Chapter 19 – Puppy Shen
Alike sported a silver perm with a gray-blue dye job, making him look like a delinquent. Add in that sharp, unkind glint in his eyes—just by staring at Lin Jiang, he oozed hostility.
Realizing this guy was here to pick a fight, Shen Ju’s first reaction was to drop his backpack and step to the front of the group. “What do you want?”
Alike might have looked like a street punk, but when it came to real intimidation, he didn’t have half the bite Shen Ju did.
Besides, He Gu had warned him—in this circle, you could mess with anyone, just don’t provoke that mad dog.
After all, getting bitten by a mad dog wasn’t something you’d recover from in a day or two.
Alike stepped past him and once again provoked Lin Jiang. “They’re all your old teammates. What, you afraid to come over?”
Song Zhixu grabbed Lin Jiang’s arm. “Captain, don’t fall for it.”
Shen Ju also blocked his way, refusing to let him through.
Lin Jiang and Alike stared at each other for a long time.
In those three years, he had imagined countless times crushing Alike into the dirt, proving he was stronger, by a thousandfold, ten thousandfold.
But after being reborn, he rarely even thought about Alike.
Because deep down, the truth was simple: Alike was never even worthy of being his rival.
Lin Jiang placed a hand on Shen Ju’s shoulder, squeezing slightly to signal him not to act rashly.
Lin Jiang turned to Alike with a calm smile. “My teammates are right here. Sorry, but I’m taking them back for training.”
He didn’t spare even the slightest courtesy. He walked off without looking back—leaving Alike choking on the fumes of the team bus as it pulled away.
Alike, already in a bad mood, felt even more irritated. “Fake-ass motherfucker.”
What he hated most was Lin Jiang’s fake smile—like some kind of saint, so full of righteousness it made him sick.
And yet, his own cousin had totally fallen for the act.
“Just wait. I’ll destroy him sooner or later.”
He slumped back into his seat as his teammates crowded around to flatter him.
Only Zeng Yuan sat far away, secretly messaging Lin Jiang.
[Zeng Yuan: Do you know why Alike came to KUG? Rumor has it Young Master He personally signed him. He’s his cousin. You made the right choice leaving. If you’d stayed at KUG, you’d have no chance against him…]
Lin Jiang glanced at the message and turned off his screen.
He leaned against the window, watching the passing cars outside.
The truth was, he’d known all along.
And it was in that moment he clearly saw the stark difference in status between himself and He Gu. Four years of loyalty—and in the end, he became nothing more than a stepping stone for his cousin.
His wrist began to ache again. Lin Jiang pressed on it, trying to stifle the pain.
Some wounds—once they appear—even if buried deep beneath flesh and skin, will find their own way to surface.
The team bus returned to the base. As soon as they stepped off, they were warmly greeted by the staff. Amidst all the liveliness, Shen Ju still keenly sensed that something was off about Lin Jiang’s mood.
He caught sight of Lin Jiang disappearing toward the stairwell, the door left slightly ajar. Unable to resist, he followed.
What does Lin Jiang do when he’s alone?
When his mood turns dark—where does he go?
Shen Ju gently pushed open the stairwell door and descended under the dim light. In the faint glow of the hallway, he saw Lin Jiang leaning against the railing, lost in thought as he smoked.
His footsteps abruptly halted.
He had never seen Lin Jiang like this before.
Smoke curled through the air. Lin Jiang tilted his chin ever so slightly, the shadows tracing down his neck—a sharp, fatal curve that seemed to summon the darkest parts of anyone’s soul. He looked like something beautiful, half-alive, half-decaying.
Thump, thump—
Shen Ju’s heart pounded wildly.
He felt as though he was drawing closer and closer to a side of Lin Jiang he had never known.
He walked slowly toward the smoke. This time, Lin Jiang didn’t stub out his cigarette. Instead, he looked up at Shen Ju, as if testing him.
Shen Ju stopped in front of him, lowering his eyes.
He stared at the cigarette in Lin Jiang’s hand. “Got any left?”
Smoking isn’t a good habit.
Lin Jiang opened the cigarette pack to show him it was empty. “None left.”
Shen Ju continued to stare at his hand. His eyes were deep, uncertain what he was thinking.
Lin Jiang advised him, “Smoking is bad for your health.”
“What about you?”
“I’m an adult,” Lin Jiang chuckled, taking another drag. “You’ll understand when you grow up.”
Shen Ju lifted his head to look at him. For a moment, the stairwell fell silent. Although he was two years younger, Lin Jiang could feel an unexpected weight of maturity emanating from him.
Just as Lin Jiang was about to speak, the overhead light suddenly flickered out.
In the darkness, Shen Ju reached out and took the half-smoked cigarette from Lin Jiang’s fingers, taking a deep drag.
The faint spark burst into life, casting a ghostly glow on his face. His lips parted slightly as he murmured, “Captain, I came of age last year.”
Smoke swirled between them, his low voice echoing in the stairwell.
Lin Jiang was stunned for a moment.
Something in the dark brushed against his toes. He instinctively took a half step back until his heel hit the railing.
There was no more room to retreat.
In the shadows, he could feel Shen Ju moving closer—their toes slightly touching, the distance between them closer than ever before.
Lin Jiang rapped the railing, and the stairwell was suddenly bathed in light.
Shen Ju stepped back to his original place, as if that fleeting touch in the dark had been nothing but a trick of Lin Jiang’s mind.
Lin Jiang saw the cigarette in Shen Ju’s hand and suddenly felt awkward. “I already smoked that one.”
Shen Ju glanced at it and handed it back to him.
That made it even more awkward.
But Shen Ju didn’t seem bothered at all. He looked straight at him, his bright eyes without any malice, as if this was the simplest thing in the world.
Lin Jiang had no choice but to say, “Go ahead and finish it. I’ll buy some more downstairs later.”
Shen Ju gave a quiet hum, lowering his head to take another drag. The tips of his ears, barely visible in the dim light, were tinged faintly red.
He dared not meet Lin Jiang’s eyes.
He was afraid that if he looked too much, his rationality might slip again—just like it had in the dark moments ago.
Without a cigarette, Lin Jiang felt a bit bored. Leaning against the railing, he searched for something to talk about. You play Lucian very well. I can tell you’ve put in a lot of effort practicing. Keep it up.”
Shen Ju simply responded with another “hm.”
And just like that, the conversation died again.
Lin Jiang had never before met someone he couldn’t quite handle socially, but then he reminded himself—this was Shen Ju, the one the entire league struggled with. A sudden, relieved smile spread across his face.
“You know,” Lin Jiang began, “when I first joined OT, I honestly thought I couldn’t handle you. I even made sure to negotiate absolute authority with the big boss, just to keep things under control. But it turns out you’re surprisingly obedient and well-behaved.”
He reached out to tousle Shen Ju’s hair. Shen Ju stood taller than him, so Lin Jiang had to rise onto his toes to reach him.
Afterwards, he caught Shen Ju staring at him. Those beautiful eyes sparkled like gemstones, focusing solely on him as he said softly, “If it’s from the captain, I have to listen.”
Lin Jiang couldn’t resist. He rose on his toes again to ruffle his hair. “So well-behaved, like a Samoyed.”
In the dim light, Shen Ju’s ears flushed a deep shade of red once more.
The smoke burned deep into his lungs, making Shen Ju cough violently. The cigarette at his fingertips was taken away by someone.
“If you don’t know how to smoke, then don’t smoke. Look at you, just holding it in your mouth.”
Lin Jiang took the cigarette, thinking it would be a pity to throw it away, so he took one last drag before stubbing it out.
Just then, the lights flickered off again. The lingering ember glowed faintly against Lin Jiang’s lips—moist and soft.
Shen Ju’s coughing worsened, his ears flushed red from the fit.
A soft chuckle reached his ears. “Like I said, if you can’t smoke, don’t smoke…”
A warm hand rested on his head once more. After drifting aimlessly in the scene for two and a half years, Shen Ju finally felt grounded, as if he had found solid footing.
Lin Jiang…
Shen Ju’s gaze lifted slightly.
Just as he felt his emotions welling up—
Lin Jiang suddenly knocked on the railing, and the lights came back on. “Did you change your name? Last year’s records still have you listed as Shen Ju’an[mfn]居安思危 (jū’ān-sīwēi) – lit. means “while living in peace, think of danger.” It’s a Chinese idiom that encourages people to be mindful of potential risks and challenges, even when things are going well.[/mfn].”
“Your family probably named you hoping you’d ‘stay safe while being alert,’ but it seems you grew up quite differently from what they expected.”
Shen Ju looked up, his expression a bit uneasy, “Captain, I haven’t used that name in a long time…”
“What a pity, I actually quite like it.” Lin Jiang looked at him with a faint smile. “Shen Ju’an—it sounds poetic. Why would you change it?”
Shen Ju turned his face away. “That name… was given by my grandfather on my mom’s side. I didn’t like it, so I changed it when I became an adult.”
He hesitated, lips pressing together. “Captain, don’t call me by that name. It sounds… too feminine.”
Lin Jiang burst out laughing.
So that was why he disliked it—he thought it sounded girly?
“So you changed it to Shen Ju? Hahaha… it sounds all cute and fierce at the same time.”
“…Captain, I’m not cute, okay? I’m seriously fierce.”
“Oh yeah? Then show me how fierce you are.”
Lin Jiang poked the corner of his mouth, revealing his little fang, and even imitated him with two playful howls. “Puppy Shen, come on, bite me.”
The supposedly fierce Shen Ju turned his face away helplessly.
Huff—
Totally unfair.
A captain like this… is way too unfair—
I really want to bite him.
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