Duan JiaYan’s grades have always been near the bottom, so the question on the board was really beyond Duan JiaYan’s scope of knowledge. He dumbly stood by the blackboard for around three minutes before the math teacher shot him an exasperated look and sighed.

“Go back and sit down.”

And so Duan JiaYan just quietly made his way back to sit down.

Just as he was sitting down, Song Yi immediately came up to him and said, “My ancestor! What were you and the class monitor doing yesterday? How did the both of you end up together?”

Earlier when he saw Duan JiaYan silently leave the classroom, he thought he was just heading to the washroom. Who knew that after ten minutes, She ChiLie would send him a whole row of exclamation marks, Class Ten and Holding Up Yi Zhong’s Sky chat groups also exploded.

Both the groups were frantically discussing how Duan JiaYan had slammed Du XuChen against the wall, and how the Omega who was engaging in some ambiguous activities with Lu XingCi was also Duan JiaYan…

Duan JiaYan!

Song Yi silently swore in his heart. It’s just been a night since they saw each other and his good brother’s suddenly a different gender? Then from now on is it okay for him to call Duan JiaYan his sister?

“Want to know how I became an Omega? Want to know what Lu XingCi and I were doing in the washroom? Want to know what happened to Du XuChen?”

Song Yi was so curious he could die. 

Duan JiaYan, “Then help me write my three thousand word reflection essay.”

Song Yi, “…”

Duan JiaYan, “When you’re done, Xiao Duan will tell you a story.”

Song Yi, “…Get lost.”

The bell rang, signifying the end of the class. Duan JiaYan’s phone began to violently vibrate. He glanced at it and saw that Song Yi has added him into a new chat group. Looking up, he saw that the group’s name was Holding Up Yi Zhong’s Sky.

[Welcome new person!!]

[Is this a transfer student? Why’s there an O suddenly joining the group chat now?]

[Welcome little cutie!]

Song Yi, [It’s Duan JiaYan.]

The group chat was silent for a long while before it suddenly exploded. 

[Brother Duan!!! I’m so grateful for you brother Duan!!!! Luckily the Omega that got together with Lu XingCi is you!!!]

[I felt so relieved once I heard your name, our Lu Lu didn’t betray mum after all!!!]

[Really, Grandfather Duan gave me a sense of security I’ve never felt before. He’s made me believe that even if he’s slept with the school’s hottie, they can still maintain a pure relationship between classmates the next morning.]

In his heart, Duan JiaYan thought that this was all nonsense, what brother or grandfather. But this group of Omegas are extremely passionate and Duan JiaYan didn’t want to sound too rude so he replied with a “Thank you?”

[Even a thank you can sound so gallant. How worthy of Yi Zhong’s tyrant.]

“Fuck,” Duan JiaYan laughed. “Everyone in your group is really something.”

“Everyone in our group,” Song Yi corrected. “You’re also an Omega now. Presenting when you’re sixteen to seventeen, your puberty sure came a little late.”

–

For most high school students, physical education class is usually the most highly anticipated lesson for the week.

The autumn sun is shining so brightly that it makes one lazy so after running for a few rounds, the physical ed teacher gave the students some free and easy time to do what they want.

Chen Yue wanted to go play soccer and since Lu XingCi had nothing better to do, they gathered a few other boys from the class to go take a soccer ball from the storeroom. 

The number of boys that usually play soccer is typically lesser than the ones who prefer to play other sports like basketball and badminton. Just as Lu XingCi was about to pick up the soccer ball, two students came in, chattering as they walked.

“Class Ten and the Sports Class1 really got into a fight?”

“Du XuChen really knows how to push himself. His head injury just got better and he’s already rushing to play basketball with others.”

“He’s probably just trying to save some face. After all, he was just beaten up by Duan JiaYan a few days ago, he probably couldn’t show his face anywhere after that…”

Lu XingCi’s hands paused. After a few seconds, he still ended up scooping up the white soccer ball into his arms and made his way out of the storeroom. At the basketball court, he could see Duan JiaYan and Du XuChen who seemed to be in some kind of confrontation, their match seemed to not started yet.

Yi Zhong High School has a big area, nevermind the sports hall and basketball court, even the sports field has a giant soccer court.

Just then, Chen Yue saw Lu XingCi heading out of the storeroom and waved at him, calling him over to join the crowd.

“They’re just done placing their bets, the losing team will have to go to the flag podium and do a square dance2,” once the bet was brought up, Chen Yue felt that this move by Duan JiaYan was was such a bad one. “Duan JiaYan has a lot of quirky ideas but if our class really loses, he’ll have to go and do a dance.”

Zhou Xing Chen who was also looking from the side said, “Disregarding everything else, performing a square dance is definitely flashy.”

The news of the bet spread fast and many students rushed over. Soon the crowd consisted of students from not only Class Ten and the Sports Class, but also other students who have caught wind of the bet between Duan JiaYan and Du XuChen. These two names have been at the top of every student discussion board nowadays, who would have thought that the pair would clash again so soon. 

Their clash this time sounds like it’ll be quite a show. 

As they were chattering, the atmosphere in the basketball court grew more fervent. The guys in the Sports Class were all tall and muscular, out of the five students on the court, two were in the school’s sports team. 

The guys in Class Ten were also by no means weak, they played well with Duan JiaYan and were mostly kids who used money to enter Class Ten. So while they were not particularly inclined to studying, they all adept at gaming and sports. 

Truth be told, this game is looking very interesting.

They had agreed to play four rounds, if they couldn’t determine a winner within the four rounds, they’ll play an extra five minutes to find a winner. 

The strongest in the sports class was a dark-skinned boy. Despite his tall stature, his reaction was still incredibly fast. Meanwhile, in Class Ten, the best player was undeniably Duan JiaYan, his speed in shooting hoops were shockingly fast. With just a toss of his hand, the ball will fall into the hoop with startling accuracy. The crowd was going wild. 

Both sides were going neck and neck, with neither side giving way to the other. At the last few minutes, Duan JiaYan got hold of the ball and without hesitation threw it towards the hoop successfully. 

It was a three-pointer, pulling their score even higher. 

“My God,” Chen Yue couldn’t resist saying. “That was too much. He suddenly became so cool.”

Lu XingCi gave an ‘en’ and looked towards Duan JiaYan who was surrounded by a number of boys on the court. Successfully winning the first round, everyone was excited.

Chen Yue animatedly said, “I say, during our freshman year, if only he took part in the basketball competition. Our class wouldn’t have lost the first place to the Sports Class.”

Zhou XingChen sighed, “He’s only so-so.”

Chen Yue, “Don’t lie with your eyes wide open. Disregarding everything else, his skills with the ball are really good.”

Chen Yue, Zhou XingChen and Lu XingCi were the main forces for their class in the freshman basketball competition. The sports committee member originally wanted to get Duan JiaYan into the team too but the moment he heard that he had to play alongside Lu XingCi, he immediately rejected. 

Chen Yue seemed to really have gotten into the fiery mood of the competition and have forgotten the animosity between Duan JiaYan and the two guys sitting beside him.

He took a bottle of water and said to Lu XingCi while drinking, “Xiao Duan is definitely worthy of being someone that has had a special toilet experience with you. That way he plays with the ball is just so–”

For a moment he couldn’t think of an appropriate word to use, just as he was thinking of drinking a sip of water, Lu XingCi raised his hand and quietly lifted Chen Yue’s bottle of water. 

Water quickly flowed out. Unable to react in time, Chen Yue ended up choking on the water.

Chen Yue could not stop coughing, raising his pale face, he said, “Lu-dog…cough cough, why did you want to harm me?”

“You’re pretty amazing, you can go write a novel already.” Lu XingCi stared at Chen Yue’s pitiful face, the corner of his lips hooking up a little. “Special toilet experience?”

“…” In his heart, Chen Yue was thinking that Lu XingCi this dog is getting more difficult to get along with.

The second round has started. 

Because they took the first round, Class Ten was feeling pretty good.

Chen Yue and Zhou XingChen were spectating by the side and would chime in with their own comments every now and then.

Chen Yue, “Du XuChen is pretty good, passing the ball to him is equivalent to feeding our class’s basket.”

Zhou XingChen, “And that Guard on their team, letting him on the court is such a crime.”

Chen Yue, “I feel that this match is pretty stable.”

Zhou XingChen, “More or less stable, yes.”

Just as the two were done talking, the tanned boy knocked into Class Ten’s Small Forward just as he was trying to dribble the ball across him. 

The boy fell down and sat on the floor, curling up while he covered his knee. 

The move from Hei Pi3 was considered a foul and someone softly mentioned that he saw Hei Pi purposely knocking into the Small Forward’s stomach with his elbow. The atmosphere between the two classes immediately turned sour. 

Someone from Class Ten shoved at Hei Pi, “That was on purpose, wasn’t it? Looking for trouble?”

“You have a problem,” Hei Pi said while pointing at his eyes. “Me, looking for trouble? I had only accidentally knocked into that classmate over there.”

The knee of the boy who was knocked down had turned purple, and was still bleeding. He could not even walk at the moment, much less continue playing the game.

Duan JiaYan looked at the situation the boy was in and laughed, “An accident?”

Though his laugh was beautiful, it carried a chilling air, as if he was strongly holding back his anger.

Once the school tyrant laughs, everyone knows something is about to happen. 

“Duan JiaYan,” the boy who was knocked down suddenly piped up. “I’m alright. Don’t go fighting them. They’re just looking for an excuse to cause a scene.”

Just a few days ago he got into trouble with Du XuChen, if Duan JiaYan was to get into another fight now, even Zhao MinJun wouldn’t be able to help him.

Hei Pi continued talking, “Don’t go accusing us just like that. You guys are flattering yourselves too much, it’s just a basketball match after all–”

“You, leave this court,” Duan JiaYan said coldly. “Get someone else up here.”

“My brother, there’s no need to go that far right?”

Duan JiaYan did not reply to that.

Hei Pi locked eyes with him, snorted derisively and turned around, leaving the court. 

The Small Forward was unable to continue playing and so the match was temporarily stopped to allow both sides to change their players. Song Yi say that they were lacking a member and came forward, “Xiao Duan, why don’t I join?”

Song Yi’s basketball skills were still passable, he usually also played as the Small Forward, but it was just that his physique was lacking a little, and reaction speed was also not particularly fast.

Duan JiaYan took a look at the Sports Class, as he was leaving Hei Pi also called the Guard who wasn’t performing as well as he should off the court, switching both him and the Guard with two new students. The line up was exactly the same as their freshman basketball competition.

Duan JiaYan didn’t really want to let Song Yi join the match only to get bullied but if he didn’t let Song Yi join, he really couldn’t think of anyone else that could help.

As he was mulling over this, someone walked up to him and picked up the basketball on the ground. 

“I’ll replace him,”  Lu XingCi said.

Sounds of heavy chatter could be heard from the crowd. Once they say Lu XingCi going up, even the girls who were leaving once the school bell rang came running back.

It’s a miracle.

The school’s idol and tyrant are actually teaming up to play basketball together. 

Seeing Lu XingCi step up, the boys of Class Ten some had happy looks on their faces, while some shot worried glances towards Duan JiaYan. Everyone was aware of Lu XingCi’s capabilities, but they just weren’t sure if Duan JiaYan will agree to play together with him.

Under the anticipatory gazes of his teammates, Duan JiaYan suddenly said, “You do know that we have to do a Square Dance if we lose right? Doing it in front of everyone is very embarrassing.”

“I know,” Lu XingCi passed the ball towards him, signalling for him to start the match. “I have no plans to do the dance.”

So calm and yet so arrogant.

Duan JiaYan chuckled, bouncing the ball on the ground a few times. The Sports Class saw that the newest member of the opponent’s team was already taunting them and wanted to retort, only to realise that it was Lu XingCi, so they could only grit their teeth and hold their temper in.

Hei Pi, who was sitting outside the court, said, “Lu-ge, just because you play well, doesn’t mean your teammates can do the same. This is a team sport after all.”

As the boys in the sports class were laughing at that remark, Lu XingCi pointed out, “My teammate has already made you step off the court. You tell me if he’s good or not?”

“…”

And so the match continues. 

Although Duan JiaYan and Lu XingCi’s individual strengths were very high, both of them have never played together before and so, have no tacit understanding with each other. On the other hand, the situation on the other team is completely different. They were probably also provoked by Duan JiaYan’s earlier actions that’s why the members that got swapped onto the court ended up being all from the school team. 

One of the guys from the Sports Class’ three-pointers were particularly good, it was as if he could score from any angle. The scores between the two teams were originally neck and neck, but in the last minute, that guy scored one last three-pointer, pulling the Sports Class’ score up by one. 

The events of the first round seem to have been replayed, the only difference was, the winning team was swapped around. 

The Sports Class let out a series of celebratory shouts. Just as everyone was thinking that the round will end with the Sport Class’ victory, Duan JiaYan managed to get the ball from the opponent team’s Guard, turned around and quickly made his way to the Sport Class’ basket.

Du XuChen almost laughed when he saw it. His position was in Class Ten’s three-point line but he was too lazy to even run towards his own team’s hoop.

With this little time left, Duan JiaYan is still planning to blindly hope to score, he really thinks he can create a miracle?

Duan JiaYan turned and dribbled the ball across several guys who were chasing after him, only stopping when the opponent’s Center came right in front of him.

The Center was one of the members that just joined the match and was very skilled in blocking. If he rashly chose to move past him with the ball, it’s highly likely that he’ll end up getting blocked.

Duan JiaYan was a little anxious. At this critical moment, his choice will determine which team ends up victorious this round. He swept his eyes across the court and found that his other teammates had been left behind by him, only Lu XingCi had managed to keep up with his rhythm.

Should he pass the ball to Lu XingCi?

Can he trust him?

…

“Hey!”

With that cry, Duan JiaYan passed the ball to Lu XingCi. Lu XingCi also had guys blocking him but in a flash, he managed to dodge and avoid all of them, directly rushing towards the hoop to dunk the ball. 

Because of his momentum, Lu XingCi ended up rushing past the court. Just then, the ball was thrown at a difficult angle by him from behind the board towards the hoop.

Under the gaze of everyone, the ball was thrown forward where it was knocked into the hoop and rolled down aggressively. 

It was an unbelievable score from behind the backboard. 

What a show. 

That ball was worth two points, reversing the situation. Somebody then shouted out, “Time’s up!”

The crowd immediately surged, even those who had no idea about basketball knew that Lu XingCi’s actions single-handedly won Class Ten the round. 

The boys in Class Ten were laughing happily, “Our Lu-ge is amazing isn’t he!”

Without waiting for the other guys’ response, a few girls by the side started screaming, “Amazing~! Very very amazing! Our class monitor is so handsome aaaaaaaa!”

Chen Yue cracked up and purposely raised his voice, “Lu-dog is so spectacular! He’s good at both sports and working as a team, won’t you teach me some tips?”

After saying this, another round of laughter came. The Sports Class, on the other hand, did not look so good, especially Hei Pi whose expression was looking particularly ugly. 

After playing for two consecutive rounds, everybody stopped to take a break. Chen Yue originally wanted to ask Lu XingCi if he wanted to drink some water or not, but before he could head over, Duan JiaYan already came over with an unopened bottle of water.

“Here, MVP,” Duan JiaYan really had a lot of respect for Lu XingCi’s earlier buzzer-beater. “That shot earlier was amazing.”

Chen Yue was still in shock at how Duan JiaYan gave a bottle of water to Lu XingCi when he heard Lu XingCi’s response, “Your turns were also not bad.”

Duan JiaYan didn’t understand Lu XingCi, but Chen Yue did, and he knew just how difficult it was to get a single praise out of that man.

Duan JiaYan clearly did not know anything about humility, “It was alright I guess, that’s how I normally play.”

As he said it, Duan JiaYan casually brought the collar of his t-shirt up to clean his sweat. Because of that, the bottom hem of his shirt rode up, exposing a thin and smooth looking waistline. 

Lu XingCi glanced at him.

The waist that the boy exposed had tight, solid-looking muscles.

It looked so fair.

Author notes:

Lu Lu, is that nice to look at?

T/N: This chapter was so difficult to translate sjkhgkl all the basketball terms. I apologise if any of them sound awkward.

Anyways, December is looking to be a pretty busy month for me but I will try my best to keep to a weekly upload schedule!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. LXC’s thirst is starting to show ahaha