Ch.36 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

Yao Sen stood at his bedroom door, hesitating on whether or not he should enter.

It was 7.30 in the morning, which was a little early to wake up for someone home on vacation. But Yao Sen had been going to bed earlier these days, and in all honesty, the guest room wasn’t as comfortable to sleep in as his own room, so he could basically wake up at a little past 7 a.m. everyday. 

And now, he was facing a somewhat serious problem–his shaver was in his bedroom’s en-suite bathroom. 

As a handsome guy, although Yao Sen didn’t openly talk about it most of the time, he was actually quite burdened. On top of that, he’d been living with Shao Han recently, Yao Sen naturally paid more attention to his image in front of his boyfriend.

He normally shaved every four of five days, yet he’d forgotten to in the last few days. When he got up that morning, he felt that he needed to shave. But it was only when he had lathered on a good layer of shaving cream that he realized he’d forgotten to grab his razor. As a result, he was now standing in front of his bedroom door with foam all over his chin, pondering whether he ought to go out and buy a new one or push open the door and go in to fetch it.

In the end, Yao Sen gently turned the door handle. 

Shao Han didn’t completely close the curtains before he slept, but left a small crack, and the sunshine carved a warm yellow line on the floor. Shao Han lay on his side, breathing shallowly, his soft hair strewn on the pillow. One of his fair arms was stretched out, and his toes were sticking out. 

One of his cheeks that were pressed on the pillow bulged slightly, looking like a plump or particularly supple but tough mochi. Yao Sen’s eyes travelled from Shao Han’s toes all the way to his face, thinking to himself that his hunger was probably due to the fact that he hadn’t had breakfast yet.

The soft sunlight shrouded Shao Han in a fuzzy halo. Yao Sen couldn’t help but walk over, bend at the waist, and softly ruffled Shao Han’s hair. A faint smile escaped his lips as he turned around and padded to the bathroom.

Yao Sen found his razor, then walked back to the door with the lightest movement he could imagine from his many years of in game ambushes. 

But perhaps because Yao Sen had failed to calculate the gap between his in-game and in-real-life movements, Shao Han stirred, his toes retracting into the covers. Shao Han slightly turned, and his voice carried a hint of a cool weariness from just waking up: “…Yao Sen?”
 

Yao Sen’s hand stalled on the door, and internally sighed. 

Shao Han rolled over to face the door, blank confusion on his face. He rubbed at his eyes. His throat was a little dry from having not drank water all night. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing, I came to grab something.” At first, Yao Sen wanted to turn his head to look, but then he remembered that his chin was currently covered with foam, like Santa Claus’s beard. As his image was not the least bit pretty, without turning around, he answered, “It’s still early, go back to sleep.”

Shao Han vaguely agreed, and his breathing quickly evened up again. When Yao Sen peered back, he was already asleep. 

His heart felt indescribably stifled, so he went back to his guest room, shaved in the bathroom, then went downstairs and made Shao Han breakfast. 

Shao Han came down over half an hour later. Before he could even finish uttering his ‘good morning’, Yao Sen came over and kissed his round cheek, gently biting down like he was nibbling on a plump steamed bun. 

Shao Han’s remaining bit of sleepiness dispersed like birds scattering before a firecracker. He covered his face and looked at Yao Sen–blushing, expression complicated–only to see Yao Sen looking as he normally did, smiling his normal smile. And yet there was a trace of slyness in his eyes, like he’d just gotten his wish fulfilled. 

Shao Han: “…What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Yao Sen replied with a straight face, “An appetizer before breakfast.”

“……” Shao Han’s thin cheeks were steamed red. He wanted nothing more than to stuff the bread on the table into Yao Sen’s mouth to make him stop talking.

Being lovey-dovey was fine, but the two of them still had to carry out their respective holiday training, and Shao Han also had to livestream three times a week. However, since he was at Yao Sen’s house, it wasn’t too convenient to turn on the camera, so he informed the fans in advance that he wouldn’t be turning on the camera this week due to special circumstances.

The fans naturally wouldn’t stop complaining, and the main culprit Yao Sen said that it was good to let others covet his Xiao Zuo’s appearance in home clothes. 

Shao Han used Yao Sen’s computer to stream, while Yao Sen sat on his bed to watch Shao Han’s livestream on his tablet. He was obviously right under his nose, yet Yao Sen insisted on logging into his main account to send him gifts. 

Seeing notifications of Yao Sen’s gifts, Shao Han slightly turned and glanced at him helplessly. 

This single look made Yao Sen restless. He put down his tablet and quietly walked up to Shao Han, then lowered his head and pecked Shao Han’s cheek. Shao Han was wearing a pair of newly bought headphones. Its noise-cancelling effect was particularly good, and Yao Sen had also taken care to kiss him soundlessly. 

Shao Han’s commentary halted for a split second before he continued. Although his faint cool timbre didn’t change in the slightest, he paused and stammered several times. Relying on the fact that Shao Han couldn’t retort him as he pleased at that moment, Yao Sen held back a smile as he leaned on the desk and silently watched at him.

Shao Han’s gaze was somewhat dark and resentful. He drily finished off the match and hurried to end his livestream with great difficulty. Shao Han slightly pursed his lips before coolly throwing out a somewhat uneasy yet unangry sentence: “…only know to molest me.”

“How can molesting a boyfriend be called ‘molesting’,” Yao Sen didn’t feel apologetic at all, wanting a mile after he’d gotten his inch. “It’s called flirting.”

“……” Seeing Yao Sen’s practically righteous, dazzlingly handsome face, Shao Han’s temper subsided. 

“Then how about I let you molest me back the next time I stream?”

Shao Han lacked Yao Sen’s thick skin; he glared at Yao Sen as a warning, and yet Yao Sen treated it with great delight. 

Seeing that it was almost eleven o’clock, Yao Sen intended to go back to the guest room and head to bed.

His mom had sent his last medical checkup report to the family group chat containing twenty to thirty members, and Yao Sen, who had stopped growing taller at eighteen, had been given the thumbs up by all kinds of relatives, followed by praises of “This child is one metre eighty-six!”. His nutritionist second aunt had also gotten invested, and she recommended him a meal plan for his health. 

Yao Sen’s parents had been feeding Yao Sen according to the meal plan, so Yao Sen’s sleeping problems had really gotten better. He’d also been habitually sleeping earlier these days, conscientiously washing up when it came time to sleep. 

But today, when Yao Sen looked back at Shao Han, he suddenly came up to him and asked, “Shao Han, is it okay if I sleep here today?”

Shao Han paused, then after a while, he answered, “Yes.”

Yao Sen’s lips curled up. He then modestly fetched his pajamas and directly showered in his en-suite bathroom. Shao Han went to the bathroom after Yao Sen. Looking at the change of clothes on the shelf, he inexplicably felt a little nervous.

When Shao Han came out, Yao Sen was sitting on the edge of the bed, playing with his phone. Shao Han paused in his tracks, his ears faintly burning, took two steps forward, then a third, and finally lifted the blanket and sat down.

The Titans’s WeChat group was in the middle of a conversation. As Yao Sen’s thoughts revolved around Shao Han all day long, he basically hadn’t been piping up at all. At this time, Wang Yuxi was @-ing him in the group chat, asking him why he’s been mute lately.

Yao Sen: Shao Han came over to hang out

Wang Yuxi: ……the fuck

Bai Yue: Huh? Since when?

Bai Yue: Since when did you two get so close, I’ve never even been over to his house before

Yao Sen: It was nearby, so I asked him over

Right then, Wang Yuxi sent him a private message. 

Wang Yuxi: Did he meet your parents?

Yao Sen: Nope

Wang Yuxi: What are you two doing now

Yao Sen: Lying in bed

Wang Yuxi: ……

Yao Sen: We’re only lying down, nothing else

Wang Yuxi: That’s the same as saying that you can’t put it in

Yao Sen replied casually, dismissing Wang Yuxi on the pretext of not letting him disturb his time in bed* with Shao Han. Shao Han was already lying down under the covers, and only the upper half of his face and his eyes were showing as he looked at Yao Sen. 

*the chinese idiom used in the original text also refers to married life ^__^

Yao Sen put his phone down, turned off the lights, then laid on his side. 

“Yao Sen…” Shao Han’s voice was somewhat muffled by the blanket. “If I grab your blanket, then you can just grab it back.”

The freshly showered Shao Han was nice and warm from head to toe. Although the lights were off, Yao Sen could totally imagine how his skin and hair looked, still moist. Yao Sen felt for Shao Han’s hand under the blanket and squeezed it, laughing softly. “Hm? Only the blanket and not the person?”

Shao Han was silent for a moment, then turned over under the quilt, his back to Yao Sen. Yao Sen laughed against his will; he always found the Shao Han who was rendered speechless by him and resisted mutely like this cute. He stroked Shao Han’s head, said goodnight, then closed his eyes.

He’d meant to close his eyes, but in reality, Yao Sen couldn’t fall asleep at all. Just think! Such a precious darling was lying next to him, yet he could only touch and not eat–who would be able to sleep in these circumstances?

Half an hour or so later, seeing Shao Han lying motionlessly on his side, Yao Sen couldn’t help but stealthily lean over, and whispered, “Shao Han, are you asleep?”

Shao Han didn’t say a word, like he was already asleep. Yet he didn’t know why, but Yao Sen felt that he was definitely not asleep. 

Yao Sen gently put his arm around Shao Han’s waist and brought him into his arms. Shao Han stiffened for a moment, but in the end, there was no further reaction. Yao Sen snickered in his heart, then stopped moving after drawing Shao Han close, thinking that, although he couldn’t eat it, smelling the fragrant meat was pretty good too. 

That night, although Yao Sen slept very late due to his internal conflict, he slept very well, as if the Shao Han in his arms was a comforting little sleep-aid pillow. 

When Yao Sen opened his eyes, Shao Han had long been up, so he couldn’t help but grieve at the fact that he’d missed out on seeing Shao Han still sleeping beside him. 

Yao Sen came downstairs to the sight of Miao Miao clinging to Shao Han. Miao Miao was probably hungry, and seeing that Shao Han had always been with his dad recently, he thought that he Shao Han might be able to feed him as well. 

Yao Sen called out, “Miao Miao, come here.”

On her little legs, Miao Miao rushed at lighting speed towards Yao Sen, who picked him up with one hand and poured some dog food into his bowl in the kitchen. Shao Han also came over, leaning to the side and watching Miao Miao eat.

Yao Sen looked up and discovered the rare, faint dark circles under Shao Han’s eyes, and couldn’t help himself from laughing, “You didn’t sleep well last night? Did I squeeze you?”

Somewhat embarrassed, Shao Han shook his head mutely. 

Yao Sen: “What time does your train leave the day after tomorrow?”

“2 am.”

With reluctance in his heart, Yao Sen stood up and gently placed a kiss on Shao Han’s ears, laughing softly, “Then you have to accompany me well for the next two days.”

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – i wasn’t too happy with how this chapter turned out sooo sorry if anything sounds weird :’)
and thank you Ina for the kofi! ❤

⟵ Chapter 35 | TOC | Chapter 37 ⟶