Ch.22 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

After training ended that morning, Yao Sen caught sight of Coach Gou and Manager Guo discussing something outside the training room. Through the glass door, Yao Sen vaguely heard Coach Gou say ‘cobra’. 

It was impossible to mention ‘cobra’ in an esports base and refer to the animal world, and due to certain personal reasons, alarm bells immediately erupted in Yao Sen’s head. 

When Coach Gou and Manager Guo finished talking, Yao Sen slowly wandered out and asked, “Coach, what were you and the manager talking about just now?”

Coach Gou: “Cobra’s coming over next week for group training at the Hengshi training base. They invited us to play a friendly match, and a sponsor is funding the Hengshi Stadium.”  

S City indeed had quite a few e-sports stadiums that were up to standard, and Hengshi Stadium was one of the city’s larger ones. Going as far as to specially rent the Hengshi Stadium for a minor friendly match, and even having a sponsor foot the bill–Yao Sen felt that Cobra was being rather too generous.

After Coach Gou told the rest of the team about this, everyone’s reactions were of unparalleled surprise.

It wasn’t like Titans hadn’t played friendly matches before, but a friendly match still contained the word ‘friendly’. They weren’t like official matches and most of the time, they could be casually held in any training room. They weren’t like Cobra, who had specially sent them an invitation to Hengshi Stadium. Reportedly, they were even inviting professional commentators and selling insider tickets. 

“Is this a friendly match or a club advertisement?” Wang Yuxi looked somewhat dissatisfied.

Cobra was indeed an extremely commercialized club; ever since Lu Kaizhi became a member and brought the club to experience the sweet taste of success, they had an endless stream of sponsors. Although Cobra’s strength was not what it used to be after Lu Kaizhi retired, their roots were still in place.  

Coach Gou waved his hands about, saying, “Don’t mind these things, you guys just need to play well. The five of you will go with Lao-Guo on Saturday morning. I won’t get involved since it’s only a friendly match.”

Bai Yue: “They’re looking to play a friendly match against us at this time? Do they want to feel out our strength?”

Coach Gou: “If they want to feel our strength then just make them feel it.”

Cobra was one of the most talked about teams in the domestic esports scene, while Titans was a powerful team that ranked worldwide. As soon as news of the friendly match was announced, the price of Hengshi Esports Stadium tickets immediately rose following its hype. 

The night the official news was released, Yao Sen received a message from Shao Han.

Shao Han: You guys are playing a friendly match against Cobra? 

Yao Sen: Yeah, at 10 in the morning on Saturday. Do you want to come and watch? Our manager gave me a few tickets.

Shao Han: Mm

Seeing Shao Han’s straightforward answer, Yao Sen both rejoiced and had second thoughts about it when Shen You came to mind. He suddenly wished that Shao Han wouldn’t come. He’d rather not see Shao Han for a few hours than create an opportunity for him and Shen You to meet. 

But what’s been said has been said, there was no use crying over spilt milk. How could Asia’s champion not keep his word? Yao Sen thought he might as well spend more time with Shao Han.

Yao Sen: You might as well come with us and take our car that day, I’ll wait for you downstairs at 8.30.

Shao Han: Okay

On Saturday morning, the club arranged a van to take them to Hengshi Stadium. It was Zhou Ziyu’s first time wearing the team uniform and partaking in a match with the team. Even though it wasn’t an official match and there was a chance that he wouldn’t get to go on stage, it was enough to keep him elated for several days. 

Everybody had already become jaded at the sight of Shao Han. Yao Sen, who usually listened to music or took a nap during long car rides with the team, was talking a lot this time. 

Zhou Ziyu sat behind the two chatting men. Ever since Yao Sen’s birthday that time, Zhou Ziyu felt an indescribable awe for this Noah vice captain, and it made him itch to stand at attention and shout ‘Greetings, Sister-in-law!’.

As they arrived at the Hengshi Stadium, they saw a long line of people queueing for tickets at the gate of the stadium. Posters of the teams were plastered all around the stadium, and the details of the friendly match were also broadcasted on a big LED screen.

The majority of those who were able to snatch tickets for the friendly match were each of the teams’ die-hard fans, so they entered through a side door to avoid causing a commotion. Shao Han originally wanted to go and line up for tickets obediently,  but Yao Sen pulled him along and the staff directly counted him as a member of the team. 

It was still more than half an hour away before the match started, and the group sat around the players’ lounge to wait. The heater was on, and it wasn’t long before Shao Han felt a little hot. He turned his head just in time to see Yao Sen roll up the sleeves of his uniform, revealing the slender lines of his wrists and arms, the faintly protruding blue veins.

Yao Sen’s hands were also awfully good-looking, the joints distinct, appearing especially slender and charming when holding a mouse.

Staring at one of the most valuable hands in the esports circle, Shao Han’s mind began to run wild. He’d heard that some of the top ranked esports players in the world had insured their hands, and that the amount was not low… He was genuinely curious how much insurance the Titans Club had bought for Yao Sen’s hands.

Shao Han felt a little embarrassed at these thoughts. He looked up at the time and got up to go to the bathroom.

After going to the bathroom, Shao Han walked back to the Titans lounge, yet just as he turned a corner, he almost crashed into the arms of a man in a silver team uniform.

Shao Han took a step back and raised his head to apologize: “Pardon me… Shen You?”

Shen You obviously didn’t expect to meet Shao Han here. He stared at Shao Han in astonishment for a few seconds before revealing a faint smile soon after. “Shao Han, you’re here to watch the match?”

Seeing Shen You, Shao Han felt slightly nervous. He hesitated before answering, “Mm.”

“If you wanted to come and watch the match, you should’ve told me earlier. I have a lot of tickets I don’t know how to give to.”

If not wanting to meet with Shen You was just a small wish, then Shao Han was definitely sure that he didn’t want to mention Yao Sen in front of him. He replied vaguely, “It’s fine.”

“But you can’t enter the players’ lounge with a spectator ticket, right?” Shen You asked, “You’re with–”

A pair of hands were suddenly placed on Shen You’s shoulders from behind him, and the owner of the hands smiled generously and said, “Hello, long time no see.”

Shao Han raised his head and looked behind Shen You, his expression abruptly stiffening. 

Yao Sen smiled as he looked at Shen You and patted his shoulder in a rather brotherly way. Shen You was startled, his face tinged with something subtly strange. “…Captain Yao Sen.”

“Just my name is fine, we’ve met so many times,” Yao Sen lowered his hands. “It’s really too bad that we haven’t played a domestic match with you guys, thank you for inviting us to a friendly match.”

Although his greeting was very warm, the subsequent pleasantries sounded like an unintentional gratitude between their teams, and for a while Shen You didn’t know how he should act in response to the Titans’ captain. 

Shen You: “You’re welcome, it’s our pleasure.”

“You’re too kind. I’ll see you in twenty minutes then,” Yao Sen smiled shallowly, then looked up at Shao Han. “Shao Han and I will be leaving first.”

Hearing Yao Sen calling him, Shao Han somehow subconsciously walked towards him. Shao Han turned back to Shen You to quietly bid him farewell and left after Yao Sen.  

Shao Han didn’t know it, but Shen You had a very clear view of his back and witnessed Yao Sen subconsciously raising his hand, hovering over Shao Han’s lower back. Although it didn’t touch him directly, the arm was clearly there to protect him, as if to prevent him from bumping into the people walking to and fro in the corridor. 

Shen You was stunned. Immediately, he faintly understood something in his heart.

So many years had passed, and he’d long since let go of their previous incident. His guilt towards Shao Han was bigger than his feelings in the past, and he also thought about making up for those regrets in a friend-ly way. But now it seemed that not only did he not have this opportunity; he’d also already crossed that line where friendship was no longer possible.

Shen You knew in his heart that although he still felt a sense of loss and frustration whenever he saw Shao Han, he wouldn’t assume that there was any possibility that his friendship with Shao Han could be repaired, let alone interfere with Shao Han’s feelings.

Shen You looked back in the direction in which the two of them had left and turned away in silence.

There was a drum beating in Yao Sen’s heart. When he had gone out to buy a bottle of water from the vending machine and saw Shao Han and Shen You together, even though he knew that Shao Han didn’t have any interest in Shen You, his heart still felt somewhat stuffy, and he was smothered with jealousy. 

“The match is about to start, you guys should be entering the stadium, right?” Shao Han said. “Then I’ll go to the spectators seats first.”

“Mm.”

Shao Han was still a bit puzzled when he left–when did Yao Sen and Shen You’s relationship become something where they could just casually hook their arms across the other’s shoulders?

Shao Han’s seat on the third row had the best view, and there was no one around him. Less than three minutes after he sat down, the players entered the stadium.

The cheers that erupted behind him startled Shao Han. He listened carefully and heard many people roaring Yao Sen’s name. Looking up, Shao Han caught sight of Yao Sen standing at the front of the line to ascend the stage first. The black team uniform bade him in a steady confidence in the slightly dazzling multi-colour stadium lights. 

After shaking hands with Cobra’s captain, Yao Sen looked up and stared at Shen You who was standing in the No. 3 position. He withdrew his gaze then walked back to his own seat on the left side of the arena. 

After the four of them had settled in their seats, Wang Yuxi asked Yao Sen, “Yao Sen, any tactics?”

Yao Sen put on his headphones and answered, “Clean up No. 3 first.”

“No problem.”

The friendly match employed a simple best of three format. The first round went to Titans, with Shen You clearly sensing the concentration of firepower the opposing team had on him.

Whether it was because Yao Sen saw his pivotal position in the team or an unspeakable personal vendetta, Shen You was set as the scapegoat. 

Moreover, in the absence of visible enemy IDs, the Titans team members were quick to identify them from their operation and advancing positions–Shen You felt that he was probably one of their main concerns. 

For a moment, Shen You had mixed feelings.

Generally, it was easy to distinguish assaults and support positions, but it was quite difficult to distinguish between two assaults and two supports. A vast majority of matches would use random numbers to conceal player IDs for the sake of fairness, and the original IDs would only appear after a kill, which undoubtedly made the match more difficult.

Titans and Cobra’s scores were a little closer in the second round, but it was still Titans who emerged victorious. The match was supposed to be over here, but when all was said and done, friendship came first, and the third round was still on. 

There was an intermission before the start of the third round. Everyone returned to the players’ lounge when Manager Guo suddenly walked in and said, “Cobra made a substitution.”

Yao Sen raised his head in faint surprise. “Who did they replace?”

“No. 3.”

“No. 3?” Astonished, Wang Yuxi said, “Isn’t No. 3 their core member? Are they smashing a pot to pieces just because it’s cracked*?” 

*write oneself off as hopeless and act recklessly / they have nothing to lose so, might as well 

“It’s just a friendly match, there’s no need to be so serious,” Bai Yue looked pensive. “And I always felt that we won too easily. With Cobra’s nature, they’re most likely hiding their strength.”

Yao Sen calmed his thoughts and finally said indifferently, “If they’re switching in their substitute, then let’s switch too. It’s time to let our family’s substitute take the stage. Come on, Ziyu.”

Zhou Ziyu, who was beside him, was trembling from head to toe, and he stood up immediately, cheeks slightly flushed with excitement. 

Yao Sen: “Get ready, you’re up next round.”

Zhou Ziyu’s eyes shone and his voice booming as he answered, “Yes!”

Bai Yue: “Okay let’s switch me out. Ziyu, come chat with me…”

Yao Sen interrupted, “Bai Yue, you stay in. Replace me instead.” 

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⟵ Chapter 21 | TOC | Chapter 23 ⟶