SOD | Chapter 88

“You promised I’d be on top!” Nie Chuan leaned against Reese’s chest, nudging his forehead against him.

“I’m afraid you might not have the energy,” Reese replied.

“I’m not tired! I’m not tired!” Nie Chuan immediately sat up, thinking about Reese’s long legs, and he nearly drooled.

“Then tomorrow. If you’re on top, it will go very deep.”

Reese’s lips curled into a seductive smile, making it hard for anyone not to let their imagination wander.

It was only then that Nie Chuan realized what Reese meant. The feeling of being tricked made him angry. “I meant I want to go inside you!”

“Focus on your studies first. Once you’re ready, I’ll let you in,” Reese said, wrapping an arm around Nie Chuan’s waist and gently squeezing.

“…You’re stalling! You’re so dishonest!” Nie Chuan snapped. “And if you won’t let me in, how am I supposed to learn? Should I go learn from someone else?”

Suddenly, Nie Chuan was yanked down, and his face nearly crashed into Reese’s chest.

“If you go learn from someone else, I’ll make sure you never need to learn again.”

Reese’s gaze was cold, and Nie Chuan shivered, turning over to lie on the other side, burying his face in the pillow. “I didn’t want to learn from anyone else…”

Reese turned toward him, holding him in his arms. Although he was a bit angry, he thought about it and decided to let it go.

In the remaining days of the holiday, the two were hardly apart. Aside from eating, playing games, and watching movies, Reese let Nie Chuan do whatever he wanted. They didn’t even touch a basketball.

As for Nie Chuan being on top, Reese “satisfied” his request. That time was deep, and the feeling was intense, making Nie Chuan cry again.

However, Nie Chuan’s resilience had grown. Even though Reese held him and tilted his head, asking, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t cry? Why are you crying again?”

Nie Chuan responded, “Well, if you really have the ability, go deeper!”

“I’ll break you!”

The consequence was that even when Nie Chuan begged Reese to put him down, Reese didn’t budge.

Christmas break was coming to an end, and the two of them only started packing their things three hours before their flight took off.

Of course, Nie Chuan sat on the bed, watching Reese neatly organize his suitcase before being lazily dragged off the bed.

The end of Christmas meant the competitions were about to resume. They couldn’t keep indulging in whatever they wanted and had to think about training and maintaining their physical strength for the matches.

On the plane, Nie Chuan glanced at Reese beside him. Suddenly, he felt a bit worried. Reese was clearly very enduring in that aspect. Even if Nie Chuan was exhausted, Reese could still continue. Now that they were back in the dorm, resuming their two-person life, Nie Chuan couldn’t help but feel a little worried about his own back.

Lost in his thoughts, Nie Chuan stared out the window until Reese’s hand reached over, gently rubbing his head. “What are you thinking about now?”

“I’m not thinking about anything!” Nie Chuan replied quickly.

“Really?” Reese leaned toward him and whispered in a voice only he could hear, “When we get back, we can’t act so recklessly. But if we really win the league championship this time, I’ll let you in.”

“Really! You’ll let me in!” Nie Chuan’s eyes widened, shouting.

At that moment, passengers nearby turned to look at them.

Thankfully, they were speaking in Chinese, or else they would’ve been so embarrassed!

“I always keep my promises,” Reese said, pinching Nie Chuan’s ear. “Get some sleep on the plane. After staying up so late last night, your eyes look like they’re about to close.”

“Mm… so sleepy…” Nie Chuan yawned and leaned his head to the side.

When he heard Reese say that they couldn’t act recklessly because of the competition, he felt completely at ease.

It seemed like they were in sync after all!

Back in the dorm, Nie Chuan and Reese cleaned the room and put on new sheets.

Reese stood by the bed, lost in thought, while Nie Chuan rolled around on the bed, stretching with a big yawn.

“Reese, what are you thinking about?”

“I’m thinking about whether we should switch to a double bed,” Reese said.

“Huh? Why? How big are these two single beds when they’re put together! You can roll around without falling off!”

“Exactly because you like to roll around, sometimes in the middle of the night, I want to hug you but don’t even know where you’ve rolled off to,” Reese answered.

“I don’t roll around!” Nie Chuan protested.

“Then who was rolling around just now?”

Nie Chuan had no response. Then he subconsciously started analyzing the feasibility of switching to a double bed.

“Well, never mind about the double bed… it’d look so weird if people saw us bring one into the dorm!”

At this moment, Reese was already organizing his wardrobe. He stopped and glanced at Nie Chuan. “Don’t tell me you’ve been thinking about this?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“Wasn’t it you who started thinking about it first?”

Nie Chuan had no answer.

Reese turned back to continue tidying up his things, and Nie Chuan tilted his head, suddenly remembering that letter signed with a “V.”

He turned and bent down, rummaging around for a while before finally finding the envelope under the edge of the bed. It was covered in dust. Nie Chuan blew gently on it before stuffing it into his pocket and heading to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Wow, someone actually wrote him a love letter! Even if he couldn’t accept it, Nie Chuan was dying to know if the content matched what Reese had said that day!

With great excitement, he opened the envelope, trembling as he pulled out the letter, and when he unfolded it, the line of text nearly made him spit blood: “If you open this envelope and see this letter, I’ll kill you.”

This was clearly Reese’s handiwork!

Ah! He was tricked again! How does he manage to sneak into everything like this?

At that moment, the bathroom door was pushed open, and Reese leaned against the doorframe, his face turned sideways as he looked at Nie Chuan, his voice tinged with a mocking tone, “Looks like you don’t want to participate in tomorrow’s match.”

Nie Chuan’s hand trembled, and the letter fell to the floor.

“You’re the one!” Nie Chuan huffed, clearly upset. “Where did that letter go?”

It was his first—possibly his only—love letter!

“It’s right here,” Reese tapped his head with a smirk. “Still thinking about that letter? Planning to cheat on me?”

“How could I! A love letter is an expression of feeling! It’s my first and last love letter!”

“First of all, that love letter had no feelings. You already know what it really had in it. Based on what happened during Christmas, I feel your stamina is probably not enough to satisfy that ‘Victoria’.”

Nie Chuan felt the deep malice in Reese’s words.

“And secondly, that wasn’t your first love letter.”

Nie Chuan’s eyes slowly widened. Does that mean there are other letters that have fallen into Reese’s hands? Could it be that he’s more popular than he thought?

“Also, it won’t be your last love letter. If you like receiving love letters, I’ll write one for you.”

“Huh?” Nie Chuan was momentarily stunned.

“But we’ve got regular training tomorrow, so let’s leave the ‘kill you’ stuff for when we’re resting.” Reese turned and walked away.

Nie Chuan secretly made a resolution: I’m going to fix the bathroom door! Absolutely! Definitely! Right now!

The regular season continued, and DK remained undefeated in their region, finally facing the last match.

Actually, whether they won or lost, DK had already secured a spot in the top 64, but Coach Gordon still took the game seriously, fielding the full starting lineup.

The crowd that came to watch was at least a third larger than usual.

Nie Chuan hoped for a perfect conclusion. On the court, he showcased his agility and speed. Although DK’s primary scorers were Reese and Ewin, the pace of the game was always under Nie Chuan’s control.

In one second, he smoothly faked out three opposing defenders, driving into the paint. Then, he jumped high as if preparing for a shot, drawing attention to the basket. At the last moment, he faked a pass to Black Mountain but instead passed the ball to Reese.

Their coordination was seamless, and even with Reese behind him, he knew exactly where to place the ball.

Together with Reese and Ewin, their offensive trio was driving the opponents crazy.

Not only that, but Black Mountain and Carlo’s inside scoring abilities were also activated by Nie Chuan. They didn’t have to worry about Nie Chuan handling the ball; they just charged straight to the basket, and even if multiple defenders surrounded Nie Chuan, he could still pass the ball to them in the tightest of spaces.

When Nie Chuan’s ball bounced off an opponent’s player and hit the floor before bouncing back up, the crowd erupted in cheers.

On the sidelines, Larvin leaned on his chin, narrowing his eyes, muttering to himself, “This guy even learned the bounce pass from Sethston!”

Nie Chuan brought the ball near the basket and made a shooting gesture. He rarely shot the ball himself during the game, and the defenders were preparing to grab the rebound.

But when they looked up, they didn’t expect it to be just a fake shot. Nie Chuan pulled his hand back and passed the ball mid-air to Black Mountain, who made a quick layup. The entire sequence took less than two seconds.

“Didn’t expect DK’s point guard to be this strong. I thought with Connor out of the game, we’d have an easier time against DK this year even if we met them in March!” Larvin’s teammates whispered.

“And their coordination with Reese Redington is simply amazing! It’s like they know exactly what the other is thinking! They sent two players to guard that black-haired kid, but he still breezed right past them! And as long as he brings the ball into the opponent’s area, DK’s scoring rate is at least seventy percent. It’s crazy.”

“Even if we manage to limit him, Reese and Ewin will still be a threat—they can score no matter what.”

“DK this year is definitely tougher than last year!”

Larvin smiled faintly. “You guys are so naïve.”

“Huh? What do you mean we’re naïve?” His teammates looked at him.

“The black-haired kid’s English name is Allen. Did you see his speed and jumping ability? With those qualities, he could easily switch between forward and guard. Once that potential is fully developed, he might even be on par with Owen Wischaw,” Larvin said, looking at Nie Chuan, who was high-fiving Reese.

His words left his teammates silent.

At that moment, Nie Chuan’s heart was filled with joy!

They had made it to the top 64 of the NCAA basketball league! This was the most honored achievement of his life!

As a child, basketball was merely an interest to him, but now, he had fallen in love with it!

It was like his life, which had once felt directionless, had finally found its purpose!

He tightly embraced Reese, and Reese gently patted his back.

The shouts of “Reese” and “Nie Chuan” from the crowd rose one after another.

“Thank you,” Nie Chuan whispered in Reese’s ear.

“Thank me for what?”

In the midst of the cheering, Reese’s voice was clearer than anything.

“For making me so proud.”

“How silly. By the end of March, you’ll be even prouder.”

When the game ended, Nie Chuan and his teammates walked out of the basketball court, and a group of fans rushed forward.

“Nie Chuan! Can we take a photo with you and Reese?” Several girls surrounded them.

Nie Chuan was surprised. “Huh? You even know my Chinese name?”

“Because the Chinese international students have been cheering for you using your Chinese name. We really like you, and since Chinese is too complicated for us to learn, we worked hard to learn how to pronounce your name!”

Nie Chuan felt very grateful, but Reese wasn’t a fan of taking photos. He was chatting with a sports reporter.

Nie Chuan waited by the side, but to his surprise, Reese noticed him and immediately told the reporter, “Sorry, my teammate needs to talk to me.”

As Reese walked toward him, Nie Chuan quickly shook his hand. “It’s nothing important! Some fans just want to take a photo with the two of us! You can finish talking to that gentleman first!”

The reporter’s comments could greatly affect Reese’s public reputation and possibly his future NBA prospects.

“How could taking a photo with you be unimportant?” Reese’s voice dropped, so only Nie Chuan could hear.

When the fans saw Reese walk over and place his hand on Nie Chuan’s shoulder, they quickly surrounded them. The camera shutter clicked as Reese leaned his head toward Nie Chuan.

After the photo was taken and Reese returned to continue his conversation with the reporter, a wave of excited shouts broke out among the fan group.

“Wow—Reese smiled! It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile!”

“No, he’s smiled before, but only at Nie Chuan. If you pay attention, you’ll see it!”

“Truly the most anticipated duo in the regional league!”

Nie Chuan scratched his head, hearing the comment. “Most anticipated duo?”