Before we begin, I’d like to note that this chapter includes depictions/descriptions of homophobia, violence, and vomiting. If you’re sensitive to any of that, please proceed with caution! Remember to take care of yourselves, and happy reading~
The weather of A city was chilly and humid, and Wu Biaoqing suppressed a shiver, rubbing his hands together to warm them up.
It was still mostly dark outside, the sun barely risen above the horizon, proof of the early morning hour.
“Fuck, I’m so tired,” Men Wu whined.
“Who wouldn’t be tired?” Chang Hui replied, stumbling his way to the team van, still half asleep, “getting up at five in the morning… it’s like they want to kill us.”
“It’s for promotional pictures,” Xi Zhe reminded him lightly, yawning, “we need to be there as early as possible so things go smoothly.”
“I don’t care about pictures,” Chang Hui griped, “we’re gamers, not models.”
“What’s wrong with pictures?” Wu Biaoqing, the only one of them who didn’t look half-dead, asked innocently.
“You can’t say anything,” Men Wu immediately cut in, “you’re used to this.”
“Fair point,” isolation shrugged.
“‘Used to this?’” Xi Zhe echoed.
“I modeled for my sister,” he explained, “but I stopped helping her out during high school to focus on gaming.”
“Damn, what haven’t you done?” Chang Hui sighed, jealous, “you’re the type of husband every girl wants.”
“Too bad he’s married,” Men Wu joked, throwing an arm around his teammate’s shoulder, “right hubby?”
“Wifey, I’m begging you to shut up,” Wu Biaoqing replied, deadpan, as he shoved him off, “Xiao Hui will get jealous.”
Chang Hui pretended to get embarrassed, saying bashfully, “be quiet, qingqing, we’re in public!”
Men Wu wore his green hat with shame, crying, “grandpa Xi Zhe, my husband is cheating again! Don’t leave him the company!”
Wu Biaoqing gasped, but his monotone voice made his words feel insincere, “no, wifey, don’t be like this, I’d never cheat on you.”
His so-called wife blinked at him with wide eyes, “really?”
At that moment, his phone buzzed, and Men Wu managed to grab it before Wu Biaoqing could, reading out loud in a dramatic fashion, “a text from a stranger saying ‘your baby is lonely’?, How could this be?!”
He proceeded to fake fainting, leaning on Xi Zhe for support.
“Fuck, don’t read my texts,” Wu Biaoqing grabbed his phone back, only to get another wave of teasing due to his bright red ears.
“Us single dogs must stick together,” Xi Zhe sighed, “neither of you are allowed to get girlfriends.”
Men Wu laughed awkwardly, “yeah, no girlfriends, got it…”
“Goddamn it, don’t tell me you really have one?!” Chang Hui gasped, and Men Wu blushed as he nodded.
“Then it’s just you and me,” their captain said solemnly, “we’re in this together.”
“If you’re that lonely, then just date each other.” Men Wu joked.
“Then our family tree would really be out of control.” Wu Biaoqing added with a laugh.
Yan Shufen walked out of their team headquarters then, bundled up like a butterfly in a cocoon with multiple layers of clothing, the only one of them not used to the weather.
“What are you doing outside in the cold,” she huffed, “are you not worried about getting sick? We have a tournament, hurry up!”
—
The pictures passed in a blur of makeup and tired complaining.
It was amusing, in a way, that Candy Cone put so much attention into their photos and their appearance during the competition, as if they were actors instead of professional gamers.
“Well, you are as handsome as an actor,” his makeup artist giggled, “I barely need to do anything.”
The other three LIFE members, who were being suffocated with makeup, felt aggrieved but were forced to stay silent, as they couldn’t really refute that statement.
Wu Biaoqing was constantly praised for being photogenic, after all.
He ended up getting extra pictures taken despite his discomfort with being exposed to flashing lights for so long, but he didn’t complain, clinging to the chance to distract himself from his anxious thoughts.
After a few hours of pictures and briefing from the staff, they made their way backstage, where they were supposed to wait for the first match’s teams to be announced.
Unlike professional competitions, where there would be solo, duo, and team competitions, the Candy Cone Cup tournament only held team games.
The Candy Cone Cup tournament, and other tournaments like it, were great to announce new players or allow a reserve to get a feel for the pressure of an actual competition, as they were shorter and didn’t involve point ranking like the regional, national, and global competitions.
For those competitions, the company that created LOW actually sponsored the events themselves, and they were incredibly strict.
Team games had to be best out of five, with the team that won the most rounds usually taking the win.
However, they could still be beaten when it came to points, so the overall winner wasn’t just the team with the most wins—
It also relied on the amount of kills your team took in comparison to the amount of kills other teams took, and the more complex the kill, the more points it would receive.
This meant that a team could still manage to win by beating the other team in the total amount of points they received.
However, when it came to rules for smaller competitions they were much more easy going.
The Candy Cone Cup tournament, for example, held team games that were best of three, and the teams would battle it out for a spot in the final.
The games themselves were the deciding factor when it came to winning or losing, so there wasn’t as much pressure when it came to kills, allowing for less aggressive matches.
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.
Most of the strong teams were on friendly terms with one another, and their secondary teams were basically the same, so unofficial tournaments were treated like matches between friends as opposed to serious competition.
In the past two years, LOW had been on a significant rise.
They were steadily improving the games quality and receiving more fans in return, but the teams considered the strongest hadn’t changed, with rookie teams usually getting beaten by the teams with more experience.
However, that was going to change—
A new wave of gamers would begin to make their mark, starting with the annual Candy Cone Cup tournament of 2023.
The man who was going to make the biggest first impression, however, was sitting idly backstage playing a girls dress-up roleplay game.
“I’m telling you, it’s fucking rigged!” Chang Hui exclaimed, “every outfit I put together I get a terrible score, how is that even possible?”
“You just don’t have good fashion sense,” Wu Biaoqing replied, earning triple love points with ease, “see, the CEO loves it.”
“Well the CEO can kiss my ass for all I care,” his teammate grumbled, “who even judges their girlfriend based on her outfit?”
“You’re not much better at responding to dialogue,” Men Wu added, “who the hell responds to the CEO saying ‘I missed you, baby’ by ‘reprimanding him for being late’?”
“But he was late,” Chang Hui explained, “if my boyfriend showed up ten minutes late to our first ever date when he was the one who asked me out, I would be livid!”
“You would have to get that guy to actually ask you out first,” Men Wu countered, “and you had to have my help on that level!”
“I could totally get a guy to date me,” his teammate huffed, “guys would be, like, all over me if I was a girl.”
Men Wu rolled his eyes, “a guy would listen to you say one word and run as far as he could in the opposite direction.”
“Quit arguing,” Xi Zhe cut them off, “you’re both being idiots. You do realize they’re going to start soon, right? If your mics pick up any of your conversations, our team reputation is doomed.”
“I doubt our team has any reputation left,” Wu Biaoqing shrugged, tossing the phone back to Chang Hui, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
The hallways were long and mostly empty, a majority of the staff busy with preparations for the beginning of the tournament.
It was quiet, save for the rhythmic squeaking of Wu Biaoqing’s shoes against the polished tile, and as he looked down at them he could see a blurred reflection of his own face against the floor illuminated by the light of the long, bright, LED lights hanging from the ceiling.
The endless different shades of white gave him an oddly unpleasant feeling, and he walked a bit faster to the bathroom as an inexplicable sense of dread washed over him, his nerves seemingly tripling due to being alone.
What was normally a slight buzz in the background of his brain suddenly rushed to the front in full force, and he felt like he was drowning in those thoughts, his breathing growing quicker as he ran into the bathroom and all but slammed the nearest stall door closed behind him, locking it with shaking hands.
A person’s mind was a fragile thing, especially Wu Biaoqing’s.
The longer he was alone, regardless of where he was, the worse his thoughts would become.
They encompassed a range of different worries, different thoughts and feelings, all things normally thrown to the side in favor of living in the moment, but there was no moment to be lived that could be used as a protective barrier against them anymore.
He was being confronted by his feelings, and the added weight of his first ever tournament as a member of LIFE only served as an extra factor, worsening the already bitter, emotion-driven, illogical mush that came when he felt nervous or overwhelmed.
It felt like forever, or perhaps only a moment, before the bathroom door opened again, and two men laughed loudly with each other.
He saw through the cracks in the stall that the ZD logo was sewn onto the jacket pockets of their light green team uniform.
Wu Biaoqing remembered that logo—
He was the one who suggested it.
The thought only made him feel worse, as if he were sick, and he turned around to dry heave, barely breathing properly, his head spinning.
“Oh right, did you hear?” One of the gamers asked the other, “that guy from the trainee program is playing in the tournament too.”
“No way,” the other gasped, “the weirdo who fought captain for no reason?”
“Yeah, turns out some other team decided to pick him up,” the first guy shrugged, “I hope his teammates are careful, what if he blows up again?”
“Maybe then he’ll be kicked out for good,” the second sighed, “it’s a shame, though. Didn’t Jiang-ge really like him? Senior Mo Song mentioned how he and captain Zeng were always fighting because of him.”
“That was before it happened,” the other explained, “it was a total shock when he said he would testify against him, ugh what was his name, Wu Biaoqing? They were super buddy-buddy up until the fight, and then Jiang-ge did a total 180 and completely ignored him, like he hated him or something.”
“Fuck, that’s kinda sad,” the second guy remarked, “don’t go picking fights and do that to me, got it?”
They both burst out laughing again, walking out of the bathroom with an arm around each other’s shoulder.
All at once, he was reminded of a warm afternoon a year before, Jiang Yu grinning at him brightly, calling out his name—
He coughed, breathing heavily, the contents of the company provided lunch now in the toilet.
He flushed it, wiping away the drool on his chin with disgust, before another wave of nausea hit him, and he was leaning over once more.
His body was doused in a cold sweat, and he continued to shake, coughs growing louder while he did his best to breathe through choked gasps.
Slowly, he began to calm down, taking in one breath at a time as he struggled to clear his head, but the memories continued, replaying like a bittersweet film that he knew all too well had a bad ending.
Tears poured down his face, and he wiped at them until his cheeks turned red from the constant rubbing, but they continued to streak down, wet and hot and uncomfortable, dripping down his chin and onto his shirt.
He hated crying almost as much as he hated public restrooms, and considering he was both crying and in a public restroom he certainly wasn’t faring well, if that wasn’t already obvious.
Fortunately, he was much too preoccupied puking whatever he had left in him after another wave of nausea hit to start caring about the germs that came along with kneeling on the bathroom floor.
At least he had the foresight to put his hair into a bun that morning, fiddling with it nervously during the car ride but ultimately retying it and leaving it there, as messy as ever, so it wasn’t getting in the way.
When a situation is terrible, it’s important to focus on what little positives you can find—
Or maybe he was just trying to think of a distraction.
He took a few more deep breaths, the unpleasant aftertaste of the present situation lingering fresh in his mouth, eyes red and puffy as he bawled, and he hugged his knees to his chest, a curled up figure in an already confined space.
He felt pathetic.
Really, who gets so worked up just at a bit of trivial gossip?
But it was an exact reminder of what he’d been trying to avoid, of what he’d been ignoring for the past year.
Because the fighting incident wasn’t for no reason—
Jiang Yu and Zeng Yuan knew that best.
—
“Nervous?” His friend asked softly, handing him a drink from the vending machine beside them.
“Shit, do you even need to ask?” Wu Biaoqing sighed, resting his head on the other’s shoulder after he sat down, “this feels like dying, no, worse than dying. I’d prefer death over this.”
“Xiao Wu, it’s one competition,” Jiang Yu laughed, “you’re going to do amazing. Don’t stress over it.”
“Easy for you to say,” he rolled his eyes, “you’re not even playing.”
His friend shrugged, “True. It’s not that big of a deal though, nobody is putting any importance on this tournament.”
“How do you know that?” He shot back, “management obviously arranged for me and Zeng Yuan to play to see who the captain of our team will be. Sorry if I’m a little stressed.”
Jiang Yu ruffled his hair, making him blush slightly, “you just don’t stop thinking, do you? Someone needs to find the off switch to your brain.”
“I don’t have an off switch,” Wu Biaoqing scoffed, “what am I, a robot?”
“Yep,” his teammate teased him, “you’re a robot. You were made in a lab and the scientists were trying to create the best robot to be our team captain.”
The two of them laughed together, and Wu Biaoqing sighed, feeling slightly relieved.
When he first joined the trainee program over six months before, it wasn’t exactly a warm welcome.
Everyone knew, as soon as he joined, that someone would end up as a benchwarmer.
LOW could only have teams of four, after all, and with him joining it brought the total number of trainees up to five.
The biggest problem lied in the fact that he joined late—
The trainees had already formed strong bonds with one another in the month since the program started, so when Wu Biaoqing joined late, there was naturally some tension between them.
Of course, two other trainees joined as well, bringing the total to seven not too long after.
But the dislike ran deeper when his teammates noticed his skills.
Out of the people in the trainee program, only Zeng Yuan and Jiang Yu could be considered equal to Wu Biaoqing.
Wu Biaoqing joined the trainee program for experience at first, without a clear goal in mind, and was relatively laid back.
Unlike the other trainees, who were fighting to become strong, and only had E-sports to rely on, he was noticeably different.
He didn’t slack off, of course, but he was stronger than them without training himself half to death like everyone else, and he didn’t have to worry about whether or not his career worked out.
Male ego is a fragile thing, and in the face of someone who seemed so much better off than themselves, the other trainees held an inherent dislike of him, and coupled with the fact that he was bad at reading social cues, it only fueled their whispers and gossip behind his back.
Of the trainees, only two could be considered to actually like him—
One being Chang Hui, who was loud and energetic and admired his skill, and the other was Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu was reserved and charming, easily becoming favored by the trainees with his agreeable personality.
Of course, that was only part of his personality.
The moment something pissed him off, Jiang Yu would do a total flip, yelling and cursing as if someone had murdered his entire family, and it was to the point where the other trainees were even a bit scared of him.
Wu Biaoqing, however, didn’t really mind it.
Jiang Yu never got mad with him anyway, and he found himself by his side more often than not.
When he and Jiang Yu were together, he felt incredibly comfortable, like being bundled up in a blanket on a cold winter day.
The two of them became very close, so much so that their coach and management had jokingly started calling him Jiang Yu’s shadow.
Only, the distaste for Wu Biaoqing grew within the group of trainees as he began to work harder and continued to improve his skills, so the snide remarks were inescapable.
A laugh here, a tease there, all poking fun at their close relationship, hinting that it might not be just a friendship.
Zeng Yuan especially would never let up on it, constantly pestering them asking when they were going to get married, or referring to them as a pair of lovers, all because Wu Biaoqing was, if not superior, then evenly matched in terms of skill in LOW.
If you can’t beat them in game, beat them with words—
That was the motto Zeng Yuan seemed to follow, and the others slowly followed suit, creating a noticeable rift between Wu Biaoqing and the other members of the trainee program, save for Chang Hui.
At first, Wu Biaoqing didn’t realize why Jiang Yu suddenly became more distant and high strung whenever they were together, until it hit him that he was worried people would think they were actually dating.
He thought that was a bit strange, because they weren’t dating, so what would they have to be afraid of?
Even if he admitted to everyone in the program early on that he liked men, mainly because he kept getting accused of flirting with their girlfriends, it didn’t mean he would date just anyone.
But he slowly began to realize that his intentions, regardless of how they began, were becoming less and less innocent.
Wu Biaoqing was greedy, perhaps that was the best way to put it.
He wanted more but didn’t know what that meant, so he took all he could get and then some, clinging to Jiang Yu like a helpless puppy.
Even before he realized his crush, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he was absolutely smitten, clamoring for his friend’s attention whenever he got the chance.
Wu Biaoqing was greedy absentmindedly, but Jiang Yu pulled back, causing him to reassess what exactly it was that he wanted, leading to him realizing his feelings.
But he didn’t let up even after the reality of the situation set in.
Wu Biaoqing was nothing if not determined, and for as long as Jiang Yu let him, he would remain by his side.
Memories are a tricky thing.
Perhaps, a year before, he would’ve looked back on his memories of Jiang Yu with a smile, maybe even laughed besottedly, content with his secret love.
Unfortunately, there comes a time in every story where the fantasy must face reality, and the story of his crush on Jiang Yu was no exception.
“I’m still scared,” he admitted quietly, “you know what they’ve been saying. What they’ve been saying about me. What happens if I fuck this up and cause AFK to lose a round?”
“They’re not going to make fun of you,” his friend reassured him, “I won’t let them.”
He frowned, explaining, “they only listen when they know you’re around. Nobody cares the moment you’re gone.”
Jiang Yu paused, turning so that he could face the other gamer, “I’ll talk to them again, I promise. You know how it is… they’ll come around eventually.”
“Yes, as you’ve been repeating for the past six months,” Wu Biaoqing shrugged, “face it, Jiang-ge, there’s no way we’re going to end up as a functional team if I’m still here.”
“Don’t say that,” his friend cut him off, “you keep thinking like that and there’s no way you’re going to play today’s game well.”
“It’s the truth,” he continued, “why do you think AFK is playing instead of us? We’re not ready, that’s why. We can’t be an actual team if everyone on the team is treating me like a mutual enemy.”
“They’re not…” his teammate sighed, “it’s not like that. They’re just younger, y’know? They need time to mature a bit. It’ll get better with time.”
“But do we have that?” Wu Biaoqing, ever the realist, continued, “the spring preliminaries are right around the corner. If we don’t have a proper team by then, who do you think will be the first to go?”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Jiang Yu frowned, “if they try to kick you out, I’ll go with you. We’ll be together no matter what.”
“Will we?” He averted his gaze, “we can’t be together forever, Jiang-ge. You- you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“Forever,” his friend echoed, “I promise.”
“Jiang Yu,” he stared at him, taking a deep breath, trying to gather up the courage to say what he knew he needed to say, “friends don’t say that to friends.”
“I… I know that. It’s just—”
They were cut off by the sound of a rather enthusiastic whistle.
“Ooh,” a familiar voice, their teammate who was finally back from the bathroom, “a lovers quarrel?”
“Fuck off, Zeng Yuan,” Jiang Yu warned him with a glare.
He shrugged, “don’t mind me, I’m just here to watch the show.”
“What’s your problem?” Asked Wu Biaoqing, “Seriously, Zeng Yuan, what the fuck is your problem?”
“Damn, chill— what’s got you all riled up?” He laughed, “are you upset now that your boyfriend is mad at you?”
“Shut up!” Jiang Yu exclaimed.
“What, mad that I’m speaking the truth? Those wimpy trainees might be too scared to say it to your face, but I’m not that weak,” he continued, “you guys are gross. It’s way too obvious that you’re like, dating or some shit.”
The other two continued to glare at him, Wu Biaoqing staying silent while Jiang Yu replied, “we’re not dating. Seriously, don’t be like that today.”
“At least I’m not a coward,” he shot back, “really, you can just come out of the closet like Xiao Wu did, and go run off into your happy, official life, far away from us normal people.”
Jiang Yu sighed, “we’ve talked about this, just because Wu Biaoqing made the decision to be gay—”
“‘made the decision?’” His friend echoed, “what does that mean?”
He paused for a moment, falling awkwardly silent.
“Xiao Wu, I know you’re always very open about yourself, but…” he heisted before explaining, “I’m not that kind of person.”
The fellow gamer felt his heart drop, “What?”
Zeng Yuan burst out laughing, “damn, did you just get dumped?”
A moment of silence, the sounds of muffled conversations of the other teams in the distance being the only thing breaking it, before Wu Biaoqing spoke.
“…and what if we were dating?”
Zeng Yuan gasped, “holy shit? Jiang-ge, I didn’t take you for that type!”
“Shut up,” Jiang Yu yelled, “I’m not like him! We’re not dating, and we never were. I’m- I’m normal, just like you.”
Zeng Yuan stood there for a moment, just as shocked at his sudden outburst as Wu Biaoqing, before he started laughing, “talk about brutal. What if Xiao Wu really has feelings for you?”
“Fuck off, Zeng Yuan,” Wu Biaoqing replied, shaking as he struggled to breathe, trying his best to keep it unnoticeable, “I’m not in the mood for any more of your bullshit.”
“Oh my god,” he grinned, “you totally do! Jiang-ge, look, he totally has a crush on you! Holy shit, that’s gross—”
His next sentence fell flat as he was grabbed roughly by his shirt, Wu Biaoqing hesitating the moment before he almost hit him.
Jiang Yu watched on in shock, and Zeng Yuan leaned in to whisper in Wu Biaoqing’s ear, “why pull me so close? Don’t tell me you have a crush on me.”
This time, he didn’t hesitate, just directly threw a punch at his face.
Despite not being inherently violent, he was still strong, and the force of the punch knocked Zeng Yuan off balance momentarily, before he was striking back angrily, and the fight developed from there.
Wu Biaoqing’s ears were ringing, and his throat felt dry, tears pooling in his eyes but never falling.
He could hear things, like the loud, distressed yelling of Zeng Yuan or the sounds of someone calling out his name, but they were muffled, like a jar was covering him, separating his consciousness from his actions.
By the time he was finally able to make sense of what was going on, Chang Hui was forcibly restraining him from trying to get another punch in, and another member of their trainee program was calling for their manager as security rushed over from down the hall.
Jiang Yu stood off to the side, staring straight at him, and he wondered absentmindedly if he’d been doing that the whole time.
When their gazes met, Jiang Yu was the first to look away, and he turned around, ignoring him.
It was the first time since Wu Biaoqing had joined the trainee program all those months before that Jiang Yu ignored him.
What the Wu Biaoqing of that moment didn’t know was that it was only the beginning.
The author has something to say
What happened after the fight broke out? Why does Jiang Yu seem to hate Wu Biaoqing? All will be revealed… next week because I was at the hospital pretty much all of this weekend (￣▽￣””)
I re-wrote this chapter about 8 different times, and still wasn’t satisfied. In the end, I decided to cut this chapter into two separate chapters, since it was already crazy long and I wanted to get something out. This is the longest chapter so far, I hope it reads well… In any case, the truth has been revealed! Zeng Yuan is the one who fought qingqing, not Jiang Yu. Is anyone surprised?? (/ω＼)
Ojafis, P’nf yffc rqfcvlcu abb wemt alwf vjsvgfjwlcu jybea atf ZPJ mtjgjmafgr jcv cba fcbeut alwf qijcclcu bea jii atf mtjqafgr obg ZPJ. Dijwf ws mtjgjmafgr obg yflcu abb rtlqqjyif 2333
I can’t wait for you all to find out what the side CPs are. I might end up making two different spin off novels for them when all is said and done (/ω＼) The first side CP is going to meet soon!! Though, would Men Wu and his girlfriend technically count as the first side CP?
Omg this Zeng Yuan is such a horrible asshole!!! He deserved to get beaten!!! Ptui!
Is this Jiang Yu related to the Jiang family Zheng Shun has problems with?
I am glad that WBQ now has such amazing team mates!
And thank you for the breaks for marking new scenes, it’s really nice of you <3
Omg I forgot to mention but it’s a different Jiang, JY’s is 姜 where’s the Jiang family’s is 江 ( ￣ ▽ ￣ “”) I should probably add that in a note somewhere lol, sorry for the confusion
Ahh ok that’s good then, if it was the same Jiang that would only have meant more problems for them both probably 😅😭
It would make for a very eventful meet-the-family chapter, that’s for sure (≧∇≦)
Argh poor WBQ!!! He was constantly harassed 😞 and the asshole friend 😡 what a mess, I’m glad that he has good teammates now .·´¯
(>▂<)´¯·.Why does it look like that bruh ಥ_ಥ
Rip the emoji, fly high ( ; _ ; )/~~~
Hahaha looking at it again it looks pretty funny