When only Reece was left sitting at the table with him, Nie Chuan finally realized that Reece had continued to hold the ice pack to his nose in silence. 

    "…… Thank you."

    Nie Chuan looked back. From his angle, he could clearly see Reece"s calm expression.

    "You really don"t want someone else to be your training partner?"

    The moment Reece spoke, Nie Chuan felt as if his heart had been hooked. 

    "…… It"s because…… because you"re very serious…… and very capable."

    "Actually, I didn"t expect you to score off Carlo. His level is not much worse than Raven"s."

    "Really?"

    "So that shot was wonderful."

    Nie Chuan stared at the other with wide eyes. Was Reece praising him?

    "But it was a coincidence……"

    "Xiao Chuan, nothing is an absolute coincidence."

    Reece"s voice was drawn out. Nie Chuan stared at his opening and closing lips and felt that time seemed to slow down because of his voice.

    "En."

    "Do you know what I had wanted to do when you rushed over to me?" Reece leaned over. 

    Nie Chuan had the illusion that the other wanted to touch him. 

    "What?"

    "I wanted to kiss you."

    Nie Chuan was stunned..

    What? What did Reece just say?

    He could almost feel Reece"s breath invade from between his lips. 

    In that moment, he dodged to the side in fright, causing the ice pack in Reece"s hand to fall with a clunk. Nie Chuan stared at the other with wide eyes. 

    "You…… what did you say?"

    The corners of Reece"s lips slowly sank as he raised his brow. He only said two words, "Really stupid."

    Nie Chuan instantly reacted, "Are you playing with me? How can you play with me like this?"

    "Why can"t I play with you like this?" Reece threw the ice pack onto the table. 

    "What if I take it seriously?"

    Who knew that Reece would prop himself on the table and lean toward Nie Chuan again. He tilted his head and Nie Chuan"s heart almost burst. 

    "If you take it seriously then I"ll kiss you."

    "Hey! Did you get addicted to playing tricks on me!"

    Reece"s finger lightly scratched Nie Chuan"s red nose once. "That"s right, I"ve become addicted to playing with you."

    Nie Chuan was stunned again. Is this really Reece?

    Is this really the aloof and arrogant Reece? 

    "Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

    Carlo sat down across from Nie Chuan with his plate. 

    "N-Nothing! I"m hungry! Let"s eat! Let"s eat!"

    Nie Chuan grabbed a burger and bit down.

    "Hey, that double cheeseburger is mine……"

    That night, Nie Chuan drew a line on the door to his room, took out a tape measure to measure it, then quickly took out his phone to call Zhou Bin. 

    "Da Bin! I really grew taller! I"m getting taller!"

    "Oh, how much taller?"

    "One centimeter!"

    "…… Congratulations, really."

    "Come with me tomorrow to buy some pants! I"m getting taller so I need new pants!"

    "…… One centimeter and you need new pants?"

    "But I have a hunch that I"ll be 180 cm by the end of next month! You…… were you going to go shopping with your girlfriend?"

    "We were supposed to go window-shopping together but if I don"t go with you to buy some pants then you will definitely say that I"m *jiàn sè wàng yì. How about you call Mao Xian? Let"s eat out together?"

[T/N: 见色忘义 – to forget loyalty when in love (basically hoes before bros) ]

    "Good, then that"s settled!"

    The next morning, Nie Chuan, Zhou Bin, and Mao Xian went to Chinatown to have hot pot. Because Nie Chuan was very happy about growing taller, he footed the bill.

    Just when they pa.s.sed by the community basketball court, Mark and his friends were playing basketball. Mark somehow saw Nie Chuan and suddenly threw the basketball in Nie Chuan"s direction. 

    "Hey! I heard that you were chosen to join DK"s basketball team and you even get along with Reece Reddington? Let"s have a match, how about it?"

    Like before, Mark was wearing a bandana with a fierce expression on his face. His companions also came to encircle them. 

    Zhou Bin tugged at Nie Chuan and whispered, "Let"s not provoke them."

    Nie Chuan waved his hand with a smile and said, "We have plans today, let"s have the match another time."

    They only walked a few steps when Mark stepped in front of them, blocking Nie Chuan"s way with one hand. 

    "What? Did you become confident after getting into DK"s basketball team? I didn"t say I wanted your friends to also join in. What I"m saying is I want a one on one with you."

    Mark"s friend chuckled darkly from behind. 

    "Why do you want a one-on-one so suddenly?"

    "Because we didn"t get to finish our match last time due to Reece Reddington and even now I"m still a joke to my friends. Because Reddington said you can get through me no matter how many times."

    Mark"s fist knocked on Nie Chuan"s shoulder. Although it didn"t hurt very much, the strength used behind it was not small. Nie Chuan stumbled back a little.

    It seems like it will be hard to leave today without competing with Mark.

    "Alright, how many points to win?" Nie Chuan asked. 

    Zhou Bin pulled on Nie Chuan"s sleeve, "Ah Chuan, what if he……"

    Nie Chuan knew what Zhou Bin meant. If he won against Mark, what would they do if this guy decided to beat them. 

    "Three. Whoever scores three times first, wins."

    "Sure, but there can be no violations whatsoever," Nie Chuan said seriously.

    Behind him, Mark"s companions laughed as if Nie Chuan had said something completely naive. Mark was going to teach Nie Chuan a lesson through basketball, how could he completely play by the rules? 

    But Mark nodded, "Of course there can"t be any violations."

    "Also, no matter who wins and who loses, don"t cause trouble for me and my friends."

    "Boy, I am also someone who has self-respect."

    When he finished, Mark turned coldly and headed back to the court. 

    Nie Chuan took off his sweater and put it down beside the basketball court. 

    He warmed up his arms and legs then came up to Mark. 

    Mark threw the ball to Nie Chuan,"Try and see if you can still pa.s.s me!"

    Mark"s expression was very serious. And toward serious people, Nie Chuan will also use a serious att.i.tude.

    Meanwhile, Zhou Bin and Mao Xian were tense. 

    Mao Xian asked in a low voice, "Can Ah Chuan do it? Mark seems to really mean business this time!"

    "Ah Chuan probably won"t lose ba?" Zhou Bin said. 

    "Won"t lose? Don"t you see Mark"s height and build? Ah Chuan isn"t even on the same level as him ah!"

    "…… Ah Chuan has been working hard these days exercising and playing basketball. I believe Mark definitely isn"t his opponent."

    Nie Chuan dribbled the ball while watching Mark. He moved unhurriedly, as if looking for opportunities. 

    Other people may not know but Mark had previously experienced how the closer Nie Chuan was to his opponent, the more unpredictable his direction of movement will be. 

    Nie Chuan suddenly dashed forward. His speed was very fast, the gust of wind while running lifting his hair and clothes. 

    Mao Xian, who was watching the match to the side, couldn"t help widening his eyes. He never knew that Nie Chuan could accelerate this fast. 

    Just when everyone thought Nie Chuan would break past Mark in such a manner, he suddenly stopped in front of Mark who had already been planning to step back to stop Nie Chuan from breaking through. This halt from Nie Chuan was completely beyond his expectations. 

    Mark quickly reacted. Just when he was about to tighten his defence, Nie Chuan completed two crossovers in less than a second. With a side step to confuse Mark, he pa.s.sed his defence with ease and rushed toward the basket. 

    "Mark! Stop him!"

    Mark"s friends were shouting in loud voices. 

    Mark ran after him. Nie Chuan looked at the shadow on the ground to judge the direction Mark was coming from and dribbled the ball behind him to avoid an intercept before making a jump shot. The feeling of the ball was very stable and Nie Chuan knew that it would definitely enter the basket. 

    As expected, the ball fell in steadily.

    Mark exhaled as he looked at Nie Chuan in disbelief. Only he was aware that, compared to last time, Nie Chuan had become much faster. He was no longer even on the same level as the last time he played. 

    Mark"s companions were also dumbfounded.

    "That was so fast just now……"

    "How did he pa.s.s him?"

    "Just now, he had stopped then tricked Mark with a fake!"

    "His dribbling is so fast, how did he stop so suddenly like that?"

    "I…… I don"t know……"

    As the ball returned to Mark"s hand, he looked at Nie Chuan while thinking about how to score from Nie Chuan"s defence.

    Even if Nie Chuan"s speed is fast and his feints are difficult to respond to, that doesn"t mean that his defence will be just as superb. Once he"s under the basket, with his height, Nie Chuan will be absolutely powerless! 

    When he thought of this, Mark made up his mind and quickly dribbled the ball toward Nie Chuan but he didn"t expect he would be blocked to a stalemate. Whenever he bypa.s.sed him, Nie Chuan would quickly react and follow up. When Mark finally arrived under the basket, he fiercely took off the ground, intending to violently dunk the ball into the basket.

    Mark"s friends" blood boiled. In their hearts, Mark will definitely score. 

    However, Nie Chuan also jumped. The speed of his jump was very fast as he attempted to use his fingertips to forcefully push the ball from Mark"s hand.

———————

Re: And now you know the reason for the t.i.tle :p 

MadMadamMims: Reece! Come thru with that thirst, King! I foresee NC washing his undies in the sink again ?