18 DATE YE QUAN

Lin Zhu's heart was still shattering into pieces when they were about to fly to Korea. The tournament would start in two days, so they had to head to Korea today.

They were currently in the airport waiting room to wait for their flight, and Lin Zhu kept throwing daggers toward two living creatures who kept showing a public display of affection not far from where he was sitting.

Ye Quan wasn't joking when that ugly toad warned him to get ready for their PDA. Ever since the couple reunited at the airport, they had been clinging to each other's hips while showing all smiling faces to each other.

They were inside their bubble and didn't care about their surrounding. Other athletes and the coaches could see their behavior, but those people could only shake their heads helplessly without uttering any comments.

Lin Zhu always believed that all athletes should act professionally, and dating other athletes did not portray a professional attitude. That was why he had to act! He convinced himself that it wasn't because he was jealous of Ye Quan, but it was for the sake of his team with that ugly toad.

Nodding his head to assure himself again, Lin Zhu then got up from his seat and walked over to another familiar face that probably could help him with the issue.

He chose Coach Cheng to help him this time. Apart from the coach, he didn't know anyone with a better character than the coach. Coach Su had been removed from the list because he would surely let Ye Quan do whatever he wanted. He was always so biased towards that ugly toad, after all.

Lin Zhu finally sat down beside Coach Cheng, and the coach instantly looked up from his phone.

"Ah Zhu? What are you doing here?" Coach Cheng looked so surprised to see the young athlete's appearance next to him. The nice coach was sitting alone in the back corner of the waiting room, so he didn't expect a young athlete like Lin Zhu would approach him there.

Lin Zhu realized that his behavior was strange, but he didn't have any other choice. He did it for his career's sake!

"I have something to talk to you about, Coach Cheng," Lin Zhu began cautiously.

The coach put down his phone and looked up at him confusedly. "What do you want to talk about with me? It seems so serious."

'This is indeed serious because it could affect my future!' Lin Zhu screamed inwardly.

The young athlete was boiling inside, but he tried to look cool outside. "I want to talk with you about Senior Ye, Coach."

After hearing the name, the coach frowned in confusion. Not long after, he turned his gaze to scan the room, and his pair of eyes finally caught sight of a tall athlete enjoying his free time with a female athlete.

"Is that Ah Jia who is talking with Ah Quan?"

Lin Zhu followed the coach's gaze and he inwardly squealed, 'They are definitely flirting and not merely talking! Can you stop being so innocent, Coach?'

His coach was not even a teenager, but his mind was too simple and pure. Should he worship his coach from now on?

"Yes, that's Senior Zhao, Coach," Lin Zhu replied as he tried to be patient with his coach. "Senior Zhao is now dating Senior Ye, Coach. That's the matter I want to discuss with you."

The coach looked a bit stunned by Lin Zhu's words. "They are dating now? How come they started dating without letting me know?"

Lin Zhu could see the coach's expression grow darker, and he smirked in secret. It seemed the coach was upset because of the two athletes' relationship. It seemed he had a chance to separate the two athletes.

Lin Zhu's heart hosted a firework party behind his ribs. Perhaps after Ye Quan and Zhao Jia broke up, he could date Zhao Jia in secret without letting the management team know about that. That was such a perfect plan! Ye Quan surely would cry later!

"Senior Ye is indeed bad, right, coach? He shouldn't date Senior Jia, but―"

"Ah Quan should have told me that he's dating Ah Jia, so I can congratulate them. I've been shipping them in secret in the past few years, and even my wife and my daughter are also shipping them."

Lin Zhu's mouth gaped after hearing the coach's statement that cut his speech earlier. The statement dashed his hope and shut down the firework party in his heart. Now his heart was mourning once again.

"Isn't there a rule about an athlete dating another athlete, Coach? I think management should forbid an athlete from dating another athlete on the team. What if the athlete's concentration shifts because of the relationship? Athletes should focus on their careers, right?"

Coach Cheng finally turned to Lin Zhu and blinked at the younger man innocently. "I don't think so," he replied nonchalantly.

The calm reply once again dashed Lin Zhu's hope.

"There were some athletes who were dating other athletes on the team, and they were still able to shine brightly as China's best badminton players. Do you remember Zhuo Lang and Mei Fei? They were dating for six years before getting married five years ago."

Lin Zhu secretly gritted his teeth when he listened to the coach's fairytale. He didn't need to hear such information from the coach, but he couldn't stop the coach from rambling nonsense.

"Oh! And also Huang Luyang and Wang Yuji, who was in the mixed doubles team a few years ago! Their chemistry in the court was incomparable to any other pairing because they were dating for real. Dating a fellow athlete is no big deal."

Lin Zhu tried so hard to hold back his outrage. He wanted to slander Ye Quan in front of the coach, but instead of getting angry at Ye Quan, the coach openly supported Ye Quan's relationship with Zhao Jia.

And what nonsense about the athletes' chemistry on the court became incomparable when two athletes in one team dated each other?

'If that kind of nonsense was true, then I should just date Ye Quan!'