If being caught by Lu Sicheng for returning late to the team and emerging from the men's restroom wasn't the worst thing that could happen to Tong Yao, then the absolute worst was probably when she stood at the restroom entrance in a silent standoff with Lu Sicheng—only for A Guang, the Jungler from Team KING, to walk out behind her with reddened eyes.
He glanced at Tong Yao, giving her a shy smile, then politely greeted Lu Sicheng with a respectful "Cheng Ge."
Lu Sicheng responded with a calm "Hmm," though his gaze remained fixed on his own Mid Laner.
A Guang paused, then turned to mouth the words "Thank you, I'm leaving now" to Tong Yao before finally walking away. As his figure gradually disappeared from their sight, Lu Sicheng's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID—Xiao Rui—and answered without waiting for the other person to speak, tersely stating, "Found her. Coming now." Then he hung up immediately.
Right then, Tong Yao sensed impending doom—
Because even while on the phone, Lu Sicheng had been staring at her unwaveringly, his gaze like a hunting leopard eyeing its lunchtime lamb. When he finally put his phone away, he dropped a bombshell: "Did you corner another team's Jungler in the men's restroom and fuck him to tears?"
The most outrageous part was his tone—completely calm, his expression neutral, as if he weren't joking at all.
Tong Yao: "？？？？？？？？"
Her face was a picture of utter confusion.
Lu Sicheng: "Then why else would he look at you like that?"
Tong Yao: "……………………Okay, he was in the restroom, and I was there too, and he did cry just now—but even if—how the hell—what the fuck, speak properly! What could I possibly have used to 'fuck him to tears'?! A mouse or a keyboard?!!!!!"
Lu Sicheng: "Then why else would he look at you like that?"
Tong Yao: "Don’t you think that was a look of admiration?!"
Lu Sicheng: "That was the look of someone who’s been tamed."
Tong Yao: "……"
Lu Sicheng turned and walked toward the exit, with Tong Yao quickly following. Along the way, he reached over and took the peripheral bag she was carrying, slinging it over his own shoulder. Just as Tong Yao was about to thank him, she heard his icy voice from above: "What’s your grudge against the Jungler position? Two matches, two Junglers collected—are you stamp collecting? The 2016 LPL Limited Edition Jungler Stamps?"
Tong Yao yanked her bag back. "Shut up."
Lu Sicheng chuckled and let go.
When they reached the parking lot and climbed into the car, Tong Yao greeted their long-waiting teammates with an apology. Xiao Rui leaned over from the back seat and asked, "What took you so long?"
Before Tong Yao could answer, Lu Sicheng cut in: "Stamp collecting."
Tong Yao threw her peripheral bag at his stomach, forcing him to lean back. She clicked her tongue, flipping her hair as she took the seat behind Xiao Rui, who turned around and said, "After the interview, our captain came back and saw you weren’t here. He risked getting mobbed by fans to go looking for you. We kept calling, but you didn’t answer—we thought you’d been kidnapped."Tong Yao glanced back at Lu Sicheng, who was seated a few rows behind her by the window. The man was pulling out his earphones, seemingly preparing to catch some sleep on the way to the restaurant... Tong Yao withdrew her gaze, stood up, and leaned over Xiao Rui's seat, whispering, "I accidentally ran into KING's jungler crying in the bathroom when I went to the restroom. I comforted him a bit... The Forum is roasting them too hard, and they’re practically hyping us up as gods. It’s making me uneasy."
"You lost the match and still dared to check the Forum?" Xiao Rui blinked in surprise. "After losing the Spring Split finals, I uninstalled the Forum from all their phones before giving them back."
"Newbie mistake, I guess. I heard KING used to be really strong in the LSPL, always a team that got praised." Tong Yao sat back down.
"And why the hell are you comforting the enemy?"
"Oh."
"What if one day they take off because of your encouragement—"
"No matter how high they fly, they still can’t beat us." Tong Yao grinned. "We’re taking off too."
Xiao Rui fell silent, staring at her for a moment before muttering, "You’re getting cocky too," and turning back around. The team bus pulled out of the parking lot, and the players gradually dozed off... Tong Yao idly scrolled through Weibo on her phone and accidentally stumbled upon a fan-recorded interview with Lu Sicheng that the app had pushed to her feed.
Though she’d already heard it live, she absentmindedly clicked to listen again. When Lu Sicheng said, ["It’s whatever, we’re not that close"], she rolled her eyes hard and stuck her tongue out at the screen, where her captain’s face was the picture of aloofness. She was about to close the video when she noticed the progress bar wasn’t finished—
Tong Yao: "Huh?"
There was more?
She stopped closing the video just as the man on screen paused. Whatever crossed his mind, the coldness in his eyes softened slightly. He lowered his head and continued, ["But she’s strong and takes things seriously. As a captain, I’m glad to have a teammate like her. With her joining, ZGDX will be even stronger this summer."]
Tong Yao: "…………………………………………"
She bit down on her middle finger.
The sharp pain at her knuckle confirmed she wasn’t dreaming.
Her mind went blank for a second. Amid the cheers and screams from fans in the video, she blinked dazedly and glanced back at the man resting against the window behind her... A few seconds later, she ducked her head back down. The host’s words about ["Looks like Cheng Ge is determined to dominate the Summer Split"] went completely unheard—
Scrolling through the reposts and comments, her eyes immediately landed on the most upvoted one:
[GreenHairTurtle: Cheng Ge’s lips curved up when he mentioned Smiling. Damn it, ‘not that close’?! If you don’t believe me, rewind and watch—you’ll come back to upvote!]Tong Yao paused for a moment, muttering "How boring," yet her hand seemed bewitched as she dragged the progress bar back—stopping right when Lu Sicheng said they weren’t that close. Biting her lower lip, she stared intently at the corner of the man’s mouth...
At three minutes and eleven seconds into the video, when Lu Sicheng said, "As the captain, I’m very happy to have such a teammate," his head moved slightly, and the corner of his lips... curved up in an almost imperceptible arc before quickly flattening again.
……………………He really did smile.
Tong Yao put down her phone, her cheeks heating up at an alarming speed. Clutching her phone, she stood up from her seat, spun in place, and finally grabbed the team manager, who was watching a Korean drama in front of her: "Rui Ge! Rui Ge!"
"What’s wrong? What’s wrong?" Xiao Rui turned around, startled by Tong Yao’s flushed face and glowing eyes. "Do you need to use the bathroom?"
"What bathroom? Look at this," Tong Yao raised her phone to show Xiao Rui.
"What the heck is this?" Xiao Rui also put down the drama and craned his neck—
Just as the two leaned in together.
A long arm suddenly reached from behind and snatched the phone from Tong Yao’s hand. Tong Yao let out an "Ah!" and turned her head in annoyance, only to meet a pair of indifferent deep brown eyes... Lu Sicheng glanced at the phone screen and scoffed: "The interview from earlier? What’s so interesting about it?"
Tong Yao stood on tiptoe, trying to grab her phone back—
Lu Sicheng raised his arm higher.
Tong Yao angrily smacked his elbow: "Weren’t you sleeping?!"
Lu Sicheng: "I woke up."
Tong Yao: "Give me back my phone!"
Lu Sicheng: "What do you need it for?"
Tong Yao: "You praised me in the interview!!! I want to show Rui Ge!!!"
Lu Sicheng: "...So what if I praised you? It was all scripted by the staff—didn’t you see the note they handed me before the interview?"
Tong Yao froze, then abruptly retracted her hand and turned to Xiao Rui: "Is that true?!"
Xiao Rui: "No, the note only had the interview questions."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao’s eyes lit up again instantly. She kicked off her slippers and jumped onto the car seat, trying to grab her phone: "Give it back! I’m gonna send the video to my friends—"
At that moment, the car made a sharp turn.
The person standing on the seat wobbled, her tilted body firmly collapsing onto the man who had taken her phone. Her hands reflexively gripped his broad shoulders while she felt his hand steady her waist: "What are you doing jumping around in the car? Why don’t you just climb onto the roof?"
The man’s voice came from right beside her ear.
At this proximity, Tong Yao could almost feel the vibrations of his chest.
She froze for a second, then quickly pushed against Lu Sicheng’s shoulders to put distance between them as the car steadied: "Who told you not to let me watch the interview?"
"You have the real person right in front of you. Why watch an interview?"
"The real person won’t praise me." Tong Yao stared into those deep brown eyes. "Then praise me again."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Tong Yao: "..."
Amid the silence, Tong Yao only felt her pocket grow heavy as her phone was stuffed back inside. At the same time, the man said flatly: "You should just watch the interview."
Tong Yao: "..."
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