Any Closer and I'll Lose Control - Chapter 6

The September sunlight wasn’t too harsh, already carrying a touch of autumn’s softness.

Wei Chuan stood tall under the light, his imposing figure exuding the vibrant energy of a young college man.

His short hair was damp, he had just showered after training before coming to class.

As he got closer, Meng Tang noticed his expression was dark, clearly in a bad mood, which made everyone else instinctively fall silent.

Meng Tang’s arm was suddenly grabbed by Shi Lan, who asked in a daze, “Am I seeing things?”

Meng Tang turned her head slightly and said, “No, you’re not. It’s Wei Chuan.”

“How is he so fair?” Shi Lan glanced suspiciously at her own arm. “All the guys who play basketball are tanned and look kinda grimy, but he stands out like a crane among chickens.”

Following Shi Lan’s words, Meng Tang looked over. Wei Chuan had a basketball tucked at his waist, faint blue veins trailing from the back of his hand to his forearm.

Barely visible beneath his fair skin, the veins shifted with the movement of his fingers, the muscles beneath hinting at restrained power, as if ready to burst through his skin.

Meng Tang stared at the contours in her line of sight and blurted out, “Can I touch it?”

Shi Lan immediately covered her mouth. “Here we go again.”

Wei Chuan walked over and tossed the basketball into her arms. “Touch.”

Meng Tang caught the slipping ball and stood frozen in place, embarrassed.

This semester, they had started learning artistic anatomy, mostly relying on mannequins and anatomical diagrams, nothing compared to a real person.

Wei Chuan didn’t press the issue. He glanced at Meng Tang and called out, “Gather up. The coach isn’t here yet, so I’ll lead warm-ups first.”

Everyone lined up automatically. Still flustered from earlier, Meng Tang pulled Shi Lan to the very back of the line.

Wei Chuan raised his hand and gestured. “Two laps around the field.”

Two laps weren’t too bad, especially with Wei Chuan running alongside them. The girls were more than willing, except for Meng Tang, whose face was scrunched up in dismay.

By the end of the first lap, Meng Tang’s breathing had grown ragged, her face flushed.

Wei Chuan frowned and jogged up beside her. “Can’t keep up?”

Meng Tang shook her head, huffing as she pushed forward.

Under the scrutiny of so many eyes, she couldn’t handle the attention from the campus heartthrob. She turned her face away slightly, signaling for Wei Chuan to leave her alone.

Wei Chuan picked up on her personality, introverted but adorably awkward.

The corner of his lips quirked up in a faint smile, surprising even himself.

By the second lap, Meng Tang’s legs gave out, and she was about to collapse onto the ground when Wei Chuan grabbed her arm.

“Keep walking. Don’t sit.”

Meng Tang looked utterly defeated but took Shi Lan’s outstretched hand as she turned back to help.

“How did you even pass the 800-meter fitness test last year?” Wei Chuan let go of her and asked curiously.

Shi Lan laughed. “Retakes.”

Wei Chuan teased, “Looks like you’ll be retaking it this year too.”

“No way,” Meng Tang muttered. “I’ll run properly this time.”

Wei Chuan said, “The test is in a month. You need to start training now.”

Meng Tang knew that all too well.

Once warm-ups were over, the teacher arrived.

After explaining the key points of a three-step layup, he had Wei Chuan lead the practice.

The elective exam for art students wasn’t too strict, the final test focused on the three-step layup.

Wei Chuan demonstrated once, drawing suppressed giggles from the girls in line.

After going over the steps and key points again, he had the students practice finding the rhythm of the layup.

Meng Tang was still last. When she finished, she noticed Wei Chuan’s expression freeze for a second.

“Meng Tang, what are you doing?” Wei Chuan was torn between laughter and exasperation. “A three-step layup, and you took five steps just to jump.”

Meng Tang looked bewildered. “I didn’t do that.”

“Let me show you how you walked just now.”

As Wei Chuan spoke, he took two steps forward, mimicking Meng Tang’s movement by unconsciously shuffling his feet before jumping for a layup.

Everyone burst into laughter at his exaggerated imitation, and Meng Tang even raised a hand to cover her face in embarrassment.

“What’s so funny?” Wei Chuan wasn’t letting anyone off the hook. “You’re all practicing for the exam, so just remember the rhythm, one big step, two small steps, then jump. None of you are jumping correctly. Keep practicing.”

His tone carried a hint of sternness, unconsciously bringing his training habits into the teaching session.

The first class broke down two movements, transitioning from no-ball drills to ball-handling, but the results were still dismal.

Wei Chuan was exhausted by the end of the session and plopped down on the floor to zone out.

Shi Lan nudged Meng Tang beside him. “You know Wei Chuan? You two seem pretty familiar.”

“Yeah, he asked me to carve some small wooden pieces for him,” Meng Tang replied. “He was also the model our professor had me find earlier.”

Shi Lan raised an eyebrow. “Wood carvings? He’s into that?”

Meng Tang’s eyes flickered slightly. Wei Chuan hadn’t made it a secret, his dormmates all knew he had someone he liked. She explained, “It’s for a confession.”

“A confession!” Shi Lan’s eyes widened. “He has a crush on someone?”

“Yep.”

“Who? Someone at our school?”

“No idea.”

Shi Lan clicked her tongue. “If his confession succeeds, the girls at our school who like him will flood the training hall with tears.”

Wei Chuan, having rested enough, glanced at Meng Tang.

“I suggest you practice more. The assistant coach is on leave, he’s a junior, and he’s got a temper. Next week, no one’s going to go easy on you.”

Meng Tang blinked in surprise and asked across Shi Lan, “Aren’t you the assistant coach?”

Wei Chuan shrugged. “I smashed the backboard in the training hall and got sent here as punishment. I’m only covering these two classes.”

That was also the reason for his sour mood, he and the coach had disagreed, leading to a violent dunk that shattered the backboard’s glass.

He didn’t bother lowering his voice, and the other girls nearby let out disappointed sighs.

Meng Tang nodded. “Got it. I’ll practice.”

Wei Chuan’s mood lightened a little. He figured he’d apologize to the coach later, and seeing Meng Tang’s reluctant expression, he flashed a grin so bright it outshone the sun.

Shi Lan was momentarily dazzled by that smile and whispered to Meng Tang, “Did you know he has a nickname, ‘Wei Sweet’?”

“Wei Sweet?” Meng Tang looked puzzled. “As in ‘sweet’ like candy?”

“Yep,” Shi Lan said, having followed Wei Chuan’s short video account for a while. “His fans came up with it.”

Meng Tang tilted her head. “He has a lot of fans?”

Shi Lan nodded. “Last year’s CUBAL, he stepped up under pressure and led Z University to the national semifinals. Overnight, he gained 250,000 followers. With that face of his, he picked up another hundred thousand or so over the next six months. If he posted more often, he’d probably have even more. But Wei Chuan only uploads once in a blue moon. If he leads the team to a regional championship next year, his fanbase will explode.”

Meng Tang listened as Shi Lan filled her in, until the coach’s whistle signaled them to regroup.

For the rest of the week, Meng Tang didn’t see Wei Chuan again.

The original assistant coach turned out to be a junior from the sports college.

After class, Shi Lan angrily ranted about him before comforting Meng Tang, whose eyes were red with frustration.

“Don’t take him seriously. I’ve never met a guy with such a nasty mouth. Just ignore him.”

Meng Tang nodded, but her heart still ached.

This wasn’t just a bad temper, as Wei Chuan had described, it was outright rudeness.

No matter how poorly she performed, it was unacceptable to humiliate her to her face and call her an idiot.

Shi Lan defended her a few times, and as a result, both of them were punished with laps around the field.

Meng Tang didn’t want to drag Shi Lan into trouble, so she went to find their teacher. The teacher reprimanded the teaching assistant briefly and excused them from the punishment.

But it was clear that the assistant disliked them even more now.

The gazes of the others lingered on Meng Tang like silent yet impossible-to-ignore slaps, making her so ashamed that her eyes reddened.

After accompanying Shi Lan to the cafeteria, Meng Tang bought three cups of milk tea and said,

“I’m really sorry about today, getting you scolded because of me. Here’s a drink to cool you down. I have to go to the studio later, so I won’t be heading back to the dorm with you. Could you take the other two cups for Yang Ke and Xie Lingyin?”

Shi Lan took them. “You’re being way too polite. We’re roommates, did you think I’d just stand by and let that bitch insult you?”

Meng Tang thanked her sincerely again, but after parting ways with Shi Lan, she didn’t go to the studio.

After three consecutive nights of extra training, Wei Chuan left the training facility before ten.

There was a missed call from home on his phone, so he called back as he turned onto a quiet, secluded path.