Demons Beside You

“Go Claude!”

“Claude, use power.”

“Claude, did you not eat dinner?”

“Claude, did you use all your energy on a woman?”

Everyone in the coastal rescue team was on Claude’s side, cheering him on. However, Claude couldn’t move Chen Zhao’s arm even when his face had turned red.

Fali scoffed at him. “Claude, you want to provoke my man with just that?”

Hearing Fali’s words, Claude tried even harder. But despite using all his force, he still couldn’t make Chen Zhao budge.

Chen Zhao gradually added more strength and Claude’s expression became pained. Chen Zhao wasn’t pushing down. Instead, he was squeezing.

It felt like Claude’s hand was clamped in a vise. “I surrender!” he finally yelled. “Let go, let go!”

Chen Zhao finally let go. Claude grasped his left hand and rubbed it without stop. It felt like Chen Zhao would break his hand.

“Chen, seriously, are you arm wrestling or squeezing his wrist? You’re too much.”

Fali’s words made Claude even more furious. He wasn’t willing to accept that he lost to Chen Zhao and was also humiliated by Fali.

“Arm wrestling is my weakness. Do you dare compete with something else?”

“What?”

“Swimming.”

“Sure, but how about we bet something?”

“Chen, I bet $100 for you,” Fali said.

“I’m going with Claude, $50.”

“Claude, $100.”

“Put it all down.” Claude took his wallet out of the drawer. “I bet myself, $1,000.”

“I’ll follow.” Chen Zhao also tossed $1,000 onto the table.

“We’ll start here and swim to the buoy, then swim back. Whoever gets back here first will win.”

“Sure.”

“Be careful,” Fali whispered in Chen Zhao’s ears. “Claude was a professional swimmer before. He even won awards in national competitions. Take it seriously.”

“Got it.” Chen Zhao turned and kissed Fali’s lips. “This is easy money. How about you provoke them more so they gamble more money?”

“You’re horrible.” Fali hit him playfully.

Seeing Fali and Chen Zhao flirt as if no one was watching, Claude grew more furious.

As a lifeguard, swimming at full speed from the beach was part of their everyday training. Claude’s performance had always been at the top of the team, second only to their leader Robio.

He didn’t believe that this Asian could surpass him.

Whether it was running or swimming, Asians never had an advantage. Plus, this was also Claude’s strong point. Chen Zhao was muscular, but he was still an amateur.

The two went to the beach outside the building. The woman who’d acted as the referee for the arm wrestling was the one who gave the signal this time too.

“Three, two, one! Go!”

The two instantly ran out from the beach. Chen Zhao was instantly one body ahead of Claude. The startling line was only a few hundred feet from the sea, so the distance wasn’t obvious.

But when Chen Zhao jumped into the ocean, his dive landed him many meters away. He extended the gap.

Claude followed closely behind, but his explosive power couldn’t compare to Chen Zhao.

Chen Zhao’s speed was terrifying. He stayed underwater without coming out to breathe at all until he reached buoy. Then his head popped out and he swam back.

The buoy marked the deep zone. It was around 200 meters away. Claude only swam around 150 meters. When Chen Zhao swam past him, the lifeguards in the hallway of the office all fell silent.

No one cheered Claude on anymore. It wasn’t because they didn’t want to but that they couldn’t make another sound. Claude and Chen Zhao were too far apart.

Claude had only reached the buoy when Chen Zhao was already on land. He was basically twice as fast.

How could Claude be so bad today?

Chen Zhao didn’t go easy at all. He ran straight to the finish line, embraced Fali and spun her in a circle. Then they kissed deeply.

Claude gave up all hope on the way back and returned to the finish line with his head hanging.

“Claude, are you unwell today?”

“How come you lost so much?”

“I don’t really feel good,” Claude said nonchalantly, but he knew that he’d lost completely this time.

It wasn’t just in terms of state. It was a difference in true abilities. He’d lost in arm wrestling and was creamed in running and swimming. He couldn’t bully Chen Zhao anymore.

“You win.”

Robio walked to Chen Zhao’s side. He didn’t know what had happened before him and Claude. He’d returned just as the swim race started.

From what he’d seen, he knew that nothing was wrong with Claude. He’d performed as he usually did. It was just that Chen Zhao was too fast, both while sprinting on the beach and swimming in the sea.

The difference between them was like a child and an adult.

“Chen, you took less than 50 seconds while swimming in the sea.”

“It was probably with the current. The tide was going back.”

Robio shook his head. “It was against the tide. Either way, you were too fast. I’ve never seen anyone who could swim it in 50 seconds.”

“You must’ve timed it wrong,” Chen Zhao said, unconvinced.

“How about we compete?” Robio said, smiling.

“That’s unnecessary.”

Chen Zhao had competed with Claude just to destroy Claude’s ego and protect his own. He and Robio had a good relationship. It would be bad if he made Robio lose his image before his members.

“Leader, are you gonna race him? Do it.”

“Do it.”

“Do it.”

“Do it.”

“Race what?” Chen Zhao asked.

“I definitely can’t beat you in speed. How about we go underwater?”

“See who holds his breath the longest?”

“No, see who can go deepest without gear,” Robio said.

The world record for this sport was 112 meters with only a pair of protective goggles and nothing else.

“Chen, Robio is the 12th world record holder,” Fali said, standing beside Chen Zhao.

“How deep?”

“My best record is 72 meters,” Robio said, “but I only reached that once in my life.”

“I’d like to try,” Chen Zhao said. He didn’t really want to compete with Robio. He just wanted to know his own limit.