Chapter 21: Accident
The sports meet started at 8:30 AM, the same time as the first class on a regular school day.
Wen Yang was holding the attendance sheet, checking off the names of the students who had shown up. If anyone was absent, it would count as skipping class.
“Lily!”
He looked around, but didn’t see the usually quiet succubus. Without much thought, he marked her as present on the attendance sheet.
Although the counselor was standing not too far away, he didn’t want to offend Ning Chu’s friend and risk being badmouthed.
“Counselor, everyone’s here.”
The new counselor always wore heavy makeup, reeking of strong perfume, and had a bad temper that was hard to please. The students didn’t have a great impression of her.
First, they had a pervert who harassed female students, and now they got a short-tempered woman going through menopause.
But whenever she dealt with Wen Yang, the counselor always wore a smile. “Alright, make sure no one sneaks back to the dorms, and do roll call every hour.”
“Got it.”
“Good luck in your events.”
“Thanks.”
Wen Yang responded perfunctorily, but his eyes had already drifted to where Ning Chu and Yan Xinya were sitting on the grass, playing on their phones.
Even though he knew that Ning Chu and Yan Xinya were both girls and close friends, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.
Ning Chu’s personality leaned toward the masculine side, and who knew if she had a slight interest in girls.
He strode over to them. “Ning Chu, I’m about to compete.”
“Oh,” Ning Chu responded absentmindedly, covering her stomach with Yan Xinya’s tail while playing on her phone, not even looking up. “What event?”
“400 meters.”
“Alright, go ahead.”
“...”
When she didn’t hear Wen Yang respond, she finally looked up, a bit confused to see him still standing there. “You don’t expect me to cheer you on, do you?”
At most, she planned to watch from a distance to keep the fangirls from swarming Wen Yang.
“Of course!” Yan Xinya nudged her from behind. “Go on, go on.”
“...”
Ning Chu’s expression was conflicted as she looked around the crowded sports field. The place was buzzing with activity; half the school, thousands of students, had gathered near the field.
The thought of excitedly cheering for a guy made her feel a bit embarrassed.
Besides, Wen Yang was only aiming for fourth place. What was there to cheer about...?
Seeing her reluctance, Wen Yang didn’t push the issue. He nodded and headed toward the starting line for the 400-meter race to check in with the referee.
“Look how disappointed Wen Yang is~”
“I don’t see it.”
Ning Chu glared at the wolf-girl, then glanced at Wen Yang’s back, followed by the crowd of fangirls gathered along the track, with Lin Li leading the cheer squad. She sighed in frustration.
Cheering for a friend is pretty normal, right?
Those flashy girls were already set to go! She couldn’t fall behind!
She got up quickly. “Let’s go! We’re just sitting here doing nothing, so we might as well watch Wen Yang’s race.”
Over the loudspeakers, the school leaders were delivering long-winded speeches, saying things like “compete with spirit” and “friendship first.” But the students on the field were too busy with their own activities to care, finding the leaders’ speeches nothing but noise.
“Wen Yang! Wen Yang! Go, go, go!”
Lin Li’s cheer squad, more than ten strong, all wearing short-sleeved tops and short skirts, exposing their waists and long legs, were waving pom-poms and shouting in unison.
“Aren’t they embarrassed...” Ning Chu muttered, her face turning green.
“Cheering for someone you like is pretty normal, isn’t it?” Yan Xinya nudged her with her shoulder. “Why don’t you put on the dress he gave you and cheer him on?”
“No way, that’d be the death of me.”
Ning Chu rubbed her forehead in exasperation, crossing her arms as she watched Wen Yang. With the cheer squad in full force, her sense of vigilance was at an all-time high.
“When Wen Yang finishes the race, just grab him and run like last time.”
“I’m afraid we won’t be able to run this time... it’s a race, after all.”
“Then...”
“Here.”
Ning Chu suddenly felt something heavy in her hands. She looked down to see a bottle of water and a clean towel, then glanced back at Yan Xinya, completely puzzled.
“With you on the scene, you’ll definitely outshine everyone!” Yan Xinya nodded seriously, encouraging her. “The rightful one stepping in, those bad girls won’t stand a chance against you!”
“The rightful one... stop saying nonsense.”
Ning Chu forced a smile, but couldn’t bring herself to laugh.
“Bang!”
A sudden gunshot from the starting line marked the beginning of the race. Cheers and shouts filled the air, and Ning Chu quickly looked toward the start. Wen Yang had already taken the lead.
“Go, go, go!” The wolf-girl urged excitedly from the side.
“They’ve only just started...”
“You have to follow him! Otherwise, it’ll be too late! Hurry!”
Yan Xinya gave Ning Chu a push, making her stumble forward just as Wen Yang ran past, their eyes meeting briefly.
Gritting her teeth, Ning Chu picked up the water and towel, quickening her pace to run alongside him.
“G-Go, Wen Yang...”
Wen Yang instantly felt a surge of energy in his legs, running even faster.
When Ning Chu looked back, she saw that Wen Yang had already put several body lengths between himself and the second-place runner. She panicked, “Hey! You said you wouldn’t draw attention!”
They were almost halfway through the race, and Wen Yang was still in first place!
Slow down!
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freewebnovёl.ƈom Only.
If Wen Yang became famous in school, attracting a swarm of supporting female characters, it would trigger all sorts of romantic plotlines. She would either have to give up on Wen Yang or fully transform into a succubus and deal with constant arousal—who could handle that?
Wen Yang hesitated, remembering Ning Chu’s instructions, and slowed his pace, allowing the second-place runner to catch up.
The cheer squad let out a collective groan, but their cheers grew even louder, chanting Wen Yang’s name in unison, loud enough to be heard across the entire sports field.
Ning Chu’s face darkened. With that cheer squad around, even if Wen Yang finished last, the whole school would still know his name.
She sighed in despair, struggling to keep up with Wen Yang’s pace.
As she was about to stop running, she suddenly saw Wen Yang stumble, falling hard to the ground.
“Damn it!”
Amid the gasps from the crowd, Ning Chu felt her heart clench as she instinctively rushed forward.
She hadn’t expected this at all!
Running over in a panic, she knelt beside Wen Yang, frantically asking, “Are you okay? What happened? Why did you fall all of a sudden?”
“I’m fine, just a cramp. I’ll be okay in a bit.”
Wen Yang grabbed his cramped calf, his face twisted in pain. He looked at his scraped knee, his face turning red with embarrassment, unable to lift his head. He felt utterly humiliated.
Not only did this happen in front of nearly the entire school, but it also happened right in front of the girl he liked.
“You’re bleeding!” Ning Chu, flustered, knelt beside him, not knowing what to do. Her voice trembled, “Should we—should we go to the infirmary?”
She hastily handed him the bottle of water. “Drink some water first? Has the cramp eased? Can you stand up?”
Wen Yang sighed lightly and tried to stand. “Let’s go to the infirmary...”
“I’ll help you!” Ning Chu quickly took hold of his arm.
He looked down at Ning Chu’s face, tense with worry. Her eyes were filled with genuine concern and panic, and she looked like she was about to cry.