Chapter 38: You Were Really Handsome Today
The sound of a heartbeat.
Thump—
Thump—
The scene felt strangely familiar. But when had it happened before?
A trace of confusion appeared in Mu Xiangxiang’s eyes. Around her ears echoed the screams shouting her name, while time inside the basketball court seemed to spin and shift. Suddenly, it felt as though she were standing inside the flow of years itself.
The first semester of her first year of high school. One day during lunch break, she had been carrying borrowed books out of the library when she happened to pass by a gymnasium.
The sunlight that day had been exceptionally warm, pouring lazily over everything. The greenery all across Yingcheng’s carried the fragrance of blooming flowers, and the world seemed filled only with quiet footsteps and birdsong.
As if possessed, she had pushed open a door.
And there she saw him. A lithe figure in a basketball jersey dribbling swiftly across the court.
He made a shot, landed lightly from the air, damp bangs sticking to his smooth forehead. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back, revealing limbs beneath the jersey covered in lean, tight muscle. Absentmindedly, he glanced toward the suddenly opened door, then immediately looked away and arrogantly cursed at the teammate handling the ball. “Where the fuck were you throwing that just now?!”
Sweat drenched him. His tone was so sharp with swagger it practically cut.
In that instant, the flowers and birdsong behind her all faded into background noise.
And now, even after changing into another body, he still seemed completely incapable of restraint.
The noisy cheers from the stands appeared to annoy him a little. The girl in the crimson jersey turned around impatiently. Amid the cheerleaders’ increasingly excited screams, she stretched out a finger and frowned as she tapped lightly against her lips.
It was honestly incredibly rude.
Yet the girls crowding behind the railings didn’t seem offended at all. They continued enthusiastically shaking their pom-poms, but obediently quieted the moment she gestured, suppressing their screams to the lowest volume possible.
Was that red-faced girl really Fang Lingli—the same Fang Lingli who’d once aggressively brought people over to cause trouble just because Mu Xiangxiang supposedly had something ambiguous going on with Jiang Hai?
And that girl jumping excitedly in place while waving her arms—was she really Gao Yan, the aloof, arrogant classmate who only ever socialized within the rich pretty-girl clique?
Did they even realize who they were screaming for?
A male voice suddenly came from behind her. “...So this is the new school beauty you’ve been rambling about every day?”
School beauty?
Mu Xiangxiang froze again.
Another girl answered excitedly, “Yeah, yeah! She’s gorgeous, right?”
“...” The first speaker sounded speechless. “I mean, sure, she’s pretty, but she’s still just a girl. Does your school’s cheer squad really have to act like this? You guys weren’t even this crazy over Lu Xiaoxuan before.”
“What the hell do you know!” the girl snapped angrily. “What do you mean ‘just a girl’? How can Sister Xiang be compared to Lu Xiaoxuan?!”
“Alright, alright. Considering she really is beautiful, though honestly I think you people are treating her like a school heartthrob instead.” The boy gave in helplessly. “But I came to your first-year league games too last year. Why don’t I remember her at all? Did she just transfer to Yingcheng this year?”
“Nope. She’s been here since first year. Her grades are amazing too! Third highest score in the entire province on the high school entrance exams, and last year she even got Yingcheng’s full scholarship. Total academic goddess, okay?” The girl sounded deeply proud. “If you didn’t know about her last year, it’s because she didn’t want you to know. I know one of her class committee members—you know Lin Long, right?”
Pretending to watch the court, Mu Xiangxiang quietly pictured the fair, round-faced class monitor in her mind. Because of collecting homework, that girl had interacted with her slightly more than the rest of the class. But in Mu Xiangxiang’s memory, Lin Long had never really seemed willing to talk to her. She chatted and laughed with the other girls all the time, but every time she stood in front of Mu Xiangxiang, she’d suddenly become unusually quiet.
Though this wasn’t unusual. The students of Class 1, Grade 11—from boys to girls—had always belonged to a different world from hers. Mutual distance had been inevitable.
The girl behind her paused before continuing: “Lin Long said Sister Xiang was super different back in first year. She hadn’t cut her hair yet then—had long straight black hair, barely talked, and actually seemed like this really quiet gentle type of girl. But she was gorgeous, so a bunch of guys in class noticed her right away after school started. Some of them even wanted to try pursuing her. But Sister Xiang was super cold back then. Maybe she just looked down on the classmates? Anyway, she never talked and always kept to herself, so they didn’t dare approach her either. Hahaha! Lin Long said every time she went to collect homework, she wanted to chat a bit, but the moment she looked into Sister Xiang’s eyes, she got so intimidated she couldn’t even say a word. Gao Yan was even worse. She hesitated for days because she was afraid of being rejected on the spot, and in the end she still didn’t dare invite her to her birthday party…”
“That’s seriously unbelievable…”
The conversation behind her gradually blurred. Mu Xiangxiang sat there blankly, realizing she might have touched upon truths she had never known before.
Something seemed to be slowly peeling away from her body—like a wound shedding its scab and revealing fresh new flesh beneath.
A sharp gaze suddenly shot toward her from the center of the court. Snapping back to reality, Mu Xiangxiang met the distant, unreadable stare.
On the court, the beautiful girl slowly lifted one delicate eyebrow, her entire body radiating a powerful presence utterly mismatched with her slender frame.
At that moment, Mu Xiangxiang herself didn’t even know what she was thinking. An indescribable emotion surged through her chest. Her heartbeat grew faster and faster, its meaning more and more complicated. A reckless impulse rose inside her—an urge to scream. And that strangely familiar scene made her think once more of that fleeting glimpse from long ago inside the basketball court.
Relaxing her expression, she curved her lips into a smile. Then, toward Qiao Nan on the other side of that gaze, she slowly smiled.
Qiao Nan immediately shook with excitement.
Hell yeah!
Totally worth finding you such a great seat.
See that?! My entrance style—completely unique.
I’m not fake handsome. I’m genuinely fucking handsome!
His mood instantly soared. Becoming twice as showy under someone’s focused gaze, he straightened his back even more and looked down at Guan Ziming’s group with even greater arrogance.
The atmosphere between both sides was tense as ever, no different from their previous meetings. After all, Yingcheng and Jiahe had been rivals for years. What started as competition on the court had escalated through Qiao Nan’s transfer and countless other conflicts until reconciliation became impossible. Qiao Nan was long accustomed to every encounter looking like both sides were about to leap at each other and start throwing punches.
And right now, he found Guan Ziming especially irritating. Every time he saw the guy, he remembered that scene at Waihai Village where Guan Ziming had carried dessert trays for Mu Xiangxiang. Even the teammates behind him became annoying by association—especially that idiot nicknamed Big Dog, whom he’d dealt with plenty before. Qiao Nan’s icy gaze swept over them.
Normally, Big Dog always acted like a rabid mutt toward Yingcheng, eager to bite at any moment. But now he instinctively plastered on a flattering grin. “Xiangxiang, you look really good in red.”
Qiao Nan: “...”
Guan Ziming: “...”
Jiang Hai: “...”
The other players from both teams, who’d all thought a fight was about to break out: “...”
Jiang Hai looked at Big Dog, then at the short-haired girl beside him. After a brief moment of thought, horror slowly appeared in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Qiao Nan’s eyes narrowed bit by bit. Staring at Big Dog’s lovestruck face, he suddenly remembered something. Right. This bastard really did seem to have a thing for Mu Xiangxiang. Hadn’t he tried to add “her” on WeChat after the racing match that day?
And didn’t he even send a text message afterward? For fuck’s sake. Did this guy never look in a mirror?
Big Dog soon realized he might’ve flattered the wrong way, because his goddess’s expression suddenly became even uglier.
Big Dog was standing there at a loss when someone suddenly kicked him in the calf. Turning around, he met his captain Guan Ziming’s exhausted expression. “Shut up.”
And just like that, everyone collectively pretended the awkward interruption had never happened and returned to business.
Guan Ziming sized up the short-haired girl standing before him from head to toe. “This is the boys’ basketball tournament, right?”
Qiao Nan withdrew the knife-sharp glare fixed on Big Dog and shrugged indifferently. “So what? Xiao Pangzi was just a substitute anyway. His tailbone’s cracked, so I’m filling the roster spot. Doesn’t mean I’ll actually play… what, you scared?”
Guan Ziming instantly felt that infuriatingly familiar arrogance. If that attitude had come from literally any other guy, he definitely would’ve hated them on sight. But the problem was—the person in front of him was a girl. And not just any girl, but a really good-looking one. No matter what, Guan Ziming was still a man. He wasn’t as pathetic as Big Dog wagging his tail around, but some instincts were simply unavoidable.
As he lowered his gaze, he got distracted again without meaning to. Dark red really suited pale skin. Against the jersey, the girl’s already fair complexion looked even clearer and more luminous.
The basketball uniform was huge on her, hanging like an oversized sack. She was actually fairly tall, but the natural physical differences between men and women meant she could never wear the jersey with the same aggressive presence Jiang Hai and the others carried. Her slender frame had a softness unique to girls. Guan Ziming stared for a moment before his thoughts drifted uncontrollably. How were girls’ ankles so thin?
Thin enough that one hand could probably wrap around them completely.
And her calves—slender and long, barely any muscle at all, yet with perfect lines.
As for her thighs… They looked thinner than his arms.
“Hey.” Qiao Nan frowned irritably. “Where the fuck are you looking?”
Guan Ziming snapped back slightly and lifted his head. But before his gaze reached her face, he accidentally caught sight of a stretch of pale skin exposed above the jersey collar. Below that equally slender neck rested two delicate collarbones, dipping into faintly enticing curves.
Guan Ziming coughed awkwardly and looked away. “Do whatever you want.”
There had never been female participants in the league before, but that had nothing to do with whether it was allowed. It was simply because the girls from both private schools had no interest in physical sports. Yingcheng and Jiahe didn’t even have girls’ basketball teams, so there was no actual rule forbidding it. Besides, this was just a high school league match. It wasn’t like the regulations were military-grade strict. And she was only a substitute anyway. She might never even get on court.
Thus, with the shrill whistle, both teams took their positions. Before leaving the court, Qiao Nan smacked Jiang Hai hard on the back of the head. “Play properly! If you fucking lose points out there, I’ll twist your head off after the game.”
Then, beneath countless burning gazes from the stands, he slowly strolled out of bounds, casually found a wall to sit against, twisted open a bottle of water, propped an arm on his bent knee, and started drinking expressionlessly while staring at center court.
Another small wave of screams immediately erupted from the stands. Compared to watching the school tyrants play basketball, the girls seemed far more interested in every tiny movement of their school beauty. A few even suddenly pulled out cameras and began zooming in to take photos.
As soon as the match started, Guan Ziming sensed something unexpected.
He had assumed that after Qiao Nan left, Yingcheng’s basketball team would weaken significantly. After all, in previous matches between the schools, Qiao Nan had always been Yingcheng’s core pillar.
Their strategies revolved around him—offense, defense, and even on-court command during matches were typically directed by Qiao Nan himself. Now that their most important player was gone, it seemed perfectly reasonable to assume Yingcheng’s strength had declined.
Yet unexpectedly, Jiang Hai and the others played astonishingly steadily.
So steadily that less than five minutes into the game, someone nailed a three-pointer.
Amid the roaring cheers after the shot, Jiang Hai pumped a fist toward the sidelines excitedly. That hellish training plan Brother Nan had put them through really wasn’t for nothing! Recently, aside from eating, sleeping, and attending class, all they’d done was basketball drills and physical conditioning. Now while running across the court, they could clearly feel their bodies had become far stronger than last year.
Big Dog shoved his way next to Guan Ziming with a grim expression. “This isn’t good. They’ve got even better teamwork than before.”
Guan Ziming narrowed his eyes. Originally, he’d thought this would be an easy victory. “Try getting the ball to me more often later.”
His skill level had only ever been slightly below Qiao Nan’s. But Yingcheng truly had suffered after losing their strongest player. Without Brother Nan dominating the court, Jiang Hai and the others immediately began struggling once Jihe’s main players got serious. After losing several points in a row, the confidence they’d carried before the match quickly deflated.
The Yingcheng cheer squad in the stands also lost their earlier excitement. The girls all wore tense expressions now, and even the cameras aimed toward the school beauty at the sidelines gradually lowered.
By the third quarter break, the score difference had widened to nine points. After the timeout whistle blew, Jiang Hai stood on the court gasping for breath. Ever since middle school, he’d never played such an exhausting match.
He exchanged glances with his equally dispirited teammates, seeing the same uncertainty reflected in all their eyes.
Did they really have what it took to fulfill their promise and make these guys—the ones directly responsible for Brother Nan leaving—pay for it?
Meanwhile, Jiahe’s players laughed and high-fived one another. Big Dog jogged out of the crowd, convinced he’d looked incredibly cool after scoring twice. Sweaty and excited, he approached his goddess hoping to show off a little. “Can I get a bottle of water?”
Qiao Nan’s gaze drifted past him toward the neatly stacked water crates less than two meters away, then shifted toward the gloomy collection of miserable “little animals” on the court, before finally landing on a distant figure somewhere in the stands. Three seconds later, expressionless, he lowered the water bottle from his lips and slowly screwed the cap back on.
“Fuck.”
Staring directly into Big Dog’s eyes, he suddenly hurled the bottle at him.
As Big Dog fumbled frantically to catch it, Qiao Nan sneered, pushed himself upright from his knee, and shouted: “Jiang Hai—switch someone out!”
Big Dog: “...”
He turned to stare at the slender back of the girl walking straight toward the court past him.
A long moment later, he hugged the water bottle teary-eyed. Wuwuwu, goddess is so fucking fiery!
A commotion broke out in the audience. People watched as discussions suddenly erupted on court. Then one of Yingcheng’s slant-eyed players was substituted out. Before leaving, he lightly high-fived the expressionless substitute girl.
The girl who’d spent the entire first half lounging at the edge of the court drinking water and watching the show—was staying on.
The crowd instantly exploded. Mu Xiangxiang frowned as whispers rose all around her from what sounded like students from other schools—
“What’s going on?”
“Is your school beauty really going to play basketball?”
“I thought she was just decorative?”
“No way, is she seriously joining the boys’ game?”
Listening to the doubtful chatter, Mu Xiangxiang couldn’t help focusing on Qiao Nan’s movements. Compared to the physiques of the male players on court, she suddenly realized her body really did look ridiculously weak.
Yet unlike the skeptical outsiders, Yingcheng’s previously dispirited cheer squad seemed to come back to life the instant Qiao Nan stood up and headed toward the court. Once it became certain he was staying in, the girls immediately began shouting slogans energetically again, their excitement spreading outward through the rest of the female audience.
The same boy and girl who’d been chatting earlier were still talking behind her. The boy sounded utterly conflicted. “...Are the people at your school actually serious? Isn’t this idol worship getting a little extreme? Sure, your school beauty’s gorgeous and smart and impressive, but she’s still a girl. Joining a boys’ basketball match… seriously?”
Thinking about her own physical condition, Mu Xiangxiang silently agreed inside.
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” But the girl had already descended into hysterical screaming again, only managing to throw back a single sentence between shrieks: “You mortal fool! What the hell do you know?!”
Qiao Nan shook out his jersey and began stretching. The Jiahe players were stunned by the situation too. Guan Ziming, who’d been discussing fourth-quarter tactics on the sidelines, immediately led the others over. “You can’t be serious. You’re actually going on court?”
Qiao Nan merely glanced at him without speaking. Guan Ziming became even more bewildered. He’d honestly assumed this substitute was just there to fill numbers!
“Hey! Aren’t any of you going to say something?” He grabbed Jiang Hai by the arm. “Look at her! With that build, does she even know how to play basketball? And you're actually letting her onto the court? What if we accidentally send her flying with one collision?”
Hearing the disbelief in the other boy's voice toward their captain, Jiang Hai exploded on the spot. It felt as though he himself had suffered the greatest insult imaginable. “Y-you—you fucking idiot! What the hell do you know?!”
They've all gone crazy. Everyone from Yingcheng had completely lost their minds.
During the break before the fourth quarter, the entire Jiahe team fell silent. Even the referee standing on the sidelines wore a speechless expression.
The girl standing in the middle of Yingcheng's lineup looked both perfectly natural and utterly out of place. After a long standoff, Big Dog, standing behind Guan Ziming, finally couldn't help speaking up. "It's dangerous out there. Are you seriously staying on the court?"
Qiao Nan ignored him. Slightly bending forward, he turned to Jiang Hai and quietly began giving instructions on how they would coordinate for the remainder of the game.
The biggest weakness of this body was its stamina. Fortunately, as a substitute, he'd spent the previous games resting on the bench. There were only ten minutes left. With the training he'd kept up over the past several weeks, he should be able to endure until the end.
After giving a few brief instructions, he instinctively looked toward the stands. This time, much closer than when she had been sitting by the wall earlier, he met a pair of crystal-clear eyes hidden beneath the brim of a baseball cap, eyes overflowing with worry.
The corner of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. Without saying a word, he looked away.
Seeing him act as carefree as ever, Mu Xiangxiang's heart nearly leaped into her throat. Then the whistle blew—
The atmosphere on the court changed instantly.
Guan Ziming sensed that something was wrong almost immediately.
The girl who had sat on the bench all afternoon was nothing like the complete basketball novice he'd imagined. Every movement—from her dribbling to her positioning—revealed someone thoroughly familiar with the rules of the game.
Her slender body, which looked as though it contained almost no strength at all, erupted with explosive power far beyond anything he'd expected. That very explosiveness transformed her slight frame from a disadvantage into an advantage. Combined with her incredible speed and flawless positioning, she darted through a court full of tall, burly boys like a fish too slippery to catch.
The cheerleaders in the stands screamed as though they'd all gone insane, looking ready to leap straight off the bleachers and onto the court. The atmosphere had reached a full boil. At this point, Qiao Nan no longer had the spare energy to yell at them to shut up.
Using Mu Xiangxiang's nimble body, he squeezed through a crowd reeking of sweat, sprinted along the baseline, and roared at the top of his lungs, "Ball!!!"
Without the slightest hesitation, one of Yingcheng's players immediately hurled the ball he'd just stolen toward him.
The seamless coordination left Jiahe no time to react. Qiao Nan dribbled forward several quick steps. The moment Jiahe's defenders all rushed toward him, he jumped straight into the air—
The basketball soared high across the gym, tracing a beautiful arc.
As Jiahe's players hurriedly spun around to recover and defend, the ball dropped cleanly through the hoop.
Thud.
Three points.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"WHAT A SHOT!!!"
The screams nearly blew the roof off the gym. Yingcheng's players exploded with excitement. Jiang Hai howled at the top of his lungs as he charged forward to fight for the ball, and the team's previously faltering morale shot instantly to its peak.
Renewed confidence became a terrifying source of strength. The tide of the game turned almost immediately. Yingcheng, who had looked increasingly helpless and exhausted throughout the previous games, suddenly came alive, locking Jiahe into a fierce back-and-forth battle.
The score crept upward point by point. Nine-point deficit. Six. Four. Two. Then… Tied.
With only two minutes remaining, wave after wave of deafening cheers completely engulfed the arena.
Even the teachers, who until now had looked as though they were merely watching students play a game, had jumped to their feet. Together with the students, they crowded against the railings of the stands, screaming themselves hoarse at the boys and girls racing across the court.
Qiao Nan was nearly out of gas. His flashy opening performance had made Jiahe focus heavily on him for the rest of the game. Even when he had the ball now, he couldn't get himself into a good shooting position.
The electronic scoreboard began counting down. He glanced toward the stands. Just as expected, he found those clear, bright eyes again.
Gritting his teeth, he shouted a teammate's name.
Then he raised his arm.
As Jiahe's defenders instinctively turned toward the player whose name he'd called, Qiao Nan suddenly pivoted and fired the ball to Jiang Hai on the opposite side.
The basketball sliced through the air. Jiang Hai froze for a split second. He'd actually gotten the pass!
Without the slightest hesitation, he dribbled hard toward the basket.
Ten seconds!
Fooled by the feint, Jiahe's players swarmed desperately toward the paint—
Eight seconds!
Bodies crashed together as Yingcheng's players rushed in to set screens and block defenders—
Five seconds!
The court descended into utter chaos. Ignoring every distraction around him, Jiang Hai launched himself into the air with all his strength, sending the basketball soaring high—
Countless arms shot upward in an attempt to block it. Every eye followed the ball. It struck the rim with a heavy clang… Spun halfway around...
And dropped in.
The cheers that had already raged through the stands for so long somehow rose to an even higher pitch. Everyone supporting Yingcheng, boys and girls alike, completely lost their minds. Students screamed and jumped in place, their faces twisted by overwhelming excitement.
The scoreboard flashed one final time. At that exact moment— The final buzzer sounded.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"WE WON!!!"
"WE WON! WE WON!!!"
Amid the thunderous celebration from Yingcheng's side, the exhausted basketball team stood frozen on the court, staring blankly at the scoreboard for what felt like forever.
They… Had actually… Won?
They'd defeated the team that had driven Brother Nan away?
The feeling was so surreal it was almost like a dream. Completely drained, Jiang Hai's legs gave out and he collapsed onto the floor. Supporting himself with his arms, he leaned back slightly and took in the sight of the teachers and students from his school cheering like mad in the stands.
He turned to look at his bewildered teammates. Among everyone there, only he understood why they had managed to claw themselves back from the defeat that had seemed inevitable over the previous games.
His gaze settled on the girl standing at the edge of the court. She stood there with her arms folded, the corners of her lips curved upward, looking utterly unsurprised by the victory that everyone else found so unbelievable.
She was the team's anchor.
The one who held them all together. His breathing grew heavier and heavier, hot blood surging through his veins with excitement. Then, amid the deafening noise of the arena, he suddenly threw back his head and shouted at the top of his lungs— "MU! XIANGXIANG!"
The chaotic cries throughout the arena immediately merged into a single, unified chant.
"Mu Xiangxiang! Mu Xiangxiang! Mu Xiangxiang!"
Qiao Nan rolled his eyes. His gaze swept once across the arena before meeting the pair of eyes in the stands that could no longer conceal their excitement. He let out a soft snort, ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, then turned and walked off the court.
The girl’s figure disappeared beyond the doors, yet the screams inside the gym still refused to die down. This left Jihe’s basketball team—Yingcheng’s defeated opponents—in an awkward position. After a brief silence, however, an abrupt voice suddenly joined the cheering from among them— “Mu Xiangxiang!!!”
The Jiahe players slowly turned as one to stare at the traitor in their ranks. “…………”
Guan Ziming looked at his red-faced teammate. “...What exactly are you doing?”
Big Dog ignored him completely. Still clutching the mineral water bottle he’d never let go of, he banged excitedly against the railings while joining the audience in shouting along.
****
Mu Xiangxiang almost unconsciously followed Qiao Nan away from that roaring sea of excitement. When she found him, Qiao Nan was standing outside the basketball gym at the public washbasins, washing his face.
The girl standing before the sink moved with astonishing boldness. In weather this cold, dressed only in a thin basketball jersey, he was actually scooping up icy water with both hands and splashing it straight onto his face. Water droplets flew everywhere, catching sunlight midair and scattering brilliance like diamonds flung through the sky.
Mu Xiangxiang stopped walking and simply watched him from afar. She didn’t know why she had followed him out. Perhaps she’d been bewitched by the endless cries of her own name echoing through the arena.
Hearing movement behind him, Qiao Nan paused slightly while scooping water. Then he turned, still bent over, and glanced at her. Wet strands of hair hung down across his forehead. The sharpness he’d carried from the court still lingered on his expression. Covered in droplets of water, he remained breathtaking enough to make someone’s chest tighten.
Meeting Mu Xiangxiang’s eyes, he raised an eyebrow, shut off the faucet, and lazily straightened up against the sink, running a hand through his damp hair.
It was such an ordinary gesture, yet he somehow made it look impossibly effortless and cool. Qiao Nan stared at her with sparkling eyes and curled his lips into a grin.
In an extremely frivolous tone, he hummed smugly twice. “So? Wasn’t I cool as hell? I totally crushed those idiots today without even trying.”
Mu Xiangxiang stared blankly at him. Time seemed to rewind once more to a year ago. The same sweat-drenched figure. The same arrogance so sharp it nearly cut.
The same early spring weather. The same delicate fragrance of flowers. The same crisp, quiet birdsong drifting down from above.
His soul had entered an entirely different body, yet he still remained wildly, uncontrollably himself.
And all the dazzling things in this world could still only ever serve as his backdrop.
Even separated by a doorway and such a long distance, she could still hear the chants inside the gym crying out her name— along with the rhythm of her own heartbeat inside her chest.
Failing to receive immediate praise, a trace of displeasure appeared in Qiao Nan’s eyes. He clicked his tongue and raised a brow, about to lecture Mu Xiangxiang on showing proper respect to the boss of Yingcheng—when suddenly, on that usually calm face before him, a vivid expression appeared for the first time.
“Yeah,” Mu Xiangxiang said softly. Smiling faintly, in that uniquely earnest tone of hers, she added: “You really were very handsome today.”
Their eyes met. Five seconds later, they simultaneously looked away with perfect tacit understanding.
Yingcheng’s resident kingpin coughed once, shoved his head back beneath the faucet, and turned the water on again.
-----------------
Author’s Note:
Brother Nan: [shivers violently]“Fuck, that’s cold!”
Ahhh, I originally didn’t dare write Brother Nan actually playing in the match, but then I asked around in the group chat and one of my classmates said their middle school used to have mixed-gender basketball games, so Brother Nan playing isn’t the cool part! He himself is just cool!
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