Ten Minutes

After arriving at the office, Wu Qie plugged his phone in to charge.

Once it powered back on, he discovered two new contacts in his messaging app.

One was Pei Qingyu, whom he had added last night.

The other was a manually pinned unfamiliar account.

The avatar was a Pokémon Charizard.

The nickname was unclear, but unless the lunatic had deliberately chosen some bizarre username, the contact remark had obviously been manually changed to “Dear Fiancé.”

Wu Qie paused silently.

He removed the pinned status.

Then he quietly changed the unlock code on his phone.

As if someone had installed surveillance inside his phone and detected the moment it powered on, “Dear Fiancé” sent him a picture.

Wu Qie tapped it open.

It was a side profile of Pei Qingyu facing the camera.

He was pushing a suitcase, standing beside a Maybach.

Seeing that face so early in the morning carried quite a bit of impact.

Wu Qie’s brain went blank for a moment.

Before he could react, his finger had already tapped Save.

Only then did he righteously send a “?” to the other side.

Zhao Shu ignored him.

The class bell rang.

Wu Qie’s class today was the second period for Class F.

That meant over an hour of morning study and first period before that.

Every time he imagined Zhao Shu and Pei Qingyu together and wondered what they might be saying, his scalp tingled with anxiety.

Time crawled painfully.

When the bell for the end of first period finally rang, he grabbed his teaching materials and sprinted toward Class F like he was running the hundred meters.

When he entered the classroom, he realized Zhao Shu wasn’t there.

Wu Qie wanted to sigh even more.

He sent Zhao Shu a message asking where he was.

The reply came instantly.

A photo of an airport terminal.

[Dear Fiancé: Your crush is leaving for a competition and you didn’t even know? Not very attentive of you.]

Wu Qie replied with “……”

[Dear Fiancé: Or do you simply miss me? Someone might think you’re very clingy.]

Wu Qie felt like he was about to suffer cardiac arrest.

For the sake of his mental and physical health, he decided to ignore Zhao Shu.

He silently deleted the horrifying contact remark that kept popping up with new messages.

The Charizard avatar returned to a calm, ordinary contact name.

“Shu.”

***

Airport terminal.

Zhao Shu and Pei Qingyu weren’t close enough that one would bother sending the other off.

The only reason Zhao Shu had followed him here was to torment Wu Qie a little.

The image of Wu Qie getting into the car and driving away without even looking back that morning kept irritating him the more he thought about it.

Who told that Beta to have zero emotional intelligence and wear everything on his face?

It made people feel like not bullying him would be a waste of opportunity.

Just like they said—if you ignore free advantages, you’re an idiot.

After arriving at the terminal, Zhao Shu didn’t even get out of the car.

He sat in the back seat with his legs crossed, playing on his phone without lifting his head.

Pei Qingyu closed the car door.

Then he knocked on the window.

The window lowered halfway.

Half of Zhao Shu’s sharp brows and eyes appeared.

“What?”

“I should be asking you that,” Pei Qingyu said calmly.

“Why did you come?”

“Definitely not to see you off.”

Pei Qingyu raised an eyebrow.

Before he could say anything else, the window slid back up and sealed shut again.

***

Halfway through Wu Qie’s lesson, Zhao Shu finally arrived.

“Report—”

The drawn-out voice instantly made the classroom even quieter than before.

Under the synchronized gaze of the Class F students, the Zhao family’s young master leaned lazily against the doorframe.

For the past few months, he had been almost invisible in geography class.

But ever since the two of them started interacting, he had either been late, causing trouble, or late and causing trouble.

Wu Qie wanted to make him stand outside the classroom until the bell rang.

But the Alpha boy looked at him with that half-smile again, as if he had another shocking remark prepared.

Teacher Wu could only swallow his anger and let him enter.

When the bell finally rang, Wu Qie began packing up his teaching tools.

His phone lit up.

He glanced at it.

It was a message from Shu.

The message said the basketball team had extra training at noon today.

It requested that the supervising teacher attend.

After Pei Qingyu left, the team’s acting captain was none other than this troublemaker.

Everyone dared to be angry but not speak out under his tyranny.

But no one probably expected that he had already become outrageous enough to order the supervising teacher around.

Wu Qie put down the teaching tools and seriously thought of several excuses for being busy.

His phone screen lit up again.

[Shu: Thinking about how to lie right in front of me?]

Wu Qie was startled.

He reflexively looked up.

At the back of the classroom, the boy sat with long legs propped against the desk.

The chair balanced on two legs, rocking slightly.

His sharp gaze locked onto Wu Qie like a hawk.

At that moment, a cautious Beta student wearing small-framed glasses approached Zhao Shu and asked if he needed someone to run to the convenience store for snacks.

Only then did Zhao Shu slowly look away.

Turning his head slightly, he coldly told the student to bring him a carton of milk.

He pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his desk drawer and stuffed it into the student’s hand.

Wu Qie sighed.

His precious lunch break had just been forcibly destroyed.

***

Today’s noon training session had the basketball team’s head coach returning from vacation.

The coach’s name was Sun Mi.

Sun Mi was also a retired professional athlete.

The nearly two-meter-tall Alpha standing there was extremely intimidating.

No wonder he could keep a group of young masters obedient.

Perhaps after hearing the assistant coach’s introduction and reviewing Wu Qie’s background, Sun Mi assigned part of the training tasks to him.

The moment Wu Qie picked up a basketball—

He seemed to become a completely different person.

In daily life he looked like an honest, slightly clueless man.

But with a basketball in hand, it was as if someone had flipped a possession switch.

The black-haired Beta’s eyes suddenly focused.

His entire attention sharpened.

At first he led a group of first-year students in practice matches.

Sun Mi stood nearby with his hands on his hips, watching.

After five minutes he blew the whistle.

The exhausted first-year Alphas were called off the court.

Sun Mi silently pointed at the scoreboard.

20 : 6

None of them could lift their heads.

Even though Wu Qie had eaten more years of rice than them, he was still a Beta.

His stamina, strength, and even height were inferior to theirs.

Yet he dribbled past them as if they were wooden poles.

“Having Teacher Wu practice with you is just a waste of his energy.”

Sun Mi’s comment smashed the Alphas’ pride into the dirt.

Amid the field of collapsed bodies and groans, Wu Qie returned to the third-year starting lineup.

At that moment Zhao Shu wandered over.

Holding the ball in one hand, he bent down and looked at Wu Qie.

A faint scent of strong alcohol drifted from the Alpha.

“Want to make a bet?”

Wu Qie took a sip of water while sitting on the bench.

He waited calmly to hear what trouble Zhao Shu planned this time.

“In the training match later—”

“If you win, tonight I’ll tell my brother that the reason we can’t get along and dislike each other is my problem.”

“If you lose, I’ll tell him it’s because you’re fickle, that you like Pei Qingyu, and that he should reconsider arranging someone with your questionable character and eyesight as my fiancé.”

“…”

Wu Qie already knew Zhao Shu specialized in talking nonsense.

But the constant provocation had begun to irritate him.

He raised his eyes and looked directly into the Alpha’s.

“You can’t beat me.”

Zhao Shu paused.

Then he laughed as if hearing a joke.

“I saw you play.”

“You have skill.”

“But there’s a reason the NCAA didn’t accept you.”

“You’re not as flexible as Omega players, and you’re not as powerful offensively as Alpha players.”

“And besides—”

“You’re getting old.”

“You went all out for five minutes against the first-years just now.”

“Can you still run?”

Old?

Twenty-three was the prime of an athlete.

Wu Qie didn’t bother arguing.

He set down the water bottle.

“I can still run for ten minutes.”

“The third-year match lasts forty minutes.”

Zhao Shu reminded him disdainfully.

Wu Qie blinked.

“But I only need ten.”

***

Seven minutes later—

Sun Mi’s earth-shattering whistle blew.

Along with Zhao Shu’s loud curse, both Alpha and Beta landed under the basket.

“White number five! Hand-check foul!”

Sun Mi blew his whistle angrily at Zhao Shu.

Zhao Shu shot a murderous glare toward Wu Qie.

The Beta stood calmly nearby, gently holding the back of his reddened hand.

“Teacher Wu’s basket counts! One free throw!”

Sun Mi spat out the whistle and warned Zhao Shu.

“Fourth foul! One more and you’re out!”

Five fouls meant disqualification.

Zhao Shu seemed not to hear the coach.

He only stared at the black-haired young man with a death glare.

As if sensing the gaze, Wu Qie turned his head.

He smiled.

Then silently mouthed two words.

“Ten minutes.”

“…”

Zhao Shu felt something in his brain snap.

He slammed the ball onto the floor with a thunderous crash that startled everyone.

Wu Qie stood there looking innocent.

As if he hadn’t been the one provoking him.

Sun Mi stood firmly behind him like a mountain.

“What are you doing?! Zhao Shu!”

“I told you before not to play so recklessly!”

“Now someone’s exploiting your weakness and you’re throwing a tantrum?!”

Probably only the highly paid coach dared to scold the Zhao family’s young master by name.

Zhao Shu saw the coach’s dark expression and realized if he kept causing trouble, he might end up benched for the next games.

After suppressing his anger several times, he glared at Wu Qie.

“Again.”

***

After graduating high school, Wu Qie had never resumed formal basketball training.

Usually he just jogged or played casual pickup games.

In that regard Zhao Shu wasn’t wrong.

He was no longer the same as his peak teenage years.

As an ordinary Beta who spent long hours sitting in an office doing humanities work, his physical conditioning had indeed declined.

But that didn’t mean Teacher Wu had lost his brain.

Back then, before even undergoing secondary gender differentiation, he had become captain of the school team in one year.

An unprecedented achievement.

What he relied on was understanding every player on the team.

Memorizing their strengths and weaknesses.

Controlling the rhythm of offense and defense during games.

Helping everyone maximize their advantages.

That ability still remained.

Zhao Shu was a top-tier Alpha.

Tall, explosive, and terrifying on offense.

Naturally suited for power forward.

But that also meant his dribbling position was high.

And he played with impatience.

Within just seven minutes, Wu Qie only needed movement and steals to provoke him.

He lured Zhao Shu into committing fouls one after another—

Pushing.

Charging.

Illegal screens.

The hand-check had been his fourth foul.

By now Wu Qie’s breathing had become visibly heavy.

His hair, once dry when he left home that morning, was soaked with sweat.

Meanwhile Zhao Shu looked merely angry.

His heartbeat probably hadn’t even accelerated.

Wu Qie helplessly envied the monstrous stamina of Alphas.

Amid cheers from students watching around the court, he forced his heavy legs to move again.

‘Forget ten minutes.’

‘Let’s finish in eight.’

This time Zhao Shu carried the ball.

Wu Qie sped past him and took defensive position.

Zhao Shu sprinted forward at full speed.

The moment he jumped—

Wu Qie cut into position and jumped as well.

A scorching wave of heat crashed down.

The collision nearly shattered Wu Qie’s body.

When he fell backward onto the floor, he even bounced once before Zhao Shu’s heavy body slammed down on top of him.

“Mm.”

A muffled sound escaped his nose.

“Teacher Wu!”

“Ahh Teacher Wu!”

“Zhao Shu what the—!”

Shouts erupted everywhere.

A drop of sweat slid from Wu Qie’s forehead into his eye.

The sting burned sharply.

With his eyes closed, he felt the Alpha boy’s hot breath against his cheek.

Sweat mixed with tequila pheromones filled his nose.

The weight above him lifted slightly.

Wu Qie finally caught a breath.

But sweat kept dripping into his eyes.

All he could see was Zhao Shu’s massive silhouette looming above him.

“…”

Wu Qie breathed heavily.

“Move.”

***

“Move.”

The black-haired Beta beneath him was completely soaked in sweat.

His voice was hoarse from exhaustion.

His pale skin looked almost translucent.

Only his cheeks and nose carried an abnormal flush.

Zhao Shu noticed the scent on him.

Pure sweat.

And the faint fragrance of laundry detergent.

He paused.

But instead of moving immediately, curiosity rose in his chest.

One hand braced beside Wu Qie’s head.

His fingers reached forward.

He brushed aside the damp hair covering Wu Qie’s eyes.

The callused fingertips from years of handling basketballs brushed across the Beta’s nose.

Soft.

Wu Qie immediately opened his eyes.

Yet the black pupils were calm.

“Move.”

He repeated it firmly.

Almost fiercely.