Half an hour later.
Lu Sicheng was lying on his bed playing a game when the door to his room was kicked open from the outside. He lifted his eyelids slightly, watching as his team's starting Mid Laner walked in, supporting her waist with one hand—
"So, you saw everything."
The light in front of him was blocked by the person standing before his bed. The man's hands paused mid-game, his gaze flickering briefly over the edge of his device to glance at the figure standing at his bedside before lowering his eyes again—completely ignoring her. After a long silence, just as Tong Yao began to wonder if he was deaf, the man succinctly tossed out three words: "Not blind."
Tong Yao felt her face burning: "That pattern was tiny!"
"Oh, but I saw it."
The sounds of "bang bang bang" and "smack smack smack" came from the game console, while in her mind, Tong Yao had already simulated using an AK47 to headshot the person in front of her countless times—
"Delete the note."
"You didn’t even knock before barging in."
"Delete the note."
"What note?"
"Delete the note."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Delete the note."
"What did you say back when I asked you to delete that Weibo post?—No."
Lu Sicheng rolled over, turning his back to Tong Yao. She sucked in a sharp breath and pounced on him, shaking him: "That was ages ago! You’re still holding a grudge over that? Besides, wasn’t it you who slammed the door in my face first? How can you be so petty!"
Shaken to the point of annoyance, Lu Sicheng's game console fell onto the pillow with a "clack." He turned back around, propping himself up slightly with one hand supporting his head, a faint smirk playing on his lips: "You remember it pretty clearly too, don’t you?"
Tong Yao stared at the man’s eerie expression for a long moment, briefly wondering if he’d been possessed by Lu Yue… After a tense staring contest, she sat cross-legged at the edge of his bed, trying to reason with him: "That note is just too weird. If anyone else ever sees that set of… you know, and then connects it to your note, what do you think they’ll assume?"
"..." Lu Sicheng’s smirk faded. He glanced at the girl sitting at his bedside, her chin resting on the edge of the bed, looking utterly sincere, and said coolly, "You planning on showing that side of yourself to anyone else?"
Tong Yao: "..."
Good point?
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
Tong Yao: "Of course not, but this makes me uneasy."
Lu Sicheng: "Uneasy about what?"
Tong Yao: "Don’t you think naming a teammate’s WeChat note after her underwear pattern is… kind of perverted?"
"Perverted?"
Lu Sicheng paused.
Under Tong Yao’s earnest gaze, the corner of his lips curled up. He leaned slightly closer to the person whose chin was resting on the edge of his bed—when the distance between them narrowed to almost nothing, he could feel the girl at his bedside immediately hold her breath, her pupils contracting slightly, her fingers on the bed subtly gripping the sheets… like a feline ready to puff up at any moment.
Lu Sicheng reached out, his slender, slightly cool fingertips brushing against the shell of her ear. Watching as the fair skin of the person he touched flushed visibly red, the man’s smirk deepened…
At this moment, Tong Yao felt as if her heart was about to burst through her ribs like an alien breaking free from her chest—Lu Sicheng's pupils were a deep brown, the color of chocolate.
The unfamiliar scent of a man was so close now.
At this moment, they were really, really close—so close that if she just absentmindedly leaned forward, she might almost brush against the faintly upturned corner of his lips...
—Tong Yao felt like she was standing on the edge of death.
Until the man’s large hand suddenly shifted direction, the one near her ear abruptly cupping her entire face, the faint fragrance of hand soap drifting into her nose. Her head was pushed back with just the right amount of force—
“If I were going to be a pervert, it wouldn’t be toward someone like you. Do you think I have no taste? Are you crazy, or am I stupid?”
The man’s indifferent voice reached her.
Tong Yao: “……………………………………”
Frozen in the posture of being pushed back, Tong Yao stared blankly at Lu Sicheng’s ceiling for ten seconds… until the heat in her face finally cooled down. Stiffly lowering her head, she watched as the man turned his back to her again, picking up his controller to continue gaming. Silently, she climbed up from the floor, planted her hands on her hips, and stood behind him—
The man seemed completely oblivious to her burning gaze.
Finally, after her scorching stare had swept back and forth across his broad back for the tenth round with no reaction from him, Tong Yao lowered her eyes. Unable to hold back any longer, she lifted her foot and vengefully kicked his firm, perfectly toned waist, tossing out a “You’re ruthless” before turning and storming out of Lu Sicheng’s room like an enraged Godzilla, flames practically trailing under her feet—
The door slammed shut with a loud bang .
Even the windows rattled.
A moment later, when the room finally fell silent except for the sound effects from the man’s game console, he—still with his back to the door—paused, set down the controller, and raised a hand to rub the spot on his waist where he’d been kicked.
It didn’t hurt or itch.
“…Tch.”
……
That night, Tong Yao had a nightmare about rabbits and carrots. In the dream, she had turned into a carrot, relentlessly pursued by a fluffy rabbit. In the end, the rabbit hugged her, rubbing its furry face against her so vigorously that its white fur got into her nose and mouth, nearly suffocating her!
“Damn it, you perverted rabbit!”
In the dream, Tong Yao struggled desperately to push the annoying rabbit away. She shoved at its face with all her might—and the moment she succeeded, the rabbit’s face transformed into that of her team captain’s. The handsome man gazed at her with cool indifference, his expression utterly composed—
[ If I were going to be a pervert, it wouldn’t be toward someone like you. Do you think I have no taste? Are you crazy, or am I stupid? ]
Tong Yao: “……”
The voice came with full surround-sound effect—
Successfully jolting her awake from the nightmare.
Opening her eyes, she saw the gloomy weather outside the window. It was already nine in the morning, yet the sun showed no sign of making an appearance… By late May, Shanghai had entered its rainy season.
The central air conditioning felt a bit too chilly on such an overcast day. Tong Yao rubbed her arm, covered in goosebumps from being exposed outside the blanket, then pushed away the fat cat whose fluffy butt was sitting on her face and whose tail was practically stuffed up her nose. She sat up, grabbing a towel. “Da Bing, if you keep sitting on my face while I’m asleep, you’re sleeping outside tonight.”
The elegantly leaping fat cat landed on the floor, padded around, then glanced back at her and replied, “Meow.”...This was, of course, the misplaced anger of an occasionally willful cat owner.
By the time Tong Yao dawdled through her shower, got dressed, applied skincare, and made her way downstairs, it was nearly noon. Most of her teammates were already up and had begun their daily training sessions—since the Summer Split was approaching, some matches would start as early as 1:30 PM. Worried that their nocturnal habits would leave them unable to adjust to competition schedules, the club had recently started regulating the team's sleep routines.
As Tong Yao descended the stairs, Lu Sicheng was holding his phone, preparing to go out—
The man wore a long-sleeved hoodie over a white shirt, paired with loose shorts. As he bent down in the entryway to put on his running shoes and slipped on his earphones, he looked like a college student from the nearby sports university...
Though few college students would likely wear running shoes with a five-digit price tag.
Tong Yao paused mid-step and leaned over the railing to ask her captain, "Cheng Ge, where are you going?"
His earphones probably weren't turned on yet. The man paused, tilting his chin slightly to glance at her before pulling them down and replying flatly, "The AD from the neighboring team got lost in the mall. I'm going to pick him up."
Neighboring AD?
...That Pope guy.
Tong Yao: "???? What does their AD getting lost have to do with you?"
Lu Sicheng's expression grew even more vacant: "Because their team translator had an emergency and went home today, and I'm the only one in his WeChat who speaks Korean."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng put his earphones back in.
Tong Yao: "What kind of idiot goes shopping alone in a foreign country right after arriving?"
Lu Sicheng: "Their support—their captain, Liang Sheng—went with him. They got separated."
Tong Yao: "Oh."
Tong Yao hopped down the last few steps and grabbed the hem of his hoodie just as he was about to leave. He stopped and turned back to see her looking up at him with a concerned expression: "It's about to rain outside. Take an umbrella."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao: "You'll catch a cold if you get soaked."
Lu Sicheng paused, glanced at their teammates engrossed in their games nearby, then leaned down slightly and whispered just loud enough for her to hear: "You know that even if you butter me up like this, I won’t change your nickname back."
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "Damn it."
Her expression immediately fell, the pretense of concern vanishing as she let go of his hoodie and took a few steps back. Tossing out a "Have a nice trip," she turned to open a can of cat food for Mao... The man watched her crouch in front of the fridge, rummaging around for a moment before straightening up. With a cold snort, he turned and left.
...
Ten minutes after Lu Sicheng left, the wind howled outside.
Fifteen minutes after he left, thunder rumbled in the sky.
Seventeen minutes after he left, rain poured down in sheets.
Curled up on the living room sofa, watching raindrops as big as beans pelt the windows, Tong Yao tightened her jacket around her and lazily yawned. Smirking, she quipped, "Shanghai weather—so unpredictably addictive. I sincerely hope Cheng Ge drove there."
"His car went in for maintenance yesterday," Xiao Rui remarked calmly as he passed through the living room.Tong Yao narrowed her eyes slightly, her smile growing even brighter—but a few minutes later, that smile vanished. The team manager, who had just calmly drifted past the living room, returned holding his phone. After scanning everyone on the first floor, he announced, "Cheng Ge says he didn’t bring an umbrella. Who’s gonna deliver one to him? He’s at the nearby mall."
It was nearing payday, and everyone was grinding hard in-game to rank up and secure their salaries—
All except the Mid Laner, who had long secured her spot at the top, crouched on the sofa petting the cat.
She looked up blankly, locking eyes with the team manager for a few seconds before instinctively blurting out, "No way! I’m busy!"
"Busy my ass, you’re the one! Bring a few extra umbrellas—those two from the neighboring team didn’t bring theirs either," Xiao Rui yanked Tong Yao up from the sofa. "When you first joined, didn’t Cheng Ge take time out of his busy schedule to take you shopping for daily necessities? You should know how to be grateful..."
"...I’m an ingrate."
"Stop whining and get moving."
In the end, Tong Yao reluctantly got up, threw on some clothes, combed her hair, and sighed at the torrential rain outside. With a click , she popped open her own umbrella while tucking three large ones under her arm. Standing at the entrance, she addressed the team manager, who was planted there like an immovable gatekeeper, hands on hips: "I’m heading out. Should take about twenty minutes—short legs, slow walk. Tell him to find somewhere warm and wait for me."
"Go on, go on."
Tong Yao left.
On her way out, she sent Lu Sicheng a WeChat message asking where he was, whether he’d found his bestie Pope yet, and that she was on her way—she’d call him when she arrived... After clutching her phone for ten minutes with no reply, she muttered, "Don’t tell me his phone died," stuffed it into her pocket, and quickened her pace.
The wind and rain outside were brutal. A single umbrella was practically useless, and by the time Tong Yao reached the mall Xiao Rui had mentioned, she was already drenched from the rain sneaking under her umbrella... The mall’s air conditioning hit her like a slap, and she shivered, sneezing as she pulled out her phone to call Lu Sicheng. After a moment of silence, the automated voicemail message delivered the crushing blow—
"The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. The subscriber has enabled call reminder service..."
Tong Yao pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it as if it were some kind of monster, unable to believe that bastard’s phone had actually dared to die on her... She stood frozen at the mall entrance for a moment before turning to face the vast space behind her, overwhelmed by a suffocating sense of despair...
After texting Xiao Rui the unfortunate news that Lu Sicheng was unreachable, Tong Yao began combing through every floor and every café in the mall for her captain. At this point, she still held some faith in her captain’s intelligence—
Until she ran into the neighboring team’s support and captain, Liang Sheng, in a cake shop on the third floor, wearing the same look of confusion and panic.The boy, who looked a year or two younger than Tong Yao, was wearing a short-sleeved shirt with fluffy hair. His appearance clearly suggested a gentle and good-natured personality. The moment he saw Tong Yao, his eyes lit up as if he had found a lifeline. He rushed forward and grabbed her hand: "Ahhh, you're the Mid Laner from the neighboring Operator Team, right? Do you have time now? Can you help me with something—"
Tong Yao: "..."
Tong Yao: "I know you're looking for your AD. I'm also looking for mine—from what I know, about half an hour ago, after your AD went missing, he sent a WeChat saying he was lost and asked my AD to rescue him. Then my AD set off... Half an hour later, both my AD and your AD vanished together, phones turned off. I'm here to find him."
Liang Sheng: "………………………………"
Tong Yao pulled her hand back and patted Liang Sheng's shoulder, relieved to have finally found a comrade-in-arms: "Quick, call your AD and have him pass the phone to mine."
Liang Sheng said "Oh," but didn't move.
Tong Yao: "...Don't tell me you don't have his number?"
Liang Sheng: "He doesn't speak Chinese. Why would I save his number?"
Tong Yao slapped a hand over her face. And so, "a lonely solo journey" turned into "a hopeless two-person quest with no end in sight." She and Liang Sheng aimlessly searched for the people they were looking for—
Until another half hour later.
In their desperation, as if they wanted to flip the entire mall upside down and shake it, they arrived at the top-floor children's play area. From afar, they could hear the sounds of various game machines—"biubiubiu," "bang bang bang." Covering her ears, Tong Yao asked Liang Sheng: "There's no way two guys with a combined height of nearly four meters would be childish enough to come here, right?"
No sooner had she spoken than she noticed the boy beside her staring fixedly into the distance—
There stood a row of various claw machines.
Following his gaze, Tong Yao easily spotted one particular machine surrounded by a crowd. In the middle of the crowd stood two tall, strikingly handsome males—
Under the admiring gazes of young girls and envious looks from children, one of them leaned lazily against the claw machine (which barely reached his height), holding a sack full of assorted plush toys they had won. The other had a giant Pikachu hanging around his neck and was currently standing in front of the machine, his slender fingers maneuvering the joystick with precision as he steadily lifted a palm-sized plush toy...
The surrounding crowd gasped—"So amazing!" "How many is that now?" "They've almost cleared out this entire row of machines!"—
His eyes were lowered, expression indifferent.
Exactly the same as countless times when Tong Yao had watched him mercilessly demolish the enemy's Team headquarters in-game.
Tong Yao: "..."
The young girl stood frozen in place, utterly bewildered, while the boy beside her, looking moved to tears, shouted the in-game ID of the red-haired man leaning against the claw machine and rushed forward. He desperately pushed through the crowd, squeezed his way to the man, grabbed his wrist, and began gesturing wildly as he said something...Lu Sicheng bent down to retrieve the plush toy he had just won from the claw machine. Straightening up, he glanced at the neighboring team's support player, who looked moved after spotting his own AD carry. At that moment, he seemed to sense something and turned his head—
Only to see his own Mid Laner standing behind him, three large umbrellas tucked under her arm and another one in hand, currently glaring at him with a dark expression, refusing to come any closer.
Lu Sicheng took out his phone to check the time, only to realize it had died and shut off on its own.
He slipped the phone back into his pocket, catching sight of his friend apologetically saying "sorry" in broken English before shoving the entire sack of plush toys he had won into the young boy's arms. A simple Korean phrase followed, and Lu Sicheng kindly translated, "He says he's sorry and is giving you these toys."
Liang Sheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng walked over to Tong Yao and took the umbrellas she was holding. "Did you search for long?"
Tong Yao flexed her arm. "An hour."
Lu Sicheng gave an "oh" and lowered his head, about to ask her to call a ride for them, when he noticed the person beside him still staring at the sack of plush toys in the neighboring support's arms. He paused. "What's wrong?"
"..." Tong Yao withdrew her gaze, casually brushing her hair back. Her eyes fleetingly swept over the Pikachu hanging around Lu Sicheng's neck before she replied calmly, "Nothing. Let's go back. I'm freezing to death."
With that, she turned and walked away.
The man hesitated for a moment before following.
Tong Yao walked ahead with her head down, but after a few steps, she suddenly felt something heavy drop onto her neck, pressing against her back. She stopped and looked down to see the Pikachu's paws looped around her neck. Raising her head in confusion, she turned around—
The man stuffed the last plush toy he had won into her hands and patted her head. "The rain hasn't stopped yet. Use the app to call a car."
Tong Yao let out an "oh," her eyes fixed blankly downward as she realized she was now holding a pink floppy-eared bunny plush, clutching a carrot in its arms.
...The plush toy was adorable.
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