On Friday, Xiao Feng messaged Lu Heyang to let him know that Seventeen hadn’t taken time off to recuperate and was scheduled to participate in a casual match without getting paid.
Xiao Feng asked Lu Heyang: How are Seventeen’s injuries? Do you know?
Lu Heyang replied: Not sure.
He really wasn’t sure. Since Tuesday’s swimming class, Lu Heyang noticed that Xu Ze was avoiding him. Even when they accidentally ran into each other on campus, Xu Ze would quickly change direction as soon as he saw Lu Heyang from a distance.
On one occasion, when he walked to the parking lot after school, Xu Ze was pulling his bike out of the bicycle shelter. He Wei greeted him, but Xu Ze just hummed in response and then hurriedly added, “I have to go.” All the while, his head was lowered and he didn’t look at Lu Heyang.
At that time, He Wei had looked at Xu Ze’s back and asked Lu Heyang in confusion, “What did you do to Xu Ze?”
After dinner, Lu Heyang and Gu Yunchi went to the Westside. They waited in the car for about ten minutes until He Wei arrived with another alpha.
“He Yu, my cousin,” He Wei introduced as he closed the car door, “A rich second-generation with no knowledge or skills.”
“?” He Yu asked, “Are you talking about yourself?”
He Wei chuckled and hooked his arm around him as they entered the building.
The four of them arrived just in time for the halftime match. Seventeen entered the stage with his usual calm demeanor and showed no signs of injuries. Hiding pain seemed to be one of his strengths.
Seventeen didn’t glance at the audience this time and kept his focus inside the octagon cage. His opponent was still a weight class above him. However, Seventeen had no intention of riling up the crowd tonight. He swiftly and accurately struck his opponent, ending the match in just 45 seconds with ruthless determination.
After watching three more matches and comparing him to the other boxers, He Wei asked, “What do you think?”
“He’s good. After proper training, he can definitely advance further. He’s the most suitable one here,” He Yu replied, “The others are too aggressive. In professional fights, you need ambition, not bloodlust. I’ve opened a legitimate club, and with their fighting style, they’ll be banned after a few matches.”
“Then let’s talk to Seventeen.” He Wei turned to Lu Heyang, “Do you have his phone number?”
“I’ll go look for him backstage.” Lu Heyang stood up and walked out into the passageway.
Xiao Feng was leaning against the door and munching on melon seeds. When he saw Lu Heyang approaching, he immediately stood up, “Seventeen isn’t backstage.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Xu Ze finished placing the drinks and stood up. He closed the door, locked it, and pulled out the key. The omega took a step forward, hugged his arm, and rested her chin on his shoulder as she pressed her entire body against him. With a smile on her face, she whispered a few words in his ear.
Xu Ze tilted his head to the side to look at the omega. He didn’t seem repulsed, but still gently pulled his arm away.
The omega took a bottle from her bag and handed it to Xu Ze before waving and skipping back to her counter.
Xu Ze gathered the plastic crates from the floor to stack and pick them up. As he turned around, he saw Lu Heyang a short distance away and froze.
After that, Xu Ze lowered his head and walked into another corridor on the left.
Lu Heyang followed him at a leisurely pace. The corridor was narrow and there were not many people. After a few steps, Lu Heyang called out to him, “Xu Ze.”
He saw Xu Ze’s footsteps come to a halt, briefly pausing before he turned in the poorly lit corridor. Xu Ze stood there holding the plastic crates, appearing as a vague, silent silhouette.
“Did you finish working?” Lu Heyang asked as he walked up to him.
In reality, he had other things to ask, but with He Wei and the others still waiting, he could only choose the most urgent.
“Is there something?” Xu Ze asked in a low voice.
“He Wei’s cousin recently opened a boxing club for professional fights. He Yu came to watch your match today and wants to talk to you.”
“Talk about what?” Xu Ze raised his head slightly.
“He Yu wants to train new boxers.”
Xu Ze’s cap was pulled down so that Lu Heyang couldn’t see his expression clearly. After a while, Xu Ze replied, “Okay.”
He didn’t seem surprised or happy at all.
“What did that omega give you just now?” Lu Heyang glanced at Xu Ze’s pocket and asked.
“Makeup remover,” Xu Ze said, “to remove the face paint.”
A long time ago, Xu Ze used to remove the paint by simply washing it off with soap. By chance, an omega saw him doing this and quickly gave him a bottle of makeup remover and even taught him how to use cotton pads. Unfortunately, Xu Ze didn’t pay attention to such things, and at most, he poured the makeup remover into his hand and rubbed it on his face.
Later on, the omega started giving him makeup remover regularly. Xu Ze refused many times to no avail.
Lu Heyang said, “You guys seem to have a good relationship.”
“…It’s alright.” Xu Ze wasn’t quite sure how to define a “good relationship”, but since Lu Heyang described it this way, he conceded that it was probably accurate.
Lu Heyang held out his hand and lifted Xu Ze’s cap to reveal his eyes. Lu Heyang said, “I thought you weren’t good at making friends.”
Xu Ze agreed with him, but most of the people here were quite outgoing, so even if he wasn’t good at socializing, there were still some who were willing to initiate conversations with him. Xu Ze said, “Everyone here is nice.”
“Mn,” Lu Heyang replied nonchalantly.
After that, he went backstage with Xu Ze to put away the plastic crates. He Wei and the others were already sitting in a booth at the club’s bar. It was still early and the bar wasn’t too crowded, in fact, it seemed more peaceful than the rest of the place.
“So he looks like this,” He Yu examined Xu Ze from head to toe and said with a smile, “You could rely on your looks to make a living, so why fight in underground boxing?”
Lu Heyang and Xu Ze sat down next to each other. He Yu casually poured a drink for Xu Ze, “Can you drink?”
Xu Ze nodded. Lu Heyang glanced at him.
“Have you had dinner?” Lu Heyang tilted his head to the side and asked before Xu Ze took his first sip.
“I’ve eaten,” Xu Ze kept his eyes down without looking at him.
After chatting over a few drinks, He Yu got to the point and asked, “Have you thought of fighting professionally? It might suit you better.”
“…I’m sorry.” Xu Ze held the glass with both hands and said in a low voice, “It might not be possible.”
He said “might”, but it was clear that there was no room for negotiation. He Yu looked at He Wei, who then glanced at Lu Heyang, and Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze—after Xu Ze refused, he picked up the drink and for some reason, his hand shook a little, spilling some of the alcohol on the back of his hand.
Xu Ze stared at the spilled liquor. Lu Heyang thought he was dazed or absent-minded, but Xu Ze calmly lowered his head and licked the alcohol from the back of his hand, then placed his lips on the rim of the glass to finish what was left.
“It’s okay. Take your time to think about it. If you change your mind, let me know anytime.” He Yu didn’t press any further and pushed his business card in front of Xu Ze, “I know the situation here is complicated and it might not be easy to get out. But if you want to leave, we can work out a solution together.”
Xu Ze picked up the business card, nodded, and said, “Thank you.”
After that, no one brought up the matter again and talked about other things. Xu Ze remained silent and drank one glass after another. He barely looked at Lu Heyang throughout the night, not because he was deliberately ignoring him, but because he was trying his best not to look at him.
The more Xu Ze drank, the lower his head drooped. Lu Heyang reached out his hand to Gu Yunchi beside him, “Give me your car keys. You take He Wei’s car.”
Gu Yunchi looked up from his mobile game, glanced at Xu Ze, and handed the car keys to Lu Heyang without saying anything.
“Don’t drink anymore.” Lu Heyang held onto Xu Ze’s wrist, “Let’s head out.”
Xu Ze’s eyes fell on Lu Heyang’s five fingers on his wrist. After a few seconds, he put down the glass. Lu Heyang withdrew his hand, informed He Wei and He Yu, and then stood up. Xu Ze followed him, but he drank too much and was a little unsteady. Lu Heyang supported his shoulder to prevent him from stumbling forward.
Xu Ze’s cap had fallen on the sofa, so Lu Heyang picked it up for him.
The bar was now very lively. Xu Ze stumbled through the crowd, constantly bumping into people’s shoulders and arms. Lu Heyang took a step forward to put the baseball cap on Xu Ze’s head and lower the brim. Then he put his arm around Xu Ze’s waist and guided him through the crowd to the narrow passage they had passed through earlier.
Xu Ze was barely conscious, his mind was completely blank as Lu Heyang led him. They made their way to the backstage area with others eyeing them as they passed. Lu Heyang pushed the door of the dressing room at the end, walked in, and locked the door behind them.
His hand remained on Xu Ze’s waist. Through the T-shirt, Lu Heyang could feel the heat emanating from Xu Ze’s body. Xu Ze’s waist felt more supple than he had imagined. Perhaps it was because he was relaxed now and not as tense as during matches. Both of them were sweating a little. Lu Heyang held Xu Ze with one hand while using the other hand to sweep away the water bottles and junk on the old table.
Xu Ze didn’t know what Lu Heyang had in mind, but it was already late. He wanted to remind Lu Heyang to go home, otherwise, it would be unsafe. But just as he was about to open his mouth, he felt lightness under his feet—Lu Heyang, with an arm around his waist, effortlessly lifted him onto the table while removing his cap with his other hand.
Author’s note:
Table: What’s this? What are you doing!
Oh…
not the cliffhanger💔💔
I had my eye glued in on the text.. reading.. then the end..🤪
Ohh cliff hanged
Thanks for the new chapter👍
Ahhh!!!!!
KİSS KİSS KİSS KİSS KİSS KİSS
They better kiss
(｡ﾉω＼｡)～♡