"I got invited to a match,"Li Yang replied nonchalantly.
"Let me guess by who? Chen Hao?" Bai Yiran asked in a teasing tone.
"What's the big deal if it's him?"
"No big deal it's just that you've been quite close lately."
"We're not close yet,"he clarified.
"Okay if you say so,"Bai Yiran said heaving a sigh.
------
Chen Hao spent the entire day admiring gifts from his fans, reading the letters addressed to him and replying to them. He loved his fans because of how they always cherished him,made him feel worthy and made him feel alive.
As he plopped himself on his soft mattress he sighed in satisfaction, excited to land in dreamland. Even after spending most of the time busying himself with fans' gift he couldn't help but recount the events of the day and his mind somehow stuck on the match with the RDS leader. He hadn't expected to lose. It felt like when he lost most matches during his rookie days. But after they won their first match they had only lost two to three matches and the fault didn't lie in his position. He had played against strong teams before but they somehow managed to win most of the times. Playing with Li Yang that day made him feel less against the other.
It was normal to lose matches but he didn't understand why he got so emotional. He felt guilty for acting hostile against the RDS leader.
'Now he's gonna think I'm too weak and can't accept defeat,' he groaned in frustration running his fingers in his curly hair.
Chen Hao hated feeling weak the most. The thought of the RDS leader considering him fragile frustrated him. He closed his eyes hoping everything would be erased overnight.
------
Li Yang on the other hand was also engrossed in his own thoughts.
'Did I go too hard on him? But it was just a game and everyone loses sometimes but I shouldn't have teased him,'He felt guilty for what he did to the Ocean Emblems' leader. Li Yang had played many matches before,crushed other players' egos without remorse then how come he felt guilty for doing so to the younger leader. He wasn't one to feel remorseful about such things.
During matches he couldn't miss an opportunity to put gamers in their places. He was the king of eSports and they had to know it. When playing games was the only time he felt like proving his worth to people but when it came to other things he didn't care at all.
Li Yang didn't feel like sleeping so his hands were aching to get to touch the computer mouse but he tried hard to fight the urge. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and checked the time - it was half past midnight. He thought of something else to kill the boredom. He took his laptop with the thought of watching a movie.
But before he could settle down for movie,he got a notification from Chen Hao's live stream account.
'Why is he still awake?' Li Yang wondered joining the Livestream. The younger boy was playing live while talking to his fans.
------
Chen Hao's wish to fall into deep slumber didn't happen and he found himself playing games in the middle of the night and interact with his fans.
"I usually sleep at ten but for some reason today I couldn't sleep. I don't know why,"the Ocean Emblems' leader whined.
{Jasmine Xu: Phoenix when you can't sleep it means you're thinking about something or someone so what are you thinking about?}
Chen Hao almost gasped on camera. The fan's comment caught him by surprise especially about how right they were . He was indeed thinking about something.
"I usually don't think alot so I guess that's not the reason,"he lied nervously.
{Jasmine Xu : Or maybe you're too excited to sleep}
Chen Hao jumped excitedly on his chair,"That must be the reason . By the way I got gifts today. Thanks everyone I really appreciate the gifts,"he said sincerely.
{XOXO: Phoenix did you get my letter? It was in a pink envelope}
Chen Hao furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. They were so many letters in pink envelopes and he didn't know which one exactly was hers but he couldn't let the fan feel bad about it so he confirmed he had received it and was grateful for her message.
------
'He's lying to his fans,'Li Yang smirked at the thought. He could see through the younger's lies through his body language on camera and he found it funny how the younger came up with lies within the shortest time possible.
He thought of teasing the younger by exposing his lies but he dropped the idea not wanting to offend him again or ruining his comfort.
------
{Xiao Nasty: Phoenix if you can't sleep you should watch porn}
Chen Hao wished he hadn't read the comment. His face went completely pale,his eye widened in shock. He found himself unable to stay calm after reading the comment. He wasn't completely innocent,he loved flirting but his way of flirting was pure and almost nonsexual and such dirty comments were considered extreme for him.
------
Li Yang on the other side noticed how the younger reacted to the explicit comment. He felt amused seeing how the younger's expressions faltered and how he struggled to regain his composure. If it were him he would either block the fan or even maintain an expressionless face. He wasn't one to tolerate such kind of fans.
{Ivy Chen:What kind of dirty moron is this suggesting such things to our innocent Phoenix ?}
{Xiao Nasty: He's an adult guy so it's nothing abnormal to do such things.}
{Drip : Xiao Nasty you're right. Only weak guys can get embarrassed by such kind of things}
Chen Hao read the comment and the only word he could register was weak. So he wasn't considered strong just because he was embarrassed by the idea of porn. He felt dejected and felt like ending the live.
------
Li Yang was enraged by the audacity of the fans to give such suggestive comments and expect someone to act like it was completely normal. He hated such kind of fans so he felt the urge to intervene and he did so using his secret account.
{Young Master Li: You think everyone is a porn addict like you? Concluding everyone thinks the way you do. What a retard!" Phoenix you should block such fans. They traitors to the fandom}
Chen Hao smiled reading the comment and several other fans supported the message ganging up on those perverted idiots.
------
After a successful match on a Friday afternoon,Li Yang went backstage to change into his casual clothes. That day he dodged the interview and Bai Yiran went in his place. He was a little moody remembering the dinner with his family was getting nearer and he couldn't do anything to avoid it. He needed sometime alone.
He picked up his red tracksuit stuffing it in his bag when a knock at the door disturbed him. Normally if it were his teammates they wouldn't knock so he guessed it could be someone else.
"Come in,"he responded.
The door clicked open and the Ocean Emblems' walked in. They had come to cheer their brother team like the company always instructed.
"Hi,"Chen Hao greeted in a small voice feeling awkward.
"Hi,"the RDS leader responded in an equally small voice.
"The bus is about to leave,"the younger informed.
"I'll be there in a minute,"the older replied not sparing him a glance.
"Okay..."the younger trailed off.
"Is there anything else ?"Li Yang asked finally looking at him,his dark orbs staring intensely at the other.
"I'm sorry for kicking you out the other day,"Chen Hao apologized sincerely. Chen Hao was mostly confident but with the RDS leader he felt so intimidated.
"It's fine I'm also sorry for teasing you."
"I didn't accept defeat... Do you think I'm weak?" the younger asked feeling intimidated.