Chapter 13

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

[Aaaaaaah Sen ge, is there still time for me to learn how to play games!!!]

[It turns out Sen ge is looking for a girlfriend who can play games, 15551 3D girls are crying to death]

[Instead of thinking about these trivial matters all day, it’d be better if you just lick the magazine pictures of my Sen a hundred times over]

[I can’t even get one in 3rd and 4th tier cities, I’ll take a copy at a high price. Any takers?]

That evening, Yao Sen went out to dinner with Wang Yuxi and the others. On the way back, Yao Sen casually scrolled through the comments on Weibo over the last two days. As he went through them, he happened to look up and see a familiar figure a dozen meters away from him, walking in the direction of the Yiyou Building.

Yao Sen quickened his footsteps, “Shao Han!”

Shao Han turned back. He was carrying a plastic bag from the supermarket in his hand.

“Did you go shopping?”

“Mm, what about you?”

“Just got back from dinner.”

As they chatted all the way to the entrance of Yiyou Building, Yao Sen inadvertently looked down towards the plastic bag in Shao Han’s hand. The corner of a familiar magazine poked out among some household items and snacks, and the word “Star” could be faintly spotted.

Shao Han turned to say goodbye to Yao Sen, yet after he said goodbye, Yao Sen only stared at him without responding. Shao Han waved a hand in front of his eyes, inquiring doubtfully, “What’s wrong?”

“…Huh? What did you say?”

“I said I’m going back first.”

“Oh. Okay. Bye-bye.”

Yao Sen followed Shao Han’s departing back with his eyes, until Wang Yuxi and the others came up and asked him why he was walking so quickly just now. Yao Sen didn’t say a word, expression pensive as he slowly made his way forward, before finally turning back and asking Wang Yuxi a brainless question, “Last time, you said that only my wife fans would buy that magazine, right?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to ask, apart from the sales they got from your appearance, who would even know about such an obscure magazine?” Wang Yuxi answered earnestly, “Popular magazines in the industry like ‘Esports Nation’ and ‘Esports’ are the ones everyone looks to, not that thing that came out of some nook and cranny.”

Yao Sen clapped Wang Yuxi on the shoulder with the expression of a pleased old father, then turned around and entered Building A.

When he got back to his dorm room, Yao Sen lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling, contemplating. Before showering, Wang Yuxi saw Yao Sen lying with his arms pillowed under his head, and when he got out of the shower, Yao Sen had remained motionless in the same position.

Wang Yuxi: “Are you meditating?”

“Shush, I’m thinking about something.”

Wang Yuxi didn’t bother with him. He booted up his computer to mindlessly solo with others. After a few matches, he heard Yao Sen calling him from behind and slightly turned his head away from the screen, “What is it? Spit it out.”

“I’ve fallen for someone,” Yao Sen said, “and now I especially want to date them.”

“What?!” Wang Yuxi froze, the screen reflecting his extremely shocked face, “Who have you fallen for?”

“A boy.”

Wang Yuxi turned his head sharply, gawking at Yao Sen who looked like he had no care in the world. This short interval got his character headshotted, but Wang Yuxi couldn’t care less, sliding his chair to move to the side of Yao Sen’s bed.

Worried, Wang Yuxi said: “Yao Sen, you’ve gone too long with rubbing one out to your own imagination, right? I told you to watch that movie with us last time but you didn’t want to.”

Yao Sen side-eyed him. “No.”

Wang Yuxi and Yao Sen had known each other for so long that he could always tell whether Yao Sen was joking or not. When he heard Yao Sen’s words, Wang Yuxi had understood that he really wasn’t kidding.

“You’re not joking… who is it?” Wang Yuxi sucked in a breath of frigid air.

Yao Sen stayed silent and merely stared at him. Wang Yuxi took a step backwards, clasping his barren chest with both hands in fear. “Don’t look at me like that, you’re scaring me. It’s impossible for us, I’m a straight guy through and through.”

“I look at the face,” said Yao Sen, “Got that?”

“Got it,” Wang Yuxi simply nodded. After being roommates with Yao Sen for so long, he had naturally seen Yao Sen’s awe-inspiring asset, feeling that it might be a size that the average person wouldn’t be able to handle. After confirming that he was safe and secure, he quickly moved his chair back. “You can’t just bend like this. If you’re really bent, just how many of your wife fans are going to cry to death.”

Yao Sen innocently said, “But I only like him.”

“Is it someone from our esports circle?”

“Yes.”

“A pro?”

“Mm.”

“Maybe it’s just a mutual admiration for strength? Isn’t it always like this in movies? There’s always going to be a bit of that between two strong men.”

Yao Sen raised his eyebrows, “You have a point.”

Wang Yuxi patted him on the shoulder, “Right? That’s why I said…”

“Bullshit,” Yao Sen said, “Then how come I don’t ‘admire’ you and Lao-Bai and Lao-Song?”

Wang Yuxi was momentarily speechless.

“Then I’ll test you,” Wang Yuxi lowered his voice, “Imagine this… You press that guy you like against the wall, capture his wrists, put your hands inside his clothes, watch him stare at you with moist, bashful eyes, you forcefully kiss him, he struggles and wriggles in your arms…”

“……..”

“What do you feel?”

Yao Sen threw him a blank stare, “How much fanfiction have you read?”

“Is that the fucking point? You tell me how you feel first.”

Yao Sen smiled, “It just feels like I’ll get hard.”

“And what if that target was me instead?” After Wang Yuxi uttered this sentence, he immediately shuddered.

With his eyes, Yao Sen showed Wang Yuxi what complete disdain was.

Wang Yuxi sighed, “Not only are you bent, but it also has to be that person.”

Yao Sen: “I know.”

Wang Yuxi asked cautiously, “Can I ask who it is? It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Yao Sen: “Shao Han.”

Wang Yuxi was stunned for a moment, then it dawned on him, “You were always talking about doing diplomacy before! I always did wonder, and it turns out that you actually wanted to do their vice captain!

“Doing what doing, it’s about liking him, wanting to chase him, wanting to spoil him.”

“What’s the difference? I’m telling you, love is such a vulgar thing!” Wang Yuxi scowled, “Does Lao-Bai and the others know about this?”

“They still don’t know yet.”

“So what are you going to do? Is Shao ge bent?”

“Not sure,” Yao Sen replied casually, “Don’t tell anyone else about this yet. Lao-Bai and Lao-Song are dead straight and probably can’t give me any advice, so I’ll count on you first.”

“What? Aren’t I dead straight too?”

“You’re a sao* straight, thanks.”

*coquettish/flirty/slutty

“…A sao straight is still straight.” Wang Yusi was very open-minded though, “When did you fall for him?”

“From the very first time I saw him.”

“…What the fuck,” Wang Yuxi let out a dumbstruck sigh, “Shao ge sure is formidable, the number one wrench in the esports circle… Anyway, Yao Sen, I really admire you for admitting that you like a boy so frankly. If it were me, I’d be torn to death.”

Yao Sen nodded and didn’t say a word.

Wang Yuxi: “Don’t worry, no matter what, you have a buddy to cover for you!”

–

After Shao Han returned to his dorm room, he put the plastic bag in his hand on his nightstand. Looking at the exposed corner of the ESports Star magazine in the bag, he was silent for a while, feeling somewhat embarrassed and a little humiliated.

He had just been passing by a newsstand when he happened to see a copy of ‘Esports Star’ in it, discovering that it had an exclusive interview with Yao Sen.

Shao Han didn’t know what was in his head at that time, but he bought a copy without a single thought.

–

Before training the next morning, Couch Gou called the Titans’s main team of four to gather.

“The team’s internal selection will start next Saturday. The team will pick one player from the youth training team to advance to the reserve team, one from the reserve team to the third team, one from the third team to the secondary team, and one from the secondary team to come up as a substitute,” Coach Gou got right to the point. “I’ve arranged an afternoon for you all to go over to the secondary team to hold training this week.”

The four of them nodded.

“Don’t worry about the substitute, it’s not for any of you in particular, but for all four of you. What if one of you suddenly gets a hand cramp or vomits blood and can’t play that day?”

The four of them looked at him wordlessly, no one daring to remind Coach Gou that last year he himself had said that their willpower wasn’t strong enough as he said the words “When you encounter difficulties, learn to overcome them! Even if your hands cramp up, power through! Even if you vomit blood, keep fighting!”, like thunder piercing their ears.

After Coach Gou left, the four of them sat in the training room. Wang Yuxi couldn’t help but lament at his time back then, “To think that when I was in the second team, I skipped meals and gave up sleep to train for the sake of earning a substitute spot in the main team. The youngsters nowadays have it better, right Yao Sen?”

“Sorry, I didn’t stay in the substitute seat.”

“…Forget what I said.”

After all, it was truly the first time in many years that someone like Yao Sen had made a straight jump to the main team.

On one side, Bai Yue asked, “Who do you guys think is the most likely candidate from the current secondary team?”

“Jiang Yang and Zhou Ziyu,” Wang Yuxi said, “These two, one is strong in offence and one is a stable support, I’m pretty optimistic about the both of them.”

Generally, e-sports teams had two primary position players who were partial in offence and two secondary position players who were partial in support, plus observation control, sniping, and overall command. Yao Sen commands and attacks, Bai Yue supports and controls, Song Mingzhe supports and snipes, and Wang Yuxi’s job is to take heads and use his sao positioning to attract firepower*.”

*so it reveals the enemies’ positions

Wang Yuxi stroked his chin and pondered for a while: “But Jiang Yang—that guy loves being in the limelight. He has real skill, but he’s just a bit too hasty and floaty*.”

*proud/prideful

Bai Yue: “Can he float past you?”

“Where am I floating now?” Wang Yuxi patted Yao Sen’s shoulder, “Didn’t Captain Yao Sen teach me a few things in the little black house* back then?”

*i think he’s referring to the time yao sen whooped his ass when he wyx first joined the main team

Bai Yue: “But to be honest, this child Zhou Ziyu is a bit timid and too vigilant. I’m worried that he won’t be able to let go of his mistakes.”

“It’s fine, just let Yao Sen teach and instruct them when the moment comes.”

Yao Sen shot a glance at Wang Yuxi and told them to quickly start training, “Let’s duo queue today, I’ll team up with Wang Yuxi.”

Bai Yue was the first to protest, “You’re making me and Lao-Song play together when we’re both supports?”

Yet Song Mingzhe’s gaze was firm: “Okay boss.”

“Lao-Gou was the one who said that you two need to intensify your tactical training,” Yao Sen put on his headphones and said lightly, “You can kill by purely relying on tactics, you have the ability to kill us both.”

The tactical freedom of the game was very high, providing players with every possible item and opportunity. The teams that weren’t very powerful but relied on tactics to win were not few.

Just as Yao Sen was about to start the match, a Weibo notification popped up on his phone. Yao Sen’s eyes swept over it—it was the notifications that he had specially set for Shao Han.

@NA_Left: Wishing Noah a happy sixth anniversary. Looking forward to better results for Noah in the future.

Yao Sen liked the post in passing, “Today is Noah’s sixth anniversary?”

“Seems like it, I saw someone say so in my Moments,” Bai Yue answered. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Yao Sen considered it for a bit. “I’ll start the match later, I’m going to send a message first.”

On the side, Wang Yuxi had apparently understood something, and wiggled his eyebrows at Yao Sen.

Yao Sen: What are the plans for Noah’s sixth anniversary today?

Shao Han: We have a day off today, the team is going out to dinner tonight.

Yao Sen: Where are you eating?

Shao Han: Dong Lai Hotpot over at Nanluo Bay.

Setting his phone down, Yao Sen said, “Let’s go to Nanluo Bay for hotpot tonight.”

Bai Yue: “Sure, why do you suddenly want to eat hotpot?”

“Starting the match, loser buys.”

“…I’m out of money this month!”

“Then don’t lose.”

☆ ☆ ☆

⟵ Chapter 12 | TOC | Chapter 14 ⟶

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