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Yu Wenzhou’s every move was calculated. Whenever he made an appearance in public, every smile, wave, every motion seemed planned down to the last detail, meticulously designed to present an image of a well-mannered man. But what the fans don’t know is that Yu Wenzhou’s appearance was always carefully calculated no matter what, even with his teammates, even with his closest friends, there’s a sense that he’s holding something back, that he’s presenting a certain image of himself.
Huang Shaotian is genuine. Quick-talking, fast actions, stumbling over his words as he rambles on, waves big and friendly, smiles wide and easy-going. Of all the players in Glory’s pro alliance, people expect him to know Yu Wenzhou the best, expect him to have seen behind the polite, gentle smile that always graced his lips no matter what. To Huang Shaotian’s frustration, he had never seen beyond that smile. Despite playing alongside his captain for years and knowing him for even longer, Yu Wenzhou’s carefully crafted image is something he’d never seen past.
He’s seen hints, when they met Wei Chen again, saw their shared captain for the first time in years, Huang Shaotian watched his captain’s face break into a wide, genuine smile, tentative hope in his eyes and he couldn’t help but wonder what Yu Wenzhou would look like if he wasn’t always wearing a carefully crafted mask, no matter what, it always felt like the other player was hiding something.
Ye Xiu, Zhang Xinjie and Xiao Shiqin are the other players in Glory’s pro alliance that Yu Wenzhou relaxes around, at least, as much as he ever relaxes and Huang Shaotian turned to them to ask them if his captain’s meticulously impenetrable mask has ever slipped with them. As per usual, Ye Xiu is supremely unhelpful, taking the opportunity to mock him, rather than offer any advice.
“Huang Shaotian isn’t able to read his captain’s feelings without coming to other’s for help? Aren’t you two supposed to be close friends?” Xiao Shiqin could feel a headache forming, no matter what the topic was, Ye Xiu had an uncanny ability to rile up whoever he was talking to. Huang Shaotian threw himself into berating Ye Xiu with gusto and the other two players sighed.
“Ey ey ey Ye Xiu! How could you say that to me? How could you suggest that I don’t know my captain the best, I know him better than all three of you combined, I know him better than anyone else in the world! I didn’t ask you for help with reading his feelings, I’m excellent at knowing what my captain is feeling! I asked if you had ever seen him without his mask!”
“Mask?” Xiao Shiqin took the first opportunity to redirect the conversation before Huang Shaotian inevitably demanded a PK and the whole point would be lost.
“Yes mask!” When he was met with blank stares by all three he huffed out a sharp breath, frowning at them as he elaborated. “Why do you look so confused? Wenzhou is always wearing a mask, he never looks genuine!”
“I never noticed.” Zhang Xinjie had half an eye on a notebook and Xiao Shiqin wished he’d had the foresight to do the same, instead, he was forced to participate.
“You know! He’s always smiling politely at everyone no matter what’s actually going on! Captain is always so polite and reserved and everything he says is carefully thought out!”
“That’s because he’s always next to you, with your inability to control yourself, anyone who can looks reserved in contrast.” Ye Xiu voiced what Xiao Shiqin had been thinking but had been too polite to voice out loud. Huang Shaotian slumped slightly, frown marring his features and all three were surprised he hadn’t reacted to Ye Xiu’s latest jab.
“It’s not that,” he murmured quietly, almost to himself, “captain is reserved and he’s reserved with everyone, even his friends!”
“Perhaps he enjoys his privacy.” Zhang Xinjie cut in, raising his eyes from his notebook momentarily, “not everyone wants the world to know what they’re thinking.”
“Don’t push it Shaotian.” Ye Xiu warned, nudging the younger player with his foot. “Yu Wenzhou is a private person, he’s just different to you.” Huang Shaotian nodded, but the frown didn’t leave his face and he couldn’t stop thinking about how his captain never seemed to reveal what he was really thinking.
In fact, Yu Wenzhou presented himself with a mask to the world as he thought it was much more pleasant to appease the public with a polite image, than have to handle scathing critiques online. He was of the opinion that he received enough attention for his hand speed, he didn’t need to make it worse. On top of that, Yu Wenzhou didn’t want to wear his heart on his sleeve because then everyone who met him would be aware that he was in love with his vice-captain.
Huang Shaotian was bright, friendly, loud and in Yu Wenzhou’s opinion, could shine brighter than the sun when he smiled. He caught himself when he felt the urge to react in kind, when Huang Shaotian smiled at him and he felt the urge to grin back, let his carefully crafted image shatter and be as genuine as his vice-captain. But there was the voice in the back of his head that warned against it, that whispered and convinced him that if he wore his heart on his sleeve it’d get broken. So, Yu Wenzhou was content with his walls and was determined to keep them up. Huang Shaotian’s latest antics, however, were making that difficult.
Yu Wenzhou was handsome, Huang Shaotian had always been aware of this in some vague abstract way but the day it had hit him for real was the day Blue Rain won the championship for the first time. His captain had the stage lights playing across the planes of his face, clutching the championship trophy along with their teammates with the biggest smile stretched across his face. It was the most unguarded he’d ever looked, vulnerable in his overwhelming joy and Huang Shaotian had felt his heart skip a beat in his chest.
“Oh.” He’d thought, slightly helplessly, “I’m in love.”
Unfortunately, due to Yu Wenzhou’s habit of keeping his emotions hidden and closed off, Huang Shaotian had no idea if his captain had feelings for him in return. It’d been years since the season six finals, years since he’d realised that he’d fallen in love with his captain and he’d not progressed any further with his attempt to figure out if his captain liked him in return. The advice he’d been given had boiled down to three statements.
Ye Xiu: Stop whining and ask him.
Zhang Xinjie: Ask him about his feelings.
Xiao Shiqin: Ask him on a date.
Okay so it was really more like one piece of advice repeated three times, but Huang Shaotian was choosing to ignore that in favour of his latest plan. Ye Xiu may have scoffed at it, Xiao Shiqin seemed concerned by the elaborateness of it but Zhang Xinjie seemed to agree with it and so Huang Shaotian planned to compliment his captain until either he was told to stop or his captain kissed him. He was hoping for the second option if he was being perfectly honest.
Yu Wenzhou considered himself to be good at reading his vice-captain. They’d played alongside each other for years and known one another even longer, he was well-aware of Huang Shaotian’s nuances and was able to figure out what the other’s motivations were, no matter what Huang Shaotian was choosing to do. His most recent behaviour had him reassessing his ability to read his vice-captain.
It’d started when he’d walked into the training room, ready for one of their final training sessions before summer and Huang Shaotian had waved enthusiastically at him before calling out the words that nearly had Yu Wenzhou tripping over his own feet.
“Hey captain! You look really handsome!” To his surprise, Huang Shaotian didn’t seem embarrassed or shocked at his own words. He’d seemingly said them on purpose and from his innocent grin, for a specific goal. Yu Wenzhou fought down the urge to blush and nodded in response to the compliment before beginning the training session.
Yu Wenzhou spent the entirety of the training session desperately trying to keep his focus on the game and not what Huang Shaotian was up to. It was more difficult than he expected. Every time he looked up from his screen he’d catch his vice-captain watching him but instead of looking away when he was caught, Huang Shaotian simply offered him a bright smile before turning back to his screen.
Huang Shaotian watched in delight as a light flush spread across his friend’s cheeks when he shuffled over to peer at the tablet in his captain’s hands. It was a recording of a previous match where their defence had been broken, scattering their formation which forced their plans to change mid-match. Yu Wenzhou was tracing over the other team’s placement as he spoke.
“It was at this moment where they had the opportunity to-“ It was subtle, the reaction when Huang Shaotian rested his head on Yu Wenzhou’s shoulder, the tiny hitch in his breath was nearly imperceptible but Huang Shaotian still caught it. “-to break through our defence. Next time-“
The reaction from his captain bolstered Huang Shaotian’s hope that his captain held more feelings than just friendship for him. As training came to an end, Yu Wenzhou, as usual gathered up the rest of his belongings and Huang Shaotian took the opportunity to corner his captain alone.
“Do you need something Shaotian?”
“Mn, yeah I was wondering how you’re allowed to be so pretty captain.” Yu Wenzhou nearly choked in shock and a blush worked its way across his cheeks but to Huang Shaotian’s frustration his eyes were still guarded.
“Shaotian-“
“Because you have amazing tactics and you always pull us out of danger in game but then you are also very pretty captain, and it’s not just me who thinks that, so many other people think that too, you should see the forums captain, do you go online captain? Probably not, you’re too diligent to waste time on the internet like that, but you should know that there are loads of pictures of you on the Glory forums for fans and most of them are talking about how handsome you are which is true, you are very handsome and-“ Huang Shaotian was cut off by Yu Wenzhou’s hand covering his mouth, while his captain’s cheeks were bright red. He went silent and waited for his captain to compose himself and Yu Wenzhou offered a strained smile before leaving the room in a way that was basically a full sprint.
Huang Shaotian knew that it was likely not good form to gloat after one had flustered their friend enough that said friend took the first opportunity to run. But this was the first time he’d ever seen Yu Wenzhou’s polite mask crack, even slightly, and what he saw encouraged him that should he admit his feelings to his friend, they would be welcomed and returned. Huang Shaotian clapped his hands together excitably, thinking that the best place to confess would be at the party that Happy were throwing, being the season ten victors. If it went well, they would have the summer together, if it went badly, he could spend the summer licking his wounds.
Huang Shaotian’s plan was set and there was nothing in his way that could stop him.
The venue was loud, busy and full of flashing lights, making it difficult for Huang Shaotian to see anyone. He pushed himself up onto his toes, trying to peer into the crowd for his captain but he was soon interrupted by Ye Xiu and Huang Shaotian scowled at his friend’s first words.
“Are you having trouble being tall enough to see?” Ye Xiu laughed as Huang Shaotian swiped at him and he dodged back, still taunting him, “would you like me to lift you up?”
“Shut up Ye Xiu, you aren’t much taller than me!”
“Yet I am taller than you.” Huang Shaotian debated the consequences of chucking the contents of his glass on Ye Xiu’s head but decided that ultimately, the man would be more useful for information.
“Have you seen Yu Wenzhou?” Ye Xiu mulled this over in his head for a moment, pointedly using his superior height to peer into the crowd before shrugging helplessly, not being able to spot Blue Rain’s captain. Huang Shaotian huffed out a breath, he’d lost his captain the moment they’d walked into the club, Yu Wenzhou being drawn to where Zhang Xinjie and Xiao Shiqin were sat, likely discussing tactics.
“See Ye Xiu? You can’t be that much taller because you’re still unable to find my captain. I’ll go look for him myself!” Before Huang Shaotian vanished into the throng of people, Ye Xiu called out on last warning.
“Don’t drink the red punch! It’s full of alcohol.” Huang Shaotian rolled his eyes, alcohol had yet to feature heavily in things that caused him problems and he doubted it would start now.
Huang Shaotian was wrong and the universe was punishing him for his hubris. It started when Zhang Xinjie managed to catch him and he motioned for his friend to follow him until they reached a quieter corner of the club and Huang Shaotian blinked in shock at the scene before him.
“The punch was spiked.” Huang Shaotian bit back the urge to point out how obvious that was as Yu Wenzhou was stretched out on Xiao Shiqin’s lap, waving his hands aimlessly in the air as he babbled on about Glory tactics. None of it was coherent but Yu Wenzhou was going into great detail and Huang Shaotian had to swallow down his envy at the sight of his captain lying on top of Xiao Shiqin.
Before he could fully process it, Yu Wenzhou caught sight of him and Huang Shaotian nearly choked on his tongue as his captain was up off his friend’s lap and in his arms before he could blink. Yu Wenzhou pressed his flushed cheek into his vice-captain’s neck and made a soft, content sound, warm breath tickling sensitive skin.
“Mmm, you’re cool Shaotian, feels nice.” Huang Shaotian stared at the other two master tacticians.
“How much did he drink?” Xiao Shiqin seemed to be amused by the scene before him as he paused before answering.
“Only one cup, it may have been heavily spiked.” Huang Shaotian nodded and patted his captain’s shoulder to get his attention and hazy eyes fixed mostly on his.
“Come on captain, I’ll take you back to the hotel.” Yu Wenzhou nodded eagerly and Huang Shaotian found that his eyes were unguarded and open, every emotion seemingly flickering across his face with ease. He pushed the slight awe at how gorgeous his captain looked when unguarded away to focus on getting them both back to the hotel unscathed.
Once they were out on the street, it became a lot harder to corral his captain as Yu Wenzhou seemed enthralled by nearly everything he saw from an umbrella, that they ended up buying, a cat, the brightly coloured sign and a, in Yu Wenzhou’s words, remarkably well-shaped tree. Huang Shaotian wondered briefly if this was why parents put their children in harnesses to keep them in line.
And yet despite the difficulty of keeping them on track, Huang Shaotian couldn’t help but admire the way his captain looked without his carefully crafted mask he presented to everyone. Yu Wenzhou turned to face him and Huang Shaotian’s breath caught in his throat at the look of pure adoration in his captain’s eyes.
“Shaotian look! We’re nearly back!” Blue Rain’s vice-captain sighed out a breath of relief as he managed to bundle his swaying captain into the hotel, tugged the key card from his pocket, pushed the door open only for them to overbalance and he landed on his back with Yu Wenzhou on top of him.
Huang Shaotian laughed at the look of wide-eyed shock painted across Yu Wenzhou’s face, an expression he’d never seen before and couldn’t help but find adorable. He struggled to his feet and then yelped loudly as Yu Wenzhou immediately started pulling off his clothes.
“What are you doing?!” It wasn’t a shriek. It wasn’t. It was simply an exclamation of shock but Yu Wenzhou simply looked confused, still in the process of unbuttoning his jacket.
“Getting ready for bed?” He looked back down at the buttons and his forehead scrunched in frustration and he pouted as he struggled to get his fingers to obey him. He looked over to where Huang Shaotian was stood and he was weak to his captain’s wide, pleading eyes.
“This is not how I expected to be undressing captain for the first time,” was the slightly hysterical thought running through his head on loop as he guided Yu Wenzhou through the necessary steps to go to bed. He managed to get his captain lying down, removed his glasses but before he could leave, Yu Wenzhou grabbed his wrist, causing him to turn back around.
“You’re not staying?”
“Captain this isn’t my room-“
“You don’t want to stay?” Yu Wenzhou’s face was a mask of hurt and Huang Shaotian wanted to laugh.
“Of course I want to stay, I want to stay, I want to stay with your forever, for as long as you’ll have me-“
“Do you want me to stay?” Was what he settled on saying instead and the frown slowly lifted from Yu Wenzhou’s face.
“Please stay Shaotian?” Huang Shaotian was aware that this was a terrible idea, that Yu Wenzhou likely didn’t know what he was saying and that they’d both be in for an awkward situation when morning dawned but. But he wanted to stay and Yu Wenzhou had asked him to stay.
Huang Shaotian slid into the bed, trying to keep a respectable distance between them but Yu Wenzhou attached himself to his side the moment he was settled, tangling their legs together and pressing his face into his neck once more.
“You feel nice.” He murmured again, eyes slipping shut, leaving Huang Shaotian alone with his thoughts until he was startled out of his half asleep state when Yu Wenzhou shifted slightly, voice slurred with sleep, “mmm, love you Shaotian.”
Huang Shaotian was now fully awake but his captain had quickly drifted off again leaving him to scream silently in his own head until sleep inevitably claimed him.
It was too bright. Yu Wenzhou made a soft, unhappy grumbling noise as he buried his face deeper into his bed mate’s neck- wait-
Yu Wenzhou woke up fully when he realised that he was in bed with his vice-captain and he began frantically trying to remember what had happened the night before but coming up blank. Apparently his panicking was louder than he thought before Huang Shaotian stirred from beside him and his eyes flicked open and he blinked at the clear panic that he could see in his captain’s eyes.
“Let me brush my teeth and then I’ll explain.”
After the two were more awake and Yu Wenzhou had wrangled the tangled, confused bundle of emotions in his chest into something more manageable, they were ready to talk.
“Do you remember anything from last night?” Yu Wenzhou could only shake his head and he felt trepidation in his stomach when Huang Shaotian flushed slightly.
“Well, you got drunk from spiked punch, and then you wouldn’t let me leave and you may have told me that you loved me.” Yu Wenzhou wondered how difficult it would be to set up a new life herding goats in a remote part of the country until Huang Shaotian snapped him out of it by depositing himself on his lap.
Wait.
“So? Do you?” Yu Wenzhou was having a difficult time focusing on what was being said seeing as Huang Shaotian was currently sitting in his lap.
“Do I what?” Huang Shaotian wondered how long it would take his captain’s brain to reboot as he wasn’t usually this slow on the uptake.
“Do you love me?” The flush that stained his cheeks was answer enough but Yu Wenzhou still said the words that Huang Shaotian had been waiting to hear for so long.
“I do love you.”
“That’s excellent captain, because I love you too, can I kiss you now?” Yu Wenzhou barely finished nodding before Huang Shaotian pulled him into a searing kiss, tilting his head for a better angle as he pressed his tongue into his captain’s mouth, drinking in the taste of him. He relished in the sensation of something he’d been wanting to do for years. When they broke apart, they were both flushed but Huang Shaotian couldn’t help but feel endlessly smug as he tugged his now boyfriend back under the sheets, wrapping his arms around him.
“And I finally got to see behind your mask captain!”
“My mask?” Huang Shaotian nodded enthusiastically as he pressed closer to Yu Wenzhou’s side.
“You always look the same, all polite with a smile but your eyes are always guarded and yesterday and today I got to see what you look like without that.” Yu Wenzhou tilted his head to the side, haloed in the morning light, gaze achingly soft and Huang Shaotian swore he fell deeper in love. “And I was right. You look amazing when you aren’t hiding part of yourself captain!” Yu Wenzhou flushed bright red and hid his face in Huang Shaotian’s shoulder as his vice-captain laughed.
Huang Shaotian pressed a kiss to Yu Wenzhou’s forehead as he settled back against the pillows, both warm and content. Yu Wenzhou kept his arms tight around his boyfriend as the two slowly slipped back into sleep, in love and satisfied. Huang Shaotian made a mental note to gloat to his friends and find out who spiked the punch to send them a thank you note. They were happy.