Chapter 46

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North America held the Alarm Dawn All Star Cup annually; this year, the cup happened to be held exactly two months before the WCAD, and was considered as an official warm-up prior to the event.

The all star cup had a high entry threshold, thus those who could participate were only North American teams who’d made it into the top 30 in the worldwide rankings. USA’s Team Lincoln who were constantly fighting for first place against the Swiss’ Team Odin was naturally among those included.

Shao Han sat on the sofa. Wang Yuxi sat on one side, his gaze roving across Shao Han’s waist and stomach. He couldn’t help passing him a pillow attentively, concern visible as he said, “Shao ge, here’s a pillow, make yourself comfortable.

Shao Han blinked, and then it dawned on him. Awkwardness and embarrassment came rushing forth as he contemplated, did they hear anything last night? There’s no way, right? Were we that loud?

Yao Sen came over and sat down next to Shao Han. He took the pillow from Wang Yuxi and said, “C’mere, use this.”

Shao Han shot a glare at Yao Sen, but shoved the pillow under his waist nonetheless. They sat on one corner, few people paying attention to them as most eyes were directed at the big screen. Shao Han slowly relaxed and quietly leaned against Yao Sen’s body.

Shao Han would always become clingier than usual after they slept together, and it made Yao Sen want to treat everyone around him like air so he could kiss and hug his darling to his heart’s content. Although it never lasted very long before his affectionate baby reverted back to his original aloof and cold self, Yao Sen’s eyes were now glazed over with a filter that made even the aloof Shao Han look super cute.

Yao Sen coughed, gathered up the sensibilities belonging to that of Asia’s champion and the male god of the esports world, and focused his attention towards the match.

Team Lincoln had three members who ranked in the top 10 worldwide, and their members’ average ranking was about the same as Team Odin’s. Lincoln’s best player, Kevin, was an all-rounder, and although he was usually classified as a support, he deserved a top 8 spot worldwide in terms of his hit rate alone, making him the no. 1 player in the world due to his strong all-round strength.

There were no preliminary rounds in the all star cup; a BO5 system was used to directly obtain the first, second, and third places. Lincoln faced off against a Canadian team in their first match, and as the top player in North America and even the world, Kevin had more close-ups than most.

Kevin was deadly calm throughout the match. His face remained expressionless. Everybody in the circle always joked that currently, the only person who could manage to make Kevin’s face thaw was Team Odin’s Ethan. Lu Kaizhi had also succeeded once, back when he’d defeated the Lincoln captain.

Lincoln won their match 3-0. There was only one thing in Yao Sen’s mind for the entirety of the match—those who were truly strong would never win by a fluke. Watching Team Lincoln’s matches was world’s different from watching Team Odin’s; these two teams who had the biggest probability of being champions had very different playing styles, but both possessed the same outstanding trait: their teamwork was practically seamless.

Esports was a team game, and a strong, sensible player would never opt for a one-man show. Titans’s main team was still very young compared to these two teams, and their experience in working together as a team was still far from enough. Most of the time, they still relied on Yao Sen’s commands instead of having a tacit tactical understanding between them like those really experienced teams, an understanding which could cut down unnecessary time.

Yao Sen watched as Team Lincoln shook hands and thanked their opponents. His brows slightly creased as he quietly reflected on his team’s shortcomings.

Noticing Yao Sen’s expression, Shao Han softly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shao Han’s voice was like a cool breeze after a downpour, dispersing a significant amount of Yao Sen’s anxiety in one fell swoop. Yao Sen’s lips curled up as he answered, “It’s nothing.”

Shao Han gazed at Yao Sen and could faintly understand his thoughts. There were only two months left until the WCAD, and as the Titans’s captain, the pressure and sense of urgency on Yao Sen’s shoulders was heavier than on anyone else’s. And it wasn’t only because of the responsibility that came with his identity as captain, it was also due to the fact that Titans had been the dark horse team in the Asia Championship, which naturally meant that they were piled with high expectations to be able to battle it out against the world’s strongest and experienced veteran teams.

Other people’s expectations were harder to bear than your own demands on yourself—Shao Han understood this profoundly. He pressed his palm to Yao Sen’s arm, as if placating him gently with his touch, and said, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”

Yao Sen froze. His heart was flooded with warmth and thought, my baby really is too sweet. He couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and kiss Shao Han’s cheek. This scene was incidentally seen by Wang Yuxi, who immediately turned his head away and pretended as if he hadn’t witnessed anything.

Like the WCAD, every team in the all star cup only played two matches a day, one in the morning and one either in the afternoon or the evening. There weren’t that many teams participating this year, so the competition was concluded in two to three days.

The last night of their holiday happened to coincide with the all star cup finals. Team Lincoln came out as the undisputed champion, and Kevin once again won the title of best star player in this year’s North American all star cup.

Everyone knew that as long as Kevin didn’t retire, the title wouldn’t go to anyone else. That night, Coach Gou suddenly popped up in the Titans’s group chat and told them that they’d be having extra coordinated tactical training come the end of their holiday. Coordinated tactical training differed from ordinary tactical training in that the former focused on the tacit tactical understanding between the members, to achieve optimum cooperation on the premise of having their own independent judgment on the game situation.

Wang Yuxi gaped. “Why did Lao-Gou suddenly come up with more training?”

“I suggested it.”

The Titans simultaneously turned their heads towards Yao Sen, who was seated on the corner sofa. He looked up and swept a gaze towards the other four men and chuckled. “I think we need to improve in this area.”

Wang Yuxi: “…You aren’t Yao Sen. Give us our real Yao Sen back.”

Wang Yuxi had known Yao Sen for a long time, and the number of times that Yao Sen had taken the initiative to propose extra training could be counted on one’s fingers. This was because Yao Sen was really strong, and maintaining his regular training hours was enough to put his skills way ahead of ordinary players. He’d even be a little lazy at times. Their normally chill captain suddenly actively speaking up about extra training like this—

He said, “Is it because of Lincoln’s matches? Bro c’mon, don’t stress yourself out.”

“People who have boyfriends should be a little more demanding of themselves.” Yao Sen squinted at him. “What, you don’t wanna train?”

“…Nooope. I want to. My hands and feet are itching to get at it.” Wang Yuxi held back an eyeroll at Yao Sen’s words, then followed it up by expressing utmost sincerity. “It’s not like we don’t see you working hard all day long… sniping thousands of people every. And exhausting yourself seven times at night.”

Yao Sen: “Thank you, it’s no big deal.”

Upon returning from the Labour Day holiday, the Titans threw themselves into the highly efficient coordinated tactical training scheme Coach Gou had drawn up. The issue of teamwork was an eternal problem that felt like trying to scale an iron wall. They first had to understand the significance and theories of coordinated tactics, then draw experience from hands-on practice countless times. It was truly time-consuming and laborious.

Just because they had started their extra coordinated tactical training, it didn’t mean that their original training schedule could be abandoned. Most of the month was basically spent in a hectic bustle of training and more training.

As the captain, Yao Sen not only needed to train on his own, but he also needed to lead the entire team. The exhaustion after twenty days of training practically cured his insomnia.

Fortunately, their training intensity would gradually decline after June, finally reverting back to its regular level—which was the only thing that everyone could look forward to.

After they finished training that day, Yao Sen and Wang Yuxi directly returned to their dorms, but when they turned a corner that led to the dorm corridor, they spotted a figure leaning on the wall next to dorm 1522’s door.

Shao Han turned his head at the sound of footsteps. He was carrying a transparent plastic bag that seemed to contain a box of takeout.

“Shao Han, what brings you here?” Yao Sen gave a surprised lurch. Turning to Wang Yuxi, he commanded, “Lao-Wang, go to 1524 first. Don’t come back until I give you the clear.”

“I’ll go without you telling me to.” Wang Yuxi gnashed his teeth and said, “Please, just—make sure you control Yao Sen Jr. in the dorm. With that, Wang Yuxi grinned, nodded at Shao Han, and bounded over to Bai Yue and Song Mingzhe’s dorm.

Yao Sen opened the door and pulled Shao han inside. Shao Han placed the plastic bag he brought with him on the desk, then opened the takeout box inside. The fresh and delicious smell of congee immediately wafted out. “The team went out for a late-night snack tonight,” Shao Han said. “I brought you some sea cucumber congee, eat up while it’s hot.”

Look at his Xiao Zuo, not only did he nourish Yao Sen’s heart and eyes, but also his stomach.

“Why didn’t you text me?” Yao Sen hugged him from behind, feeling both helpless and an aching sweetness in his heart. “How long have you been waiting here for?”

“Not that long.” Shao Han answered lightly. “I thought that you’d already have finished training by now, but it turns out you had extra training. Has training gone late these days?”

“Yeah.” With his boyfriend here, Yao Sen let everything out, hiding nothing. He confined Shao Han in his arms to kiss and snuggle up to him. “The exhaustion cured my insomnia.”

Shao Han’s heart stung. “Have some congee.”

The bowl of hot congee later, Yao Sen’s heart and stomach were warm enough that he could rush back to train for another three hours. He tugged Shao Han to sit on the bed and lay down on Shao Han’s lap.

Head pillowed by supple thighs, Yao Sen closed his eyes leisurely. Shao Han felt a little ticklish, and he couldn’t help but shift his thighs. A small laugh escaped Yao Sen’s lips, and he lightly patted Shao Han’s butt. “Stop wriggling.”

Shao Han went a little red, but he let Yao Sen be.

Right then, Shao Han’s phone rang. When he took out his phone and saw who the caller was, he pushed at Yao Sen and coughed lightly. “It’s my dad.”

His father-in-law being on the phone naturally made Yao Sen restrain himself. He gave a nod to show that he wouldn’t mess around.

“Mm, dad,” Shao Han answered the phone. “Why are you calling so late?”Shao Han’s dad was a law professor. He’d occasionally visit universities in various cities to give lectures.

His dad told him that he’d be attending a seminar at a neighbouring city two days from now, and that he wanted to come visit Shao Han on his way. Shao Han: “Mm, okay.”

A few seconds later, Yao Sen noticed the minute change in Shao Han’s expression. His gaze seemed flustered somehow, and his tone had a nervous edge to it. “…Mm, got it.”

“What did your dad say?” Yao Sen asked after Shao Han hung up.

“He said he’s coming to see me…” Shao Han replied, “and he’d also like to meet you.”

☆ ☆ ☆

Chapter 45 | TOC | Chapter 47

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