Tong Yao sat cross-legged on the sofa, staring at Lu Sicheng.
Lu Sicheng slightly distanced himself from her but still kept one hand on the armrest of her seat, his expression unreadable as he looked at her.
"...To be honest," Tong Yao met Lu Sicheng's gaze and said truthfully, "when you look at me like this, I can't think of anything. If you keep staring, I won't even remember my ID number."
Lu Sicheng: "..."
Lu Sicheng lowered his eyes, released the armrest, and took two big steps back. "Six minutes and forty seconds."
Tong Yao: "One question: in what capacity and from what standpoint are you asking this?"
Lu Sicheng: "Your captain, your boss, your teammate, or just some random stray cat or dog on the street—six minutes and thirty seconds. I want an answer that can convince everyone, not some sweet talk to brush me off. Be as honest as you were yesterday when you were spouting nonsense in your live stream's notepad."
Tong Yao: "…………………………………………"
So he did see it.
Lu Sicheng: "Six minutes and twenty seconds."
Tong Yao: "Stop counting down! Give me some time! Give me a hint—you're catching me off guard like this. How am I supposed to convince you?"
Lu Sicheng paused. "Start from your actions that day."
Tong Yao: "I hit someone."
Lu Sicheng nodded, then spoke after a moment of thought: "EDG's jungler Nuoyan was called out as a 'toxic player' from S2 until today because he flamed others in Ranked Games before going pro, saying things like 'Your mom's dead, I'm your dad,' and during his early pro days, he mocked other players with 'You're so bad, why play pro? Go home and raise pigs instead'—now, five years later, even if he streams ten hours a day, he doesn’t curse more than twenty words or flame in chat, yet he still can’t clear his name. LGD's Mid Laner GodV won the LPL Summer Split championship one year, but before prepping for the S Series World Championship, he slacked off in training, messed around in Ranked Games, and even switched to playing Moonlight Blade. In the end, his team collapsed in the S Series, and his infamous Reverse Q skill is still mocked to this day. Everyone says he deserved it for being arrogant. Even though a year later, his attitude completely changed—he became low-key, restrained, and serious—he still can’t clear his name."
Lu Sicheng: "Thoughts?"
Tong Yao: "……………………………………Watch my words and actions."
Lu Sicheng nodded. "So what did I remind you on the plane before the incident?"
Tong Yao: "……………………………………Watch my words and actions, and that a pro player’s behavior is easily magnified and can even affect their career—don’t create unnecessary drama."
Lu Sicheng: "Where did that go?"
Tong Yao lowered her head. "The back of my head."
Lu Sicheng stepped back, leaning against the edge of the table with his arms crossed. "Continue."
Tong Yao: "Mm.""During yesterday's scrims at three minutes and fifty-seven seconds, Lu Yue was solo killed, then remained suppressed until late-game team fights without gaining any significant advantage—specifically, at five minutes thirty-seven seconds, seven minutes forty-nine seconds, and twelve minutes eleven seconds, Old K attempted to gank mid three times, all of which failed because Lu Yue habitually pushed the wave and retreated under our own turret while the enemy mid laner maintained high alertness," Lu Sicheng glanced at his watch before continuing, "In today's match, just now at twenty-seven minutes eleven seconds during the Elemental Drake fight, after Old K stole the drake, we had four members against their five. With their AD being crushed early game and our item advantage, a 4v5 shouldn’t have been an issue. When the enemy retreated, we chased—but Lu Yue didn’t follow up, instead flying top to farm the second turret’s minion wave. Suddenly, we were down to three, got counter-engaged, and gave up a triple kill. Their crippled AD nearly carried a reverse sweep. This was against Red Arrow. If it were CK or a bunch of noobs, we would’ve lost."
Lu Sicheng: "Thoughts?"
"Our coordination was off."
"Why was the coordination off?"
"..."
"Because in scrims, you prefer to pressure the enemy mid under their turret, so Old K trained himself to habitually counter-gank their jungler for you. Lu Yue’s playstyle threw him off. Because after that drake fight, if it were you, you’d instantly judge to chase for kills, so the team didn’t hesitate to engage—"
"..."
"Why?"
"Habitual synergy."
"Where did this habit come from?"
"Daily scrims and Ranked Games duo queue."
Tong Yao answered smoothly, suddenly realizing something—only to hear Lu Sicheng retort: "The team and your teammates adapted to you. Why don’t you take responsibility?"
"..."
"Do you still think the suspension is just your own problem? That because you were punished for your mistake, it should be over? Sitting backstage watching your teammates play—did it occur to you that they’re being punished too? They had to treat all their training with you as wasted effort and start adapting from scratch." As he spoke, Lu Sicheng pulled out a cigarette, about to light it, but paused when his gaze landed on Tong Yao. He snapped the unlit cigarette in half and tossed it away. "One suspension, no remorse; a second reckless offense, another suspension—how can the team rely on you? Should you even join scrims? Should anyone queue with you in ranked? Should the team keep adjusting their style to accommodate you? After all, there’s no shortage of skilled players. Plenty with solid mechanics are waiting for their chance..."
Tong Yao: "..."
Lu Sicheng: "Do we keep using you, switch to Lu Yue, or recruit a new mid laner?"
Tong Yao twisted her fingers, deep in thought.
Lu Sicheng glanced at her: "Lu Yue’s impulsive actions got him suspended for a season, costing Ming Shen and the entire team their shot at the S Series Finals—he came back with his tail between his legs. His teammates chose to forgive him, but you can ask him: has he forgiven himself yet?"
He paused: "Thoughts."Tong Yao’s head was bowed so low her chin nearly touched her chest. “League of Legends is a team game. In esports, there are no individual heroes.”
Lu Sicheng gave a faint “Mm” and checked the schedule again. “You have three minutes left.”
Tong Yao’s head snapped up.
“In three minutes, I want to hear your decision—like I said, I don’t care what outsiders say. All I care about is how you see yourself: continue or give up? Professional competition isn’t a place for play or whims. A player’s career is short, and their golden peak is fleeting—”
Lu Sicheng’s gaze turned sharp. “You can’t afford to waste yourself, nor can you hold others back.”
“And I have a responsibility to my team, kid,” Lu Sicheng said coolly. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I know this—ZGDX Team, as a top-tier professional team, brought you here to compete. Some in this circle might treat you differently because you’re a girl—look down on you, discriminate against you, idolize you, or pity you. But I won’t. Once you put on the team jersey, you have only one identity to me, regardless of gender: teammate.”
“...”
Tong Yao bit her lower lip hard.
Her heart, which had sunk into the depths of the ocean, suddenly jolted back to life with a fierce “thump,” catching her completely off guard—
She looked up at Lu Sicheng.
Lu Sicheng leaned against the desk, silently meeting her gaze.
For a long moment, the break room was steeped in silence—until, after what felt like an eternity, footsteps sounded outside. Someone tried the doorknob but found it locked. Only then did Tong Yao realize Lu Sicheng had locked the door when he came in… Xiao Rui knocked and called out, “Cheng Ge?” Lu Sicheng ignored him, tilting his head slightly as he kept his eyes on Tong Yao.
Thirty seconds later.
He said succinctly, “Time’s up,” straightened from the desk, and gave her a brief glance. “Seems you have nothing to say to me.”
With that, he turned to leave.
But just then, a loud “thud” came from behind him, like something heavy had fallen from a chair. His steps faltered, and as he started to turn, the person behind him stumbled forward, crashing into his back. In her urgency, she grabbed his right hand with both of hers—
Her hands were cold.
Lu Sicheng’s pupils contracted slightly, but he didn’t speak. His expression barely changed as he glanced down. From his angle, he could see the delicate curve of her nose and the way her fingers tightened around his hand—
“I don’t know how to say pretty words, and I don’t want to apologize pointlessly…”
The person holding his hand kept her head lowered, her voice hoarse.
“All I know is that I want to win—to win every match with all of you, to never miss a single game, to never let you down again, to never be a burden to anyone. I want to be your teammate, until one day we stand together at the top of the world—where both you and I want to be…”
Tong Yao’s eyes were red, her throat tight.
But she didn’t cry.
Her gaze was bright, but the only thing echoing in her mind was Lu Sicheng’s words—
[Once you put on the team jersey, you have only one identity to me, regardless of gender: teammate.]
She wanted to be his teammate.Wanting to become their teammate.
Even if one day she had to learn to smooth out her edges, then so be it—
"You must feel wronged too, clearly you were defending your teammates, so why are you being treated like this."
The voice from above interrupted Tong Yao's thoughts. She froze slightly, raising her head to meet those deep brown eyes—stripped of their usual indifference, that deep brown had softened into something as gentle as chocolate.
"Everyone is grateful for your defense, which is why Little Fatty and the others didn't hesitate to play that game in the end—just to provide some usable evidence to reduce the backlash against you." Lu Sicheng paused, then slowly added under Tong Yao's gaze, "And me, I'm also very grateful for your defense."
"..."
"No one is asking you to dull your edges, little girl. You just need to understand—before you start protecting others, you must first learn to protect yourself."
"When will I know I can protect myself?"
"When you're strong enough that no one can knock you down."
Tong Yao fell silent, frowning slightly as if somewhat confused.
At that moment, Xiao Rui started banging on the door outside, urging them to hurry. The man raised his hand and patted her head reassuringly, but didn't pull his hand from hers until Tong Yao released him. He then muttered softly, "Time for the match," and took two steps forward—
Only to be grabbed by Tong Yao again.
He turned back.
"Cheng Ge, are you that kind of person?"
"What?"
"Strong enough that no one can knock you down?"
Lu Sicheng was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head: "No, I'm not. There are times when I hesitate and don't know what to do either."
Tong Yao: "?"
Tong Yao let go of him. Lu Sicheng's hand grasped the doorknob, unlocking it with a soft "click." Just as he was about to pull the door open, Tong Yao stood with her hands behind her back and called out, "Cheng Ge."
"?"
"One last question."
"Ask."
"These past two days, why have you been ignoring me? Just because you were angry? Or was there another reason?"
"..."
Lu Sicheng pulled open the door. Amid Xiao Rui's grumbling complaints and urging, he thought for a moment, then tossed out five words that left Xiao Rui utterly bewildered before stepping out and closing the door.
Leaving Tong Yao alone in the break room, lost in thought for a long time.
His answer was: Because it would make me soften.
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