Chapter 22: Post-Game Interference

The forum exploded instantly.

[104L]: Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit! Did you all see the close-up on the big screen just now?!

[122L]: The big screen!!! The broadcast director knows exactly what we want to see! Xu Zhou is up there wearing Reyes’s jacket!

[201L]: I’m getting a nosebleed… how can he look this good?! That jacket is way too big for him, and he’s all curled up in it like a crumpled doll!

[215L]: Reyes really knows what he’s doing! This isn’t just giving someone his clothes. He’s stamping his mark on him!

[218L]: Wait, look closely at the screen! Just under Xu Zhou’s left collarbone, inside his shirt collar, is that a faint red mark?

[220L]: Holy shit, it’s true! When the screen flashed past a second ago, his collar slipped, and there’s a mark on the side of his neck that looks like a fingerprint!

[224L]: A fingerprint?! This afternoon the scholarship student was taken to the posture room alone by President Hawthorne…

[228L]: Stop talking, or the student council site admins are going to ban our accounts! Since when do we get to watch this kind of rich-kid soap opera for free?!

[235L]: Damn, President Gu’s eyes… when the screen switched, President Gu’s gaze was locked onto Xu Zhou’s neck the entire time. I feel like he’s one second away from going down there and ripping that jacket off.

[230L]: Just a random passerby, but I’m officially declaring myself Xu Zhou’s dog from today on! That one look he gave the camera killed me on the spot!

[248L]: President Hawthorne and President Gu’s faces can’t even be called ‘ugly’ anymore… someone is definitely bleeding tonight!

[252L]: Eastern sweetheart!!! I love the Eastern sweetheart!!!

Bai Qi stared hard at that stunning, almost showy face on the big screen. All he could hear was a ringing in his ears.

He had once believed Xu Zhou was just an ordinary scholarship student who wanted to live quietly.

But now that person was sitting at the very center of the storm where all the power in the school converged.

He was wearing Reyes’s jacket, carrying Ethan’s marks on his body, and even around his ankle, you could faintly hear the sound of Gu Yanli’s chains.

He had been stripped bare.

The screaming from the stands nearly tore the roof off the stadium.

In the family section, Xu Zhou felt like he was about to break out in a heat rash from the leather jacket that weighed on him like a block of lead.

The jacket kept the wind out almost too well.

Inside, Mateo’s rough scent of cedar and cut grass poured out endlessly, like an airtight net that forced the mark of some beast onto every inch of him.

He tentatively pulled the zipper down a little.

“Don’t.”

Gu Yanli’s ice-cold voice came from behind and above him.

The expensive fountain pen in President Gu’s hand spun between his fingers, and his tone carried undisguised command: “There’s a draft. Keep it on.”

Xu Zhou’s fingers froze on the zipper pull. He was about to roll his eyes when Ethan’s smiling voice drifted over from the other side.

“Junior, do what President Gu says. After all… you sweated a lot this afternoon. If you catch a chill, I’ll have to come find you at the dorm for next week’s one-on-one session.”

Ethan said the words “one-on-one session” very softly, with a sticky, suggestive intimacy.

Xu Zhou silently zipped the jacket back up to the very top.

Fine. He’d shut up.

He was just an emotionless ball-watching machine.

The game on the field had reached a fever pitch.

Mateo was like a madman pumped full of stimulants today. Every run with the ball came with the dull, brutal thud of an opponent being sent flying.

He was strong in a way that was almost inhuman.

After every touchdown, he would turn around amid the thunderous screams of the crowd, raise a finger in its tactical glove from across half the field, and point at Xu Zhou with blatant arrogance.

The follow spotlights kept sweeping over Xu Zhou, and the big screen kept flashing his face, flushed pink from the stifling heat.

[300L]: Reyes has five touchdowns today! Five! Is he trying to give the opposing team lasting psychological trauma?!

[312L]: Every single score is for Xu Zhou. After that last touchdown, Reyes even blew a kiss toward the family section!

[325L]: The scholarship student looks so obedient sitting there. His expression is all cold and distant, but wrapped in that huge jacket, he looks so small-boned you just want to tease him…

[340L]: Say goodbye to your account, person above.

BEEEEEEP!

The final whistle split the night sky.

Saint Lester won the season opener by a crushing margin.

Amid the crowd’s roar, confetti burst into the air like a fountain.

On the field, the players started hugging and celebrating.

Mateo didn’t even take the towel the coach handed him. He shoved through the crowd and strode straight toward the family section, his body steaming with white heat and sweat.

He stepped over the barrier and landed in the aisle right in front of Xu Zhou, bringing a hot gust of wind mixed with sweat and the scent of grass.

“Let’s go. You’re coming with me to the victory banquet.”

Mateo was breathing hard, his chest heaving as he reached out to grab Xu Zhou’s wrist, which was swallowed up by the jacket sleeve.

“Captain Reyes.”

The slow sound of leather shoes on metal steps rang out.

Gu Yanli and Ethan came down one after another from their seats and blocked the narrow exit.

Gu Yanli’s black coat rippled slightly in the wind. He looked down at Mateo, his voice completely flat:

“After the game, the Disciplinary Office is running a routine spot check for banned substances. As captain, you need to lead the way to the testing room.”

“Like hell I’m taking any test. Since when does the Disciplinary Office control the school team?”

Mateo’s eyes went cold. He shifted to the side, planting his thick arm in front of Xu Zhou.

He was like a beast whose territory had been invaded, letting out a low warning growl.

Ethan walked up then and stopped beside Xu Zhou.

He had taken off his coat, leaving only a black vest and shirt. His crooked tie clip caught the light of the spotlight and gave off a cold gleam.

He bent down until his eyes were level with Xu Zhou’s, who was still huddled in the jacket, and precisely pinched the black-gold zipper pull beneath Xu Zhou’s chin.

“You’ve sweated so much that your clothes must be soaked. Wearing wet clothes will make you sick, junior.”

Zzzip.

Ethan slowly pulled the metal zipper down five centimeters with his fingertip.

Xu Zhou’s smooth collarbone was revealed, along with skin reddened from being trapped in the jacket.

Mateo’s face went completely dark. He shot out a hand and clamped it around Ethan’s wrist as it pulled the zipper down, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

“Let go.”

Mateo’s voice was ice cold.

“Captain Reyes, watch your words and actions.”

Ethan smiled faintly, but he still had the zipper pull pinched tightly between his fingers, refusing to yield an inch.

Gu Yanli stepped forward without any change in expression. His tall frame pressed down with immense force:

“Xu Zhou sprained his ankle in the posture room this afternoon. The Disciplinary Office needs to take him to the infirmary to register the injury.”

“Sprained?”

Mateo stared suspiciously at Xu Zhou’s right ankle, but his grip on Ethan’s wrist didn’t loosen at all.

Ethan raised an eyebrow and gave Gu Yanli a look that was both amused and unreadable:

“President Gu really is well-informed. You know about what happened in the posture room too?”

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