Chapter 20

Pei Ran froze for a moment. He had forgotten all about this himself.

Lin Xuhuan racked his brains, then took a deep breath, his face full of emotion. "Th-this looks like when I'd just finished youth training and was still a substitute... Ran Baby, you've been keeping this under wraps all along."

Pei Ran said, "No..."

Before he could finish, someone brushed lightly past his shoulder.

Yan Zhun walked up to Lin Xuhuan and took the phone from his hand. "Don't go through other people's phones."

Lin Xuhuan felt wronged. "I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't know how many pictures he'd taken for me. I just swiped without thinking."

Yan Zhun ignored him and handed the phone to Pei Ran.

Pei Ran reached for it, but the other man's grip was a little too firm, and he actually failed to take it on his first try.

Eyes lowered, Yan Zhun looked at the photo a couple more times before letting go.

Having learned that Pei Ran was his die-hard fan, Lin Xuhuan couldn't help straightening his back and reaching up to style his hair with his fingers. "Ran Baby, don't hire my brother to play with you anymore. Come straight to me. I'll carry you for free. I'll even bring you along when I stream."

Pei Ran considered how to explain. His online commissions were a secret he hadn't told anyone about. To him, that Weibo account was an alternate identity for his anime interests.

"All right," the coach suddenly spoke up. "Go play the scrims first. The lobby's already set up. Hurry up. We're playing custom matches today. I've arranged it with a few teams."

Yan Zhun said flatly, "If you've invited other teams, I'll sit this out."

"No, our youth team's playing too. I saved a spot just for you." The coach came over and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Those three boys are my most promising prospects. Help me assess them."

Yan Zhun said, "It's been ages since I played scrims. I can't assess them."

"Enough with the excuses. I know perfectly well whether you can. Come on, do me a favor. I told them you were coming, and they all trained an extra two hours last night..." The coach picked up his phone and checked it. "They're all chasing me now. Come on, hurry. Don't keep the other teams waiting."

Before hurrying off to the match room, Lin Xuhuan left Pei Ran with, "Ran Baby, I'll give you a set of signed gear later," then got pushed away by his teammates before Pei Ran could answer.

With the coach's arm around his shoulders, Yan Zhun took a few steps forward, then suddenly turned back. "Can you wait for me?"

Pei Ran had originally planned to take his computer back to his dorm, then go see a movie. He had already picked one out, a film with considerable real-world relevance that had received excellent reviews in the two days since its release. Pei Ran was very interested.

After two seconds of silence, Yan Zhun added, "It won't take too long."

Pei Ran mentally canceled his movie plans and put his phone back in his pocket. "...Okay. Good luck with the scrims."

With several big question marks hanging over his head, the coach kept his arm slung companionably around Yan Zhun's shoulders. Only after they had walked some distance did he ask, "What's going on? Is he some relative of yours?"

"No," Yan Zhun said. "Look after him for me."

"Got it. It's not like he's going to run away." At the match room door, the coach patted his shoulder. "Play well."

Pei Ran was taken to the lounge. There was a large screen in the room that could be used for data analysis or spectating.

Several bottles of drinks from different brands and some cookies were placed in front of him.

The coach smiled. "I didn't know what you liked, so I brought a bit of everything. These little brats only like fizzy drinks."

Pei Ran thanked him and took a bottle of mineral water.

The coach fiddled with the remote for a while. The screen lit up, displaying the Chicken Dinner game.

After the two TZG Team squads parachuted down, the coach took out a notebook, ready to pick out the players' mistakes at any moment.

There were two match rooms at the base. One was in full uproar. If the rooms hadn't been well soundproofed, even the other squad of youth trainees wearing headphones next door would have heard them.

"Where do you think my bro's squad will drop?" Lin Xuhuan chattered.

"Who knows? Youth teams usually play it safe, though. Maybe some scattered compounds out in the wilderness."

In regular games, skilled players liked dropping into places where they could fight head-on. But competitions were different. Teams landed at almost every scattered compound in the middle of the circle, and they could run into each other if they weren't careful.

Lin Xuhuan glanced at the map and was about to fly toward the small compound his shot-caller had marked when notifications suddenly popped up on his screen.

[TZGmoxie knocked out XPP-hot with AKM]

[TZGmoxie knocked out XPP-youxiang with AKM by headshot]

[TZGmoxie knocked out secret_happy with AKM by headshot]

The match room fell silent for a while.

After landing, a teammate asked, "Moxie's account is being played by..."

"Yeah... Yan Zhun's on it." Lin Xuhuan looted the compound with a frown. "Fuck, my bro's seriously crazy. I hadn't even landed before he ran into two teams... They must've dropped at Military Base."

By the time Lin Xuhuan finished looting one compound, Yan Zhun had already eliminated six people. He had practically wiped both teams at Military Base single-handedly.

"A beast. An absolute beast," Lin Xuhuan marveled. "That's my bro for you."

By the penultimate circle, only six teams remained. More precisely, five teams and one person.

The three members of TZG's youth team had long since turned into loot crates, leaving only Yan Zhun.

He found a cluster of houses and crouched in a corner, using the wall for cover while he watched and healed.

"Bro~ Bro~ Is that you, bro~" Lin Xuhuan switched on all-chat, his voice reaching Yan Zhun's headphones.

Lin Xuhuan had watched Yan Zhun enter the compound. He was alone and wearing Moxie's outfit, so Lin Xuhuan recognized him at a glance.

After several sniper shots failed to kill him, Lin Xuhuan simply brought a teammate down to corner him.

Yan Zhun ignored him and began looking for their positions.

There were only two of them on Lin Xuhuan's side. The other two were still at the compound behind them.

"Should we wait for them before pushing the building?" his teammate asked.

"It's fine," Lin Xuhuan said. "It's two against one. We should be able to take him. Besides, my bro and I are close. He'll definitely go easy on me."

Two minutes later, Yan Zhun had knocked them both outside the building, leaving them kneeling there in disgrace.

Without a word, Yan Zhun finished them off and turned to leave.

"Bro." Already dead and with nothing to do, Lin Xuhuan turned on his mic to chat. "You just mercilessly knocked down a little fan who's liked you for years. So cruel, so savage. I love it..."

Before Lin Xuhuan finished, a fresh grenade bounced twice on the ground and rolled squarely onto his still-undisappeared "corpse."

With a bang, his game character, lying flat on the ground, was blasted over onto its other side.

Lin Xuhuan: "..."

His teammate said, "You sure are close. Get any closer and he'll be fighting you in real life."

In the second round, his teammates wanted some excitement and dropped at Military Base. Less than two minutes after landing, Lin Xuhuan was knocked by Yan Zhun. Yan Zhun didn't finish him off, instead tossing a grenade in his face before turning away without so much as a glance at the explosion behind him.

In the third round, Lin Xuhuan was knocked by another team. He hurriedly crawled behind a house, and just as his teammate was about to get him back up, a shot rang out-Yan Zhun claimed his kill from afar with a single shot from a 98K.

The fourth round...

The fifth round...

When the scrims ended, Lin Xuhuan pulled off his headphones and charged next door.

"Bro, why do you keep targeting me?! You even fucking desecrated my corpse..." Lin Xuhuan said. "There were three of us there, and you still rushed in to get me!!!"

The most infuriating part was that the three of them together hadn't managed to beat Yan Zhun, who had taken two of them out with one grenade.

Yan Zhun took off his headphones and stood up under the youth trainees' nervous, admiring gazes.

"Your outfit," he said.

Lin Xuhuan: "?"

"The outfit you're wearing is too ugly."

Lin Xuhuan: "..."

Yan Zhun ignored him after that, leaving the match room and heading toward the review room.

This was Pei Ran's first time watching a PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds competition.

Scrims were much more freewheeling than official matches, and a little more exciting too. The coach had spent most of the time watching Yan Zhun's perspective.

The door was pushed open, and Yan Zhun walked in, his expression calm.

"Zero mistakes again today. Beautiful." The coach was generous with his praise.

"Why were you watching me instead of your own players?" Yan Zhun sat down beside Pei Ran.

"I wanted to watch my players, but those youth trainees died too quickly." The coach muttered, "Feels like they're still a little short..."

Yan Zhun didn't respond. He lowered his eyes and saw Pei Ran holding a bottle of mineral water in both hands.

Noticing his gaze, Pei Ran tipped the bottle toward him. "Want some? It hasn't been opened."

Yan Zhun took it but didn't rush to unscrew the cap. He asked, "Did you watch the scrims?"

"I did." Pei Ran paused. "You're really good."

This conventional compliment clearly didn't satisfy Yan Zhun. He pressed his lips together, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

The other players trickled into the lounge to review the matches. Before long, the room was full.

Just as Pei Ran began feeling uncomfortable, Yan Zhun spoke.

"Take your time with the review. It's inconvenient for us to stay here. We're heading back."

"It's no inconvenience." The coach wanted him to stay.

Yan Zhun said, "Let's go, Pei Ran."

"Hey, wait." Lin Xuhuan hurriedly said, "Ran Baby, I haven't given you your gear yet. Wait a bit. I'll get it from storage."

Pei Ran called out to stop Lin Xuhuan before he went upstairs.

Lin Xuhuan said, "What is it? Don't feel bad. The sponsors gave us the gear. They send us a few sets every holiday. We have more than we can use."

Pei Ran didn't want to reveal his anime-related activities, but there was even less chance he would take credit for that fan's enthusiasm and affection for Lin Xuhuan.

"Someone else sent me that photo," he explained. "A fan of yours commissioned me to draw you."

At first Lin Xuhuan was stunned, then he was filled with admiration for Pei Ran. "Are you an art student? I knew it. I could tell at first glance you must be studying something like that. Have you taken many commissions? Do people often ask you to draw me?"

Pei Ran said, "Just this once."

Lin Xuhuan: "..."

The players in the lounge all laughed. Someone even called him shameless.

"What the hell do you know? You can tell just by looking at Ran Baby that he draws really well. One picture costs a fortune! Besides, the people who like me are all young girls. Where would they get the money to commission this stuff?" Then Lin Xuhuan coughed and leaned toward Pei Ran. "Ran Baby, we're so close now. You've got to give my fan a discount... How much did you charge for the commission?"

Pei Ran hesitated.

Lin Xuhuan said, "Go ahead and say it. It's fine if it's high. I'm worth it."

Pei Ran said, "Eight hundred."

Lin Xuhuan: "."

When the team assistant came in, Lin Xuhuan was fighting with someone, still muttering things like, "You're the cheap one," "You fucking look down on eight hundred yuan?" and "Your fans wouldn't want a drawing of you even if you paid them."

"What are you laughing about?" The assistant put the box in his hands on the table. "The sponsor sent gifts."

Lin Xuhuan stopped. "What are they?"

"Merch." The assistant opened the box and dangled a charm from his hand.

The charm was a pair of pink sneakers the size of a thumb, modeled after the sponsor's newly released shoes, with beautifully rendered details.

"They're so small, and pink too." Lin Xuhuan scrunched up his face. "I don't want to wear one."

"There are all sorts of colors. Come pick for yourselves. They look great hanging on your gear bags, and you can give them to your girlfriends too." The assistant turned around. "Zhun, are you leaving? I got one for you too. What color do you want?"

Picking through them, Lin Xuhuan laughed. "Forget it. My bro isn't interested in this stuff-"

"White," Yan Zhun asked evenly. "Do you have one?"

After leaving the base, the two walked a long way without either of them speaking.

Pei Ran didn't know what to say. Yan Zhun was walking slowly, probably a little tired after the scrims, so he simply stayed quiet too.

A cool sensation brushed his cheek, and Pei Ran looked up in a daze.

At some point, a fine drizzle had begun falling, its tiny droplets pattering down.

Rain like this didn't interfere with normal outings. The pedestrians on the street walked on with their usual expressions, at most quickening their steps.

Pei Ran was watching the rain in the air intently when he suddenly felt something cover his head, and a brim blocked most of the view before him.

He instinctively reached up to touch it and felt Yan Zhun's black baseball cap.

Yan Zhun lowered his eyes, meeting his gaze for only two seconds before reaching out to adjust the brim for him.

The baseball cap carried Yan Zhun's scent, like the drifting rain, cool yet gentle.

Pei Ran came back to himself. "You don't have to. It's not raining hard."

Yan Zhun said, "Keep it on."

Pei Ran: "..."

They walked through the rain. With the brim blocking the upper part of his vision, Pei Ran unconsciously tipped his chin up a little to see more.

He didn't notice at all that the person beside him kept looking down at him.

A few scrims weren't enough to tire Yan Zhun out. He wasn't speaking because he felt unsettled.

The instant he saw Lin Xuhuan's photo on Pei Ran's phone, it was as though he had returned to a certain summer in high school.

That day, he had come out of the supermarket with two bags of milk candy in his shopping bag. As he passed a secluded corner, he saw Pei Ran leaning against the wall, head lowered, quietly letting Luo Qingshan hold his hand.

When they reached the intersection where they had to part, Pei Ran stopped. "Thank you for taking me to the base today..."

"Pei Ran." Yan Zhun interrupted him.

Pei Ran looked at him. "Hm?"

Yan Zhun was taller than Pei Ran. Because of the brim, Pei Ran had to strain to lift his head when speaking to him.

Yan Zhun raised a hand and folded the brim up a little.

He said, "Do you still remember me telling you I liked you?"

Pei Ran instantly fell silent, his slowly widening eyes betraying his fluster.

He even wanted to press the brim back down himself.

Realizing Yan Zhun was waiting for an answer, Pei Ran stayed quiet for a long time before saying, "I remember."

Yan Zhun gave a hum of acknowledgment.

Feelings weren't clutter. They couldn't simply be packed into a suitcase and thrown away, so he had always wanted to give Pei Ran time. But now, suddenly, he didn't want to wait anymore.

If Pei Ran had been left with shadows by his ex's cheating, he would clear them away.

If Pei Ran still had feelings for Luo Qingshan, he would destroy them.

"Your hand."

Still a little dazed, Pei Ran instinctively held out his hand.

A little white sneaker appeared in his palm. It was the charm the assistant had just said "you can give to your girlfriend."

Yan Zhun said, "Pei Ran, I'm starting to pursue you."