Chapter 40

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If Yao Sen were to walk down any ordinary street, the chances of him getting recognised were indeed slim. But presently, in an esports arena packed with seasoned fans, anyone who didn’t recognise Yao Sen was, sorry to say, unworthy of the ticket in their hand.

Yao Sen came on stage. The MC and the team members on the stage were all staring at him with wide eyes and bewildered expressions across their faces. It was as if a legendary immortal who only fought against other immortals had descended out of nowhere.

The audience erupted all at once, imploding with clamorous shouts of the two syllables of Yao Sen’s name. The MC was quite quick to respond, picking up right where he left off. Pleasantly surprised, he joked that the staff who was in charge of randomly selecting the audience member could go buy lottery tickets after they got off work.

The MC handed Yao Sen the mic, clearly expecting him to say a few words. Yao Sen hadn’t anticipated that he’d have to give a speech in addition to taking a picture and receiving a gift. Taking the mic, he briefly congratulated the winning team.

Neither the players nor the audience were particularly interested in what Yao Sen said. Their gazes were all fixed on his body, and the audience was chanting wave upon wave of “God Sen”s. It seemed that Asia’s champion’s appearance in such a minor competition was enough to shock them for the rest of the afternoon.

“Thank you everyone, today’s matches were brilliant. Let’s all give the team members a round of applause,” Yao Sen quickly steered the subject towards the team members on stage. “Come on, let’s all take a picture. Keep up the good work in the future.”

The winning youth team members on the side excitedly stretched out their necks to stare at him, all wanting to get a little closer to Yao Sen. They weren’t satisfied with just a picture and insisted on shaking Yao Sen’s hand.

The audience interaction segment forcibly squandered half a day away. Several youth training team members were all anxiously hoping for a longer glimpse of Yao Sen, their reluctance to leave painted across their features. Yao Sen brought the T-shirt with him as he descended the stage. When he passed the third-place team, he suddenly felt several eyes on him and turned his head to look back.

Third place went to a team that Yao Sen and Shao Han had never heard of before, Team NL. Unexpectedly, when the team members saw that Yao Sen was looking their way, they all averted their gazes nervously and whispered something among themselves. Every now and then, one of them would raise his head to peek at Yao Sen before swiftly turning away again.

Yao Sen didn’t really mind being stared at. Frankly, it would be strange if people didn’t stare, but this was Yao Sen’s first time encountering such covert staring.

It’s not like he wasn’t letting them look, why on earth were they being so secretive about it?

Yao Sen stepped off the stage in confusion and sat back down next to Shao Han.

After the championship ended, Yao Sen was held up by his fans for a while. This time, more people noticed Shao Han’s presence. For more than ten minutes, the two of them chatted with the fans at the entrance.

They only returned to the Yiyou Building after grabbing dinner. When Yao Sen returned to his dorm, the first thing Wang Yuxi said was: “Did you go to Hengshi to watch the competition today?”

Yao Sen hadn’t told anyone about today’s plans. When he heard this, he paused before asking, “How’d you know? Is it on Weibo?”

Wang Yuxi pushed his phone towards him. Yao Sen took it and took a quick look.

@Five Elements Lack Sen: Today, God Sen went to the Hengshi Stadium to watch the Laser Cup Youth Championship!!! And Shao ge was with him!!! God Sen was randomly picked for the audience interaction segment to go up and take a picture. The little bros were all scared silly LMAO. Everyone, don’t repost lucky kois[1] in the future, just repost Sen ge [gif][pic][pic][pic]

[Hell, what on earth? Sen ge is the real deal]

[At the venue!!!! Everyone was scared to death when Sen ge came on stage!!!! The fans flocked to Sen Ge and Shao ge for their autographs afterwards and they were suuuper nice!!!!]

[Sen ge went out with Shao ge alone again (doge)]

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA the youth training team members at the side were all shook]

[From this GIF, the way Sen ge casually threw his cap into Shao ge’s arms looks so practiced, how many times has he done it before? (doge)]

[Shao ge looked just as stupefied at first, didn’t he? And when he saw the others clapping he started clapping too, how adorable!]

@Titans_Sen: I got lucky because your mascot Shao ge was next to me, obviously. Since everyone’s been saying that I’m a lucky koi, then why don’t I hold a giveaway? I’ll be giving away a full set of Titan’s newest merch to six people who reposts this

Shortly after, a specially customised Weibo notification popped up on his phone screen. Yao Sen didn’t have many set notifications—when he picked up his phone to check, a laugh instantly escaped his lips.

@NA_Left: Can I join in too // @Titans_Sen: I got lucky because your mascot Shao ge was next to me, obviously. Since everyone’s been saying that I’m a lucky koi, then why don’t I hold a giveaway? I’ll be giving away a full set of Titan’s newest merch to six people who reposts this

@Titans_Sen: Whatever for? I’ll give you anything you like in private // @NA_Left: Can I join in too

[You’ve changed, Sen ge]

[Sen ge how are you so sweet]

[SenZuo is a little too rio]

[AAAAH SenZuo is really too sweet!!!]

[Sen ge, repeat after me three times: If You Won’t Marry Then Why Flirt, If You Won’t Marry Then Why Flirt, If You Won’t Marry Then Why Flirt]

[Sen ge why are you teasing our family’s Xiao Zuo aaaaaaah!!! Xiao Zuo can’t stand being teased aaaaaaaaaaah!!!! Just in case, what should we do if our Cool Xiao Zuo gets taken away by God Sen!!!]

[Shao ge is already bent, huh (doge)]

[@Titans_Xi: Does anyone have SenZuo fanfic recs? There’s been a shortage lately]

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]

[HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA]

[I do, PM me for my cloud drive, Xi ge]

[Sao-ge’s back]

[Xi ge, I strongly recommend you an ABO fic titled ‘Five Elements Lack Left’ on Lofter!!!]

*lofter is a chinese social blogging site similar to tumblr

[@Titans_Xi replied: I’ve read it, thanks]

[If Xi ge’s short on fics then do you want to have a look at some YueXi ones? I can personally assure you of the quality [doge]]

[@Titans_Xi replied: Blocked, thanks]

Yao Sen turned his head to face Wang Yuxi, who was sitting on his bed. “Get out of my comments section.”

As a pure and honest BL lover[2], Wang Yuxi only had concerns about his fanfic recs. “Hold on, I’m waiting for them to send me their fanfic stash.”

“If you want to eat SenZuo CP candy[3] then why don’t you just eat it directly?” Yao Sen said, “Others want to eat the real thing but can’t, yet you’re so picky and choosy.”

“That’s not candy, that’s arsenic-laden dog food,[4]” Wang Yuxi replied without lifting his head. “And the fanfics have spicy scenes, have you done anything spicy?”

“……” It was the first time that Yao Sen was choked off by Wang Yuxi. Coughing, he diverted the topic, “By the way, do you know the club ‘Northern Lights’?”

“Never heard of them,” Wang Yuxi replied. “Are they an unregistered team?”

“They won third place in the competition I went to watch today, the one our youth training played in.”

“That competition is only a second-tier one at best, and the winner isn’t that special either. Why are you asking?”

“It’s nothing, it just felt like they were looking at me a little weirdly.”

“…Is your narcissism acting up again?”

“For real,” Yao Sen stroked his chin. Though he was, admittedly, a little narcissistic sometimes, it didn’t affect his ability to make a proper, objective judgment. “The way they looked at me wasn’t as simple as fans looking at their idols.”

“You’re that ‘good’ at reading people’s expressions and yet you still claim that your illness isn’t acting up?”

Yao Sen thought no more of it, simply assuming that they were just a few kids who were too nervous to go up and talk to the idol they worshipped.

March was drawing to a close. Everyone spent their days training and nights watching professional matches until it became an ingrained habit. Every April, H City would hold a large-scale esports expo, showcasing new games as well as product concepts that would hit the market in the future.

Titans Club were invited to participate in the expo as the organisers had arranged for a fanmeeting and on-scene friendly match. They had the Titans’s main team come in order to attract more visitors.

Everyone was naturally delighted at the prospect of going out and having fun at public expense. Moreover, Titans Club also happened to be planning to recruit a new batch of youth trainees this coming June. The best players in the youth competition naturally had many powerhouse teams gunning for them, and although Titans had a stable spot in the high ranks these last two years, they couldn’t afford to be overshadowed by highly commercialised teams with large capital like Cobra. Attending this expo could be regarded as them advertising themselves.

What’s more, with Yao Sen as their lead, as long as the visitors weren’t blind, they believed that everyone would flock to the expo to catch a glimpse of the man.

Wang Yuxi: “Frontman Yao is finally gonna take his centre spot.”

Bai Yue: “‘Cause you’d be too ugly for it.”

“Talk less if you don’t wanna die.”

“Why don’t we compare who has more fans in their line during the fanmeet?”

“Deal. Whoever loses has to buy the winner a month’s worth of Four Seasons green milk tea.”

Yao Sen ignored them and asked Manager Guo, “Did the organisers invite other teams? Is Noah’s Ark coming?”

“They are, from what I’ve heard,” Manager Guo nodded. “It’s not decided yet, though. But I reckon Noah won’t pass up on this opportunity.”

Yao Sen nodded. This was great. Once the expo was over, he and Shao Han would have all the time in the world to themselves.

That night, Wang Yuxi said that a new malatang restaurant had opened up nearby and ushered everyone out for a late-night meal. Since the group had been having extra training every night this month, the number of times they had late-night meals had increased exponentially. As a man with a boyfriend, Yao Sen held himself back, unlike Wang Yuxi and the others who rushed out to eat as soon as they got tired of training—their body weights were visibly on the rise.

Bai Yue: “How come you always know when a new restaurant opens up?”

Wang Yuxi: “Preparation for when I take my future girlfriend out to eat, so we won’t eat the same thing twice in a month.”

Everyone was touched by Wang Yuxi’s spirit of singlehood and agreed to go out to eat malatang. The second Yao Sen heard malatang, he knew that his family’s spicy-addict Shao Xiao Zuo would love to have some, so he gave him a call and asked him if he wanted to come along.

Sure enough, Shao Han said yes. On the way there, Yao Sen casually asked him about the esports expo next month. “We’re going,” Shao Han answered. “Are you guys going too?”

“We are,” Yao Sen said. “Tell your team that they don’t need to arrange a room for you. I’ll book a room for us separately later.”

The group settled down at the malatang restaurant. The night air was relatively cool, and as there were many patrons inside, they chose to sit outside. The restaurant’s malatang was just as its name advertised, spicy and numbing[5]. After their dishes were served, it wasn’t long before Shao Han was the only one left among them who hadn’t had a single sip of water.

Yao Sen ordered a pot of mung bean and lily soup to quell the spiciness, and every now and then he would tell Shao Han to have some soup.

Bai Yue was sitting next to Yao Sen. As he took this all in, he faintly sensed a hint of inexplicable ambiguity. As soon as this thought emerged, it was directly quashed by the upright Bai Yue. He felt that he was overly looking into it. As good friends and good bros, wasn’t it normal to care about each other?

“Shit, this is so damn spicy…” Wang Yuxi said as he hissed at spiciness. “I’m gonna have diarrhea tomorrow.”

The table next to them seemed like they couldn’t quite handle the spice either; they called the waiter to bring them boiling water to lighten their broth. The waiter brought out a pot of boiling water from the back, and as he passed Yao Sen’s side, he was bumped by a little kid who was scurrying outside. The lidless pot in his hands tipped straight over, and the scalding hot water spilled with a crash.

Right then, Yao Sen’s right hand was holding chopsticks. When he heard the crash behind him, he promptly pulled his hand back to avoid the steaming hot water, but half of it still spilled onto his hand.

Yao Sen winced in pain. His shirt and pants were also splashed. He swiftly rose and dashed to the bathroom, turned on the cold water, and rinsed his scalded hand.

The others were startled. When Bai Yue saw the pool of hot water on their table, he realised that Yao Sen’s hand had been scalded and immediately moved to follow Yao Sen to take stock of the situation.

But someone was already one step ahead of him—Shao Han shot up, crazy with anxiety, and hastily followed after Yao Sen, so anxious that he knocked aside the unoccupied plastic chairs blocking his way. Bai Yue and the others were dumbstruck before they ran after him.

☆ ☆ ☆

[1] Repost lucky kois (lit. just ‘repost kois’) is an internet term/superstition where you repost a picture of a koi in hopes of gaining good luck because the koi fish symbolises good fortune. You know those tweets where people go “retweet for goodluck!”, this is essentially that.

[2] BL Lover; orig. ‘Rotten Man’ or, fudanshi

[3] Eat candy: “eat” moments/content of your ship

[4] Dog food: (unwarranted) PDA

[5] 麻辣 ma la, lit. spicy and numbing

t/n – long time no see ❤ i’ll be updating more often from now own!

⟵ Chapter 39 | TOC | Chapter 41 ⟶

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