New Beginning and Future

Chapter 69: Stubborn Hearts and Strategic Threats

Summary: In the quiet aftermath of victory, recovery becomes its own battlefield. What starts as a failed escape plan turns into a reminder that some partners see through every move—and refuse to let pride win over longevity. Between reluctant doctor visits, playful power shifts, and promises of distant horizons, love proves once again that it can be both relentless and tender in equal measure.

Overprotective: ZGDX
Overprotective/Possessive/territorial: Chessman
Chessman is literally his own warning when it concerns his girl

Notes:

⚠️ Author's Note: Oh Cheng you fool, when will you realize you can get nothing by your wife. Things get heatedly spicy! 🌶️🔥

Disclaimer: The Muse would like to remind everyone we do not own FIYS nor the beloved characters nor any dialogue from either the show nor the book...the Muse is very sad and not pleased with this continued reminder that they do not own them and never will!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Sixty-Seven

A week after the Championship the base had settled into that deceptive calm that always followed victory, schedules looser but still structured, scrims lighter but never careless, everyone moving through their own routines with the lingering afterglow of triumph humming quietly beneath the surface.

Sicheng, standing in the hallway outside their shared room, paused just long enough to listen for any sign of movement before convincing himself that the coast was clear because Lao Mao was in the kitchen arguing with Pang over protein powder ratios, Lao K had headphones on reviewing old VODs, Ming was on a call in his office, and Yao, his sharp-eyed, impossible-to-sneak-past wife, was nowhere in sight, which meant, he reasoned, that today he would be slick, today he would handle this on his own terms because his wrist had been feeling better and he absolutely did not want to sit in another sterile doctor's office while someone prodded at it and lectured him about rest. He slipped on his shoes quietly, tugged on his jacket, flexed his wrist once experimentally as if testing his own lie, then grabbed his keys, his Maserati keys, not hers, because if he took her car she would know immediately, along with his wallet, and moved with deliberate silence toward the door, easing it open just enough to slip through before closing it behind him with careful precision, already mentally calculating the route to Lee Kun Hyeok's place where he could spend a few hours "casually visiting," letting the wrist rest without calling it rest, and afterward he would bring back peace offerings, large takoyaki with extra bonito and seaweed flakes just the way she liked it, plus her favorite oversized boba with less ice and extra pearls, and that would smooth everything over because he knew her, he knew how to redirect her irritation into reluctant acceptance.

He stepped down toward the parking area, inhaling the cool air as if tasting freedom, slid the key fob into his palm, and then turned toward his car, already rehearsing in his head the casual tone he would use later when he mentioned having "run into Kun Hyeok for a bit," and froze mid-step because leaning against the sleek black hood of his Maserati, one hand casually tucked into the pocket of light-washed jeans and the other holding the strap of a structured purse, was his wife, dressed in a fitted black tee beneath a tailored black blazer, her hair falling in soft waves over her shoulders, dark sunglasses shielding her eyes but not the unmistakable edge of unimpressed patience radiating from her posture, and even without seeing her gaze he felt it land squarely on him.

He stared at her for a long, suspended second before clearing his throat and attempting a smooth recovery that did not convince even himself. "Good afternoon," he said evenly, as if he had not just been caught mid-escape.

She pushed herself off the car hood slowly, crossing her arms over her chest in one fluid, controlled motion before lowering her sunglasses just enough to look at him directly, her eyes sharp and entirely unamused. "Where," she asked in a calm, deceptively soft tone, "do you think you are going."