Clearly, they could have simply snatched him up yet they had to go through the trouble of dressing it up as “human trafficking.”
Yi Xingran also felt that LCK must have gone completely broke with how shamelessly they were squeezing every last bit of money out of him but after thinking about it for a moment, he suddenly felt that this seemed to be his own price after all. He reached up and grabbed a handful of the wispy strands of hair falling over his eyes.
“……Don’t you have your own legal team?”
That was how it always happened on television. Those wealthy conglomerates and publicly listed companies were always throwing around phrases like “our company’s legal department.” It was obviously pretentious but somehow it sounded inexplicably cool. He figured TheX should have one too.
Pei Du narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the expression on Yi Xingran’s face.
Yi Xingran waited for an answer that did not come. He tilted his head back slightly and a tiny tuft of pink hair sprang up at his temple.
“No way…… You’re such a huge team. Don’t tell me you don’t even have one?”
Beneath those wispy strands of pale pink hair, his clear, watery eyes shimmered with tiny flecks of light.
Yi Xingran had fair skin and even the color of his irises was light. Whenever he looked directly at someone, his eyes were bright and limpid, like a clear, lustrous piece of amber, translucent and gleaming.
Pei Du’s Adam’s apple shifted slightly.
“We do.”
Slow and unhurried, as though even a single word had to be carefully brewed in his throat for half a moment before he was willing to let it out.
Yi Xingran gave him a strange look. Then he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the contract, which had been rolled tightly into a cylinder. He spread it across the tabletop and spent quite some time trying to flatten it but the paper simply refused to cooperate. All four corners kept curling back up in different directions, looking exactly like the unruly mess of hair on its owner’s head.
“Oh, then let me borrow them for a bit. I think there’s something wrong with my contract and this too……”
Yi Xingran spoke rather quickly. As he was talking, he suddenly lifted the hem of his jacket again and reached behind himself, pulling a small stack of thin documents from the back pocket of his pants and pressing them down on top of the already hopelessly curled contract.
The crumpled papers piled messily together, supplementary agreements, commercial contracts…… Pei Du only glanced over them roughly a few times but the clauses listed inside could practically be described as tyrannical terms designed entirely to take advantage of him.
In the corner of each document was Yi Xingran’s signature.
The handwriting was crooked and lopsided, looking even worse than a primary school student’s.
Pei Du really could not hold back any longer. He turned his head and looked at him.
“When you signed these contracts, did you not even look at them once?”
“I did. I just couldn’t understand them.”
Dizzy, dizzy.
Yi Xingran lowered his head. Beneath his pale pink fringe, a small section of his fair, slender neck was exposed. He tried to take another couple of serious looks at the documents in front of him…… Tsk. There were way too many words. Just looking at them made him dizzy.
“Forget it.” He squeezed his eyes shut and swiftly pushed everything in front of him toward them. “Here, my contract of indenture. Take a look and see if you can find any loopholes. Maybe buying me can be even cheaper.”
Manager Qian’s eyes lit up the moment he heard that.
“Leave it to me!”
He was a master at calculating stacked discounts whenever there was a major shopping sale, an expert at squeezing every last bit of wool from the capitalists. He could even manipulate Taobao until it was completely at his mercy. How could he possibly be afraid of something as trivial as Sun Sheng?
“Not compliant, not compliant…… This clause too, oh my god, baby! Is this a contract that grew out of bugs?”
Before long, Manager Qian, together with the legal department, had sorted out nearly one hundred and eight unreasonable provisions. Yi Xingran did not even manage to listen to more than a few of them before he became so sleepy that his head began bobbing up and down like a little chick pecking at grains.
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, so…… sue them?”
Pei Du glanced sideways at the pink head beside him, silently closed his eyes and opened them again. Then he got to his feet and raised a hand, lightly tapping it against the tabletop.
The movement startled Yi Xingran awake for a brief moment. Looking at the person who had suddenly risen beside him, his gaze followed the lines of that arm all the way upward. Inwardly, he wondered what this man had grown up eating. How could someone be so tall and long-limbed? Even the fingers hanging loosely at his side were slender and elegant.
“Where are you going? Are we not having the meeting anymore?”
Pei Du lowered his eyes and looked down at him. “If we keep going, will you understand any of it?”
?
Was that a provocation?
Yi Xingran immediately straightened his head with a snap. He thought about it for a moment, then quickly gave up.
“I don’t understand. Otherwise, let’s just pay the eighty million.”
Yi Xingran cupped his face in both hands, his fingertips pressing lightly against his cheeks. His eyes darted left and right, looking exactly like the kind of student who found everything interesting during class yet somehow could never manage to listen seriously to the lesson.
Pei Du’s lips twitched faintly.
“You haven’t even played the trial match yet. How do you know you’re really worth that much?”
The moment Yi Xingran heard the word “game,” he immediately became interested. His expression turned cold as he shot to his feet in an instant,
What a joke. He had been unable to sit still for ages, okay?
He planted one hand firmly on the tabletop and leaned his body forward. Even without smiling, those peach-blossom eyes seemed to carry a hint of a smile. His long eyelashes were thick and naturally curled, casting a small patch of shadow at the outer corners of his eyes, while their innate, seductive curve made them look as though they were teasing whoever happened to meet his gaze.
The face in front of him suddenly enlarged.
They were close enough that the fine, almost invisible hairs on his cheek could be seen clearly. Beneath his pale, almost bluish-white eyes, his lower eyelids were moist and faintly reddened, with a crystalline sheen of tears gathered there from drowsiness.
“I don’t need to talk about my historical records. Whether I’m worth it or not, how about we settle it with one match?”
Light.
Pei Du came to a stop, his body leaning back ever so slightly. Yi Xingran approached with an almost aggressively imposing posture, tiny sparks of fire seemingly burning within his eyes.
That beautiful face, softened by its delicate features and thereby diminishing some of its natural aggressiveness, was almost dangerously deceptive. Beneath that stunning beauty and unconcealed arrogance, there was still an unmistakably unyielding soul.
Pei Du remained silent.
Yi Xingran decided that he must be afraid.
After all, what poor little mid-laner wouldn’t be terrified of a frightening assassin who appeared and disappeared without warning, one who could gank you to death before you even had the chance to react?
His very existence was enough to make fragile, squishy carries tremble in fear.
“One day, you’ll realize that signing me was the best decision you ever made in your professional career.”
Yi Xingran lifted his chin and reached out, patting Pei Du lightly on the shoulder.
“Isn’t what TheX needs most right now a tempo-oriented jungler?”
Pei Du lowered his eyes. His expressionless cheek seemed to twitch ever so slightly.
He brushed Yi Xingran’s hand away and narrowed his eyes slightly.
“No. Not TheX.”
Yi Xingran thought to himself, Bro, stop pretending.
But before he could say it aloud, the wrist of the hand that had just been brushed aside was suddenly caught by a pair of long, slender fingers and pressed down against the edge of the table.
Pei Du leaned in, taking the initiative and turning the tables completely. The corners of his lips curved upward ever so slightly.
“It’s Cross who needs you.”
Coach Zheng pushed the door open at that moment. “Most of the players aren’t at the base during the off-season, so let’s have a few players from the second team fill in for now. Get things sorted out and prepare for the trial, what are you two doing?”
Pei Du gave Yi Xingran’s right wrist a brief squeeze before letting go. As he moved away, he really could not help himself. He raised a hand and pressed down the little tuft of messy hair sticking up at Yi Xingran’s temple.
Yi Xingran: “?”
“His data is indeed quite good. He dares to make plays, dares to initiate team fights and he has plenty of ideas of his own. Those are all his strengths; but at the same time, once he gets onto the competitive stage, those same qualities could very well become our weaknesses…….
After Coach Zheng finished discussing things with the data analyst, he handed the tablet to Pei Du. Displayed on it was Yi Xingran’s trial-match footage.
Coach Zheng had his own considerations as well. TheX’s current starting jungler was Park Seok-ho. After spending an entire season playing together, he had already adapted to the team’s style and he was also a Korean import player who had been signed for a high price.
When they had signed him back then, the team had given him quite a few preferential terms. For example, his contract explicitly guaranteed that his starting position would not be subject to the team’s internal promotion-and-demotion assessment.
In other words, unless he committed some serious offense, the team had no grounds whatsoever to strip him of his starting position or restrict the number of matches he was allowed to participate in.
His overall strength was excellent, he had extensive experience in major tournaments and he had already won quite a few awards. There would not be many opportunities for a substitute to take the starting position.
Yi Xingran, meanwhile, had no intention of changing positions either. He was still young, having only just made his professional debut. No one would want to spend this particular period of their career sitting backstage and watching from the sidelines, waiting for a chance to play.
“Since LCK can’t keep hold of him, my thought is that we could sign him first and put him on the second team. Let him gain experience there for a year and then we can consider promoting him depending on how things go,” Coach Zheng said.
Coach Zheng had thought things through rather carefully. “At least he’ll have the secondary league to play in, so he won’t have to spend a long period of time sitting idle without any matches. We can treat it as an opportunity for him to accumulate more competitive experience first. It’ll benefit him in terms of both his mentality and his ability to withstand pressure…… Otherwise, we can’t exactly let him spend the years when he’s at his peak simply waiting for someone else to retire, can we?”
“No need.”
Pei Du rubbed his fingertips together, the corner of his lips curling into a faint, cold arc.
He could not wait that long.
Some people had been sitting far too comfortably in the starting position, occupying the spot without actually contributing what they should. It was time to make a change.
Coach Zheng looked up in confusion. “No need for what?”
Pei Du said coolly, “I remember Park Seok-ho’s contract is almost up, isn’t it?”
“……You’re planning to replace him and put a rookie who just made his professional debut into the starting lineup?”
Seeing that Pei Du had more or less tacitly acknowledged it, Coach Zheng was stunned for a moment. He abruptly rose to his feet and refused in a stern voice, “No! That’s too crazy! Absolutely impossible!”
The door to the training room opened.
Yi Xingran was sprawled lazily in an esports chair, idly fiddling with his phone as he spun himself around in circles. When he heard the commotion, he slammed one foot against the floor to brake, stopping himself abruptly. With his head of messy pink hair sticking out in every direction, he raised his eyes and looked over.
Coach Zheng’s expression was solemn but Pei Du seemed remarkably relaxed. He wore that aloof, unconcerned air of someone who had nothing to do with the matter, lowering his eyes from his superior height as he asked, “Well-behaved, quiet, good at the game, follows orders and doesn’t cause trouble?”
Yi Xingran drew in a deep breath and answered in a muffled voice, “Mm.”
Pei Du pressed down the corner of his lips. “Do you want a starting position on the second team? Or, ”
He noticed a trace of impatience flash through those peach-blossom eyes and even Yi Xingran’s brows had drawn together slightly. He paused for a moment before adding, “The first team still has one substitute spot. Would you be willing to take it?”
Yi Xingran raised his brows and stared directly at him. “How long until I can become a starter?”
There was a certain arrogance to that question. If there had been anyone else present, they probably would have scoffed outright upon hearing it.
Who was Park Seok-ho, after all?
Apart from Pei Du, he was the highest-paid player on TheX. There were countless talented rookies from the second team and the youth academy watching the first-team positions with barely concealed eagerness, all of them desperate for a chance to move up. Being given even a substitute position was already an enormous honor.
Yet this pink-haired guy had opened his mouth and immediately asked to replace Park Seok-ho.
What made him think he could?
Was it because he had been lucky enough to catch LCK’s attention and receive a starting position immediately after coming out of the youth academy and then accidentally stumbled his way into a runner-up finish during the Spring Split?
Ridiculous.
It wasn’t like he had even won the championship.
“One year.”
Pei Du spoke calmly. “At most one year. If, during that period, our player Park Seok-ho is unable to participate in a match because of circumstances beyond his control, you can take his position at any time.”
Yi Xingran thought of the upcoming MSI.
In the final match, Park Seok-ho had once made a mistake that should never have happened. It had caused them to lose the Dragon Soul, after which he was the first to be killed. With TheX forced to fight the ensuing team battle one player down, they were gradually picked apart one by one and the fifty-minute-long battle ultimately ended in defeat.
Perhaps he would not even need to wait a whole year…….
Yi Xingran thought it over for a moment.
He figured that although this arrogant mid-laner king was rather insufferable, his reputation preceded him and his character was actually decent enough. He reached up and grabbed a handful of his hair, feeling that perhaps he was a gambler at heart too.
After that, he did not hesitate any longer and simply answered, “Fine!”
A substitute was a substitute. At worst, he would just change which backstage area he sat in and continue watching the water cooler from there. Either way, it was still better than rotting away at LCK!
Pei Du narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied Yi Xingran’s expression.
But all he saw was those peach-blossom eyes curving slightly, the corners lifting into a somewhat sly arc.
“However, I need to know first, what kind of treatment can I get as a substitute on your first team?”
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator has been bribed with exactly zero coffees so far. Fix this. 😭
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Fire the hole!Chapter 2 · Dude, I’m here to save youChapter 3 · Plaster HeadChapter 4 · I’m well behaved, I don’t talk muchChapter 5 · It’s what Cross needsChapter 6 · What are you barking like a dog?Chapter 7 · “Ah! It’s so… so damn cold~”Chapter 8 · What are you looking at, you pervert!Chapter 9 · The cat I bought for free got dirty.Chapter 10 · Oh no! I forgot to switch to a smaller account!Chapter 11 · It’s my turn to performChapter 12 · Insults? That’s slander! This is slander!Chapter 13 · He’s a very nice personChapter 14 · Hunting TimeChapter 15 · A straight man sells himselfChapter 16 · The number one person who doesn’t eat stressChapter 17 · He is so vividChapter 18 · War! War! War! Kill! Kill!Chapter 19 Part 1 · What’s wrong with guys rubbing against each other?Chapter 19 Part 2 · What’s wrong with guys rubbing against each other?