An Exploding Dream

Facts proved that Teacher Wu was absolutely not the kind of soft persimmon who could be bullied without fighting back.

That very evening, he stood Zhao Shu up cleanly during their scheduled one-on-one training.

His method of standing Zhao Shu up was simple.

He didn’t show up at all.

He skipped the evening training entirely and disappeared.

No one thought Wu Qie deserved punishment for missing evening practice.

After all, no rule said the supervising teacher had to participate in team training.

The previous supervising teacher hadn’t stepped into the basketball gym more than three times in an entire semester.

Except for one person.

Zhao Shu.

The moment he realized Wu Qie wasn’t coming, his face darkened.

Darker than the early winter night outside.

That dark mood lasted until the end of practice.

Hands in his pockets, Zhao Shu stood at the school gate waiting for the driver stuck in rush hour traffic.

He looked like he was spacing out.

The security guard peeked from the guardroom.

Looking at Zhao Shu standing there, he felt the young master looked even more intimidating than the stone lions that had guarded the school gate for centuries.

Zhao Shu suddenly noticed someone else standing nearby waiting for a car.

A teacher.

Long curly hair.

A female Omega.

He glanced at her casually and was about to look away.

He didn’t plan on greeting her.

He knew her.

Xu Cixin.

The youngest daughter of Jiangcheng’s jewelry tycoon Xu Cang.

She had once had a three-day scandal with Zhao Guipu.

The truth was they had simply eaten at the same table once and accidentally appeared on the same yacht the next day for fishing.

To avoid headlines like “Brother-in-law and sister-in-law return to mansion together”, Zhao Shu quietly moved a step aside.

Just as he moved—

A teasing voice sounded beside him.

“Oh my, now you suddenly know to keep distance from Omegas?”

Zhao Shu stiffened and turned.

Xu Cixin was smiling.

Her soft and charming Omega face carried obvious mockery.

For the first time in his life, Zhao Shu had the urge to remind someone to behave properly in public.

“If you care that much about appearances, you shouldn’t have let Lin Zuwen come to school smelling like your pheromones.”

Xu Cixin’s expression turned cold.

She looked at him like he was a scumbag.

“Teacher Wu was very embarrassed today.”

The Zhao and Wu families had never publicly announced the engagement.

Zhao Shu raised an eyebrow.

“How do you know?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Xu Cixin shrugged.

“During the morning assembly the teachers were all saying Zhao Shu and Lin Zuwen were a couple.”

“Your temporary mark is basically proof.”

“Teacher Wu heard it too.”

She continued casually.

“He messaged you afterward, right?”

“You looked at your phone but didn’t reply.”

Zhao Shu blinked.

Xu Cixin continued calmly.

“And when he asked about Lin Zuwen, you probably spoke harshly to him too.”

“If I were him, I wouldn’t train with you either.”

Zhao Shu stared at her.

“Are you a witch?”

Xu Cixin choked.

This little bastard really had a foul mouth.

She raised an eyebrow and stopped talking.

Zhao Shu frowned deeply.

“Then how do you know everything?”

Xu Cixin twirled a strand of her hair.

She didn’t answer.

Just then her car arrived.

Before getting in, she leaned against the door and said,

“If I were you, I’d go apologize.”

Then the door slammed shut.

***

That night Zhao Shu returned home full of question marks.

After showering he lay in bed, feeling it had been the most confusing day of his life.

He thought about Lin Zuwen’s temporary mark.

Thinking about that led him to think about Wu Qie.

Thinking about Wu Qie led him to wonder if he should apologize.

Then he kept arguing with himself between:

‘Maybe I should apologize.’

and

‘Apologize for what? He openly likes Pei Qingyu.’

He struggled so much with the question that something strange happened that night.

Zhao Shu felt uncomfortable.

Like the early symptoms of an Alpha heat cycle.

His body was hot.

Restless.

Excited.

In his dream there was a shadow in front of him.

Vague.

He chased it desperately.

The closer he got, the more excited he became.

He smelled peaches.

Sweet Omega pheromones.

He couldn’t remember ever smelling something like that before.

When every hair on his body stood on end, he finally caught the person and tackled them.

For a moment he thought it was Lin Zuwen.

After all, they had just completed a temporary mark earlier that day.

But in the dream—

When he brushed the hair from the person’s forehead—

He fell into a pair of cold, beautiful black eyes.

The person pinned beneath him didn’t move.

They stared at him.

After a long moment they spoke in a calm voice that absolutely did not belong to an Omega.

“Hello—”

The last word never came out.

Because Zhao Shu covered his mouth.

One word.

A descriptive word.

If it were spoken, the dream would probably have needed censorship.

Zhao Shu woke up instantly.

He sat upright in bed.

Recalling the scene, the Alpha’s face turned completely pale.

“Holy shit.”

He hugged the blanket tightly.

“Holy shit holy shit holy shit.”

He crept out of bed like a thief.

Cold shower.

Changed pants.

Hand-washed the evidence.

Then he opened the medicine kit in his room and injected himself with a fresh inhibitor.

His racing heart finally calmed.

Looking in the mirror, he saw his face was pale as a ghost.

Sweat covered the tip of his nose.

Zhao Shu stared at himself.

“…”

The world had ended.

***

Completely unaware that somewhere in Jiangcheng a pure-hearted Alpha boy had lost sleep over him—

Wu Qie appeared at school the next day in high spirits.

He had only been annoyed for a short time yesterday.

He had already forgotten about it.

Though he was still confused about the engagement.

Neither he nor Zhao Shu understood why their families insisted on tying together two people with completely incompatible personalities.

The Wu family’s motives were easier to guess.

Although Beta men had extremely low fertility, it wasn’t zero.

And Zhao Shu was a rare double-S-rank Alpha.

Such genetic material was highly coveted.

Even the Reproductive Association drooled over it.

But what the Zhao family wanted from Wu Qie—

A completely ordinary Beta—

Was impossible to understand.

Unknown things were always the scariest.

Because of that, Teacher Wu was distracted all morning.

When he had no classes, he napped in the office.

In his dream Zhao Guipu tricked him into entering the Zhao household and drained his blood to cure Zhao Shu’s terminal illness.

He woke himself up in terror.

Still half asleep, he grabbed his phone and messaged Zhao Shu:

“Do you have some kind of illness?”

At that moment Zhao Shu was barely staying awake in physics class.

Suddenly receiving a message asking if he had a disease—

He thought he was being insulted.

Already annoyed from last night’s dream, Zhao Shu replied with a string of question marks.

Then, out of embarrassment and anger—

He blocked Wu Qie.

**

Wu Qie immediately regretted the message after sending it.

But he wasn’t the type to argue like a childish student.

So he had no idea he had been blocked.

That evening he returned to the basketball court for training.

When the tall Alpha blocked his path with a basketball and demanded he fulfill their one-on-one practice promise, Wu Qie sighed but didn’t insult him.

Normally he would already be on his way home listening to music under the sunset.

His biggest worry would be whether his mother had secretly put ginger in the pork soup.

But now his biggest worry was the gloomy-faced almost-fiancé standing in front of him preventing him from leaving.

The gym slowly emptied.

Wu Qie stood up reluctantly.

He had no intention of silently accepting Zhao Shu’s tyranny.

He hated Zhao Shu’s arrogant, stupid face.

“This counts as cheating,” Teacher Wu suddenly said.

“…Right?”

He added.

Satisfied when Zhao Shu’s expression immediately looked like someone had stepped in dog poop.

Zhao Shu still answered coldly.

“Who’s being cheated on?”

“Pei Qingyu or Lin Zuwen?”

Wu Qie sighed.

“Why do you answer every question even when you don’t understand it?”

Zhao Shu replied coldly.

“You’re the one who started it.”

The first basket came quickly.

Wu Qie stole the ball and shot a three-pointer from outside the arc.

Because Zhao Shu was afraid of committing another charging foul, he held back too much.

Wu Qie scored easily.

The Alpha looked clumsy by comparison.

Yet Wu Qie didn’t laugh.

Because he realized something.

Despite appearing reckless and foolish, Zhao Shu was actually serious about improving.

He hadn’t forced Wu Qie to practice just to torment him.

He really wanted to fix his flaws.

For example—

Standing under the basket, Zhao Shu stared at his own hands.

“Is my dribbling position really too high?”

“If your opponents are all Alphas over 1.83 meters, it’s fine.”

Wu Qie replied honestly.

“But from my perspective, it’s like you’re dribbling right in front of my eyes.”

Zhao Shu frowned.

Apparently he couldn’t accept that height could be a disadvantage.

He grabbed the ball and bent lower.

This time his dribbling was much lower than before.

The movement was awkward.

But he was serious.

“Come.”

His eyes were focused.

Sunset streamed through the gym windows.

The wooden floor glowed golden.

For a moment Wu Qie was stunned.

The only Asian team captain before differentiation in the history of his old high school hadn’t gotten there by luck.

Wu Qie alone knew how he arrived at the gym earliest every day.

How he practiced until he couldn’t jump anymore before leaving.

The black-haired young man bent slightly, resting his hands on his knees.

Suddenly he didn’t feel as impatient toward Zhao Shu.

“Look at me.”

“Don’t look where you want to break through.”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh really?”

“You wanted to fake right and break left.”

“…”

“You’re full of openings.”

Zhao Shu’s eyes instantly focused on Wu Qie’s forehead.

In that brief moment of distraction—

The Alpha dashed past him like wind.

His shoes screeched against the floor.

Zhao Shu slipped past him and shot a three-pointer.

It landed perfectly.

He retrieved the ball and tossed it back to Wu Qie.

Breathing slightly heavily, he lifted his chin proudly.

At the same moment the basketball bounced—

Wu Qie’s heartbeat thundered.

He rolled up his hoodie sleeves.

“Again.”

***

When the school security guard finally came with a flashlight to chase them out, it was nearly eight at night.

The moon had already risen.

Wu Qie sat drinking a sports drink.

To him the security guard felt like a savior.

Maybe twenty-three really wasn’t athletic prime anymore.

He was exhausted.

Meanwhile Zhao Shu still looked energetic.

He arrogantly told the security guard the Zhao family had funded half the gym.

Why couldn’t he use it until eight?

Wu Qie couldn’t stand hearing such ridiculous talk.

He wobbled over and tugged Zhao Shu’s jersey from behind.

The shirt was soaked with sweat.

Only then did Wu Qie realize Zhao Shu had trained for over three hours straight.

Yet the pampered young master hadn’t complained once.

“Why are you pulling me?”

Zhao Shu leaned down.

His hot breath brushed Wu Qie’s face.

Wu Qie stepped back.

“Don’t make things hard for the staff.”

“That’s enough for tonight.”

“But I haven’t mastered the new dribbling yet.”

Zhao Shu frowned.

Then he studied Wu Qie carefully.

“Are you tired?”

“If my stamina were that good, I’d be in the NBA making millions instead of doing unpaid overtime with you.”

Wu Qie replied calmly.

“Yes. I’m tired.”

Zhao Shu looked like he wanted to argue.

But he held it in.

“Your stamina really sucks.”

He muttered before walking toward the locker room.

Wu Qie sighed in relief.

But just as he was leaving—

Someone grabbed his hoodie from behind.

“Wait.”

Zhao Shu had returned.

“I’ll have the driver take you home.”

“No need.”

“I drove here.”

“If your legs hadn’t gone weak on that last shot, it would’ve gone in.”

Zhao Shu said flatly.

“Your legs are shaking.”

“You want to drive like that?”

“…”

Wu Qie had to admit he was right.

So that day—

For the second time—

He unwillingly sat in Zhao Shu’s Rolls-Royce.

***

The previous ride in this car had been dramatic.

Tonight’s ride felt like its sequel.

Wu Qie was half asleep the entire way.

This time Zhao Shu drove him all the way to his house.

Wu Qie woke up when Zhao Shu pinched his cheek.

The black-haired man opened his eyes sleepily.

Zhao Shu’s handsome face was suddenly close.

“Let me ask you something.”

“Don’t.”

Zhao Shu ignored him.

“Were you unhappy yesterday… about Lin Zuwen’s temporary mark?”

Wu Qie wanted to say no.

But actually—

Yes.

No man liked being forced to wear a metaphorical green hat.

Especially when the rumors were everywhere.

He had become the hidden gossip target of the entire school.

Wu Qie fell silent.

Zhao Shu didn’t know what to say.

Then quietly said,

“I won’t temporarily mark him again.”

Wu Qie considered saying it wasn’t necessary.

But in the end he only replied,

“Oh.”

Zhao Shu stared at him.

Then leaned back and looked out the window.

“Then it’s settled.”

“What is?”

“One-on-one training tomorrow night.”

“…When was that decided?”

“Eight is too early.”

“You can come to my house.”

“We have a court.”

“You can stay overnight after practice.”

There were many rooms.

The words came out.

Both of them froze.

The atmosphere became strange.

Zhao Shu awkwardly shifted away.

He cleared his throat.

“You had fun practicing tonight, didn’t you?”

Wu Qie couldn’t deny it.

Since the day he left the basketball team after failing to differentiate—

He had never played seriously again.

That night in the quiet gym, with the sound of basketballs echoing and sneakers scraping the floor—

Memories flooded back.

When the car stopped, Wu Qie stepped out.

The engine started behind him.

For some reason he turned back.

Through the window he saw Zhao Shu leaning lazily in the back seat scrolling through his phone.

The light from the screen blurred his face.

But somehow—

He didn’t look as stupid and arrogant as he had the day before.

Under the moonlight, Teacher Wu muttered to himself.

“Just one more time.”

“Not any more than that.”