Chapter 35 ◎ Male or Female ◎
To prepare for the upcoming regular season match, Trust arranged practice matches with NGU.
After an afternoon, the two teams played eight games. Trust won five and lost three.
After finishing the practice matches, Yu Pei shook his head: “No good, they were obviously hiding strategies from us. They definitely didn’t want to expose too many tactics.”
“As if we didn’t hide ours,” Jiang He said coolly. “Still have the nerve to talk about them.”
“Wait,” Shen Chen put down his phone and said. “You guys rest for a bit first. I arranged a few practice matches with teams from the Korean region. We’ll continue playing later.”
“No way,” Lin Sumo collapsed in his chair and said. “Just finished eight games and still have to play? I’m going to become useless.”
Shen Chen said ruthlessly: “Don’t whine. The finals are coming soon. What’s wrong with arranging more practice matches for you? If we lose then, it has nothing to do with me.”
Hearing this, Lin Sumo immediately climbed up and said to Pei Yun: “Look, look, does he look like that one—’The college entrance exam is coming soon, what’s wrong with assigning you more homework? If you don’t test well then, it has nothing to do with me’.”
Pei Yun: “……”
Shen Chen: “……”
Pei Yun looked serious: “Exactly the same.”
Shen Chen stood up: “Pei Yun, do you want to die?”
“Stop arguing,” Yu Pei said helplessly. “Just listen to the coach. Go rest first, continue later.”
After that, no one said anything more. Everyone went out of the training room to rest on their own.
Lin Sumo went upstairs to take a shower. When he came downstairs, no one else was there, and the entire first floor was empty.
Lin Sumo sat on the sofa, taking out his phone to browse forums to kill time.
After a while, Pei Yun’s voice suddenly came from beside him: “Browsing forums again?”
Lin Sumo looked up, gave a “mn”, and moved to the side, making room: “Sit.”
“Okay,” Pei Yun chuckled lightly. “Surprisingly didn’t tell me to roll far away.”
Hearing him laugh, Lin Sumo blushed uncontrollably, not knowing what to say: “Uh… um…”
He looked for something to say: “You too recently, why are you always smiling here and there? What’s so funny?”
Pei Yun looked at him sideways with interest: “I’m in a good mood, is that not allowed?”
Lin Sumo held back the urge to roll his eyes at him: “Allowed, too allowed.”
Pei Yun didn’t answer, and the atmosphere was awkward for a moment.
A moment later, Pei Yun asked him: “Yesterday, why ask him that question?”
Lin Sumo looked confused: “What riddle are you speaking? Who? What question?”
Pei Yun said helplessly: “Cheng Yuan. Didn’t you ask him what to do if you fall for someone else?”
Lin Sumo shivered: “You you you, what are you asking this for?”
“Nothing,” Pei Yun said. “Curious, just asking casually.”
“Then I won’t say.” Lin Sumo moved again, sitting a bit further from Pei Yun.
“Say it.” Pei Yun leaned his body toward Lin Sumo, looking like he was forcing him.
Lin Sumo looked up, meeting Pei Yun’s slightly aggressive smiling face.
Lin Sumo felt for a moment that the “good mood” he just mentioned was nonsense.
Pei Yun kept looking at him with a smile. His usually indifferent eyes that kept people a thousand miles away were upturned at this moment. Lin Sumo’s gaze moved down. On Pei Yun’s face, which seemed carved from pink jade, the features were exquisite, and the corners of his mouth were upturned like the corners of his eyes. The whole face was alienated yet carried some enchantment.
Lin Sumo’s heart rate accelerated instantly. His breath hitched, and he stuttered: “Fine, fine, I’ll say. You… you hurry up and move over!”
Pei Yun leaned back on the sofa with satisfaction: “Come, I’m all ears.”
Lin Sumo resigned himself to fate: “Since I asked that, I definitely have someone I like.”
After hearing this, Pei Yun was silent for a long time. His lips parted slightly, seeming to want to say something, but closed again after a long while.
Lin Sumo really couldn’t stand his hesitant look, and spoke deliberately: “You…”
“Eh, you guys are so fast?”
Just saying a “You”, Lin Sumo’s words were suddenly interrupted. The two looked toward the source of the sound together and found it was Yu Pei who just came back from showering.
“Ah,” Lin Sumo’s brain went blank for a moment. “Yes…”
“What were you guys talking about just now,” Yu Pei sat on the single sofa nearby. “Why does the atmosphere feel awkward?”
“No,” Lin Sumo confessed everything as soon as asked. “Pei Yun asked me why I asked Cheng Yuan what to do if I fall for someone else.”
“Why ah,” Yu Pei leaned forward looking at Lin Sumo, asking with a gossipy face. “I want to hear too.”
“He said he has someone he likes.” Pei Yun spoke for Lin Sumo.
Yu Pei instantly became more curious: “Who is it? Male or female?”
Asked “Male or female” by him, Lin Sumo choked. Afraid they would think blindly, he could only say quickly: “Not telling you guys. Female.”
He added a sentence: “I’ll go upstairs to find my feel first.” After saying that, he flew upstairs, leaving only Pei Yun and Yu Pei standing there.
Lin Sumo apologized to Pei Yun in his heart. He was really afraid Pei Yun and other teammates would notice something wrong, so he could only change Pei Yun’s gender first.
Lin Sumo deliberately didn’t state his true sexual orientation because he was afraid.
He didn’t want to, and dared not let Pei Yun know.
They used to be mortal enemies. It was certainly good that their relationship had eased now, but being friends was enough.
If Pei Yun knew…
Lin Sumo could only think of one word.
Delay. (Translator’s Note: “Delay” implies holding someone back or hindering their future.)
Although the word “delay” was weird, Lin Sumo really thought so.
Although his relationship with Pei Yun used to be bad, they had grown up crying and laughing together.
Yes, he didn’t want to hold Pei Yun back.
Ten minutes later, the other teammates also finished resting. Everyone returned to the training room, preparing to play practice matches.
There was a one-hour time difference between Korea and their side. After playing a few games, the coach on the Korean side paused the scrims on the grounds that it was too late.
“Really,” Lin Sumo said lazily. “Can’t we play a bit longer? They have to compete themselves anyway.”
Shen Chen glanced at the time: “It’s past two o’clock. How about we get off and sleep too?”
“No,” Lin Sumo thought for a moment. “They play until past three, and we only play until two. What if we meet in the World Championship?”
“Thinking so far ahead, Little Mo-mo,” Jiang He said with a smile. “Just afraid we can’t enter the World… Mmph!”
Lin Sumo covered Jiang He’s mouth: “Shut up, don’t say ominous words.”
The other three watched them go crazy with helpless looks.
Shen Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Then you guys continue, don’t stay up too late. Tomorrow, ah no, today, there’s still a regular season match.”
The others: “Okay.”
Past one o’clock in the afternoon, the Trust group was on the nanny van on the way to the venue.
Lin Sumo unconsciously leaned his forehead on Pei Yun’s shoulder, muttering: “Damn… sleepy to death.”
Shen Chen sat in the front row. He turned back to look at Lin Sumo: “What time did you sleep last night? Why are you this sleepy?”
“Three…” Lin Sumo frowned and thought. “Forty-something, seems like.”
“Why didn’t you sleep at dawn?” Pei Yun looked at Lin Sumo, who was leaning on his shoulder about to die of sleepiness, and said ruthlessly.
Lin Sumo didn’t answer. He kept this posture without moving a bit.
“Really should send you back to high school,” Pei Yun said helplessly. “The days of sleeping at eleven and waking at five before are what really suit you.”
Lin Sumo: “……”
After nearly twenty minutes, the nanny van stopped in front of the competition venue.
Pei Yun patted Lin Sumo, who was almost asleep: “Let’s go, get off the car.”
Recommended Reads
