither Lexus nor Xander responded. They just exchanged glances. In his mind, Lexus was cursing Xander over and over, while Xander was silently apologizing. A few moments of silence filled the basketball court until someone finally dared to speak.

“Oh, no! It looks like it really is Jack and Peter’s Reena that Xander was referring to!” Miggs suddenly said, laughing.

“Hey, wait! Why am I being dragged into this? She only likes Jack!” Peter said, laughing.

Jack remained silent, and his mood suddenly seemed to change.

“Oh, come on, Peter! She obviously had a huge crush on both of you!” Miggs insisted.

“No, you’re wrong, Miggs. Maybe what you meant to say was… ‘Reena of the Anderson University boys.’ Not just Jack and Peter,” Jacob corrected him.

“Reena of Jack and Peter? Reena of the Anderson University boys?” Lexus asked after a moment, frowning. He was completely confused by what they were saying. “What do you mean?”