Chapter 27

When Luo Qingshan received a reply from Pei Ran's mother, Su Nian happened to come out of the bathroom with a hot towel.

Su Nian spread the towel over his hands, intending to wipe Luo Qingshan's face, but Luo Qingshan stopped him. "I'll do it myself."

Su Nian paused, then obediently handed him the towel.

Luo Qingshan casually wiped his face a couple of times, his eyes never leaving his phone.

[Luo Qingshan: Auntie, I brought you some local specialties from my trip. Ranran and I have had a little disagreement lately, so I haven't been able to pass them on to you. When are you free?]

[Pei Ran's mom: It's all right, there's no need for gifts. I don't need anything, and we're out of the country at the moment. Thank you.]

Luo Qingshan rubbed his aching temples and pushed himself up from the bed.

Su Nian moved aside and caught his elbow. "Are you okay? Can you walk?"

"Yes." Luo Qingshan's voice was hoarse. He patted Su Nian's shoulder as he passed. "Sorry for the trouble yesterday."

The faint smile froze on Su Nian's face. He only came back to himself after the bathroom door closed.

He was sensitive to physical contact between men. Those two pats from Luo Qingshan really had been nothing more than gratitude toward a buddy, with no other meaning whatsoever.

Su Nian ordered breakfast, and Luo Qingshan came out just as the delivery arrived.

"I bought soy milk and fried dough sticks. Have something to line your stomach. You drank too much yesterday. Your stomach will hurt if you don't eat." Su Nian put the food on the table. "You look awful. Are you feeling sick?"

Luo Qingshan's expression was dark, hardly any better than it had been on the way back to the hotel last night.

"Pei Ran came yesterday." He took two bites of a dough stick, then finally couldn't help speaking.

Su Nian asked, "And? Did you two argue?"

Luo Qingshan took a large gulp of soy milk. "And... he picked Yan Zhun up."

Su Nian raised an eyebrow, his expression subtle.

Luo Qingshan really couldn't keep it in anymore. He was furious. He had been holding his temper back all last night, and if it hadn't been his friend's birthday, he could have smashed the place up.

Worried he would cause trouble, he could only ask someone to take him away first.

"Yan Zhun..." Su Nian deliberately paused. "No wonder."

Luo Qingshan asked, "No wonder what?"

"Nothing. I just suddenly remembered... I think he and I have had some trouble." Su Nian smiled. "He snapped at me for no reason when I was chatting in the group before. Did you forget?"

Of course Luo Qingshan remembered.

Su Nian continued, "But I remember you and Pei Ran had only broken up a few days before that, right? Even a rocket wouldn't move that fast... Hadn't you noticed anything off about Pei Ran before?"

Luo Qingshan couldn't eat any more breakfast. He put down the dough stick and turned to get his jacket.

Su Nian hurriedly caught him. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the dorm," Luo Qingshan said. "Thanks for picking me up last night."

Luo Qingshan had already reached the door when Su Nian grabbed him again.

Su Nian frowned, an expression he rarely wore. After a long while, he finally forced out, "Qingshan, Pei Ran cheated on you, and you're still going to see him?"

Luo Qingshan said, "It's Yan Zhun's fault."

Su Nian still had questions, but Luo Qingshan was too strong for him to hold on to.

So he could only ask the question he wanted answered most. "In your eyes... what exactly am I to you?"

"A good friend." Luo Qingshan gave that brief answer, then reached out and rubbed the back of Su Nian's neck, his tone as perfunctory as the gesture. "Get some more rest. I'll extend your room for another day when I go downstairs. I'm leaving."

Late that night, Pei Ran sent the finished artwork to his client and was about to turn off his computer and go to bed. But less than ten seconds after he sent the message, QQ notifications came pouring in like a storm.

[TZG Is the Best: Ah]

[TZG Is the Best: Aaaaaah what kind of god are you]

[TZG Is the Best: You're so, so, SO amazing! You're incredible! What did I ever do to deserve commissioning you!!!]

[Fei Yu Yi: ...You provided detailed enough references and photos.]

[TZG Is the Best: It's so beautiful, so beautiful!!]

[TZG Is the Best: Can I post it on Weibo? Can I use it for support banners at the venue? [Praying]]

[Fei Yu Yi: Yes, but this price is for personal use. You'll need to discuss pricing with me for commercial use.]

[TZG Is the Best: Understood! You're beautiful inside and out!]

[Fei Yu Yi: ...]

This wasn't the first time Pei Ran had seen something like that. His Weibo followers seemed to have always assumed he was a girl.

With the artwork delivered, Pei Ran let out a long breath and closed QQ.

His gaze fell on the last image file on his desktop. A few seconds later, he double-clicked it.

The young man in the drawing had somewhat cool features, a TZG team jacket draped loosely over his shoulders, and his fingers rested casually on a keyboard. Behind him was a slightly untidy training room with several empty gaming chairs, his teammates' clothes tossed over them.

Yan Zhun fit perfectly into that setting, as though he were an esports player himself.

Pei Ran looked at it quietly for a while, until his phone chimed.

[Yan Zhun: It's Lin Xuhuan's birthday the day after tomorrow. Want to go to the team house together?]

[Pei Ran: I'll pass. He didn't mention it to me. It wouldn't be right to just turn up.]

[Yan Zhun: He was going to. I took over the job.]

[Pei Ran: ...]

[Yan Zhun: See you the evening after tomorrow?]

[Pei Ran: Okay.]

[Yan Zhun: Go to bed early]

Pei Ran replied, "You too," then closed the chat, blurred out the TZG logo in the drawing, saved it to his phone, and posted it on Weibo.

When he returned from washing up, the post had gained several hundred comments.

Pei Ran rarely replied to comments, but he seemed particularly interested tonight, lying on his side in bed and scrolling through them one by one.

[Aaaaah, a hot esports guy! Gorgeous! This feels so different from your previous art. Is it a commercial commission?]

[I think it looks like fan art?]

[Fei Yu Yi: It's neither a commercial commission nor fan art.]

[An original character? Will there be more? I want to ship him!]

[Fei Yu Yi: It's someone I know.]

[You know someone this handsome?! I don't believe it! You must have made him better-looking!]

[Fei Yu Yi: I do.]

[Wait, this background... as an esports fan, why does it look kind of familiar?]

[So it's not just me! Is he an esports player? That doesn't make sense. I should remember someone this handsome.]

[Fei Yu Yi: He isn't a player.]

After sending that reply, Pei Ran thought for a moment, then earnestly added another reply to the same thread-

[Fei Yu Yi: But he's very good at games too.]

Pei Ran replied to a few more comments intermittently, only closing Weibo and going to sleep when drowsiness set in. He didn't think of it again after waking up. Posting his art on Weibo was simply a way for him to save images or preserve memories, not to get shares, likes, or comments.

Pei Ran had no classes on Lin Xuhuan's birthday. He went out early that afternoon to buy a present. When he returned, he saw Yan Zhun standing outside his faculty building in a black baseball cap, a white sweatshirt, and a mask, holding two cups of room-temperature milk tea.

His figure stood out. Men and women passing by would glance at him, deliberately or otherwise.

Yan Zhun turned his head, and their eyes met.

Yan Zhun reached him in a few strides and handed him the milk tea, looking down as he asked, "What did you buy?"

Pei Ran said, "A very small neck and shoulder massager."

Very small?

Yan Zhun glanced at the bulging bag and raised an eyebrow without comment.

Since they were still in the competition season, Lin Xuhuan was celebrating his birthday at the team house. When the two arrived, the last dishes had just been served, and the drinks were ready too.

The meal was lively. Lin Xuhuan unwrapped Pei Ran's gift and held it up, shouting, "Look, look! Now this is a present! Look at the fucking crap you lot gave me..."

The coach asked, "What did they give you?"

"Socks that came free with shoes, an umbrella from a bank promotion, with the fucking bank logo on it... Am I a trash can?" Lin Xuhuan was furious. He pointed at their assaulter. "This idiot even gave me five gigs of porn!"

The assaulter was utterly unapologetic. "You think I wanted to? I'm short on cash. What kind of disaster month is this? Why does it feel like everyone I know has a birthday this month?"

Lin Xuhuan grunted. "If I hadn't seen your alt send twenty thousand yuan in gifts to a female streamer last night, I might've believed you."

Pei Ran: "..."

Once Lin Xuhuan had finished making a fuss, he took a photo of the food on his phone, ready to share it with his fans on Weibo.

Lin Xuhuan was always talking about his fans, and he really did have plenty. His Weibo follower count ranked among the top three in esports, making him a well-deserved favorite with advertisers.

So the moment he opened Weibo, he was flooded with his fans' enthusiasm.

Most wished him a happy birthday. Some had sent Weibo cash gifts directly, while a small portion had sent specially made birthday gifts.

Lin Xuhuan's smile grew as he browsed, until he saw a commissioned drawing sent by a fan and couldn't help blurting out, "Holy shit."

A fan named "TZG Is the Best" had sent it. In the drawing, he looked cool and handsome, holding a trophy.

He looked at it several times, then couldn't resist replying: [Your art is amazing.]

Within seconds, the person on the other end went wild, sending several strings of "aaaaah" before calming down.

[TZG Is the Best: No, no, no, wait! I didn't draw it. @Fei Yu Yi drew it!]

Curious, Lin Xuhuan clicked through to the tagged Weibo account.

Pei Ran ate quietly. Even in such a boisterous setting, he rarely spoke, only smiling occasionally when he heard something funny.

As they spent more time together, everyone had loosened up somewhat. While pouring himself a drink, the assaulter set his sights on the empty glass in front of Pei Ran.

The assaulter moved to pour him some too. "Pei Ran, have a little..."

Yan Zhun raised his hand to cover Pei Ran's glass. "He's not drinking."

The assaulter paused, then laughed. "Why are you acting like his parent? Just a little. It's fine."

They had matches coming up, and only after endless pleading had the coach allowed them two small glasses of low-alcohol iced beer each.

Yan Zhun looked at Pei Ran. Realizing he was asking his opinion, Pei Ran said, "It's fine. I can drink."

The assaulter grinned. "See..."

"Holy shit!" Lin Xuhuan shouted. "Holy shit! Bro!"

He was so loud that Yan Zhun frowned. "What?"

Lin Xuhuan raised his phone and turned it around. "Look at the guy in this drawing! Doesn't he look like you?"

Yan Zhun glanced up. Before he could get a proper look, the person beside him suddenly began coughing.

For once, Pei Ran looked flustered, his eyes widening slightly as he sat at a loss-

What Lin Xuhuan was holding up was his drawing.

More precisely... it was his drawing of Yan Zhun.

But... how? He didn't have many Weibo followers, and this wasn't a commercial commission. It hadn't been promoted at all. Why had Lin Xuhuan found it?!

Yan Zhun's voice drifted over from beside him. "Bring it here. Let me see."

Seeing himself in the drawing, Yan Zhun froze for a moment, then opened the full-sized image and looked at it some more.

Only after a long while did he look at the account's username.

Fei Yu Yi.

"Damn, it really does look like you." The coach beside him leaned over for a look and asked in surprise, "This really isn't you?"

Yan Zhun glanced at the person beside him. Pei Ran had his head down, picking up glass noodles one strand at a time with his chopsticks.

Amused by the sight, he said mildly, "Who knows?"

"And I looked at the artist's replies. She said she drew a real person who's also really good at games..." Lin Xuhuan said. "How can it be this uncanny?"

The coach looked a little longer. "Don't you think even the background looks a little like our training room?"

Pei Ran thought, unable to taste his food, that he shouldn't have been lazy and used TZG's training room as a reference.

"Wait, bro, could it be this?" Lin Xuhuan stroked his nonexistent beard. "Could this be a fan from your youth training days? Even though you've been gone for years, she's always kept you in her heart..."

"No," Yan Zhun said. "My hair wasn't this long back then."

Lin Xuhuan looked again. "...True."

The assaulter said, "Tsk, the more I look, the more it looks like you. This has to be you... Has some girl studying art been chasing you lately?"

Pei Ran's movements stopped. Like a student called on in class, his heart pounded like a drum.

"No," Yan Zhun said. "I don't know many people who study art."

The people at the table discussed the drawing for a long time. Yan Zhun listened quietly, only speaking when the person beside him was about to bury his face in his bowl. "All right, it's just a coincidence. We've eaten. Are we playing a scrim or not?"

Although it was Lin Xuhuan's birthday, they had a match the day after tomorrow, so everyone still had to train.

Since he hadn't gotten a single bite of cake on his last birthday, with all of it smeared on his face instead, Lin Xuhuan simply hadn't ordered one this year. Having eaten and drunk their fill, they stretched as they headed for the match room.

As always, the coach had arranged a spectator seat for Pei Ran. He walked beside Yan Zhun at the back. When they reached the fork leading to the training room and the lounge, Yan Zhun tugged on his fingers, and Pei Ran instinctively stopped.

Yan Zhun didn't stop. He brushed past Pei Ran's shoulder, deliberately lowering his voice.

"The drawing looks great," he said. "Thank you, Mr. Pei."