Ch.19 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

@Titans_Sen: [Today is my birthday, November 3rd, send birthday wishes>]

@NA_Left: Happy birthday

[Aaaaaaaaaaahhh catching my Shao Xiao Zuo!!!!]

[WTF, does Shao ge live on Weibo????]

[Shao ge’s hand speed???]

[God Sen is Shao Han’s real hammer]

[Sen fans are ashamed of losing out]

[They say esports clubs have fast internet, now I believe them]

[Is everybody eating SenZ…… (dragged away]

When Yao Sen got up in the morning and opened Weibo, he was surprised to discover that Shao Han had commented on his post at midnight, right on the dot. Moreover, his comment had been pushed to the very top of the post by a bunch of fans. 

Yao Sen couldn’t hide the smile at the corners of his mouth and gave Shao Han’s comment a like. Seeing this spoiled and oblivious smile on Yao Sen’s face so early in the morning, Wang Yuxi knew that he wouldn’t need breakfast today after having this fill of dog food. 

Shao Han also replied to Yao Sen’s WeChat at seven o’clock this morning, agreeing to his invitation to dinner. 

During morning training, everybody clearly felt that their captain was particularly enthusiastic. This was reflected by how Yao Sen happily gave up his gun, which made Wang Yuxi confused at first, wondering how his winning rate greatly improved today. 

They had two half hour breaks before and after lunch. Yao Sen went back to his dorm room to lie on his bed and play with his phone, accepting a bunch of red envelopes from distant relatives.  

Yao Sen’s parents had many relatives. When he was planning to enter the professional esports industry after graduation, those relatives persuaded his mom and dad endlessly, urging them to not let their child go down the wrong path. 

Yao Sen completely understood. Let alone the older generation, even the younger parents’ first reaction towards the industry was mostly confusion and disdain. 

But fortunately, Yao Sen’s parents were very open-minded. His mom and dad were also the most well-off among their many relatives, and they had both the heart and money to let Yao Sen have a shot at something he loved. 

When Yao Sen first started training with the professional team, his relatives even asked him to help fix their computers from time to time. He didn’t understand–what did gaming have to do with being able to repair computers? Do you need to learn how to fix a car before you learn how to drive?

Later, after Yao Sen won the Asia Championship on TV and made his relatives go green with envy when he pocketed the prize money, he heard his mom say that his aunt had begun to encourage his cousin, who had poor grades and loved playing games, to find out more about this job. 

Yao Sen thought back to his cousin, who couldn’t even really play Fireboy and Watergirl, and suggested to his mom that it was best to get his aunt to give up on the idea as soon as possible. 

As Yao Sen cheerfully collected the money, there was a knock on his dorm room door. When Yao Sen shouted ‘come in’, he turned around to see who had come and immediately sat up in bed. 

Shao Han was standing in the doorway, holding a rectangular paper bag in his hands.

Yao Sen blinked at him, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice, “Are you looking for me?”

“Happy birthday,” Shao Han nodded gently, his cool voice containing a trace of warmth. “This is for you.”

Yao Sen was stunned. He was already very happy that Shao Han had wished him a happy birthday right at midnight, but he never expected that Shao Han would also give him a present. 

The pleasantly surprised look in Yao Sen’s shining eyes shook Shao Han’s soul. In the end, he slightly shifted his gaze and handed Yao Sen the bag, “There’s another small bag inside, that one’s from Xiao Meng.”

Yao Sen squeezed the strings of the bag, then pulled Shao Han over and hugged him in one smooth motion. Yao Sen’s arms modestly encircled Shao Han’s waist, keeping him close yet not too intimate, maintaining a slight distance so as not to offend the other person.

Yao Sen let out a low chuckle, “Thank you, thank you and Xiao Meng.”

At Yao Sen’s sudden proximity, Shao Han stopped breathing for a few seconds, his heartbeat jumping out of order. Shao Han could barely contain his reaction, the tips of his white ears were a little red. Shao Han hesitated for a moment before lightly placing a hand on Yao Sen’s shoulder. 

Yao Sen let go in a timely manner and took out the contents of the bag. He startled when he caught sight of the familiar brand logo on the shoebox, opened it, then stared at the pair of black and red running shoes inside for a few seconds. 

Shao Han observed Yao Sen’s reactions nervously. The surprise and joy in Yao Sen’s eyes were like drops of sugary sweet syrup in Shao Han’s heart, and his entire heart warmed.

This reaction of his wasn’t a good sign, Shao Han thought.

“How did you know that I’ve been wanting to buy shoes recently?” When he saw the shoe size, the corners of Yao Sen’s mouth rose again, “It’s my favourite brand, favourite colour, and favourite style.”

Shao Han actually didn’t know that Yao Sen had been wanting to buy shoes. He paused and seamlessly moved away from Yao Sen’s gaze, “I’m glad you like it.”

“How did you know my size?”

As he asked this question, he turned to Wang Yuxi, who sat at his computer desk and had not said a word from the beginning. The latter had his earphones on, turning a deaf ear to what was going on in the room. He appeared carefree, yet his conscience was somewhat guilty.

If it had been before, Wang Yuxi would’ve already started boasting long ago. Yao Sen narrowed his eyes. Combined with Wang Yuxi’s sneaky behavior over the past few days, he made a rough guess.

Yao Sen: “Did Lao-Wang tell you?”

Shao Han nodded.

Yao Sen took out his new shoes and tried them on right away, stood up and walked a few steps, then tapped the ground with satisfaction and grinned. “I saw these shoes on the official website. They’re pretty expensive, sorry I made you spend money.”

Shao Han: “Luckily, I’ve been earning quite a bit from livestreaming these past two months.”

Yao Sen turned his long legs, “Then I’ll wear them out to dinner tonight.”

Shao Han paused, then finally said, “Have a look at Xiao Meng’s gift, she asked me to take a picture and send it over.”

Yao Sen took the scarf out of the bag and put it on briskly to let Shao Han take a picture. He smiled and said, “Thank Xiao Meng for me, I’ll rely on this scarf this winter.”

Shao Han took a picture of Yao Sen and couldn’t help staring at it for a while longer.

Shao Han: “I have training this afternoon… I’ll be leaving first then?”

Yao Sen looked at Shao Han, suppressing the itchy urge in his heart, and took a deep breath, replying, “Okay, see you tonight.”

After Shao Han left, Yao Sen slapped the back of Wang Yuxi’s head, “Don’t pretend to be deaf.”

Wang Yuxi yanked off the headphones that didn’t actually have any sound and winked at Yao Sen, saying proudly, “How was it? Your bro did good, right?”

“Yeah,” Yao Sen conceded. 

Wang Yuxi wiggled his eyebrows at him, “How does it feel to receive a gift from someone you like? Describe it to me.”

Yao Sen put the shoebox back in the bag neatly and laid down on the bed without taking his shoes off, staring at the ceiling and exhaling slowly. “I want to marry him.”

“…O-fucking-Kay.”

“What do you think will happen if I confessed to him?”

“Go confess!” Wang Yuxi slid his chair over, “Honestly, I think you really have a chance.”

“I think I do too,” Yao Sen replied without modesty, “But this can’t be rushed.”

“Why?”

“Because the first time I met him in the game, I initiated a conversation with him because I thought he was a girl and even made a scene,” Yao Sen answered. “In any case, he definitely thinks I’m straight, or at least not purely bent.”

“You look like you’re deeply closeted to me,” Wang Yuxi said. “No wonder you two were weird when you first met… So what are you going to do?”

“Let nature take its course, I think it’s fine as it is, at least I’m a friend that he cherishes. It’s best if he has a good impression of me, no rush.”

Wang Yuxi smacked his lips, “Okay then, you’re thinking quite thoroughly.”

After that afternoon’s training session, the team of five walked out of the Yiyou Building in unison. Zhou Ziyu couldn’t hide his excitement. After all, it was the first time he was going out to eat with the four seniors of the main team, not to mention that it was the captain’s treat.

Zhou Ziyu had thought that they would go straight to the food street right after coming out, but to his surprise, the captain stopped at the entrance, as if he was still waiting for someone.

Zhou Ziyu asked Wang Yu Xi, “Xi ge, who’s Sen ge waiting for?”

“Noah’s Ark’s vice captain Shao Han. He and Yao Sen… are especially close.”

Zhou Ziyu’s eyes lit up, “I know Noah’s Vice Captain Shao, his left side hit rate is especially high! I have a friend who’s on Noah’s second team, and he said that even though Vice Captain Shao seems a bit cold, he’s actually really nice and patient and takes good care of his team members. In short, he’s just… especially nice.”

As soon as their conversation ended, Shao Han came out of Building B’s exit. Yao Sen went to greet him and the two talked as they walked over. 

Yao Sen: “Let’s go.”

Wang Yuxi: “Go! Crayfish!”

“Don’t get so close to me.”

“Why?”

“I’m worried that you’ll step on my shoes.”

“…….” Wang Yuxi glared at Yao Sen and simply went around to Shao Han’s side, throwing a hand around Shao Han’s shoulder, “Shao ge, don’t bother being polite with Yao Sen later, you’d better eat up everything on his card.”

Shao Han: “……”

Yao Sen furtively slapped Wang Yuxi’s hand away.

The six of them arrived at the restaurant and sat down around a round table. Wang Yuxi and the other two had been with Yao Sen for so long that they naturally ate freely. Zhou Ziyu, who was a little younger than them, took the initiative to take care of pouring the tea and other things. Shao Han too, even though he had a good relationship with Yao Sen, was still a little reserved. 

But the atmosphere slowly warmed up. After all, they had Wang Yuxi, resident comedian and lover of gossip. Shao Han occasionally threw in a word or two. Even though his distinct voice sounded a bit awkward when mixed in with the lively group, everyone eventually got used to it.

Yao Sen ate the crayfish wordlessly. They were delicious, but there was no way Yao Sen could concentrate on the food when Shao Han, who was sitting right next to him, kept attracting his attention.

Zhou Ziyu had already noticed that this captain of his was peculiar. He was a person with no other special merits, just a delicate mind and strong observation skills. He wondered why the captain kept staring at Vice Captain Shao, and before he knew it, his eyes were fixed on Yao Sen as if they had taken root.

As he ate, Yao Sen felt an inexplicably fiery gaze fall on him. He turned his head to see Zhou Ziyu staring at him motionlessly, not even reacting when he got noticed.

Yao Sen waved his hand in front of the kid’s eyes and snapped his fingers two more times, before shouting, “Ziyu, the crayfish are on the plate, not on my face.”

Bai Yue joked, “Yao Sen is handsome, but you don’t have to stare at him like that.”

Zhou Ziyu was startled and promptly returned to his senses, shamefully saying, “Sorry, I got distracted.”

Yao Sen half-joked, “You can’t just stare at me during a match either.”

Zhou Ziyu rubbed his head awkwardly and looked up to find the captain giving Vice Captain Shao a bowl of food, and the look in his eyes was unintentionally filled with a tenderness that he had never seen before.

Zhou Ziyu’s heart thudded. He suddenly felt like he had discovered something big.

☆ ☆ ☆

⟵ Chapter 18 | TOC | Chapter 20 ⟶