Two nights before the qualifiers.
Inside the largest CBD shopping mall in Suzhou.
Yan Shu wore casual attire, keeping his head down as he waited for someone near the mall entrance.
With the qualifiers only two days away, the club had granted a two-day leave to allow the first team to reach their optimal pre-match condition. Had it not been for this short window, Yan Shu would not even have had the time to catch up with old friends after returning to Suzhou.
“Xiao Shu.” Xu Kanan approached from a distance, calling out and smiling before he even reached him.
Yan Shu lifted his head, spotting his childhood friend dressed in a sharp suit.
“Kanan.”
“Why did you stop calling me Brother Nan? You used to follow me around calling me that every day when we were kids.” Shaking off his elite persona, Xu Kanan leaned in slightly and threw an arm around Yan Shu. Just like the old days, he rested his weight on Yan Shu’s back, pressing his chin against Yan Shu’s shoulder.
Yan Shu’s body grew slightly tense, lacking the lively ease of the past. Even so, seeing his childhood friend genuinely lifted his spirits.
“Brother Nan.”
When Yan Shu relaxed, his voice carried the soft, sweet cadence unique to the Jiangnan region. Combined with his naturally pleasant tone, that single greeting went straight to the heart.
“You have to admit, that voice of yours hits harder than my girlfriend’s,” Xu Kanan grinned with satisfaction, shifting half his weight onto Yan Shu’s shoulder. “Come on, are we still going for skewers? A skewered meat spot opened on the top floor, and it is supposed to be quite unique.”
“Sure, anything is fine.”
After walking a few steps, Xu Kanan found it hard to bear his taciturn friend’s quiet nature. His expression suddenly turned serious, and his voice dropped to a graver tone. “Xiao Shu, are you still blaming me?”
“Huh?” Yan Shu turned his head, looking into Xu Kanan’s handsome features. He recalled the days when scandals filled the headlines, a time when Xu Kanan had blamed himself so severely that he slapped his own face hard.
Xu Kanan was the owner of the Python team and the other protagonist in the surveillance footage. Yet, due to a moment of negligence, malicious individuals within the club had exploited edited surveillance clips to frame Yan Shu in a match-fixing scandal.
“Xiao Shu, I’m sorry.” Xu Kanan had apologized repeatedly back then, and meeting again four years later, he still chose to apologize.
“I don’t blame you. I never blamed you back then.” Yan Shu shook his head. “It is all in the past, let’s not talk about it.”
“Alright.”
The restaurant was located on a very high floor, but because Yan Shu’s psychological state prevented him from entering the enclosed direct elevator, Xu Kanan accompanied him as they walked up the steps level by level.
To lighten the mood, Xu Kanan took the initiative to start a conversation. “My uncle told me Zhuoyue asked you to join the first team as a substitute support?”
“Yeah, that’s right.” Yan Shu liked to dodge crowds when walking, so even a short distance took a long time to cover.
Xu Kanan clicked his tongue. “Zhuoyue acts like he owns the world. For someone of your caliber to be a substitute support? Is he out of his mind?”
“You know how it is. Not many people believe in me. Letting me join the first team at all is already a big step up,” Yan Shu gave a faint smile.
Xu Kanan said with helpless resignation, “I’d love for you to come to my team, but you know the other shareholders wouldn’t agree. Xiao Shu, if you really can’t survive at the SR club, come to my team.”
“Brother Nan, you know that’s impossible. If I didn’t go to your team back then, I certainly can’t go now.” Yan Shu put on a carefree expression. “As long as I can keep playing matches, I can accept any situation.”
Xu Kanan fell silent. Lowering his gaze to look at Yan Shu’s downcast demeanor, he smoothly shifted the conversation.
Throughout the walk and the meal, the two chatted about many things. Especially regarding Yan Shu’s four years abroad, a period where Xu Kanan had been too busy managing his team to maintain regular contact. Yan Shu glossed over those four years in a few light, casual sentences. Xu Kanan, on the other hand, kept digging for gossip.
“I heard that your former teammate…” Xu Kanan abruptly clamped his mouth shut, realizing he had accidentally drifted into TW team gossip.
Yan Shu didn’t mind all that much. “The vice captain got into a relationship, right?”
“You knew about that?” Xu Kanan looked surprised. “Are you guys still in touch?”
Yan Shu continued eating as he replied, “Brother Nan, I use the internet too, you know.”
“Right, right. Eat more, look how skinny you’ve gotten.” Xu Kanan piled all the newly grilled meat skewers onto Yan Shu’s plate.
Yan Shu wasn’t reserved when eating with familiar people; he ate whatever was placed on his plate without picking at his food. Most people eating barbecue here wore casual clothes, but looking at Xu Kanan in a full formal suit handing him skewers, Yan Shu felt his friend looked completely out of place in this environment.
“Your team has qualifiers coming up soon, right? Let me wish you success in advance.” Xu Kanan rolled up his shirt sleeves, lifted his cup, and gently tapped the glass next to Yan Shu’s hand.
Yan Shu nodded. “I don’t even know if I’ll get a chance to play.”
“Your team underwent a rebuild. If it were still the old first team, you’d have a direct ticket to the GPL,” Xu Kanan said vaguely. “Still, rookies are pretty good too. Rookie teams have an explosive drive, just like we did back in the day.”
With a few more casual words exchanged, Yan Shu had eaten his fill. Ever since he started taking medication for his psychological condition, his appetite had remained poor, and forcing down a small amount of food was enough to satisfy him.
Seeing his friend’s meager intake, Xu Kanan was about to scold him when his phone suddenly rang.
After finishing the call, Xu Kanan looked apologetic. “Xiao Shu, my team has an emergency, I have to head out. Sorry about this, dinner is definitely on me.”
“It’s fine, go handle your emergency,” Yan Shu waved goodbye.
“Alright. Xiao Shu, if anything comes up, just find me and I’ll help.” Xu Kanan grabbed his suit jacket and hurried off.
Once Xu Kanan left, Yan Shu prepared to head back to the club. Even without mandatory training, he refused to waste any pre-match time.
Following his usual route, Yan Shu headed toward the escalators, but within a few steps, he bumped straight into someone.
The first team happened to be holding a pre-match team-building dinner at the mall, and Luo Yan was the first to spot Yan Shu by himself.
“What kind of luck is this, how do we run into him here?” Luo Yan said with visible distaste.
Lin Qi awkwardly averted his gaze. “Uh, since we’re all here, wouldn’t it be bad not to invite him?”
Ye Xuanqing stayed silent, while Xu Ya nearby glanced toward the team captain.
Just as they were about to cross paths directly, Luo Yan had a flash of inspiration and stepped forward to block Yan Shu’s path.
Yan Shu halted his steps.
“Yan Shu, all alone?” Luo Yan looked past him, confirming there were no companions in sight. “Don’t tell me you’re out on a date with some secret lover?”
By this point, Zhuoyue was showing clear signs of impatience. Heading toward the reserved restaurant, he tossed a question back over his shoulder, “Are we eating or not?”
Aside from Luo Yan, the rest of the members followed behind Zhuoyue.
Determined to humiliate Yan Shu, Luo Yan pointed a finger toward the barbecue restaurant behind him. “Can you handle drinks? If you’re a man, come inside and show us whether you’re genuinely committed to joining our first team.”
Under the circumstances, Yan Shu could not easily walk away. Without overthinking it, he agreed straight away. “I’ll go.”
Ordinarily, the first team’s team-building events consisted simply of eating, drinking, and singing karaoke. Although this newly rebuilt roster lacked the familiarity of the previous veteran lineup, having trained together for a while, the atmosphere remained decent.
The moment Yan Shu joined the gathering, however, the table’s atmosphere turned subtle and strange.
Luo Yan clearly aimed to get Yan Shu drunk, and Xu Ya eagerly backed him up, joining in on the forced toasts.
By the second half of the dinner, Lin Qi couldn’t help asking Zhuoyue, “Captain, aren’t you going to rein them in?”
Zhuoyue took a couple of sips of beer from his glass. “I stay out of things like this. Do you take me for a nagging mother?”
“Still, look at Sanhu and Xu Ya barely drinking a drop, while Yan Shu has already chugged two bottles of beer and one bottle of liquor.” Seeing bottle after bottle disappear on the other side, Lin Qi felt his own stomach cramp up in sympathy.
Zhuoyue raised an eyebrow with a look of detached amusement. “Whoever gets drunk later, whoever made them drink is responsible for hauling them back.”
“Oh…” Lin Qi tilted his head back, quietly impressed by the captain’s hands-off policy.
Yan Shu was still a member of the first team after all, and leaving him abandoned here if he passed out was out of the question.
“Ghost Blade, I think our captain is genuinely ruthless,” Lin Qi whispered, pointing between himself and the other man. “You and I drank, the captain drank too, but Xu Ya and Sanhu barely touched their cups. Besides, look at who started the heavy pouring. Guess who’s going to suffer tonight.”
Ye Xuanqing gave a nod of agreement. “Those two are responsible for carrying him.”
As the gathering drew to a close, Yan Shu could only catch muffled snatches of sound, his vision blurring into a haze. He barely managed to prop his upper body up, leaning back against his chair for support.
Just as everyone prepared to head back to the base, the two instigators who had pushed the drinks made up excuses about staying home for the night and bolted. Lin Qi and Ye Xuanqing exchanged a glance, claimed they needed to use the restroom, and promptly vanished as well.
The private room that had housed six people moments ago now contained only a single drunkard and one unfortunate scapegoat.
A surge of irritation hit Zhuoyue directly in the head. He pulled out his phone to call the deserters back, but the cunning trio refused to answer their phones entirely.
“Hey, wake up.” Zhuoyue walked over to Yan Shu’s side.
Yan Shu squinted his eyes, unable to make out the person standing before him. His scrambled memories made him think he was still back at the TW club. Catching him completely off guard, Yan Shu beamed a defenseless smile, “Vice Captain.”
Zhuoyue rolled his eyes at the address, crouched down, and gave Yan Shu’s cheek a light slap. “I’m not your vice captain, get up.”
“For the next match, I want to… want to try playing a tank…” Feeling someone stroke his face, Yan Shu closed his eyes and leaned trustingly against that hand.
It was Zhuoyue’s first time seeing someone get drunk in such a manner. Recognizing his own bad luck, he grabbed Yan Shu by the arm, hauled him up, and hoisted him over his shoulder.
The moment they stepped out of the private room, a waiter intercepted them.
“Sir, please pay the bill.”
The staff member looked ready to panic in case they tried to dine and dash.
Zhuoyue’s phone was in his right pocket, but Yan Shu was pressing heavily against that entire side of his body.
“Tch.” Left with no other option if he wanted to settle the bill and leave quickly, Zhuoyue hoisted Yan Shu up in a fireman’s lift with one arm.
Fortunately, Yan Shu was feather-light, and carrying him took virtually no effort at all.
The female attendant stood frozen in dumbfounded shock, temporarily forgetting how to accept payment.
After paying the bill, Zhuoyue paused to consider the logistics of transporting Yan Shu back.
He could either drag him along the floor like before or carry him like this. After weighing his options, Zhuoyue concluded that carrying him horizontally was the most convenient method.
Stepping outside the restaurant, Zhuoyue instantly regretted his choice.
Here he was, a star professional esports player of the GPL, saddled with a completely unconscious drunkard.
Naturally, they ran into two female fans along the way.
The girls had rushed up hoping for a photo, but upon seeing Zhuoyue carrying someone over his shoulder, they hesitated before squeaking out, “Wind God, could we… could we get an autograph?”
Zhuoyue just wanted to escape the mall as fast as possible, so he took the pen from the fan and scribbled his name with one hand.
“Wind God, who is the player on your back?” another fan asked.
Yan Shu’s bangs were quite long, and coupled with the fact that he was draped face-down across Zhuoyue’s back, his facial features remained entirely obscured.
Even so, Zhuoyue remained cautious. He used his hand to shield Yan Shu’s face slightly and replied, “Just a rookie player. You girls should head back early, goodbye.”
Ever since joining the SR club, it was Zhuoyue’s first time experiencing such an embarrassing public encounter with fans.
To prevent any further run-ins with fans or media, Zhuoyue hailed a passing taxi the moment he hit the street and shoved the mumbling, intoxicated Yan Shu firmly into the back seat.
The driver glanced through the rearview mirror, watching Zhuoyue’s rough handling of the drunk passenger with deep suspicion. “You guys aren’t up to anything shady, are you?”
Zhuoyue let out a heavy breath. “SR Esports Club.”
Noticing Zhuoyue’s dark, gloomy expression, the driver wisely shut his mouth.
Dynamic music played through the car speakers the entire ride, as if the driver was trying to diffuse the strange atmosphere inside.
Upon arriving at the club gates, Zhuoyue dragged Yan Shu halfway out of the vehicle, catching the driver watching him out of the corner of his eye. With a sigh, his tone softened marginally. “Wake up, we’re here.”
Yan Shu let out a soft groan with zero intention of waking up.
Left with no alternatives, Zhuoyue opted for continued gentleness, scooping the man out of the car in a bridal carry.
The driver finally relaxed, collected the fare, and sped off into the night.
Watching the taillights fade, Zhuoyue weighed Yan Shu in his arms and ultimately maintained the bridal carry position as he hauled him back toward the dorms.
“Thud.”
Startled by the noise inside the dorm, Qi Le jumped, initially fearing a hot water flask had exploded.
Instead, the moment he turned his head, his eyes locked directly with the person entering the doorway.
“C-Captain Zhuo.” Qi Le had been feeling embarrassed about standing around shirtless, but upon spotting the person in Zhuoyue’s arms, he instantly forgot he was half-naked.
Staring straight ahead, Zhuoyue walked a few paces inside and deposited Yan Shu onto the bed.
The moment his head hit the pillow, Yan Shu fluttered his eyes open. Though his gaze remained hazy, he was at least conscious.
“Feigning drunkenness?” Zhuoyue frowned.
Grinning foolishly, Yan Shu reached out to wrap his arms around Zhuoyue’s neck with surprising strength, dragging Zhuoyue straight down onto the mattress. “Vice Captain! Vice Captain, I missed you guys so much…”
Zhuoyue looked thoroughly shocked. His hands scrambled wildly against the bedsheets, barely managing to brace his weight to avoid collapsing entirely on top of the other man.
Hearing the commotion below, Qi Le poked his head over with curious caution. Bad idea; one glance made him instantly flush crimson.
Zhuoyue was only inches away from kissing Yan Shu, while Yan Shu wore a look of blissful contentment with his eyes half-closed.
Qi Le’s brain short-circuited.
Weren’t these two supposed to be on terrible terms?
They were about to lock lips!
A thousand different explanations flashed through Qi Le’s mind in a split second, leading him to the firm conclusion that his Moon God must have a secret crush on Zhuoyue, who rejected him outwardly while taking advantage of him behind closed doors.
Hk…
Qi Le couldn’t resist sneaking another peek.
Yep, looking at it now, it definitely fit.
The lower bunk bed space was narrow, and Zhuoyue hovered with his head lowered, inches away from brushing Yan Shu’s lips.
Zhuoyue’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Clenching his fists, he shoved the initiative-taking drunkard away.
Fiercely pushing himself up from the bottom bunk, Zhuoyue raised his head and locked eyes with Qi Le’s wide-open stare. “What are you staring at? Enjoying the show?”
Terrified, Qi Le retracted his head like a turtle, shook it vigorously, and kept his mouth shut.
Zhuoyue spun around, flung the door open to leave, and paused to deliver a parting warning over his shoulder.
“This dorm isn’t your personal living room. Put a shirt on.”
Qi Le squeaked out, “Oh…”