Chapter Text
“Yingjie? You okay?” Qiao Yifan waved his hand in front of his friend’s dazed face. They’d spent Yifan’s final night before he returned to Hangzhou holed up in Gao Yingjie’s dorm like old times. Neither ended up getting much sleep.
“I was just, um, thinking...” Gao Yingjie’s voice dialed down to a whisper so faint, Qiao Yifan struggled to make out what he was saying over the hum of the dorm room fan. “That I really miss you, and sometimes I wish you would come back to Tiny Herb.”
“Yingjie, I-” Qiao Yifan’s expression pained.
“But,” Gao Yingjie quickly cut in, “I was also thinking that this is good too.”
*
Something akin to pride stirred in Gao Yingjie’s chest as he’d watched his once timid friend blossom into his most worthy adversary. They stood on the stage as equals now, neither relegated to hiding in the shadow of the other’s talent.
So, even if they could never share a championship victory, Yingjie knew that if he had the chance to do it all over again, he would definitely choose this path.
Gao Yingjie reached over to intertwine their fingers, watching the tension on Yifan’s face fade into a soft smile.