“You said what?” Chang Hui gaped at him, processing what his friend had said.
Wu Biaoqing sighed, explaining for the third time, “I said that we could become official after the tournament.”
“You don’t even know what he looks like!” His teammate cried, “That’s like— the number one most important thing. What if he turns out ugly and you can’t get it up? All that attraction will be for nothing, dude.”
He rolled his eyes, “Is sex the only thing you can think of when it comes to relationships?”
“So you admit that he’s probably ugly!” Chang Hui shot back.
He resisted the urge to laugh, sighing again instead, “it doesn’t matter what he looks like. I’m going to go on a date with him, and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
His friend hesitated, “but you swore off dating after… well, that.”
“It’s been a year,” Wu Biaoqing replied, “it’s about time I move on.”
“But Jiang Yu—”
“Jiang Yu made his choice,” he said simply, “and his choice didn’t involve me. So why should I waste my time hung up on a relationship that was never meant to be?”
Chang Hui stared at his friend, who was looking off to the side into the distance with a melancholic expression, close enough to touch yet seemingly too far to reach, as if he were a lone star hanging high in the sky, isolated from the world below.
He radiated a cold sense of detachment, like a never-ending puzzle that would take a lifetime to solve.
And then he broke out in a smile, a sharp contrast of his previous attitude, and his warm, comforting grin felt like a hug, even his eyes glittering with a hint of humor and such raw determination that it made the fellow gamer breathless.
“Chang Hui,” he continued, “I’m not the type of person to sit back and only take what’s given to me. You should know that best.”
Chang Hui thought back to the previous year’s tournament, where he hadn’t backed down even in a situation where other people would have been silent, and wondered when his friend had started being so fearless.
For someone riddled with anxiety, Wu Biaoqing was perhaps the bravest person he had ever met.
When he got serious, his gaze alone could make a person regret what they’d done, despite normally being so harmless.
It was a bit terrifying, but more so inspiring.
That was what he was—
Wu Biaoqing was inspiring, and he would continue to inspire people for a long, long time.
Chang Hui wondered absentmindedly what would happen when that version of Isolation was revealed to the public.
He wouldn’t be surprised if his teammate ended up as a LOW legend.
“Yeah,” Chang Hui replied, punching his shoulder lightly with a chuckle, “I know. Be easy on the poor guy though, will you?”
His friend laughed with him, “I can’t make any promises.”
At that moment, the door to the training room opened, and Yan Shufen walked in.
“Xi Zhe and Men Wu are both taking time off today,” she explained, “would either of you like to as well? There’s only a few days before the competition, so make sure to get your rest while you can.”
Wu Biaoqing thought for a moment, before hesitantly replying, “My parents have been asking me to go back home…”
“I can make a day trip to see my grandma,” his teammate agreed, “I’m up for an off day!”
“It’s settled then,” their manager nodded, “will you be back tonight, or should I mark you for a full day off?”
“I’ll be back by tonight,” Chang Hui replied, adding as if humorously, “where else would I go?”
The other two paused awkwardly, before returning to the task at hand, “will you be staying home overnight?”
“Most likely,” Wu Biaoqing shrugged, “my mom always finds a way to get me to stay at least one night when I visit.”
The two of them, both with overbearing parents, laughed.
“I’ll make sure to live stream and be back by tomorrow evening,” he replied dutifully.
“No worries,” Yan Shufen waved him off, “we’ve still got time. It’s better to have you rest then risk you working yourself too hard, like what you’ve been doing lately.”
“…I haven’t been working myself too hard,” he shot back, “the competition is this weekend, of course I have to be prepared.”
“Being prepared doesn’t mean you have to look like a panda,” she huffed.
Wu Biaoqing, suddenly dubbed a bear, glared at her, “I do not.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“You fell asleep in here yesterday,” she replied, “that’s considered working too hard.”
As if to prove her point, she got her phone out and started looking through her photos to find the picture she’d taken after Men Wu oh so graciously drew all over his face, and he hurried to stop her.
Nobody needed to see that atrocity again.
“Alright, alright, you win, I’m working too hard,” he agreed, “I’ll make sure to rest properly today.”
“Good,” she ruffled his hair, “and make sure to sleep early.”
“You’re one to talk,” Chang Hui scoffed, aggrieved, “your Korean drama was playing so loud at, like, four in the morning! I could barely sleep!”
“I had to know if he would save her!” Their manager cried.
—
Despite his attempts to head home himself, Wu Chengxiao insisted on picking him up.
“Jie, I could’ve just taken the bus or driven myself,” he sighed.
“I was here anyway,” she replied, “and how can I trust you’ll be safe when I don’t know who the driver is? At least with Wen Ling, I can rest assured.”
He watched, quietly, as the driver blushed slightly, and she smiled a bit wider.
“Chengxiao-jie,” he sighed, “I suggest you be a little more subtle.”
“Huh?” She gasped, “it’s not- I- how did you-”
Wu Biaoqing laughed, watching how flustered his sister became, “call it intuition.”
She paused for a moment, “qingqing, you seem… different.”
He looked at her, confused, “Hm?”
“You’re just so much more, I don’t know, happy?” She shrugged, “I can’t really pinpoint what it is.”
His cellphone dinged, a message from Zheng Shun who was crying about having back to back meetings, and he grinned at her.
“Yanxiu-jie said something similar,” he noted, “and I think you’re right.”
The drive from A city to his parent’s villa in C city was a few hours, and he spent most of the journey dozing in and out of slumber, texting Zheng Shun on and off while still half asleep, which made for a rather interesting conversation.
It wasn’t until he heard the familiarly loud rumble of the gates to his parent’s house opening that he finally woke up fully.
“Pfft,” Wu Chengxiao giggled, “didi, your phone is still open.”
Wu Biaoqing, slowly realizing she’d read his messages coaxing Zheng Shun when he started sulking over something silly, flushed bright red.
“I saw nothing, you saw nothing.” He replied.
She gasped, “So you really did go and find yourself a girlfriend! You have to tell mom and dad, they’re going to be thrilled.”
Oh, right.
Sometimes he forgot that Wu Chengxiao and their parents didn’t know about his sexual orientation, or that he was being pursued.
It was easier to talk to Wu Yanxiu, because she didn’t ask many questions, and Wu Duxin confided in him long ago about her girlfriend—
But Wu Chengxiao was loud and nosy, and his parents were overprotective, and it was nerve wracking even thinking they’d have the possibility to find out he wasn’t straight before he was ready to tell them.
He knew, in a way, that they wouldn’t react poorly.
Maybe a little confused, but ultimately supportive.
The problem was his own nervousness, his own anxiety and fears about what could happen.
He didn’t want to disappoint anyone.
Loving someone is never a disappointment, not really, but so many people treat it as such.
After everything he’d gone through, he didn’t want to see that same disgusted look on his parents face—
He wasn’t sure if his heart could take it.
“Qingqing!”
His mother’s voice shook him out of his daze as she ran up to him happily, “hug?”
He nodded, and she immediately jumped into his arms, “oh, sweetie, I’ve missed you so much!”
“Mom,” Wu Biaoqing whined, “you’re crushing me.”
“Sorry,” she let go of him, and he caught his breath as she spoke, “it’s just been so long since the last time you visited.”
“It hasn’t even been a month,” Wu Chengxiao noted.
“You have no room to talk,” their mother replied, “you’re the one who went to see him after not even a week of him being gone!”
“I went to check out his workplace, there’s a difference!” She shot back, “and that was two months ago, you can’t keep bringing it up.”
“Enough,” came a cold voice from behind them, and the two women stopped their grumbling, “welcome home, qingqing.”
His father’s smile was warm and welcoming, the exact opposite of the vibes he gave off normally, and it was obvious that Wu Biaoqing’s smile took after his.
In the eyes of many, Wu Fu was known as a stone-cold businessman who could insult a chef to tears, someone who everyone in the food industry didn’t dare to offend, a skilled man who was a master at many different crafts and had a knack for nailing absolute perfection at every restaurant he owned.
But to Wu Biaoqing…
“Dad, were you crying again?” He asked worriedly, noticing the faint redness around his eyes.
His mother started laughing as his father began to tear up once more, “there was a commercial about puppies!”
“…the one that always plays before xinxin’s program?” Wu Chengxiao guessed.
“Yes! It’s so sad, the puppies are so lonely,” he wailed.
“There, there,” his wife rubbed his back gently, “the dogs in the videos are just acting, okay? They wouldn’t film animals really suffering.”
“But they’re puppies, they can’t act!” He continued to whine, and Wu Biaoqing sighed.
Sure enough, his home was just as lively as he remembered it.
The four of them made their way into the kitchen where Wu Yanxiu was setting the table, his mom talking animatedly about the special dinner she’d asked their chef to prepare once Wu Biaoqing told her that he’d be coming home.
“I had it when I was out in England last week, it was to die for!” She exclaimed, “I think the texture is just right, so it shouldn’t bother you, but I asked the chef to prepare some congee just in case.”
She was like that, always taking minor details into account, and it made him simultaneously touched and nervous, the weight of hiding so much from her always feeling heavier when he met her smile with a weary version of his own.
He didn’t want to hide—
He just didn’t want to bother anyone, because he felt as if he bothered them enough already.
His own mother wanted to share something fun that she enjoyed, but she still had to keep in mind the possibility of him not being able to enjoy it like everyone else.
He was fundamentally different, and while it wasn’t insanely apparent, within the subtle reminders lied the reason for all of his inner turmoil.
He wished he could be normal, wished he could live as the perfect son that they’d wanted him to be.
But under the weight of their expectant gazes whenever the topic of romance inevitably came up, he had never been able to give them the answers they’d been searching for, and he never would, just as he could never match their enthusiasm for things like new foods, fabrics, or music.
An overwhelming feeling of guilt washed over him like a tidal wave, and he hummed nonchalantly as he sat down in his normal seat for dinner.
Their cat, fittingly named Xiao Mao, ran up to him and head butted his legs as he sat, demanding attention.
He pet the cat softly, a bit dazed, remembering the day he’d found her.
He had been having similar worries, walking in the rain under a tiny umbrella, all but forced out of the house by his family and Chang Hui.
It was right before he finally made the decision to continue with E-sports, and when he thought about it, he did owe part of that decision to the cat.
Wu Biaoqing had found him, drenched in the rain, utterly abandoned.
It hurt, seeing the poor thing there, because the cat was just as lost as he felt.
So he scooped him up and turned around, walking all the way to the nearest vet in the hopes that somehow he could be saved.
His phone died during the walk, and his friend and family searched for hours while he waited nervously for any knews on what happened to the kitten.
Eventually, Chang Hui had gasped out his name from the doorway, soaked in rainwater and completely furious.
Wu Biaoqing had been in a poor state, mind filled with the thought that no one would even care if he were to disappear, and suddenly it had been proven to him that there were people who would care—
He just was too caught up in his own feelings to notice those other people.
It took a lot of back and forth, but the moment his friend saw the kitten he saved, all the worry and frustration from before had been completely forgotten in favor of figuring out what to do with it.
During the car ride back, it dawned on him that two lost things had finally found their way back home.
Wu Biaoqing and the cat weren’t alone.
Maybe they never had been.
In the end, no one could come up with a suitable name, so the cat was called Xiao Mao until eventually no one tried to think of something else.
But even so, he had always been very friendly, as if still grateful to be in their care.
In a way, Wu Biaoqing understood the sentiment.
“Eat more,” his mother urged, spooning more congee into his bowl, “I’m sure you haven’t had a proper meal with all that training!”
“I’m alright, mom,” he replied helplessly, still feeling a bit sick after an unsuccessful attempt at trying England cuisine, “I ate before I left.”
“You need to eat something of substance,” she continued to urge him, “not just instant noodles and jianbing.”
“He’s twenty three,” his dad cut in, “I’m sure he knows how to handle himself.”
Wu Biaoqing felt relieved, as his mom finally stopped fussing, but his dad continued.
“You’re going to be twenty four this year! I remember when you were just four years old, always clinging to your jiejies when we had to scold you. You used to babble on until it turned into gibberish when you were tired, where did time go…” his father started sniffling, the tears from before making their way back.
Well, there was no such thing as an easy dinner in the Wu household, he supposed.
“Oh, right. You have a competition soon, don’t you?” Wu Yanxiu mentioned offhandedly, trying to divert the topic.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Wu Chengxiao gasped indignantly, “I need to get the best seat possible so I can cheer you on.”
Wu Biaoqing thought about her idea of cheering him on, which would most likely be getting dressed head to toe in his merch and carrying around the biggest, brightest sign known to man, and immediately intervened.
“You shouldn’t come,” he said, “you can just stream it live with mom and dad.”
“What? But you need someone there to support you, didi!” She frowned.
“I‘ll have someone,” he replied, trying and failing to flatten the smile that naturally found its way to his face when he imagined Zheng Shun coming to see him.
Would he be sitting with LIFE’s fans, or would he be somewhere else?
Would Wu Biaoqing recognize him, or notice him in the crowd before they’re properly introduced?
The more he wondered, the more excited he became.
His sister laughed then, teasing him by sighing, “ah, young love.”
His mother perked up at this, “Love? Is qingqing dating someone?”
He vehemently denied this, “no, no, jie is just joking,” but in his heart he answered her question with, I will be soon.
“Yeah, he’s too much of a prude to start dating,” Yanxiu added jokingly.
“It’s not good to be prude,” his mother sighed, “you know, back when your father was chasing after me, he would—”
“We know,” all three of her children groaned at the same time, used to her going on and on about their romance, and the whole table burst into laughter.
She added then, “but I think it would be nice if you brought someone home someday. I don’t care who she is, I just want you to finally have someone!”
“Yeah,” he replied hesitantly, “someday.”
His phone vibrated, a message from Zheng Shun asking if his visit was going alright, and he resisted the urge to sigh again.
For once, he wished that the competition would start sooner.
The author has something to say
Please let me know if I should add another break somewhere! ( ´▽｀) I managed to get this chapter out in time thankfully.
P’w tbqlcu ab rqjgf rbwf alwf ab ufa wbgf mtjqafgr kglaafc, yea ijafis P’nf yffc rb yers… pera ijra kffx P kjr qgfrfcalcu ja j mbcnfcalbc, jcv cbk atlr kffxfcv P’nf uba jcbatfg mbcmfga. P fcvfv eq tjnlcu jiwbra jii bo ws yluufra fnfcar obg atf sfjg qijccfv lc atf rqjc bo 4-5 kffxfcvr rbwftbk 555
However, I’m doing my best to keep up with this novel! I promise the gaming aspect will return in the next chapter… Little Author Suffers Over Writing Gaming.JPG
In other news, MIC’s cover was finally finished! I’m so happy with how it turned out… my babies are on the cover at last (´；ω；｀)
It’s out!!! And the little cat with qingqing played with my heart strings
Something about little isolation having Xiao Mao feels so right… I couldn’t help myself, maybe I’m just a cat lover ╮(╯▽╰)╭
I kinda relate to qingqing, feeling like nobody would care, or that I don’t have anyone, but I know that I really do, haha
He’s very similar to be in that aspect (￣▽￣””) luckily little isolation is becoming more aware of the fact that he has people he can rely on (≧∇≦)
That’s pretty great!!
I understand qingqing feelings about coming out it must be hard for him thinking he could be rejected or met with disgusted looks from his own parents but alas im sure its gonna be alright for him he has his sisters and ZS
Qingqing is dear to many, so no matter what happens, he’ll never truly be alone. Sometimes he just needs a little reminder ( ´▽｀)
<3
I like his family! They are so nice!!!
Also the cover looks great!