Last Love chapter 41

Wen Ke and Xu Jiale walked towards the elevator together. As they approached the corner, Wen Ke seemed to vaguely hear Han Jiangque say something in a low voice. Soon after, Fu Xiaoyu’s intermittent voice reached them, “For so many years, you have never doubted my judgment, and this time…”

Before Wen Ke could carefully listen, his feet had already entered the elevator.

Fu Xiaoyu and Han Jiangque were standing face to face, and when Fu Xiaoyu turned to see Wen Ke, he stopped speaking and took a step back.

Wen Ke felt a strange sense of intrusion, unable to clear his thoughts for a moment. He just felt a heavy blow to his chest when he heard Fu Xiaoyu mention “for so many years.” He didn’t dare to think too much and hurriedly hid the uneasy thoughts.

When the elevator door opened, Han Jiangque suddenly held his hand.

Wen Ke couldn’t help but be surprised but didn’t have time to think much as Han Jiangque pulled him into the elevator.

Fu Xiaoyu stood on the side, seemingly not noticing, leaning against the corner without saying anything.

“Do you have to show affection in front of a middle-aged divorced man like me?”

Xu Jiale lazily smiled, teasing them.

“I-I’m not…”

Wen Ke suddenly felt his face slightly heating up.

They weren’t high school students anymore, and of course, they knew that being so intimate in front of everyone might seem a bit abrupt.

Wen Ke couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Han Jiangque but saw the Alpha looking at him—

He completely ignored others’ reactions, just focused on looking at him.

At that moment, Wen Ke felt like his face had thickened a bit. So, he just held Han Jiangque’s hand, pretending nothing happened.

For the dinner before the boxing match, they followed Fu Xiaoyu’s suggestion and went to a high-end western restaurant near LM. Xu Jiale and Han Jiangque ordered medium-rare ribeye steaks, Wen Ke chose a lamb chop, and Fu Xiaoyu only ordered a salad and red wine.

Perhaps people tend to relax during meals, and Han Jiangque, Xu Jiale, and Fu Xiaoyu all studied abroad, so they had similar cultural backgrounds, allowing for more extensive conversation.

Wen Ke felt a bit left out, listening to their stories about foreign universities, feeling a bit of loss.

But over the years, he had become accustomed to this subtle feeling of loss when facing peers, so he didn’t force himself and just lowered his head, secretly cutting off the most tender part of his lamb chop and placing it into Han Jiangque’s plate.

In such a high-end restaurant, this kind of behavior was indeed somewhat inappropriate.

However, Fine Dining emphasized high-quality textures, but the portions were often meager.

Knowing Han Jiangque’s appetite too well and fearing he hadn’t eaten enough before the match, Wen Ke, even if it was impolite, still wanted to protect his Alpha by secretly feeding him.

At this moment, even the recently confrontational Xu Jiale and Fu Xiaoyu chatted a bit during the meal. P University, Fu Xiaoyu’s alma mater, was a top institution in the field of management. Of course, Xu Jiale had to give face and praise it a bit. He then asked, “Han Jiangque, are you and Mr. Fu college classmates?”

“No.” Han Jiangque, who was focused on eating the tender lamb secretly placed by Wen Ke, instinctively raised his head upon hearing Xu Jiale’s question. “I couldn’t get into P University.”

Fu Xiaoyu smiled slightly, took a sip of red wine, and calmly said, “Our schools were just across the street. Back then, I used to go to Han Jiangque’s school to watch him play basketball, and that’s how we met.”

The handsome Omega’s smile was very restrained, but it seemed to hide a lot of information.

…

After dinner, the group returned to LM. Wen Ke was surprised to learn that the boxing ring was located on B1, right beneath LM.

“Not just a boxing ring, there’s also a shooting range, ice rink, movie theater, KTV upstairs, and a cigar club and fully automated self-service hotel on the higher floors. The top floor is the only unmanned aerial vehicle test flying lawn in B City.”

“So…”

Wen Ke couldn’t help but marvel. He took a deep breath before finding the accurate adjective: “So avant-garde.”

Fu Xiaoyu explained, “You should know, the area beneath our feet is the most avant-garde and exciting area in the whole of B City. I’m not just talking about nightlife—The Twin Star Building we discussed earlier, the first office building in B City to introduce the concept of shared offices, now houses numerous cutting-edge technology, IT, and blockchain small to medium-sized companies. Mr. Wen, since you are developing an app, you should visit there sometime, and experience the free, young atmosphere.”

“I’ve heard that the North City Development Zone is particularly successful abroad and has become a signature of B City.”

Xu Jiale also showed some interest.

“Yes. The North City is affluent, but it’s not Wall Street.” Fu Xiaoyu’s eyes flashed with a hint of pride. “Here is the Silicon Valley of B City.”

He said this, for some reason, turning his head to exchange a glance with Han Jiangque.

Han Jiangque also smiled slightly, whispering to him, “Yes, the spirit of the LM Club is the spirit of the North City area—YOLO.”

“YOLO.” Fu Xiaoyu and Han Jiangque said those four letters in unison. With a radiant expression, Fu Xiaoyu enunciated, “We only live once, so we must live life to the fullest.”

Before the match, Xu Jiale mentioned going to the drone lawn upstairs. On the other hand, Han Jiangque needed to warm up in the gym provided by the LM Club for consultants. Naturally, Wen Ke accompanied Han Jiangque, and Fu Xiaoyu also casually followed.

Han Jiangque started with a set of stretches, followed by a light jog on the treadmill before finally donning boxing gloves to warm up on the punching bag. It was almost at that moment that Han Jiangque seemed to enter a state that was extremely unfamiliar to Wen Ke.

The Alpha throwing punches seemed more like a ferocious wolf than ever before. The red boxing gloves slammed into the punching bag, creating thunderous sounds with each powerful blow. His pitch-black eyes stared straight at the punching bag as if he couldn’t see anything else.

Strangely, Wen Ke felt that Fu Xiaoyu seemed to communicate better with Han Jiangque at this moment than he could.

“It seems a bit slower than before.”

Fu Xiaoyu stared at Han Jiangque’s movements. “You haven’t practiced these days, have you? Didn’t follow the nutritionist’s plan for meals?”

Clearly, Fu Xiaoyu was well-informed about Han Jiangque’s boxing matches. He said with some concern, “Don’t be too arrogant—that’s the Russian Bear. Regardless of height and weight, you don’t have an advantage.”

Wen Ke’s breath involuntarily stopped. Suddenly, he realized that Han Jiangque hadn’t been training these past few days, most likely because of his heat.

“The Russian Bear?” Wen Ke couldn’t help but ask, “What does that mean?”

“Bear King Ivanov,” Fu Xiaoyu said, “A Russian.”

Even as an outsider, Wen Ke understood that white and black people had a natural advantage in boxing, whether in height or the explosiveness of power. Asians were generally at a slight disadvantage, be it in height or strength.

“A Russian?” Wen Ke nervously asked, “H-how much does he weigh? Isn’t boxing matched by weight class?”

“Amateur boxing doesn’t split weight classes so finely.”

Fu Xiaoyu clearly didn’t appreciate Wen Ke’s overly ignorant questions and squinted his eyes. “Han Jiangque is in the 85-kilogram heavyweight class, and Bear King is also in the heavyweight class at 95 kilograms. But of course, the terrifying power suppression of a whole 10 kilograms on the boxing ring is extremely formidable. So, I said, never be complacent. You must adjust to the peak state.”

Wen Ke’s mind was a mess. He thought of Han Jiangque’s only exercise these past few days being the entanglement in bed with him. He also thought of the spare ribs, pig’s trotters, and fried meatballs he cooked. Although they were all dishes Han Jiangque loved, none of them were associated with the words “nutritionist-approved.”

He didn’t even know what a boxer’s nutritious meal consisted of.

Han Jiangque couldn’t possibly be in peak condition.

For a moment, he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“It’s almost time.”

However, Han Jiangque seemed to not have taken Fu Xiaoyu’s concerns to heart. He looked up at the clock, calmly saying, “You guys go directly to the boxing ring. I need to go to the contestant’s lounge.”

“Good luck.” Fu Xiaoyu didn’t waste words, nodded, and started walking out.

However, Wen Ke couldn’t be as cool. He looked up, panicked, at Han Jiangque, hesitating for a long time before whispering, “Han Jiangque, you…”

He didn’t know what to say and felt annoyingly naggy like he wanted to say: Make sure to protect yourself, don’t get hurt.

But before he could say it, he felt that saying something like that would be too annoying.

“Don’t worry.”

Han Jiangque looked at him and said softly.

“I…”

Wen Ke felt extremely anxious, as if his forehead was about to sweat.

He didn’t know what to say, just felt like he wanted to stay with Han Jiangque like this for a while. Awkwardly, he squeezed out a sentence, “The meals I cooked… Are they not nutritious?”

“Xiao Ke… my little giraffe, put your hand up.” Han Jiangque lightly smiled, raising his hand with the red boxing glove, and Wen Ke obediently placed his right hand on it.

“I will win this match for you.”

Han Jiangque lowered his head and gently kissed the back of Wen Ke’s hand, which was placed on the boxing glove.

And every match in your life that follows.

He thought so solemnly in his heart.

He always wanted to do this, no matter how juvenile or silly it might look. This scene was his dream.

After growing up, he had too many regrets and anger, only able to resolve them through such intense combat sports.

During his overseas studies, the admiration foreigners showed for MMA seemed more like an admiration for masculinity and Alpha toughness.

For him, however, boxing was more like his martial arts world.

Those novels he read together with Wen Ke, like “Smiling Proud Wanderer,” and those swordsmanship skills he couldn’t master, eventually transformed into the dedication of a lone wolf with a sense of belonging in the boxing ring.

Many boxers would kiss their own boxing gloves before a match, as a form of luck, a kind of blessing.

But he didn’t want to do that. If possible, he wanted to kiss the back of his lover’s hand, which rested on his boxing glove.

It was a romantic gesture befitting an Alpha, and more so, a belated glory for a lonely young man.