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“Go do promotional material they said,” Han Wenqing thought quietly to himself, “it will be good for the team’s image they said.” What the marketing team had neglected to mention was the fact that this event was for most of the pro teams currently in the alliance. He couldn’t see Blue Rain but Huang Shaotian’s voice was carrying through the crowd clearly, Wang Jiexi was currently doing an interview, Sun Xiang was chatting quietly to Zhou Zekai who seemed uncomfortable with all eyes on him and Happy was- Happy was trying to drown out even Huang Shaotian.
Ye Xiu appeared at his side before he could blink, sly smile on his face as usual, as if he’d won a game that no one else knew they were playing. He was holding- Han Wenqing frowned, he was holding a large amount of wire and a hot glue gun. Before he could ask what was going on, Ye Xiu was already speaking, voice smooth and pitched low for Han Wenqing alone.
“Did your management tell you what this event is for?” Han Wenqing merely shook his head as Ye Xiu looked delighted as the rest of Tyranny also looked confused.
“It’s arts and crafts!” Baozi called out before his attention was caught by An Wenyi trying to wrestle the hot glue gun away from him. Ye Xiu looked as if he were about to burst into hysterical laughter at the varying looks of shock and mild resignation.
“Interviews and flower crowns captain Han, Tyranny is right here, next to Happy!” Han Wenqing guessed that the reporters wanted to play upon the longstanding rivalry between himself and Ye Xiu by placing them so close together.
Fang Rui slipped over to stand beside his former captain, tugging him over to sit at Happy’s table, chattering away that he needed to help him with his flower crown, partially because his teammates kept stealing his flowers. Han Wenqing merely stared blankly as his teammates settled around their table and began picking up the craft supplies. Ye Xiu nudged at his shoulder laughter in his eyes.
“Ah Old Han, what’s with that look? You don’t want to make a flower crown? Do you need help?” Still perplexed more than anything else, Han Wenqing let Ye Xiu manhandle him into a chair and begin gathering supplies. Han Wenqing shot his vice-captain a look that clearly conveyed his confusion, but Zhang Xinjie was already making his flower crown, tape measure in his hands.
“Xiao Zhang you carry measuring tape with you?” Ye Xiu seemed incredulous and Han Wenqing, despite knowing how meticulous his vice-captain was, had to agree, unsure of why Zhang Xinjie would need a tape measure in day to day life.
“Adequate preparation is key to an effective lifestyle.” Was Zhang Xinjie’s response as he began marking the correct placement of the flowers he had chosen. Han Wenqing was still unsure as to the purpose of the event, had little time to mull it over as a microphone soon appeared in his face as the interview started.
“Captain Han, as one of the longest serving players in the alliance, have your thoughts turned to retirement?” Han Wenqing frowned, but when the reporter looked as if he wanted to run, he settled on a blank expression. Ye Xiu was snickering beside him as he continued to glue flowers and- twigs? Han Wenqing couldn’t help but think this was a very strange publicity event.
“Every player has to consider their retirement at some stage. I don’t dwell on the future; what matters is the present.” The reporter nodded before scrambling through his notes, seemingly not having another question prepared.
Everyone’s attention was soon diverted when there was a huge roar of laughter from where Tiny Herb was sat and when Han Wenqing turned, Gao Yingjie had his face buried in his hands, ears bright, burning red as his teammates elbowed him and laughed. Wang Jiexi seemed tired more than anything else as he tried to corral his teammates to no avail. The other teams looked on in mild confusion as they tried to figure out what was going on until Gao Yingjie uncovered his face, peeked over at Happy’s table, at Qiao Yifan before pointedly looking away, ears somehow burning redder.
“Ah captain Ye, what do you think of captain Han’s words?” Ye Xiu looked up from what he was working on in surprise and blinked at the camera for a moment before answering.
“I think captain Han is right, no point worrying over retirement until you have to, enjoy the time you have instead of mourning the time you don’t.” Han Wenqing found that they were interrupted once again by some very loud whoops from where Happy was sat.
Everyone in the hall turned to stare at Gao Yingjie who was clutching a flower crown in his hands, red and white, perfectly matching Qiao Yifan’s Happy jacket. Happy’s Ghostblade’s eyes were wide with shock and his cheeks were rapidly tinting pink as Gao Yingjie carefully settled the crown he’d made on Qiao Yifan’s head. Both players were bright red, but Gao Yingjie looked as if he were about to faint when his former teammate brought out his own flower crown and placed it on his head.
Every camera was pointed at the pair, who seemed more caught up in each other’s eyes than anything else until Baozi kicked his teammate, startling Qiao Yifan out of his daze. He pressed a kiss to Gao Yingjie’s cheek, who looked as if he was about to faint on the spot, standing stock still with his hand pressed dreamily to his cheek until Liu Xiaobie came over to tow him back to his seat.
“Young love,” Ye Xiu announced to the cameras and everyone watched as Qiao Yifan suddenly seemed to realise that everyone was staring at him and he promptly pressed his face into the table, but still taking care not to damage the crown upon his head. The entirety of Happy was busy nudging him and hooting loudly, similar to what was happening to Gao Yingjie by Tiny Herb. Except Fang Rui, he seemed too busy staring helplessly at Lin Jingyan who’d finished his own flower crown and seemed to be waiting for a comment. Fang Rui merely flapped one hand before looking pointedly away, cheeks flushed.
“Romantic isn’t it Old Han?” Han Wenqing startled at the question suddenly whispered in his ear. He turned to stare at Ye Xiu who merely tilted his head to the side innocently, as if this was perfectly normal. Han Wenqing furrowed his brow slightly before glancing over at the younger players who kept sneaking looks at each other, flushing and looking away.
“Very sweet.” The deadpan tone would have discouraged the others from continuing, Ye Xiu merely leant against him as the noise continued around them. The reporter shuffled through his cards once more before hitting upon another question.
“Captain Han, what do you think of the idea that Ye Xiu is your one true rival?” Han Wenqing focused on the flower crown he was making as he mulled the question over in his head.
“Ye Xiu was my first loss. Excellent Era kept blocking Tyranny from the finals until season four,” Han Wenqing could sense his vice-captain’s smugness, even if Zhang Xinjie’s expression didn’t change. “It is easy to see why people see us as rivals.”
“Ah but you don’t see us as rivals do you captain Han?” The reporter startled when Ye Xiu slung an arm around Tyranny’s captain, expecting, from the look on Han Wenqing’s face, for the arm to be shrugged off at the very least.
What Ye Xiu actually got was a half-hearted eyeroll as Han Wenqing continued to glue flowers to form his crown, despite the fact he still couldn’t quite grasp the reasoning behind the publicity event. He frowned when both the reporter and Ye Xiu seemed to be waiting for him to say something, Ye Xiu with a sly smirk gracing his lips, one that Han Wenqing had the urge to cover with a kiss, the other still apprehensive.
“I don’t see you as my rival Ye Xiu, I see you as a friend.” The reporter nodded, jotting down notes in his notepad before smiling warily at the two captains.
“Thank you for your time captain Han, captain Ye.” Han Wenqing noted that he seemed relieved to be walking away and he turned his attention back to the smug look Ye Xiu was shooting him.
“Captain Han such a shameless statement! What will those who hate me think of you?”
“Isn’t any of their business.” Despite the matter of fact way the words were spoken Ye Xiu couldn’t help but feel a stir of emotions in his chest at his boyfriend’s words, fighting the urge to pull him into a kiss. Fortunately, the moment was ruined by a truly impressive screech from Huang Shaotian, piercing through the air and drawing everyone’s eyes to where Huang Shaotian was trying to lunge at Sun Xiang.
“Say that again Sun Xiang, I dare you, I dare you to say that again to my face, I’ll PK you until you’re begging for mercy- until you can do nothing but cry to your parents about how badly you were beaten, insult my captain again and I’ll beat you out of the game as well, I’ll PK you until you’ve lost a thousand times over and then I’ll get you out of game to, say that to my face again Sun Xiang, I dare you-!”
“Say what again? That your boyfriend can’t compare to mine?” This seemed to incense Huang Shaotian further as he actually threw himself so violently against Yu Wenzhou’s grip that he stumbled slightly. Sun Xiang took a step back, not willing to take the chance of getting into a fist fight, even if the odds of Huang Shaotian risking damage to his hands was low.
Huang Shaotian continued to spit insults from where he was being carried as Yu Wenzhou gave up on calming him down and instead lifted him bodily over his shoulder to tow him away from the situation. The fact that his target was getting further and further away did not deter Huang Shaotian and he simply shrieked his insults louder until they disappeared out of the door.
In the commotion, no one noticed Ye Xiu grab Han Wenqing’s wrist and drag him out of the crowded hall and into a quiet corridor. Well, Zhang Xinjie noticed, but he was more focused on readjusting his initial plan for his flower crown as they’d run out of the flowers he’d planned to use and the leftover ones of the correct shade were larger than the first lot meaning that he’d have to ensure that the piece didn’t look crowded and-
Ye Xiu smiled up at his boyfriend as he deposited the crown he’d made on Han Wenqing’s head, admiring the way the vines threaded through his hair. The dark red flowers interspersed with the paler red drew the eye and Ye Xiu was proud of the way it looked on his boyfriend’s head. He bit back a laugh when he saw the crown Han Wenqing had made. Rather than committing to a colour scheme, more likely never considering a colour scheme, Han Wenqing had grabbed and glued any flower within reach to finish his crown.
It was gaudy, garish and had far too many flowers glued haphazardly on to look presentable.
Ye Xiu couldn’t help but find it endearing.
“Old Han give me your phone.” Han Wenqing acquiesced easily, Ye Xiu seemed committed to not buying a phone out of sheer spite at this point and Han Wenqing let him poke around at the screen until he held the phone out for a selfie. “Smile!”
Ye Xiu struck a cliché pose as he took the photo and Han Wenqing couldn’t help but stare at his boyfriend, warm bundle of emotions filling his chest. His boyfriend who looked like his clothes had been worn for five days, who had a wide smile on his face and a flower crown that was slipping down over his eyes as it didn’t fit and was too heavy to stay up. His expression didn’t change, but his eyes softened immensely as he kept his arm around Ye Xiu’s shoulder. When Ye Xiu looked down at the phone his eyes sparked with teasing as he noted his boyfriend’s unchanging expression.
“Ahh Wenqing you didn’t smile,” when Ye Xiu spotted the look in Han Wenqing’s eyes he couldn’t help the way his lips parted slightly. He knew his boyfriend loved him, was shown it every day, and yet, seeing it immortalised before him, clear as day- still elicited a reaction from him. He posted the picture before turning back to his boyfriend and pulling him into a kiss.
Han Wenqing made a quiet, startled sound, not expecting it but soon sinking into the familiar sensation, one hand cupping Ye Xiu’s neck and the other resting at the small of his back. They remained intwined for several long moments before breaking apart, Han Wenqing’s eyes endlessly soft as he looked at his boyfriend, keeping him in his arms.
“I love you Wenqing,” Ye Xiu’s eyes were bright with happiness, even under the artificial light and Han Wenqing tightened his embrace.
“I love you too Ye Xiu.” Rivals to boyfriends, it nearly sounded like a fairy tale.
“YE XIU IS DATING HAN WENQING?” While completely implausible, it was a running joke for years to come that Huang Shaotian’s shriek was loud enough to shatter the windows in Blue Rain. Though he wasn’t the only one who was shocked, the internet was lit up with screaming, speculations and demands for clarification.
The main burden of this was falling upon Su Mucheng and Zhang Xinjie’s shoulders as Ye Xiu didn’t own a phone and Han Wenqing had abandoned his the moment it had started chiming. The two who’d started the ruckus in the first place were too busy enjoying each other’s company to care about the frenzy they’d whipped up and this more than anything else convinced everyone the two were truly together.
“Ye Xiu really has Han Wenqing acting shamelessly,” was the general consensus, “after all, that look in the photo was nothing short of blatant.”
The photo in question was immortalised for three important reasons: Han Wenqing’s soft, besotted eyes as he looked at his boyfriend, the adorable flower crowns the two were wearing and the undeniable proof that Han Wenqing and Ye Xiu weren’t rivals but boyfriends.
“A true Glory fairy tale.” Everyone posted, even those who were more reluctant to accept the relationship were soon swayed by the pure affection written across their faces.
“After all, it must be love if Ye Xiu is willing to wear that ugly flower crown,” someone suggested, the comment being liked, shared and agreed with thousands of times mere hours after posting. It truly was a poorly made flower crown.