Chapter 28

Pei Ran had been called "teacher" plenty of times. Some people online who liked his art called him "Teacher Fei," and when he had attended an art exhibition, the staff had called him "Teacher Pei."

He had felt a little embarrassed at first, but after hearing it enough, he had gotten used to it.

Pei Ran walked silently into the lounge. After setting up the spectator view, the coach stood up and said, "You can press this key to switch perspectives. I need to go keep an eye on things over there. You... why is your face red?"

Pei Ran had fair skin, so whenever his face heated up, it was especially obvious.

He was used to being called "teacher," but when Yan Zhun said it, it seemed a little different from when anyone else did.

Pei Ran lowered his eyes and rubbed his fingers over the spot on his palm that had just been brushed. "I'm fine. I had a little alcohol."

The coach thought back over it. At the table, Pei Ran seemed to have... only taken a sip or two? After that, Yan Zhun had covered his glass, so no one could pour anything into it.

The coach said, "Then I'll open a window to air the room out and help you sober up. Or should I have the housekeeper warm you a glass of milk?"

"No need to trouble her. I'll be fine in a bit," Pei Ran said. "Thank you."

After the coach left the lounge, Pei Ran followed his instructions and locked the spectator view onto the ID Yan Zhun was using.

Yan Zhun played completely differently in scrims than he did when playing with him. With strong teammates and nothing to worry about behind him, he could push every move to its limit. Even through the screen, his play felt clean and beautiful.

Today, Yan Zhun was playing the main team's second Assaulter position. Although they did not usually train together, they had known each other long enough to have plenty of synergy. They quickly wiped two squads, then went to a small house out in the wilderness to recover.

Yan Zhun was taking painkillers and studying the map, considering where to go next, when a ding sounded in his headset.

He closed the map. Lin Xuhuan was crouching beside him, with a freshly dropped SCAR-L on the ground.

"Hey, bro~ I wanna give you a buff too~~" Lin Xuhuan said in a pinched voice.

He wanted to trade for Yan Zhun's fully kitted M4.

"Take your crappy little gun somewhere else," Yan Zhun drawled. "They can see you through the window if you stay here."

"Fuck," Lin Xuhuan said. "Can't you just pretend I'm Ran Baby and let me enjoy his treatment?! I'll even pay your gaming-companion fee afterward! I'll book you for five hundred hours!"

"Can't," Yan Zhun said.

Lin Xuhuan refused to accept that. "Why?"

"You're not as cute as him," Yan Zhun said.

Silence fell over the voice chat.

Not just Lin Xuhuan-even the other two could not help turning to glance at him in bewildered surprise.

In looks or talent, Pei Ran was indeed miles above the average person. He did not talk much, but he had a good personality. Everyone agreed on that.

But cute???

"Bro, seriously, if Ran Baby's personality counts as cute, then I'm the World’s Number One Sweetheart." Lin Xuhuan said it without a hint of shame. "The kind whose cheeks you could pinch and squeeze honey out of."

The other two burst out laughing. Yan Zhun smiled too, a faint smile, and said mockingly, "Then have the guy beside you stop tipping female streamers and tip you instead."

The person beside him scoffed. "I might as well throw my money into the water. At least I'd hear a splash."

Lin Xuhuan reached out to strangle him. "Fuck you. Apologize."

Behind them, the coach laughed as he took notes. It felt a little like being back a few years ago. Back then, they had all been youth trainees, and he had been a new coach. They had crowded into a cramped training room and bickered. Yan Zhun had not been as quiet then, occasionally letting a curse or two slip. His hair had been cut very short, and he had brimmed with youthful energy.

Yan Zhun did not normally scrim with the first team. Today, the other Assaulter had developed a wrist problem, and team management had taken him for acupuncture. They had said he would be back in an hour or two.

Two hours later, Yan Zhun was visibly distracted. After another scrim ended, he checked the time. "He's still not back?"

"He's still getting acupuncture. Almost done." The coach checked the date. "Don't you have no classes today? What's the rush? You might as well finish today's scrims before leaving. The doctor told me that even when he gets back, he won't be able to use his hand for a while. He needs a day's rest."

"No," Yan Zhun said. "Someone's waiting."

Only then did the coach remember the guest sitting outside. He thought for a moment. "Then how about I have someone take him back first?"

Yan Zhun clicked ready. "Last game."

That was a refusal. The coach thought it over. Leaving a guest sitting alone outside for two hours really was not very nice, so he compromised. "All right. I'll get the second team's Assaulter to fill in. When are you packing up and moving here?"

Yan Zhun did not intend to keep living at school. First, the dorm conditions were poor. Second, his roommate was too much of an eyesore.

He had originally planned to rent a place, but after the coach found out, he had pestered and coaxed him until he finally lured him into the base's dorms.

"Tomorrow," Yan Zhun said.

After the scrim, Yan Zhun stretched as he headed to the lounge. Hearing the door, Pei Ran instinctively looked over.

"You're done?" Pei Ran sounded a little surprised.

Yan Zhun hummed. "Did you get bored waiting?"

"No," Pei Ran said. "It was really good to watch."

Yan Zhun approached and glanced at the screen. Seeing his own results, he raised an eyebrow. "You watched my perspective the whole time?"

Pei Ran nodded honestly.

The assistant coach came in with her phone. "They're clamoring for late-night food. Seafood barbecue from that place down the street. What do you two want?"

"Nothing," Yan Zhun said. "He needs to sleep when he gets back. He won't be able to if he's too full."

The two left the base shoulder to shoulder. After seeing them out, the young assistant remained in the entryway, holding her phone in both hands.

Lin Xuhuan came out of the bathroom and looked at her in puzzlement. "What are you doing? Have you ordered yet? I'm starving."

"Yes." The assistant snapped out of it and followed Lin Xuhuan toward the training room. As they walked, she suddenly asked, "Little Huan God, don't you think there's something a little strange about Yan Zhun and Ran Baby?"

"Strange how?"

"I can't really put my finger on it. I just keep feeling like Yan Zhun's kind of doting."

Lin Xuhuan gave her an indescribable look.

After a long pause, he patted her shoulder. "You're overthinking it. I've known him all these years, and the only thing he's ever doted on is his precious keyboard."

Yan Zhun, who supposedly did not dote on anyone, walked Pei Ran to the academy gates. "Head back, Teacher Pei."

The sleepiness the car ride had lulled Pei Ran into vanished instantly. He hummed in acknowledgment and handed Yan Zhun the shopping bag he was holding.

It was a massager, identical to the one he had given Lin Xuhuan that day.

No wonder the bag had been so bulging. There had been two inside.

"Picked up an extra while you were at it?" Yan Zhun asked.

"No." Pei Ran lowered his eyes. "I'd already picked it out before."

Meaning Lin Xuhuan's was the extra.

The night breeze brushed past, tickling his heart. A smile spread through Yan Zhun's eyes, and he hummed. "Teacher Pei is so good to me."

After being called "Teacher Pei" over and over, Pei Ran dreamed that night that he had become an art teacher.

Fortunately, he had not spent long getting headaches over his students before his ringing phone woke him.

The caller ID showed Lin Kang. Pei Ran squinted at the time. Two in the morning. He had been asleep for less than half an hour.

Pei Ran cleared his throat before answering. "Hello?"

Lin Kang anxiously asked a pointless question. "Pei Ran, were you asleep?"

Pei Ran rubbed his eyes. "No. Is something wrong?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Lin Kang said. "The car just left. Hurry and get ready, then go check on them at the hospital! City Hospital!"

Bewildered, Pei Ran asked, "Why would I go to the hospital?"

"You don't know yet?" Lin Kang said. "Yan Zhun and Luo Qingshan got into a fight!!"

Lin Xuhuan was livestreaming in the middle of the night when Yan Zhun called. He did not even have time to say goodbye before ending the stream.

The coach was too anxious to call the driver and got behind the wheel himself.

"Which hospital?" the coach asked.

"City Hospital, the one on Xian San Street," Lin Xuhuan said. "Come on, there isn't even a fly on the road. Drive faster."

"I'm almost speeding already!" As he spoke, the coach glanced at the roadside out of the corner of his eye and suddenly braked.

Pei Ran stood at a bus stop waiting for a cab. At this hour, the taxis were all waiting outside entertainment venues and were hard to flag down. The ride-hailing app was temporarily under maintenance too. He had waited ages without finding a single car.

Figuring he was probably going to see Yan Zhun too, the coach pulled over and rolled down the window. "Ran Baby, you..."

"Could you take me to City Hospital?" Pei Ran interrupted. "Sorry for the trouble."

The coach froze. "We're heading there anyway, but don't you have class tomorrow? Why don't you go back and rest..."

Before he could finish, Pei Ran opened the door and got in.

The coach was speechless.

On the way, Pei Ran kept looking silently out the window.

After glancing at him several times, Lin Xuhuan could not help saying, "Ran Baby, don't worry. He's never lost a fight."

"He's fought before?" Pei Ran asked.

"Of course!" Remembering what had happened back then got Lin Xuhuan worked up. "There was a youth trainee who stole his stuff. After getting caught, he couldn't take it and secretly broke his keyboard. He even put laxatives in our water to get a substitute spot. Yan Zhun caught him and beat him flat right there!"

The coach glanced at them in the rearview mirror. "Enough. Why bring up ancient history?"

Lin Xuhuan shrugged, then turned to ask, "Right, Ran Baby, how did you know he was in the hospital? Did he call you?"

"A friend told me."

Lin Xuhuan nodded, rubbing his hands together. "Who knows who he got into it with this time? He's been above all worldly concerns for so long. What kind of dumbass was capable of making His Highness actually throw a punch?"

Pei Ran was silent for a long time before saying, "His roommate."

"His roommate? That guy surnamed Luo?" Something suddenly occurred to Lin Xuhuan after he said it. He stopped short and stared blankly at the person beside him. "Isn't that guy..."

Pei Ran finished for him quite naturally. "Yes. My ex-boyfriend."

The hospital corridors were filled with the smell of disinfectant.

As Lin Xuhuan searched for the emergency department, he kept sneaking worried glances at Pei Ran. Oh no. Ran Baby might not be here to see Yan Zhun. He might be here for his ex-boyfriend.

Pei Ran was dressed very lightly, in a simple thin long-sleeved shirt and jeans. His hair was a little messy, and the rims of his eyes were faintly red. He looked as though he had just been woken up.

Lin Xuhuan swallowed. They aren't going to start arguing, are they? That would be so ugly.

He was good at arguing with people, but not at breaking up arguments.

Full of worries, Lin Xuhuan found the emergency room.

There were few people around in the middle of the night. Yan Zhun sat all alone on a bench outside the emergency room, his posture loose and slouched. Gauze covered his arm and face, and he was staring down at the floor in a daze.

Hearing footsteps, Yan Zhun turned his head slightly and met the eyes of the person approaching.

Lin Xuhuan rushed forward, planting himself between the two.

"Bro, holy shit, how did you get hurt this badly?! Does it hurt? Where's that bastard... that guy? Don't tell me you lost? Why didn't you tell me before going to beat someone up..."

His endless babbling grated on Yan Zhun's nerves and made his head ache.

He raised a hand and waved at Lin Xuhuan.

Lin Xuhuan sucked in a breath. "What does that mean? Does your hand hurt? I'll get a doctor!"

"Move over," Yan Zhun said hoarsely. "You're blocking my view."

Lin Xuhuan was speechless.

Lin Xuhuan finally stepped aside, his wary gaze moving back and forth between them, ready to smooth things over.

Pei Ran had been frowning the whole time, his head lowered as he examined the gauze near Yan Zhun's wrist.

Yan Zhun let him look. Only after a moment did he move.

He stretched out his leg and, under Lin Xuhuan's intensely nervous gaze, gently nudged Pei Ran's sneaker.

"I hit him first." Yan Zhun confessed his crime in a low voice. "Don't be mad... Teacher Pei."