Ch.48 – Does Love at First Sight Exist in Esports?

After Shao Han left for the bathroom, he stealthily went around the restaurant screen and sat down behind it, sneaking nervous looks at his dad and Yao Sen. He was too far away, so he couldn’t really hear what they were saying, but as their expressions remained neutral throughout the conversation, Shao Han could slightly relax.

They kept at it for approximately twenty minutes before Shao Han received a message from his dad that told him he could come back.

And thus, Shao Han took a detour until he was returning from the direction of the bathroom. Yao Sen had probably guessed why he’d left his seat, and he didn’t ask Shao Han why he’d taken so long. Since Papa Shao still had something else to attend to in the afternoon, after they had lunch, Yao Sen and Shao Han sent him off to his car. Before leaving, Papa Shao turned his head back to bid them farewell, saying with a smile, “Good luck on the competition.”  

Yao Sen: “Thank you, Uncle.”

After seeing Papa Shao off, Shao Han nervously looked up to study Yao Sen’s expression. Although he believed that his dad wouldn’t give Yao Sen a hard time—if two people kept you out of their conversation, who wouldn’t feel uncertain? “What did my dad say to you?” he couldn’t resist asking.

Yao Sen had seemingly anticipated that Shao Han would ask. He smiled, and said, “Baby, that’s a secret between me and uncle.”

Shao Han slightly curled his lips, but he didn’t ask any more questions. At the sight of Shao Han’s downcast gaze, Yao Sen’s heart went soft, and he couldn’t resist rubbing the fluffy hair on the top of Shao Han’s head.

Yao Sen sent Shao Han back to his dorm. Shao Han took out his keycard and opened the door. There was no one inside; the captain had probably gone out. Shao Han set foot into his room and Yao Sen followed right behind him. Barely seconds after Shao Han took off his shoes, Yao Sen gathered him into his embrace and leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. 

Shao Han had no chance to draw up fully; Yao Sen settled a hand on his lower back to steady him and robbed him of his breath the next second. Shao Han’s lower back lightly bumped against the edge of his desk. He had nowhere to hide and could only lift his head to meet Yao Sen’s searing kisses. Yao Sen slowly caressed his slender waist, and his kisses gradually drifted to his slightly raised neck. 

Yao Sen smiled faintly. “Baby, how about we stay at a hotel tonight?”

Yao Sen’s deep and magnetic voice brushed against Shao Han’s earlobe, scalding the skin red. In slight embarrassment, he pushed Yao Sen away, creating a small distance between their bodies, and muttered, “I have to get up early tomorrow… how about the weekend?”

Yao Sen didn’t want to make things difficult for him. “Okay, I’ll charge your interest this weekend.”

Shao Han: “……”

“For now… Let me kiss you for a while.” Yao Sen didn’t want Shao Han to think that he was too much of a beast, so he offered him a plan B. He lifted Shao Han up onto his computer desk and was met with a cry of alarm. Angling his head, he rubbed his nose against Shao Han’s. “Baby, my neck gets a little sore when I lower my head to kiss you for too long,” he said, holding back a laugh. 

Shao Han glared at him in shame, yet he didn’t resist Yao Sen’s onslaught of kisses. His body slowly relaxed into it, his arms reflexively winding around Yao Sen’s shoulders.

Yao Sen paused for a moment to let Shao Han catch his breath. Exhaling softly, he said, “Shao Han, I want you to know that you can always, always, tell me if there’s anything you want, anywhere you want to go, anything you want to do. You don’t have to worry about a single thing. Don’t think too much, because how would I ever think that you’re troubling me?”

A smile gradually graced his lips. “That’s just being coquettish towards your boyfriend.”

Shao Han stared at Yao Sen dazedly. He had no idea how Yao Sen became aware of these things; perhaps it was his dad’s doing. The things that he’d always worried about were so easily laid bare by Yao Sen, and he even told him to not worry about troubling him, and that he could rely on him. 

Upon seeing the expression on Shao Han’s face, Yao Sen knew that he understood. He kissed Shao Han’s fevered cheek and pressed another kiss to his mouth. 

Shao Han was somewhat stirred up by the kiss, and he wasn’t aware when his legs came to slowly rub against Yao Sen’s waist. As the person in his arms was so cute and delectable, all of Yao Sen’s attention was entirely on Shao Han, and so, when the dorm door suddenly flew open, there was a moment’s delay in his reactions.

Lin Lan paused, his hand still gripping the door, staring at them with a lifeless expression.

The three people looked at one another, and for a moment, nobody said a word.

In the end, Yao Sen smiled at Lin Lan. In any case, they’d already been seen, so why not just be upfront about it? He calmly said, “Pardon me for dropping by, Captain Lin Lan. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

A flustered Shao Han got down from his desk, his face so red it was practically steaming. He lowered his head and cursed himself for being so taken by Yao Sen’s kisses that he forgot everything else. He felt embarrassed and regretful, and he wanted nothing more than to hide all of himself behind Yao Sen. He didn’t dare to look at the Captain’s expression.

Lin Lan: “……It’s alright. I’ll get out of your hair after I use the bathroom.”

Lin Lan rushed to the bathroom and came back out shortly after, gently closing the dormitory door behind him. It was as if no one had ever come in.

After the captain left, Yao Sen looked over his shoulder and met Shao Han’s eyes, a mix of shame and a hint of ire in them. Yao Sen resigned himself to the fact that he couldn’t resist his boyfriend’s charms, and the way he’d lost his reaction speed over them, touching his nose in embarrassment. 

But who could resist such a darling as his Xiao Zuo?

Yao Sen’s gaze wandered as he said, “If he knows, then he knows. It’ll be fine.”

He paused, then continued, “Actually, Bai Yue and the others already know too.”

“…Did you tell them?” Shao Han said expressionlessly.

“No, they figured it out on their own.”

Shao Han appeared to have sunk deeply into a bout of self-reflection and analysis after hearing that, his expression flitting between astonished and caught out. He was probably thinking about how intimate he’d been with Yao Sen, that even such a steel-straight man like Bai Yue had noticed.

Yao Sen: “It’s great that they know. In the future, I can come by your room confidently.”

It’s not like he hasn’t been doing that already, Shao Han thought. 

Yao Sen: “Plus now I can call you baby in front of your captain.”

Shao Han: “……”

Yao Sen laughed as he leaned in. “Since your captain’s given us the room, then why don’t we continue?”

*

Due to the relatively lengthy playtime, the WCAD officials usually announced the groups for the qualifier stage more than a month in advance. The qualifiers used a points system, and nearly 200 registered teams were divided into four big groups, ABCD, and each group was further divided into two smaller groups, group 1 and group 2. Finally, the top eight teams from each big group will advance to the finals, bringing the total number of competitors to 32.

As soon as the groups list for the qualifiers were announced, the internet blew up.

Lincoln and Odin were in groups B and D, respectively. The organizers appeared to have intended for the two strong contenders for champion and runner-up not to butt heads too early on. Titans was in the same group as Lincoln in group B, along with other strong teams from Germany and South Korea, whereas Noah’s Ark, Cobra, and other strong Asian teams were spread across groups A and C.

The WCAD officials had carefully considered the qualifier grouping based on each team’s annual match records, so the division was fairly balanced. They avoided grouping the middle-to-upper ranking teams with too many powerful top-tier teams to avoid a situation in which a completely unknown lower ranking team advances to the semi-finals while the middle-to-upper ranking teams are all eliminated.

“Will the captain draw lots to see if we’re in group 1 or group 2?” Wang Yuxi inquired after completing his review of the groups list. After Coach Gou’s affirmative response, he couldn’t help but lament, “Yao Sen, remember to visit the temple to have your fortune told before you draw. Make sure we don’t end up in the same group as Lincoln first thing. This is the qualifiers, I don’t want my heart of glass to shatter.”

“What’s with all the fuss,” said Yao Sen. “If worst comes to worst, we’ll come out as the runner-up of group B.”

Yao Sen flipped through the groups list. Though his main concern was which groups his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s ex-suitor were in, Yao Sen also looked for the young and mysterious Team NL and discovered that they were in the same group as Shao Han’s team. 

Wang Yuxi: “There’s still more than a month before the competition but I’m already feeling a little nervous. Ai, are there any other club members who’ll be watching us live?” 

Bai Yue: “You think plane tickets, meal expenses, lodging, and entrance tickets, all added up, are cheap? The club won’t reimburse all that.”

Zhou Ziyu interjected, “Jiang Yang told me that he’ll be watching live.”

“Jiang Yang?” Wang Yuxi exclaimed. “Damn, he’s that loaded?”

Zhou Ziyu scratched his head. “He said that his family owns a house in the US.”

Wang Yuxi fell silent for a while. “No wonder he has such a strong temperament, turns out he’s rich.”

The Titans weren’t all that worried about the qualifiers. Apart from Lincoln, their other two groupmates required little attention. One was a German team whose average strength was lower than the Titans, and the other was a South Korean team who they’d defeated in the Asian regionals the year before last. 

Once they finished discussing the qualifiers, Yao Sen took the two bags of fruit he’d bought earlier today, intending to visit Building B’s Room 943.

When Yao Sen arrived, Shao Han was in the middle of livestreaming, and Lin Lan was nowhere to be found.

“Keep streaming, I’ll just sit here,” Yao Sen said as he placed the fruit on the desk and moved a chair behind Shao Han. “I won’t disturb you.”

The sharp-eyed fans in Shao Han’s livestream had spotted Yao Sen the moment he came in, and they’d already begun to spam comments in their frenzy. 

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH God Sen!!!!!!]

[I was just thinking that we haven’t seen Sen ge in a while, and now he’s here! In Shao ge’s livestream!]

[God Sen always sounds so doting when he speaks to Xiao Zuo wwwww]

[I wanna be able to sit on the MVP seat like Sen ge too!]

[Gasp! The Titans captain has unexpectedly been relegated to a livestream backdrop!]

Shao Han believed that with so many viewers watching, Yao Sen shouldn’t act too unrestrained… right? He turned back and refocused his attention on the match that was about to start, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but look at what Yao Sen was up to behind him via his webcam. However, he accidentally met Yao Sen’s eyes, and the latter slightly lifted the corners of his mouth and laughed. 

Shao Han was sent into a panic, and he hurriedly averted his gaze.

Yao Sen took out several mangosteens from a bag and located a toothpick. He pried a mangosteen open, stuck a toothpick into its pulp, and brought it to Shao Han’s mouth, saying, “It’s so sweet, try it.”

Since Shao Han’s game had already commenced and he was busy getting into position, there was no way for him to free his hands, and he could only tilt his head to the side and accept the mangosteen pulp with his mouth. “Mm, it’s yummy,” he responded vaguely.

[My god, what kind of sugary sweet interaction is this]

[I’m fine with being single, but my CP definitely has to get married!!! Please hurry up and get married, I’m begging you!!!]

[I declare SenZuo locked together for life!]

[God Sen pampers Xiao Zuo super well! I don’t even need a filter to think so!]

[Civil Affairs Bureau: Should we come over directly or go with the flow]

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH my CP are finally spreading fluff]

[As a long time fan of both players, I can testify that God Sen is suuuper doting and total boyfriend material in front of Xiao Zuo, and Xiao Zuo is really really soft in front God Sen]

Yao Sen: “I brought tangerines too, want some?”

Shao Han: “Just put them over there for now, I’ll eat them later.”

“It’s okay. Just play, I’ll peel it for you.”

Shao Han was naive to think that Yao Sen would restrain himself a few minutes ago. Since the fans were already howling anyway, and the game was growing heated, Shao Han simply gave up and focused solely on the game while eating whatever Yao Sen delivered to his lips.

Yao Sen was peeling tangerines for Shao Han when he noticed several lemons in the bag he’d originally brought to make infused water for Shao Han. 

Yao Sen’s eyes shifted and a bad idea popped into his mind as he took out a lemon. A few sharp-eyed fans had already discovered Yao Sen’s errant intentions, and they were asking “God Sen what are you planning” in the midst of the barrage. Unfortunately, Shao Han was so engrossed in the game that he didn’t notice the barrage nor the webcam video.

Yao Sen shot a smile at the webcam and made a shush-ing gesture. He casually cut the lemon and brought a slice to Shao Han’s lips, upon which Shao Han directly bit down on. 

After taking a bite, Shao Han’s mouth was suddenly overwhelmed with a powerful sour flavor, and it was only then that he realised that the barrage was full of ‘HAHAHA’s. It was so sour that he had to close his eyes. He let out a string of displeased grunts, his brows furrowed, and his shot went wide. 

Shao Han looked at him in shock, sounding muddled as he said,“Why would you give me a lemon?”

Yao Sen roared with laughter as he leaned against Shao Han’s chair. “Baby, you’re so adorable,” he whispered, and it was only then did Shao Han realise that he was being teased by his boyfriend. 

[God Sen you bad bad man HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]

[God Sen! You’re taking advantage of Shao ge’s trust to bully him!! This is seriously… good job!!!]

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAH Xiao Zuo is so cuteee! I really wanna hug him]

[Shao ge: Eat lemon]*

[Gasp! Popular esports athlete actually cursed on his livestream!]

*this… wordplay? just doesn’t translate to english and i honestly don’t have the brains to localise it. the first commenter said “shao ge: (in chinese) chi ningmeng” and the second commenter said “can’t believe he said CNM on his stream” CNM here refers to profanity; cao ni ma aka (literally) fuck your mother.

[SenZuo is seriously too sweet. What should I do? I’m drowning from all this sweetness]

Shao Han glared at him helplessly, a little angry. Yao Sen laughed as he raised his hands placatingly. “Don’t get mad, don’t get mad, I’ll eat one too in a bit, okay?”

Shao Han wasn’t truly angry. “It’s getting late,” he sulked, “you should head back.”

Yao Sen laughed and set aside the peeled fruit in his hands. Bending down, he said to the camera, “Dear grass powders, for the sake of your Shao ge being bullied by me today, please spam him with lots and lots of gifts! If he makes it to the top of the list, I promise to give you all a lemon-eating show!”

☆ ☆ ☆

t/n – thank you to anon for the kofi!

Chapter 47 | TOC | Chapter 49