TAO | Chapter 106

The basketball area of the sports complex was huge. Xie Chi had also come with a group to play.

He wasn’t particularly short for an Omega, but when surrounded by a bunch of Alphas, his height didn’t stand out. What did stand out was his vibe—he was easily the most eye-catching one there.

Leaning lazily against the plastic bench in the rest area, one arm draped casually over the back, his half-lidded, cat-like eyes looked indifferent and drowsy. He had that classic “I’m so bored I might die” face, like he’d only come because there was nothing better to do.

Even without seeing his face clearly, Yan Shen recognized him immediately just from the way he stood. “It’s him.”

The distance was a bit far, and Yang Shuo wasn’t that familiar with Xie Chi. He squinted at the figure just as Yan Shen confirmed it and turned his head.

Han Ziyang, equipped with 2.0-level gossip radar, saw an opportunity and nudged Yan Shen with a smirk. “Don’t you like him? Go say hi or something.”

Yan Shen shut that down immediately. “Not going.”

Han Ziyang blinked. “Why not?”

Yang Shuo chimed in with a knowing tone, “Why else? He’s too lazy.”

After knowing Yan Shen for so long, he’d been turned down by him for just about every reason, but “lazy” was always the top contender—too lazy to go out, to walk, to do anything.

But this time, Yan Shen actually gave a different reason. “If he’s into me, he’ll come over.”

Han Ziyang switched to troll mode. “What if he doesn’t see you?”

Yan Shen glanced sideways. “What’s the max rebound height of a basketball?”

Han Ziyang looked confused. “Uh… I dunno. Why?”

Yan Shen tilted his chin slightly toward the court. “There’s a ball. Go test it.”

Han Ziyang’s childish competitive streak got instantly triggered. He grabbed a ball and slammed it hard against the court floor.

BANG! A loud thud echoed as the wooden floor bounced the ball high into the air.

Looking very pleased with the height, Han Ziyang stood with hands on hips and grinned smugly at Yan Shen. “Your turn. Let’s see how high you can go.”

Yan Shen smiled faintly. “See? That got his attention.”

“What?” Han Ziyang frowned and followed Yan Shen’s gaze.

That loud sound had indeed caught a lot of attention—including Xie Chi’s. The Omega glanced over from his seat in the rest area.

Han Ziyang’s face instantly turned red. “Fuck, you used me as bait?!”

Yang Shuo had already guessed what Yan Shen was up to and snickered. “Who told you to be dumb?”

Han Ziyang snapped back, “Dumb your ass!”

While the two of them argued like grade-schoolers, Yan Shen’s gaze briefly met Xie Chi’s from across the court.

Xie Chi looked over casually, but his expression didn’t change. Like he didn’t recognize Yan Shen at all, he swept his eyes across them and looked away.

Yan Shen touched his own face, for once doubting his own charm. “Am I not handsome? Why didn’t he come over?”

Han Ziyang and Yang Shuo paused their squabble and turned to look at him together—one rolling his eyes, the other blank-faced.

“Bro, if you like him, go talk to him yourself. You really expect him to chase you?”

“Seriously, if you had even half of Jiang Zhan’s initiative, you two would’ve been a done deal ages ago.”

That line made Han Ziyang immediately whip his head toward Yang Shuo. “Wait, how do you know it was Zhan-ge who chased Wei Xiaochi?”

Yang Shuo pointed toward the shameless alpha currently glued to his Omega’s side and went full sarcasm mode. “You really can’t tell?”

It was so obvious it could punch you in the face. If you had working eyes, there was no way you’d miss it.

Han Ziyang: ………

—

Wei Xiaochi had brought water with him to the court today, but he underestimated the sheer drinking capacity of a bunch of sweaty Alphas.

They’d finished everything he brought, so he went over to the vending machines to buy more.

Even the cheapest water cost two yuan, and sports drinks were even pricier. Wei Xiaochi stood there debating which to buy.

He pulled a ten-yuan bill from his pocket and slowly fed it into the machine. But halfway in, someone bumped his shoulder—not too hard, but enough to jolt him.

He looked up and met a pair of cat-like eyes, half-smiling with a lazy glint.

Xie Chi’s lips quirked. “What a coincidence. Remember me?”

Of course Wei Xiaochi remembered. Not only remembered—he remembered clearly. Just recently, Han Ziyang had taken the time to solemnly warn him to steer clear of Xie Chi, calling him a green tea Omega who loved stealing other people’s boyfriends.

“Yeah, I remember,” Wei Xiaochi replied, but didn’t want to engage, so he looked down and kept pushing the bill into the slot.

He chose a sports drink. The light above the selected item lit up, and with a clang, the bottle dropped down.

Wei Xiaochi bent to pick it up and waited for the machine to return his change.

Xie Chi leaned against the vending shelf beside him. “So… you used to know me?”

Wei Xiaochi shook his head. “Not really.”

Xie Chi crossed his arms, watching him with vague amusement. “Then why do you seem like you really don’t want to talk to me? Did I offend you?”

Wei Xiaochi glanced at him. “No.”

Xie Chi didn’t say whether he believed it or not, but there was something strange in his eyes as he kept studying him.

Wei Xiaochi started to feel creeped out under that gaze. The machine finally spit out some coins, and he quickly shoved them into his pocket. “I’m leaving.”

He’d only taken a few steps when Xie Chi’s voice floated over from behind.

“That Alpha you’re with—he’s really handsome. Are you two dating?”

Wei Xiaochi stopped in his tracks.

Turning back, he saw Xie Chi still standing there, looking at him with an innocent, mischievous smile that somehow made his skin crawl.

Wei Xiaochi’s brow slowly furrowed. “It’s none of your business.”

With that, he left. But the feeling of Xie Chi’s eyes clinging to his back didn’t go away until he was well out of sight.

It was hard to describe what he felt just now. Xie Chi had a smile on his face, but there was no real warmth in his eyes—and yet, it didn’t quite feel like malice either.

He was just… weird.

—

As Wei Xiaochi made his way back with the drink, he ran right into Jiang Zhan.

“That was fast,” Wei Xiaochi blinked. Jiang Zhan had just started the game when he’d gone to buy water. “Were you thirsty?”

He figured that must be it and handed over the drink. “Here, have some.”

Jiang Zhan unscrewed the cap and took two big gulps, then casually mentioned, “Just scored another dunk.”

Wei Xiaochi didn’t know much about basketball, but he thought Jiang Zhan looked cool when he played. “That makes your tenth dunk today.”

“Why are you even keeping count?” Jiang Zhan said that, but the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but lift.

“I just remembered.” Wei Xiaochi had been bored on the sidelines and ended up mentally tallying Jiang Zhan’s shots and dunks.

Without warning, Jiang Zhan leaned down and gave him a quick kiss, shoved the drink back into his hands, then grabbed his hand and dragged him back.

Everyone around them collectively twitched.

Just now, after that insane dunk, Jiang Zhan had randomly tossed the ball and walked off without a word. No one knew what he was doing.

Turns out…

Seriously? Can you two go even a minute without being disgustingly in love?

Turns out Jiang Zhan can survive without PDA—but only if everyone else dies of cringe.

Once he came back, he went full turbo mode. Dunk, dunk, dunk—like a man possessed. He didn’t even care what the rest of the game looked like.

His opponents were in pain. His teammates were suffering too. They had no choice but to keep feeding him the ball. There was no room for slacking.

What started as a chill, stress-relieving scrimmage turned into Jiang Zhan’s personal performance show, and the rest of them just became props.

Someone even muttered a warning: they didn’t mind playing ball with Jiang Zhan, but not if he brings that Omega with him.

No one could stop an Alpha determined to show off for his future mate.

Fine. Go ahead and flex yourself into the grave.

Once everyone realized what Jiang Zhan was up to, the whole vibe changed from casual fun to just humoring him.

Especially poor Yang Shuo, who got dunked on from above and completely lost the will to fight. In the end, he just floated through the game, letting Jiang Zhan do his thing.

By the end, Jiang Zhan had dropped a jaw-dropping 58 points, with 22 of them from dunks alone.

Wei Xiaochi had watched two matches with him before, so he knew how ridiculous 58 points was—it was basically most of the team’s total score.

He couldn’t help but admire Jiang Zhan’s athletic talent.

—

Author’s Note:

Because obviously, he has to be awesome—just for you to see. Our little show-off doggy, LOL.