Ch.33 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

Three days before the club holiday, Manager Guo brought the team members to the hospital for a physical examination. Wang Yuxi was eager to go, feeling that this year, he might be taller than he was last year. 

Yao Sen circled the physical exams in order and finally received his complete exam report; his eyesight did not decline, his magnesium was low, and his weight was lighter than it was in his previous physical examination.

After listening to the nurse, Yao Sen felt that he really should start minding his health. Micronutrient deficiencies were sure to affect sleep, and if it were serious, there would even be a risk of a cardiovascular disease.

Wang Yuxi walked out dejectedly with his medical check-up sheet in his hands—it turned out that his height hadn’t changed at all. He felt that it was definitely because he lacked calcium, but the report also clearly stated that he didn’t lack even a little.

On the way back from the hospital, Manager Guo lectured Yao Sen on his diet and resting habits for quite a while. In order to hold Yao Sen’s attention, Manager Guo read out the diseases caused by magnesium deficiency that he had seen from Baidu and social media posts. After hearing all of it, Yao Sen was convinced that he had an incurable disease.

After returning to Yiyou Building, Yao Sen sent his physical examination report to Shao Han. He waited for more than ten minutes, yet Shao Han didn’t reply. Maybe he was busy, so Yao Sen didn’t dwell on it.

Just as he was about to put down his phone and do something else, Shao Han called. Like Manager Guo, Shao Han reminded him of some precautions, but it wasn’t as exaggerated as what Manager Guo had said; he sounded earnest and professional.

Yao Sen’s heart warmed, wondering whether Shao Han had spent the last dosen minutes looking up the information on his physical exam report. Yao Sen asked him casually, and Shao Han replied, “Mm, I asked my aunt, she’s a doctor. You have to go to bed early—eleven o’clock at the latest.”

“Eleven o’clock?” Yao Sen laughed bitterly. “That’s too early, the nightlife has barely begun.”

“Eleven o’clock is eleven o’clock,” Shao Han’s tone was unwavering, as if it could drop another octave if Yao Sen didn’t promise him. “I’ll remind you.”

Yao Sen didn’t quite deny him. He chuckled softly at Shao Han’s words, his heart full and overflowing with warmth. “Shao Han, thank you.”

Shao Han blanked out for a moment, his ears heating up out of nowhere. He’d had a hard time getting used to Yao Sen teasing him with his ‘baby’s, and yet hearing him call out his name so gently made Shao Han feel a little shy.  

Shao Han felt truly troubled, but when he answered, his voice softened involuntarily, “You don’t need to thank me.”

On the last day of training before the holidays, Coach Gou didn’t make them train for too long, sparing some time to tell them about their holiday training arrangements, adding that he’d contacted their parents and would be checking on them regularly. 

Yao Sen’s flight was on the next day, so after he finished packing, he went to Building B to look for Shao Han. When he got there, Shao Han was packing his things, and his roommate Lin Lan had already left. 

Yao Sen came in and hugged Shao Han from behind, laughing as he said, “Will you miss me during the holidays?”

Shao Han pursed his lips. “……I will.”

Yao Sen pressed a light kiss on Shao Han’s cheek, which reddened faintly as it warmed. Yao Sen got a little carried away; he sucked in a deep breath and moved his arms that encircled Shao Han’s waist to his shoulders. “Don’t forget to personally rush me to bed at eleven every night.”

“I won’t forget.”

“Let me know when it’s convenient for you to come over, I’ll book the tickets for you.”

“It’s okay, I can handle it.” Shao Han wasn’t used to Yao Sen talking so close to his ear, and he gently struggled free from Yao Sen’s embrace, muttering, “I can buy them myself.”

“Why are you treating me like I’m an outsider?” Yao Sen knew that Shao Han was shy, so he didn’t expose him and feigned a sigh instead. “You won’t let me hug you even when we’re about to have a vacation.”

Shao Han glanced at him. He knew full well that Yao Sen was teasing him, so he continued packing his things and took no notice of him. After a long while without hearing Yao Sen speak, Shao Han turned around to look at him. Yao Sen was sitting on Shao Han’s chair, slowly swaying his legs with an innocent look on his face. 

Shao Han couldn’t hold back a smile, wondering how Yao Sen’s fans would feel if they knew that their Asia Champion could feign such innocence.

The club’s holiday was around the same time as the school holidays. When the members returned home, Yiyou Building was open to tourists all day long, receiving gifts from fans of various clubs. Titans had always been popular, and before the members left, Manager Guo had made them sign a couple hundred postcards to be given out to tourists and fans later on. 

Before leaving, Yao Sen snapped a picture of the thick stack of recently autographed postcards in his hands and posted it to Weibo. 

@Titans_Sen: Setting off for the New Year holidays. If you come to visit during the holidays, everyone can receive my cheap autograph. I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year in advance! May you all not fatten up!

When Yao Sen got off the plane, an outpouring of Weibo notifications flooded his phone the moment it connected to the internet. His upright fans all wished him a happy new year and a safe journey while casually urging him to not forget about training during the holidays, while his indecent fans had their own share of indecency. In a good mood, he picked out several comments to reply to.

[Have a nice trip, Sen ge]

[Sen ge, in what way is your autograph cheap??] 

[These are truly the kindest wishes I’ve ever heard]

[Excuse me, may I ask if we can tour the dorms? (doge)]

@Titans_Sen replied: Wang Yuxi’s there. You guys won’t want to see him.]

[Excuse me, may I ask if we can touch the mouse God Sen normally uses? (doge)]

@Titans_Sen replied: You can look but not touch

[Excuse me, may I ask if we can lie down on God Sen’s bed? (doge)]

@Titans_Sen replied: You can, in your dreams

As soon as Yao Sen got home, the first thing he did was to take the excited Miao Miao into his arms and snap a selfie for Shao Han.

Yao Sen: Cute, right?

Shao Han: Cute

Yao Sen: Who’s cute?

Shao Han: The doggy

Shao Han: Your pet?

Yao Sen: Yeah. He’s two years old. His name is Yao Miao, and his nickname is Miao Miao

Shao Han: Why Miao Miao?

Yao Sen: It’s Miao Miao because the five elements lack ‘water’. My family is really particular about names

(t/n: miao miao’s name means flood, and the character for flood/淼 is just three 水/water characters together)

Yao Sen: Do you want to see something even cuter?

Shao Han: What 

Shao Han was currently on the high speed rail. When Yao Sen sent his message, they were passing through a tunnel, and the picture he’d sent took a long while to load. Shao Han patiently waited until the train exited the tunnel before he tapped on it. 

The photo was clearly from the day of his date with Yao Sen—he’d been secretly shot when they were eating Sichuan food. Shao Han ran out of words; he gripped his phone for half a day, not knowing how he should reply. 

Yao Sen: This one’s the cutest, there’s nothing cuter 

At first, he’d thought that the trip home would be endlessly boring, but he unexpectedly made it through by chatting with Yao Sen. Shao Han got off at the station and was later picked up by his parents. Shao Meng, who’d also come along to pick her big brother up, pounced into her brother’s arms immediately upon seeing him. 

Shao Meng’s eyes were shining with expectation as she stared at Shao Han. “Ge, how are things with God Sen?”

Shao Han was faintly embarrassed. “We’ll talk when we get back.”

“Judging by your reaction, you definitely succeeded, right? Right?! From now on, I can legally call God Sen ge!” Shao Meng hugged her big brother and excitedly bounced around, cheering joyfully as she bounded over to their parents. “Mom! Dad! Listen here! Ge has a boy…”

With sharp eyes and agile hands, Shao Han pulled her back, endlessly embarrassed. “I’ll tell them myself when we get home.”

After getting in the car, Shao Meng incidentally saw her big brother’s open WeChat messages and found that Shao Han was chatting with his boyfriend—her future brother-in-law—God Sen. Without another word, she leaned over Shao Han’s lap and grabbed his phone, pressing on the voice message button. “God Sen God Sen!”

Yao Sen quickly replied with his own voice message. “Hey there, Xiao Meng.”

A few seconds later, Yao Sen sent another message, “Shao Han, go keep Xiao Meng company. We’ll chat later, byebye.”

Shao Han shot a helpless glance at the teasing smile that spread across his little sister’s entire face and immediately snatched his phone back.

After two days of rest and recuperation at home, Coach Gou started checking each of the members’ respective game logs. Occasionally, he’d directly go online to oversee their matches right then and there. 

It was at least the holidays, though, so the demands for individual training weren’t as strict as their regular training back at the base. Yao Sen and the others only needed to go through each map once every day, and it was fine if they just familiarized themselves with the different map formations and positions. 

During the holidays, Wang Yuxi spammed their group chat every day, one moment saying that the kids in his relatives’ house were too annoying, and one moment complaining about his parents turning him into their servant. In the span of a day, he could take up the entire chatroom on his own. 

Wang Yuxi: @Yao Sen @Bai Yue @Song Mingzhe @Zhou Ziyu come out and chat with me!

Bai Yue: That’s two hundred yuan per hour

Wang Yuxi: No!! Just keep me company!! Stay with me!!!

Yao Sen: You’re kicking up a fuss like my 6 year old cousin

Wang Yuxi: Then just treat me as your cute little cousin

Yao Sen: Sure, I always beat him up directly 

Wang Yuxi: I’m about to go with my mom and dad to see my great-aunt and great-uncle in the countryside. There’s no internet over there, and I have to climb a tree with my phone to catch a signal. I’m gonna be cut off from the rest of the world, and yet none of you feel sorry for me!

Bai Yue: Just think of it as joining the X-Change program

(t/n: those programs where you exchange lives with certain people w/ certain living conditions)

Wang Yuxi: Bai Yue, wait for me. I’ll definitely learn how to raise pigs, and by the time I come back, I’ll definitely raise you well. I promise I’ll raise you up to be plump and white! 

Yao Sen: After retiring, it’s great to learn other skills

Song Mingzhe: Lao-Wang, my third uncle is a pig farmer and is really pretty rich

Yao Sen: Let’s play some AD since we’re really bored

Wang Yuxi: But that kid Ziyu ain’t here ah

Zhou Ziyu: Present

Wang Yuxi: ……

Wang Yuxi: Turns out you ignored your Xi ge on purpose just now!

The five of them logged into the game and started a five-member team match. As it was winter break, every student of all ages was on vacation. It was a popular time to play, and the game filled with players in an instant.

They first opened for the troublesome, comparatively larger Map B. This complex setting triggered numerous items yet required the most amount of caution. Unlike Map D that held many opportunities to shoot down an enemy, most of the kills in Map A and Map B depend on skill. 

After entering the game, Yao Sen first hastily surveyed the general terrain and distribution of buildings, thinking that this setting was convenient for snipers. Everyone temporarily scattered to look for supplies, while Yao Sen occupied the hospital. The hospital had always been a hotspot for enemies; it had medical supplies, and it wasn’t easy to approach. Hunkering down and sniping from the second floor was basically like hitting a free jackpot. 

But today, Yao Sen didn’t have much luck. When the first wave of air drops rained down, he didn’t find a sniper rifle. With no sniper rifle, Yao Sen felt that he had to think of a more secure method. 

Without the slightest hesitation, he commanded, “Hospital, coordinate X23Y65. Assemble in three minutes.”

Yao Sen rarely instructed them to gather, hence the remaining four men naturally thought that the captain had come up with a good offensive tactic and very cooperatively rushed over to assemble.

After they all got together, Yao Sen said, “Whoever collected a sniper rifle—give it to me.”

Wang Yuxi and Song Mingzhe obediently threw the sniper rifles they had found to Yao Sen. 

Yao Sen chose the lighter-modded one out of the two and put it in his backpack, then said, “Good, fall out. Continue camping for flare guns.”

The rest looked at each other in dismay, and only after a while did Wang Yuxi complain, “So you only ordered us here to be your delivery courier?!”

Yao Sen: “Yup.”

“I thought you were gonna deploy tactics!”

“The tactic is to get me a gun,” said Yao Sen. “You’ll find out in a sec.”

In the midst of Wang Yuxi’s mutterings of ‘shitty captain’, the four of them disbanded in place and went back to camping for flare guns. 

(t/n: the pubg wiki tells me that the flare gun is an extremely rare item that can call in a custom air drop that drops a larger amount of highly valuable equipment compared to ordinary air drops)

As it turned out, the team that fought with them in the last decisive battle died at the hands of Yao Sen and his elusive ambush. Wang Yuxi vehemently insisted that it was all due to luck, and said that next time, he definitely won’t be making any more express deliveries to Yao Sen. 

The five of them played until way past ten o’clock. When Yao Sen saw that it was almost eleven, he said, “I’m gonna go to bed after this round.”

Wang Yuxi: “It’s just under eleven, ge. Even primary school students don’t go to bed as early as you.”

Yao Sen: “My baby told me to go to bed at eleven.”

Bai Yue: “Your baby? Who?”

Yao Sen: “Not telling you.”

Wang Yuxi, the only one who knew the inside story, merely felt a mix of envy and stifled resentment bubbling forth in his chest, and immediately rushed to valiantly kill two enemies. 

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – hello… it’s been a while D:

⟵ Chapter 32 | TOC | Chapter 34 ⟶