When an Alpha is Marked by One of His Own Kind

Chapter 22

Shen Qiao gave Lu Zhe a blank look. Just as he was about to answer, a quiet voice came from the side:
"You only won a practice match, and you're already trying to take advantage of your teammates? Do you plan on ascending to heaven once you win an official game?"

The two of them turned and found the long-forgotten Coach Fang standing beside them with his arms crossed. He was looking down on Lu Zhe with a cold, apathetic expression on his face.

Lu Zhe's smile froze in place. After a moment, he helplessly asked, "Coach, it isn't good to eavesdrop on your players' private conversations, is it?"

Coach Fang flashed that very professional and very fake smile of his. "…I just happened to be standing here. My sincerest apologies. But rather than your choice in a future spouse, I'm more interested in discussing the first kill you handed over just now."

Lu Zhe fell silent.

He let out a long sigh, then settled against the back of his chair as though in resignation. His handsome face was calm and tranquil. "Go ahead, discuss away. My heart is already dead anyway."

Shen Qiao turned back to his own computer monitor. As he listened to Coach Fang tear into Lu Zhe during a review of his mistakes throughout the practice match, his lips curved up just the slightest bit.

But he quickly evened them out again.

……

After Coach Fang chewed them out one by one during their individual post-game reviews, the five members of DG were thoroughly wiped out.

They could only take a small amount of comfort in the thought that WTG's players were probably even more miserable than them right now.

Qian Bao was lazing dispiritedly in her chair, half-paralyzed. She finally reached for her cell phone after a while, wanting to order some takeout. But then she remembered Big-Mouthed Zhou's naggy reminders and hesitated for a moment. After a while, an idea seemed to strike. She turned to Lu Zhe and asked in the sweetest voice she could muster:

"Captain, don't you feel a bit hungry?"

The moment Lu Zhe heard that, he knew what she was getting at.

Takeout was frowned upon, but going out to grab a midnight snack would be fine.

Lu Zhe didn't rush to answer right away. He only curled his fingers and lightly knocked on Shen Qiao's desk a few times. "Knock-knock."

Shen Qiao pulled off his headset again. He was playing minesweeper to unwind, and he kept his attention on his own computer screen. But he did twitch his ears slightly, to indicate that Lu Zhe should speak if he had something to say.

The little twitch of those pale white ears… it was really, inexplicably, cute.

Lu Zhe thought back to the moments right after their practice match, when Shen Qiao had taken off his headset and rubbed at his own reddened ears. They had been reminiscent of the vibrant red wildberries that grew from the crevices in a sheer mountain cliff. It was as though a light pinch could cause them to burst, spilling a rich, fresh trickle of juice.

Shen Qiao was just about to mark a mine with a flag when he felt a light scratch at his earlobe. The barely-there touch left a faint itch in its wake.

His index finger had already clicked down on his mouse, but that little disruption had caused him to forget which cell he wanted to mark. He moved his mouse away in the end, then shot a fiercely impatient glare to his side—

"What do you want?"

His tone carried a menacing edge, as if he wouldn't easily forgive this interruption if Lu Zhe couldn't come up with a good explanation for his actions.