THE GRAND BET

Chapter 12: Motivation.

"Wow, he looks so strong and graceful," Yanli cheered every lap the jade did.

"Phew!" Huaisang whistled. "I have never seen him shirtless. How manly."

"Shut your mouth, you don't have my permission to compliment him!"  Wei Ying came down from the bench with a timer in his hand. Today his prized athlete was not making sparks fly. "Lan Zhan, you did better than this yesterday. Come on, you can't slack off now," he gave his honest opinion and tough love. Thankfully he prevented Jiang Cheng from conducting the exercise, their ears would have been bombarded with insults. 

"Let's do the backstroke again!" Wei Ying timed Lan Wangji and stepped away from the sidewalk. 

"We are gonna lose if this is what I have to work with," Jiang Cheng mumbled in his brother's ears.

"He's just tired from working on class assignments. He'll pull his weight on D-day," Wei Ying said. 

After two hours of making the jade stay in the water, Wei Ying allowed a break. Wen Qing covered Yanli's eyes as Wangji walked to the locker room all soaked and wet. "This is for your good," she said.

"Pfft! Wen Qing, how sweet of you to preserve my sister's innocence. It'll be awkward if she went to bed, thinking about her brother's future husband right?" Wei Ying made fun of the situation.  

Lan Wangji took a while to come out. "I'll be late today, so you can go home without me," he said to the wild one. And although the jade did not look happy, Wei Ying passed a comment on his performance. "You're the best there is, so don't forget to bring your A-game when the time comes. I'd be very upset if you failed me."

"Mn," was all Lan Wangji had to say to that. 

*

After the fourth period, Wei Ying ditched his plans to meet Xue Yang on a rooftop. They hardly met, thanks to their schedules and responsibilities. Thirty minutes with him was treated as a gift. Just the two of them telling secrets and making fun of their hardships.

"So, your jade is competing. Is he training hard?"

"He was in the beginning, but now I doubt if he'll win. Am I evil for thinking like this?"

"Pfft! You could burn this school down and I'd still say you're an angel Wei Ying. You look like one, at least."

"Don't encourage my bad habits. You'll not be there to bail me out now that you want to start a family," Wei Ying raised a knee as he looked beyond the evergreen landscape.

"Hey, don't talk like that," Xue Yang touched his shoulder. "I'll always throw a punch for you and my mate gets that. Besides, Lan Wangji has my approval. He will be an excellent substitute."

"You think so?"

"Heh! If he's putting aside one of his phobias to please you, then he must deem you important."

"What do you mean phobia? He is not afraid of anything."

"You should do your research. I know you heard about him being a record holder and all but only a handful of people would understand why he quit... Lan Wangji enjoyed swimming until a news guide made articles about people getting obsessed with his physique. Imagine a teen that age, dealing with comments from strangers about the size of his prick when he's in those tight swim shorts. The internet was on fire for that. Poor guy was never seen without a shirt on after that."

"What? Wait, it sounds like you're saying he was harassed. This is an alpha we're talking about."

"The purest of all alphas is what they called him," Xue Yang smirked. "What? You thought only omegas get stalked and fetishized?"