Ch.32 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

On Saturday afternoon, Yao Sen sat on the lobby’s sofa on the first floor of the Yiyou Building and waited for Shao Han to come down, humming with joy.

Yao Sen had a short white down jacket on. Underneath, he wore a neat black shirt with a gray crew neck sweater over it. He was also wearing slim-fit, black pants, plus a pair of dark brown ankle boots.

Yao Sen was, without a doubt, a walking mannequin; he exuded an elegant and handsome aura no matter how he dressed. Of course, it still took Yao Sen a lot of time to pick out today’s outfit. After all, how could he neglect his appearance on his first date with his boyfriend?

Shao Han came down, looked at Yao Sen from a distance, then looked at himself, and felt that he really shouldn’t be compared…

The wind was a bit strong today, so Yao Sen came out wearing the scarf Xiao Meng gave him last time. Seeing that Shao Han’s neck was bare, he took off the scarf from his own neck and wrapped it around Shao Han without a second thought.

Shao Han looked up at him. Most of his face was buried in the scarf, and he looked inexplicably well-behaved.

Shao Han: “You wear it, I’m not cold.”

“Of course it’s not cold in the building, but it’s windy outside.” Yao Sen arranged the folds of the scarf, “Wear it, okay? I warmed it up just for you, if I let you catch a cold, Xiao Meng will be worried.”

Shao Han no longer refused. Yao Sen’s scarf was so nice and warm, heating up his ears.

Shao Han looked up, suddenly noticing that Yao Sen had dark circles around his eyes. He seemed to lack sleep recently. Shao Han’s brows frowned in a fit of anxiety, and he couldn’t help reaching out to stroke Yao Sen’s eyelids. “Is your insomnia serious lately?”

Yao Sen felt the smooth, warm pads of Shao Han’s fingers caressing the skin around his eyes, and couldn’t help but turn his head to kiss Shao Han’s palm, pulling his hand down to hold it and smiling. “A little, but it’s already much better than before. It only happens once in a while these days.”

Shao Han was taken aback by Yao Sen’s kiss and suddenly realised that they were standing in the middle of the lounge. He was immediately somewhat embarrassed, and he looked around nervously. Fortunately, no one in the lounge paid them any attention. 

Seeing Shao Han’s slight movements, Yao Sen laughed softly before pulling Shao Han outside. 

The two took a taxi to the West Ring Road. On the way, Shao Han turned his head to glance at Yao Sen from time to time. Eventually, he couldn’t help but say, “Yao Sen, do you have any other problems besides insomnia?”

“If there is, I’ll tell you.” Yao Sen knew that Shao Han was worried about him, and immediately felt touched.  “The club will hold a physical examination before the Chinese New Year, if there’s anything wrong, we’ll tend to it then.”

Only then did Shao Han relax. He nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked, “You said my voice helps you fall asleep… is this true?”

“Of course it’s true.”

“Then after this, I’ll call you before you go to bed?”

Shao Han felt a little embarrassed after he asked this. It felt as if he was flirting coquettishly, disguised as wanting to make a good night call before bed. He opened his mouth to explain, but couldn’t come up with anything to explain. Since Yao Sen was already his boyfriend anyway, even if he felt that Shao Han was acting cute… it was fine. 

Yao Sen flashed him a confident smile. “Are you saying that if I don’t have insomnia, you won’t call me before bed? That won’t do.”

Shao Han could never win an argument against Yao Sen, so he only nodded. The taxi driver, who’d always been friendly, might have been infected by the atmosphere in the car; he lowered his head and didn’t utter a word to disturb the two. 

The two had booked movie tickets for an afternoon showing and first headed to a Sichuan restaurant for lunch. The dishes in the Sichuan restaurant were just the right flavour; Yao Sen found the food so spicy that he almost questioned his life.

To maintain his boyfriend image, Yao Sen pushed himself to eat a lot. In the end, he could truly no longer bear it once he saw Shao Han’s unaffected expression after eating a chili from the plate of spicy fried pepper chicken, and he abandoned his act and drank an entire pitcher of water. 

Yao Sen: “…Baby, are you really okay with eating such spicy food?”

Shao Han was eating the stir-fried spicy beef. Hearing Yao Sen call him baby, he accidentally choked. He coughed a few times, his face reddening along with it. Although he’d long since imagined what it would be like to hear it in person after the other day’s WeChat message—even if he’d braced himself mentally—he still wasn’t able to handle it when it came so unexpectedly.

Yao Sen immediately filled his glass with water: “See, you’re choking. Drink this.”

Shao Han accepted the cup of water and took a sip. After calming down, he was silent for a while. His ears were a little red, but his voice wasn’t affected by the chili in the least. It was still so cool, and Yao Sen even felt that the spiciness in his mouth had weakened to almost nothing. “Yao Sen, first of all… can you not call me that?”

“What? Baby?” Yao Sen said with a laugh. “Are you like this because of that?”

Shao Han wordlessly lowered his head to eat the sour and spicy fish fillets.

“Then what do you want me to call you?” Yao Sen thought better of it, and his heart was suddenly filled with a terrible idea. He smiled and said, “Should I call you Shao Xiao Zuo like your fans?”

Shao Han’s flush grew deeper, and shame flit passed his eyes. Yao Sen stopped while he was ahead and didn’t continue to push Shao Han’s originally thin face. He smiled and said, “Then I’ll keep calling you baby, okay? It suits you.”

Shao Han’s temper dwindled to nothing. 

After eating, Yao Sen bought two bottles of herbal tea to quell the spiciness in their mouths, and they drank it as they made their way to the cinema. They had bought tickets for a recently released foreign horror movie. Rumour had it that people who watched it all went to sleep with lights on for the next three nights. 

They had bought tickets for the back row, and there was nobody else around.

After entering the theatre, the two found their seats and sat down. The armrest between the two seats wasn’t high, so Yao Sen could easily reach out and take Shao Han’s hand in his.

Not long after the movie started, screams in the theater began to come and go. Yao Sen didn’t feel much of anything, absent-mindedly watching the gruesome scenes while his fingers gently kneaded Shao Han’s hand.

Yao Sen had a solemn countenance, but his hands never stopped moving, either kneading Shao Han’s fingers or tracing the lines of his palm.

Shao Han clenched his fingers and pursed his lips, letting Yao Sen rub them, but Shao Han’s palm was ticklish, so he truly couldn’t bear it once grazed. As soon as Yao Sen scratched at it, he shrank back, and in the end he could only tightly grip Yao Sen’s mischievous fingers in the palm of his hand. 

Yao Sen seemed to be very interested in Shao Han’s left hand, but Shao Han gripped him too tightly to move, so he couldn’t satisfy his curiosity. He leaned over and whispered,  “Classmate Shao Xiao Zuo, can you not be so tight?”

(t/n: yes that was supposed to sound dirty)

Shao Han swore that Yao Sen did it on purpose.

Shao Han let go at once. He withdrew his other hand, too, not giving Yao Sen any chances to touch it again. Shao Han had never known that Yao Sen also liked these silly dirty jokes that boys loved, but unfortunately, he himself wasn’t used to them at all—he could only prop his cheek up with one hand moodily and feign that he couldn’t hear Yao Sen’s frantic protests. 

“Okay, I’ll shut up.” Yao Sen laughed in spite of himself, but he had already realized the fun of riling up his boyfriend with these dirty words. Pretending to feel wronged, he spread his palm on the armrest and pleaded, “Put your hand here, I really won’t move.”

Shao Han cast him a chilly glance, not budging a single bit.

“Baby?”

“……”

“Xiao Zuo?”

“……”

“Shao Xiao Zuo? Shao ge?”

“……”

Yao Sen completely surrendered. The way he saw it, coaxing his boyfriend was more important than saving face. Unabashedly, he immediately lied through his teeth, unable to hold back a smile as he affected a grave air, “Shao Han, I’m scared of watching this alone. Hold my hand.”

In the end, Shao Han gave in and saved him from losing face, covering Yao Sen’s hand with his. 

For the duration of the whole movie, Shao Han’s attention was basically elsewhere, so much so that he couldn’t even remember the protagonist’s name after the movie ended. 

After exiting the movie theatre, the two of them didn’t rush back to Yiyou and instead found a quiet little cafe to sit down and pass time in, chatting about their holiday arrangements.

Yao Sen asked, “Shao Han, what do you think about coming to my house for a few days during the holiday?”

Shao Han: “…Go to your house?”

Yao Sen smiled and said, “My parents will be on a business trip for a few days before the new year and I’ll be home alone.”

Shao Han blinked, lowered his head, and exhaled a breath of warm air in Yao Sen’s scarf. Half of his face turned a little red. It took him a while to say: “Yao Sen, we…”

Yao Sen knew what Shao Han was thinking and said, “Don’t worry, we’ll sleep in separate rooms. If you don’t want to go to my house, we can go out and have fun for two days. I promise to book a room with two beds.”

Shao Han had no idea how Yao Sen always knew what he was thinking; as soon as he raised his eyes or pursed his lips, he was seen through completely. Yao Sen was Shao Han’s first serious and proper boyfriend, and this was something that Shao Han was still not all that mentally prepared for.

But the things he had on his mind were uttered so bluntly by Yao Sen; Shao Han wanted to bury his entire head in the scarf. It was a while before he replied, “…all right, I’ll go to your house.”

Yao Sen beamed at him. 

Shao Han couldn’t stand Yao Sen’s gaze, and yet Yao Sen stared at him with great interest, as if he had discovered something new. In the end, Shao Han couldn’t cope, he had no choice but to reach out moodily and pull Yao Sen’s hood up and over his eyes.

Yao Sen laughed and squeezed Shao Han’s wrist. “All right, let’s go.”

The two planned to go back to eat near the building. On the way back, Yao Sen received a call from Wang Yuxi. When he saw that it was him, Yao Sen knew exactly what he was calling for.

Wang Yuxi teased, “Chief Sen, are you enjoying your date? Still remember your bros?”

“Thank you for asking, I don’t remember.”

“Prioritizing sex over friends—public morals are really degenerating with each passing day.”

“You’ve already said this sentence eight times this morning.” Yao Sen didn’t bother with his nonsense. “What do you guys want me to bring back, just tell me, crayfish or milk tea?”

“Two kilograms of spicy crayfish, a kilo of the garlic-flavoured ones, two cups of Four Seasons green milk tea half sugar, and a cup of matcha latte with extra boba. All without ice, thanks.”

“Aren’t you worried about gaining weight if you eat so much at night?”

“How can I have the energy to lose weight if I don’t eat more!” Wang Yuxi argued. “And every time we propose to have a late-night meal, you’re always the one to agree to it first!”

“I don’t gain weight easily,” Yao Sen replied happily, “and I have a boyfriend now, so I should pay attention to my body.”

When Shao Han heard this, he raised his head in surprise.

Yao Sen hung up and met Shao Han’s gaze, replying, “It’s Wang Yuxi, he knows about us. When I had a crush on you before, I talked to him about feelings stuff. It didn’t help much though.”

Shao Han was momentarily surprised, not of the fact that Yao Sen consulted Wang Yuxi on his feelings, but that a person like Yao Sen could be insecure about his feelings. 

After all, Yao Sen always seemed so at ease and confident in himself, unlike him, who tended to overthink and could be unsettled by mere trivial matters.

Shao Han’s heart was suddenly filled with a sense of clarity. 

Yao Sen: “What’s the matter? Suddenly looking at me and smiling.”

Shao Han was sure that he wasn’t smiling, but maybe Yao Sen noticed a brightness in his eyes.  He lowered his eyes slightly and said, “I’m hungry.”

“You’re hungry? Then what are you laughing at?” Yao Sen was a little puzzled, “What do you want to eat tonight?”

“Eat… Hunan food.”

“…Eating so spicy again?” Yao Sen felt a dull pain in his stomach just then. As he wasn’t able to eat too much spicy food, in order to retrieve his dignity, he reached out and stroked Shao Han’s head. “Eating spicy dishes at night isn’t good for you. Let’s eat something a bit lighter, all right?”

“Okay.”

After spending a whole day outside, Shao Han was a little tired. He rubbed Yao Sen’s hand gently, and his voice carried a trace of weariness. Mixed with the coolness of his voice, it made one’s heart flutter.

Before Yao Sen had time to carefully enjoy this rare listlessness, he heard Shao Han continue, “Then let’s eat it tomorrow.”

Yao Sen and Shao Han gazed at each other for a long time before Yao Sen ultimately lost the battle. “Okay, we’ll eat it tomorrow.” He squeezed Shao Han’s cheek, sighed, and said, “Always eating such spicy food, yet your skin is still so good.”

Shao Han lightly batted Yao Sen’s hand away. His face didn’t change much at Yao Sen’s compliment, but as he turned to look out the car window with his back turned to Yao Sen, he secretly grinned, revealing his small bit of happiness to the outside world. 

Yao Sen turned on his phone and flipped through his photos. He’d snuck a lot of shots of Shao Han today, but his favourite was the one he took at noon when they were having Sichuan food. Shao Han’s lips were flushed red after eating the chili, and his cheeks were also red. It truly conveyed the meaning of ‘a feast for the eyes’.

He set the photo as his lockscreen, adjusted the position of the icons, and framed Shao Han in the middle.

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – translated by jessie again! (& edited by me) ❤

⟵ Chapter 31 | TOC | Chapter 33 ⟶