(*The following dialogue is in Korean mode by default)
[Kun: Hyung, QAQ]
[fhdjwhdb2333: ?]
[Kun: Is it true? The Mid Laner on your team, is she really your woman?]
[Kun: You moved too fast!]
[Kun: Never thought you'd be this kind of person.]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Do I need to prove it to you? If she isn’t now, she will be soon. Since I’ve already set my sights on her and am preparing to pursue her, what’s the difference? Even if I haven’t caught her yet, do you think you can lay a finger on her?]
[Kun: Wuwuwuwuwu QAQ Don’t be so harsh! If it’s just about protecting a teammate, there’s no need… I’ll treat her well! She’s so adorable, I want to hold her in my hands and cherish her!]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Shut up, brat. No matter how cute she is, she’s mine.]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Don’t think I don’t know how many hearts you’ve broken in Korea, Hwan-suk—every time we drink, your Junhyuk-hyung tells me all about your messes, with a different heroine each time.]
[Kun: This one’s different, this one’s different! QAQ If we get together, I’ll announce it to the whole world, even on Facebook! Wouldn’t that be enough? Even fans in Korea would know! With everyone watching, what else could I do? It’d be like asking for her father’s blessing—please!]
[fhdjwhdb2333: No.]
[fhdjwhdb2333: Even if it’s first come, first served, it’s not your turn, you mutt. Save your breath.]
After sending that final stern rejection, Lu Sicheng put down his phone despite its incessant buzzing. His in-game character had already spawned at the fountain, so he opened the shop and bought his Starting Items.
The phone screen continued to flash with new WeChat messages—
[Kun: Hyung, don’t you believe in love at first sight? The way she shouts during matches is just too adorable. I want to camp mid and give her every kill in the world…]
[Kun: So I actually camped mid in the second game today, kekekeke.]
[Kun: Hyung, say something QAQ]
[Kun: Hyung, why won’t you answer me?!]
[Kun: Just agree already! I really like her! It feels like I’ve finally met my destined person!]
[Kun: I’ll treat her well, I swear!]
[Kun: What do I have to do to make you believe me?]
[Kun: How about I go beat up Min-tae (*A Tai, TAT’s current Mid Laner) right now?]
Lee Hwan-suk was still clinging and whining like a spoiled child, seemingly determined to persist until Lu Sicheng acknowledged him… But Lu Sicheng ignored him. After skimming a couple of messages and seeing that the kid even knew about Tong Yao and A Tai’s feud—and was ready to betray his former teammate—Lu Sicheng could only roll his eyes. The match had started, so he tossed his phone aside and let the kid keep spamming.The minions from both sides began to spawn. Lu Sicheng clicked his mouse leisurely, leading the support to take down the bot lane Gromp. Just as they were about to head to lane after finishing it, his phone lit up again. Amidst a long string of messages from [Kun], another ID appeared—
[Luoluo: Heard you have a match this Sunday. Bought expensive tickets to see you—front row seats! Also found someone to take me backstage. Let’s grab dinner after the match?]
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Lu Yue."
"What now?" The young man squatting on Tong Yao’s chair beside Lu Sicheng, biting his tongue while gaming, didn’t even look up. "Don’t talk to me. I need to win this one. If I lose again, I’ll drop out of Grandmaster. That shorty might completely lose it when he wakes up tomorrow and sees the demotion—might even change the account password!"
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Without hesitation, Lu Sicheng reached over and yanked out his mouse cable. As Lu Yue hissed in shock, the man slapped his phone in front of him. "What’s the deal with this woman?"
Lu Yue scrambled to plug his mouse back in, crawling out from under the desk to glance at Lu Sicheng’s phone, looking utterly confused. "Which woman?"
Lu Sicheng checked the screen—now flooded with messages from HUAWEI Team’s Jungler—and pursed his lips before opening WeChat, finding the contact named [Luoluo], and putting the phone down again. "This one."
Lu Yue: "Oh, your blind date."
Lu Sicheng: "Why is she in my phone?"
Lu Yue: "She thought you were great. Pretty, nice personality, and your heights match—"
As he spoke, Lu Yue shielded his mouse and keyboard protectively.
Lu Sicheng tapped the desk with his knuckles. "If I have to ask a third time, you’ll regrettably be nothing more than a corpse. This is the second time: Why is she in my phone?"
Lu Yue: "……………………………… Mom Wang said you told her you two weren’t compatible, but the girl still wanted to try and asked for your WeChat. Mom Wang knew you wouldn’t agree, so she made me—I was threatened! She said if I didn’t do it, I’d be next!"
Lu Sicheng set the phone down and smacked the back of his traitorous little brother’s head. Amid Lu Yue’s howls, he picked up his phone again and saw Kun still tirelessly sending new messages—
[Kun: I don’t care! I’m coming to watch your match this weekend too. If you’re really together, there’ll be clues, right? If you and your Mid Laner are actually a thing, of course I’ll back off. But if not, I won’t hold back! Because I like her too much! I’ll marry her first and then work on getting her dad’s blessing!]
Lu Sicheng: "..."
He grabbed his phone again, about to reply with "Whatever," when another message popped up at the top of the screen—
[Bunny Hugs Carrot: Big bro, I’m begging you on my knees—what the hell did you say to that phone team’s Jungler?! Holy shit, is this how you block your teammate’s romantic prospects?! By blooming into a giant peach blossom yourself and shoving all the others aside?!!!]
Lu Sicheng: "..."
What’s wrong with these people? Did they plan this together?
Abandoning his reply to Kun, Lu Sicheng decisively turned off his phone.
—And finally, the world fell silent.
...For the next day, Lu Sicheng felt that Tong Yao was looking at him strangely, but for some inexplicable and mysterious reason, he didn’t take the initiative to explain why he had said those things that day—
He could sense that no matter where he went or what he did, there was a pair of eyes sneakily scanning his back. But every time he turned around, that gaze would "whoosh" away and disappear...
Lu Sicheng didn’t expose it, instead amusing himself like teasing a cat, letting that "mysterious gaze" sweep back and forth behind him for an entire day—
A day later, it was Saturday—another match day for ZGDX.
Lu Sicheng was used to going to bed early the night before a match, so when he woke up and went downstairs that day, it was still only 10 a.m. The first floor of the team headquarters was quiet, except for one person sitting cross-legged on the sofa—on their lap was an open pink notebook. Based on Lu Sicheng’s memory, that notebook was probably filled with densely packed words, with emoticons drawn at the end of each sentence—who knew who she was trying to act cute for... But right now, despite the notebook being open, the person wasn’t reading it. Instead, they were holding a cat teaser, making their own chubby and not-very-agile cat spin in circles.
Hearing footsteps, she didn’t even look up: "Up so early?"
The man, halfway down the stairs, paused: "Do I need to report to you just because I woke up early once in a while?"
Tong Yao tossed the cat teaser aside, expressionless: "Of course. Since I’m your woman, I think you should even inform me about what color underwear you’re wearing."
Couldn’t hold it in anymore, huh? Lu Sicheng stuffed his hands into his pockets and lazily replied, "Black."
"......"
"Satisfied?"
Lu Sicheng walked down the stairs, passing by Tong Yao without even glancing at her—but to Da Bing, the man was like a moving fish treat. Seeing him, Da Bing abandoned the cat teaser and immediately trotted after Lu Sicheng’s feet.
Tong Yao sat on the sofa, watching as the man took yogurt from the fridge, drank a couple of mouthfuls, then tossed it into the microwave for two seconds. After tearing off the lid, he bent down and placed the nearly empty yogurt container on the floor—Da Bing shamelessly pounced on it. If it were a dog, Tong Yao suspected its tail would’ve already wagged off by now.
"Li Huanshuo will be coming to today’s match," Lu Sicheng suddenly said while watching the cat and the yogurt.
"Who?"
"Kun."
"What’s he coming for?"
"Still stubbornly trying to see if we’re really together. If he finds out the truth isn’t what he thinks, you can look forward to becoming his eighteenth concubine."
"Eighteenth...... He seems like a good kid."
"You said it yourself—seems." Lu Sicheng glanced at the person on the sofa. "Back in Korea, he changed girlfriends more often than underwear. But because he never dated fans and was a top-tier actor, no one really heard much about it."
"You know him that well?"
"When I was in TAT, he was already a trainee there—not like the rumors say that he joined after I left. So technically, I’m his senior. That’s also why he wouldn’t dare make a move on someone I’m involved with—that’s why I said what I did the other day.""Oh," Tong Yao felt a bit convinced, "but if you had to make up such a terrifying reason, you could've at least given me a heads-up first."
"With your timid kitten nature, if I warned you, you'd have come clawing for my phone right away. Then you'd keep getting sweet-talked by Huanshuo, fall deeper, and eventually become his eighteenth concubine—"
"Alright, alright, enough!" Tong Yao raised her hands to cover her ears. "I get it, I get it!"
Lu Sicheng gave a satisfied "hmm" and took a bite of a bread he'd somehow dug out from the kitchen...
There was still some time before they had to leave for the competition venue. Taking advantage of the fact that the others weren't awake yet, Tong Yao and Lu Sicheng played a few Ranked Games together to warm up. By noon, the rest of the team had gradually woken up, and the headquarters became lively again—
As they discussed their upcoming opponents, Storm Team, everyone boarded the bus and found their seats. Tong Yao, looking down at her phone, received a text from HUAWEI Team's Jungler: [No match today, but I'll come watch you, sis. Good luck in the match o( ////_//// )q]. She marveled at how well this kid had learned Chinese when she overheard Lu Yue talking to Lu Sicheng behind her: "Is that woman really coming today? Are you seriously going out to eat with her after the match?"
Tong Yao's attention was immediately caught. She looked up from WeChat and turned around, her gaze meeting Lu Sicheng's.
"Yeah, I told her I had other plans after the match and couldn't have dinner with her... She said she'd already bought the tickets and still wanted to come watch," Lu Sicheng said, averting his eyes first.
"What other plans do you have?"
"If you're not planning to be with her, why agree to dinner in the first place?"
"I just don't get why you're so stubborn," Lu Yue stretched his legs. "That girl is pretty, and most importantly, your heights match perfectly—"
"If you like her so much, have Mom introduce her to you."
Lu Sicheng put on his headphones, clearly unwilling to say another word. Lu Yue, left hanging, rubbed his nose and turned to see Tong Yao staring at them eagerly. He smiled: "My brother's blind date insisted on coming to watch the match."
Tong Yao let out an "oh," thinking maybe she should introduce Kun to her—two people with too much free time would make a perfect pair... Then she suddenly realized something was off and bit her finger as she turned back around: she found her thoughts at this moment were as evil as those of a villainess in a Korean drama.
...This wasn't right.
...
An hour later, amidst Tong Yao's inner turmoil, ZGDX Team arrived at the competition venue.
After getting her makeup done and taking her seat on the stage, Tong Yao spotted HUAWEI Team's Jungler in the audience—he was sitting in the first row on ZGDX's fan side. Many fans around him looked dreamy, as if they couldn't believe their luck, except for one girl with a large bouquet at her feet who was busy playing on her phone. Everyone else was secretly taking close-up photos with their phones—
Li Huanshuo himself seemed either unaware or used to it, quietly playing on his phone.
Soon, Tong Yao's phone on the table lit up—
[Kun: Sis, I'm in the first row! Can you see me?]
[Kun: I see you! ( ^_^ )]Tong Yao put down her phone and tilted her head to peek from behind the computer screen. At the same time, Li Huanshuo also looked up, flashing a bright smile toward the stage... Tong Yao thought that even out of politeness, she should return the greeting—especially since the kid’s smile was just too adorable. But before she could react, a large hand reached out from beside her, grabbed her head, and forcibly turned it away.
She found herself staring into a pair of deep brown eyes.
"If you keep making eyes at him like that, next time you might have to French kiss me in front of him just to dispel his weird ideas."
"I wasn’t making eyes at him."
"Do you think I’m blind?"
"..." Tong Yao paused. "Got it. Now let go of my head."
"No. Huanshuo’s still watching."
"...Cheng Ge."
"What?"
"What’s the deal with that blind date of yours?"
"No deal. I turned her down, but she’s still stubbornly trying—she doesn’t even know what esports is, so what’s the point?"
"...People look for boyfriends, not jobs. Why would she need to know about esports?"
"Because I’m capricious." Lu Sicheng said with a straight face.
Tong Yao burst out laughing. "You rejected her but still added her on WeChat? Scum."
The hand on her head pressed down slightly harder. "Lu Yue added her."
Lu Sicheng answered Tong Yao’s questions succinctly, occasionally lowering his head. From a distance, anyone who couldn’t hear their conversation would assume they were being intimate. To Li Huanshuo, however, it looked more like Lu Sicheng was deliberately asserting dominance. He frowned... until about ten seconds later, when Lu Sicheng muttered "Alright" and finally released Tong Yao, then picked up his phone to glance at it.
[Kun: Bro, might as well pee on her like a dog to mark your territory! QAQ]
[fhdjwhdb2333: You wanna die, talking to your brother like that?]
After casually replying to Li Huanshuo’s tearful accusation, Lu Sicheng turned to Little Fatty and spoke as if nothing had happened.
Little Fatty: "What were you whispering about with Smiling?"
Lu Sicheng: "She wanted to pick Yasuo. I asked if she still wanted to see tomorrow’s sun."
Little Fatty: "..."
Tong Yao: "..."
Thus, in the first match against Storm, Tong Yao—burdened with the stigma of "This person’s getting cocky, she wants to pick Yasuo"—chose Leblanc instead. Maintaining perfect form, she and Lu Sicheng both popped off, securing a smooth victory in the first game and clearing her name.
The match lasted thirty-eight minutes.
Taking off her headphones and standing up, Tong Yao habitually glanced at the audience seats. Li Huanshuo was still sitting obediently, head bowed as he played on his phone. But the girl who had been sitting beside him earlier, with a large bouquet at her feet, was now gone...
Tong Yao raised an eyebrow but didn’t dwell on it, following her teammates toward the break room. Lu Sicheng pulled out his phone, presumably texting Li Huanshuo... Tong Yao tiptoed but couldn’t read Korean. However, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the girl who should’ve been in the audience standing at the end of the player tunnel, holding that same bouquet. As Lu Sicheng approached, she smiled brightly at him.Tong Yao froze for a moment, taking three seconds to process who this person might be.
By the fourth second, she began recalling what a villainous female lead in a Korean drama would do in this situation.
By the fifth second, before she could stop herself, her body reacted faster than her brain—she reached out and grabbed the sleeve of the man walking ahead of her, who was engrossed in his phone.
By the sixth second, Lu Sicheng stopped and turned to look at her with utter confusion.
By the seventh second, Tong Yao tugged lightly at his sleeve. As he leaned down to ask, "What are you doing?" she rose onto her tiptoes, gently brushed her fingers under his eyes, and blew a soft breath.
Lu Sicheng: "?"
Tong Yao released him, took a step back, and smiled calmly. "There was an eyelash here."
She flicked her fingertips.
Lu Sicheng: "...Oh."
When the man turned around again, he finally noticed the person standing behind him holding flowers. The moment he shifted, Tong Yao clearly saw the smile on that person's face had changed from before... Meanwhile, the smile on Tong Yao's face—along with her earlier "calm composure"—had vanished without a trace. She slipped into the players' lounge like an eel, plopped into a chair, and slid all the way to the corner, pressing her forehead against the wall—
[ZGDX、Smiling: Help help help!!!!!! I suddenly had this weird, evil, and malicious thought about someone I've never met before... and immediately acted on it in the worst way possible!!!!! Ah!!!!!!!!]
[A Mao's Mom: ?]
[A Mao's Mom: Oh, welcome to the adult world.]
[ZGDX、Smiling: Adult world my ass! It was so stupid, like a stray dog secretly peeing on a lamppost that doesn’t belong to it...]
[A Mao's Mom: Silly child, that’s called biological instinct.]
[A Mao's Mom: By the way, which lamppost did you "pee" on? The one at the entrance of Lu Village?]
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