Chang Hui sighed loudly, getting up from his computer and stretching dramatically, “fuck, I’m beat.”
Xi Zhe, who had been dragged into multiple rounds of duo queuing and was force-fed dog food the whole time, laid on his desk exhaustedly, “tell me about it.”
“You’re acting like you ran a marathon,” Men Wu replied, “should we get food?”
“Can’t,” Wu Biaoqing cut in, “Yan-jie said if she caught any of us out of the building before the tournament, she’d personally deal with us.”
The three idiots shivered, imagining the wrath of their overbearing manager.
“I don’t get why she’s so insistent on training. I mean, they’re only secondary teams, and it’s not like we don’t already know ZD’s tricks.” Chang Hui whined, leaning against Xi Zhe obnoxiously.
“She wants us to take it seriously,” Xi Zhe explained, “‘The youth has great potential. Who’s to say they won’t be our equals in the future’ or whatever.”
Men Wu sighed, “Potential doesn’t feed you, though.”
“Just get takeout,” Wu Biaoqing suggested, and his other team members instantly brightened up, “pick whatever you want, I’ll pay.”
“You’re the best! We’re so grateful, hubby!” Men Wu wasted no time hugging his thigh.
“If you’re that greatful, you can be the sacrifice who gets the food.” Xi Zhe replied nonchalantly.
His teammate frowned, “Sacrifice…?”
“If you get caught meeting the delivery guy, you can suffer Yan-jie’s lecture.” he explained.
The two idiots continued to bicker, but Wu Biaoqing paid them no mind, handing Chang Hui his phone so he could order.
“Are you good?” Chang Hui asked, seeming concerned, “You seem like… out of it.”
Isolation paused, “Am I?”
“Well you keep staring at your computer screen like you want to burn a hole in it, for one.” He laughed, “but really— is something bugging you? Is it because of your match with Jiang Yu?”
Wu Biaoqing shook his head, “Poet can anger himself to death for all I care. It’s just…”
Chang Hui stared at him expectantly, urging him on, “just?”
“You know what you said last time about, uh, talking to someone?” He looked away from his friend, embarrassed, “How do you… do that…?”
Chang Hui burst out laughing, causing curious glances to be thrown their way by their teammates.
“You’ve got it bad huh,” he grinned, “how far have you gotten?”
“…I’m trying to message him,” Wu Biaoqing explained, “for the first time.”
“What?”
Taking the shocked look on his friend’s face into account, he hurriedly explained, “It’s not like we haven’t talked before! We’ve talked plenty! Just never privately.”
Chang Hui nodded, seemingly understanding, “and?”
“And I have no idea what to say,” he sighed, letting his hair down to give his nervous self something to do, “like how do I even message him? Hi, hello, can I know every detail about your personal life?”
His teammate failed at stifling his laughter once more, as Wu Biaoqing absentmindedly ran his hands through his hair, “I want to be normal, and like, cool. I want him to think I’m cool.”
“Cool?” Chang Hui echoed, “Wu-ge, no offense, but you’re the lamest person I’ve ever met.”
Isolation glared at him, causing his friend to laugh even more.
“But that’s a good thing,” he explained, “because you’re a total loser, and you’re still one of the best people I have the pleasure of being friends with.”
Despite his roundabout way of saying things, Wu Biaoqing still felt touched.
“So hurry up and message them, and be as uncool as you want!” He encouraged, smile almost blinding, “you can come cry to me if they ignore you.”
“…that’s not very reassuring.”
—
Her high heels clicked loudly against the tile flooring as Yin Lijuan made her way down the hall.
She hesitated at the door, pausing for a moment to double check that the CEO didn’t have anything planned at that moment that she would accidentally interrupt, before taking a deep breath.
It would be fine–
She’d only been his assistant for a week, there was no way she would get fired for walking in if she had something important to discuss with the CEO.
She handled his schedule, for heaven’s sake, it would be alright to bother him for a bit… she hoped.
She sighed, taking a few more seconds before her nerves really set in, and pushed the double doors open before she started second guessing herself.
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.
The CEO sat in his chair, still looking as attractive as he had been when she’d met him, when she was reduced to a stuttering mess of nerves mixed with attraction.
She heard the gossip within the office about their CEO, whispered during private coffee breaks between giggles, how he was young and shockingly single, a humble and sweet yet a considerably scary and decisive man, and he certainly fit the bill.
The aura around him screamed ‘unapproachable’.
Though, when she really paid attention, he looked mildly uncomfortable in his suit despite being seemingly relaxing while watching something, as if not quite used to formal attire.
“Uhm, Zheng Shun, sir,” she called out hesitantly, “the executives of XtraF are asking for an emergency meeting to negotiate more for our acquisition of the company. They want to talk about your rebranding plan specifically.”
Her boss hummed noncommittally, “When?”
“R-right now,” she replied, growing more nervous, “I know you specifically request this time free every day, but they’re insisting–”
“It’s fine,” he shrugged, “it ended early anyway, I’m just rewatching.”
“Ended early?” she echoed, confused.
He gestured at his phone that displayed some type of video game that had just been won on the screen, a small box in the corner depicting the image of someone who seemed to have a very blank face, or perhaps it was just too small to tell without her glasses, “The live stream.”
“…you ask for free time to watch a live stream?” she asked, disbelief evident, and she remembered once again all the rumors going around about how stern and serious Zheng Shun was, about how he was not to be messed with.
The CEO chuckled lightly, “don’t tell anyone, okay?”
He flashed a dazzling smile at her, which when coupled with a wink could make anyone’s heart weak, let alone someone as simple as her, so she just nodded with a red face.
Clearly, her boss wasn’t as scary as people made him out to be.
—
“Ah, that’s the stuff,” Chang Hui sighed contently, downing more of a can of beer way too cheap for Wu Biaoqing to ever consider bringing near his mouth, “now it’s really a party.”
Wu Biaoqing sat to the side awkwardly, watching as the team went about with their make-shift hot pot they’d pieced together with the help of the training room’s conference table, a portable grill, and the take out Wu Biaoqing had oh so graciously ordered them with his black card– or, more accurately, they forced him to pay for it, because once they knew it was all on him they went crazy getting the most expensive dishes they could buy.
Damn moochers, that’s what they were.
“What are you doing in there?” the loud voice of their manager echoed from down the hall, and the once bustling atmosphere stilled immediately.
As she walked in, the four idiots braced themself for reprimand, waiting for her to launch into an hour long lecture about how they had to focus on practicing and couldn’t afford to be distracted right before the competition, but shockingly, it never came.
“Really?” she asked, unimpressed, and Men Wu had to quietly inform Wu Biaoqing that it was a rhetorical question before he answered her, “Without me?”
They all paused, minds blank, before bursting out in laughter, Xi Zhe pulling out a chair for her courteously.
“Of course we wouldn’t forget about you, Yan-jie.” Chang Hui said sweetly.
“Aww,” she cooed, “quit lying. You all are terrible at hiding it when you’re doing something you think will get you in trouble.”
Men Wu shrugged, “well, at least you know when we’re going to misbehave, so maybe that’s a good thing,” and it sounded a lot more like they were sneaky students then working adults.
“And maybe you should learn some honesty.” She shot back, stealing one of the finished pieces of meat before he had the chance.
Wu Biaoqing, resident hot pot anti who had resigned to his fate of being the griller, paused when a ding of a notification came from his phone.
“Your sister?” Xi Zhe guessed, since that was the only person who contacted him besides the occasional message from his mom.
Isolation didn’t respond, clicking on the XtraF notification with confusion, before promptly dropping his phone on the table with a loud clang.
The others at the table stared at him, confused, as Wu Biaoqing said nothing, only picking up his phone as his ears flushed bright red.
He read it!
He read Wu Biaoqing’s message and responded!
Private DM • RedCamellia
[LIFE.Isolation: Hey, it’s Isolation. You don’t need to keep gifting. I appreciate it, but the company takes a cut, and you’re already a supermod, so I can see your messages.]
[RedCamellia: Is it embarrassing you? Sorry, I get ahead of myself sometimes. I can keep the flirting to our DMs :wink:]
He took a deep breath, calming himself, before typing out a reply.
[LIFE.Isolation: It’s not about your jokes. I just don’t want to take advantage of you.]
[RedCamellia: I wouldn’t mind if you did (^з^) okay joking aside, I really don’t care. It’s good for your views no?]
[LIFE.Isolation: Yes, but it’s expensive. At least let me pay you back?]
[RedCamellia: You said yourself that the company takes a cut right? How could I take your hard earned money :(]
[LIFE.Isolation: That’s what I should be saying!]
[RedCamellia: Then…]
[RedCamellia: You can owe me a favor and we’ll call it even.]
[LIFE.Isolation: A favor?]
[RedCamellia: Like, for example, getting the WeChat of a certain handsome streamer (/ω＼)]
Clang!
His phone dropped to the floor again.
“You okay?” Men Wu asked, pushing past Chang Hui to sit closer to him.
“Mn,” Wu Biaoqing nodded, averting his gaze as Men Wu stared at him.
“Your face is bright red! Are you sure you’re not sick?” His friend asked worriedly.
“I’m fine,” he stressed, “just… embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?” Men Wu echoed.
“Have you ever, like,” he pauses, think about how to explain it, “really wanted to talk to someone?”
Men Wu’s expression goes almost as blank as Wu Biaoqing’s normal face as he processes the words.
“I guess?” He shrugs, “Like in high school, I got the school flower’s WeChat, and I was up all night trying to figure out how to say hi. Or there was this one time at a bar where I saw the most gorgeous foreigner I’d ever seen, and I spent two hours working up the courage to buy her a drink.”
“That’s not really what I mean.” Wu Biaoqing sighed, “It’s like someone who’s a constant force. Who’s always there, but never close. And I want to be close to him, I want to get to know him, but I’m scared. I never do well with unfamiliar things and it’s so confusing when I haven’t even seen his face, and I’m terrible at talking, and—“
“Does it matter?”
Isolation frowned, “What do you mean?”
“Well, it seems like you really like her and that’s good enough right? It doesn’t matter what she looks like. If you care about her enough to change your normal routine, then she must be someone special.”
“Oh,” Wu Biaoqing blinked, “I never thought about it that way.”
“So just quit thinking so hard, actually, quit thinking at all!” His friend exclaimed.
“At… all?”
Men Wu nodded, “Even if you make a fool out of yourself, it’s better than letting go of a good opportunity.”
Isolation hummed, “right.”
“Well?” Men Wu asked expectantly, “What’s her name?”
“His name?”
“I want to know the name of the girl who stole your heart— that’s someone working a miracle.”
Wu Biaoqing rolled his eyes, before hesitantly replying, “I don’t know.”
Men Wu frowned, “You don’t know?”
“Well, we met online,” Wu Biaoqing explained, “I don’t know much about him yet, but…”
He stared at his screen, which lit up with another direct message from RedCamillia.
“I’d like to.”
As the team finished up their training room dinner, Wu Biaoqing slowly made snuck his way back to his room so he wouldn’t have to clean, clicking the door closed in quiet triumph, before returning to the task at hand—
RedCamillia’s reply.
Private DM • RedCamellia
[RedCamellia: I’m sorry, was that too much? You don’t have to.]
[LIFE.Isolation: I was busy with a team dinner. My WeChat ID is qingqing010]
[RedCamellia: You’re really just going to send it?]
[LIFE.Isolation: Why not? You asked, didn’t you?]
[RedCamellia: So if I ask, you’ll do anything? I’m blushing… ⁄(⁄ ⁄ ⁄ω⁄ ⁄ ⁄)⁄ ]
[LIFE.Isolation: Well, anything within reason.]
[RedCamellia: You’re too cute]
He felt that same odd feeling as the live stream earlier, like he was doing a flip but without moving at all.
It was still weird, but it was becoming normal, which was both confusing and interesting.
He decided not to dwell on it for too long, opting instead to salvage his reputation.
[LIFE.Isolation: Play a match with me, we’ll see who’s cute then.]
[RedCamellia: ooh, threatening a viewer? You’ve gotta be careful, you don’t want to get exposed to your fans]
[LIFE.Isolation: Fair point.]
[RedCamellia: I’m kidding, kidding. Let me send you a friend request, oh mighty qingqing.]
[LIFE.Isolation: Calling me that already? Buy me dinner first.]
He cringed the moment he hit send, and for a second prayed that his expensive silk blanket would swallow him whole, until RedCamillia finally responded.
[RedCamellia: What kind of a man do you take me for, an unfaithful flirt?]
[LIFE.Isolation: An epic flirt. No one can beat you in flirting, bro.]
[RedCamellia: You don’t seem to mind when I flirt with you ╮(╯▽╰)╭ ]
[LIFE.Isolation: Hurry up and add me.]
[RedCamellia: and the bickering scores are in, me 1 and you 0]
[LIFE.Isolation: Who’s the 0?]
[RedCamellia: ??]
[RedCamellia: Your points are 0? Try again next time.]
[LIFE.Isolation: Forgive me bro, I underestimated the naivety of the older generation.]
[RedCamellia: You don’t even know my age!]
[LIFE.Isolation: An educated guess.]
[RedCamellia: Educated my ass, I’m younger than you.]
[LIFE.Isolation: What?]
At that moment, he received a WeChat notification, and Wu Biaoqing smiled.
He really just had to go for it, and just say whatever came to mind!
In the end, it seemed like getting advice from his idiot teammates proved to be the right decision.
Zzzshun
Zheng Shun, age 20, currently employed and living well. Nice to meet you, my dear.
qingqing010
You’re only 20?
Zzzshun
Is that surprising?
qingqing010
You shouldn’t spend your money on live gifts at your age
Zzzshun
Fuck, I’m not a grade schooler, why do you keep going on about that?
qingqing010
Because you keep gifting. If we’re going to be friends, we shouldn’t have that kind of relationship. I don’t want to owe you.
Zzzshun
Just friends?
qingqing010
??
Zzzshun
I thought it was obvious, but I think I should be more direct.
At this, Wu Biaoqing was confused.
Zheng Shun wasn’t trying to poach him for another team, was he?
Or maybe he wanted to be best friends?
Zzzshun
Wu Biaoqing, I’m pursuing you.
His phone clattered to the floor once more, this time in his own room.
What the fuck?
Qingqing is so adorable lol
Hahahaha omg qingqing is so cute!
I love how direct ML is <3
Did he really not understand the 1 and 0 comment? If so: innocent little baby!
I am really enjoying the key chain lore and family drama surrounding it!
Zhen Shun really didn’t understand it… he has a conversation at work the next day that goes something like this:
ZS: Yin Lijuan, come here for a moment.
YJ: sweating nervously
ZS: What does it mean do be a 0?
YJ, hardcore BL fan: what?
ZS: proudly shows off messages with WBQ
YJ: ………………… whispers meaning
ZS: oh.
YJ, unwillingly getting involved in this relationship bc she’s needed as a translator XD
There needs to be a support group opened for all the people forced to witness WBQ & ZS flirting… a single dog protection squad, if you will. YJ is one of many who would join 233
Qingqing is really cute