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“Dad, I told you. Lord Grim is in a different server. We can’t play together until you’re in the Heavenly Domain.”
“No, Dad--”
“The Heavenly Domain isn’t a town.”
“Dad!”
The conversation goes on like for another 5 minutes or so.
“Why don’t you just meet him in the 11th server?” Su Mucheng asks when Ye Xiu hands her phone back.
If you’d told him a year ago that his father was going to start playing Glory, Ye Xiu would have outright laughed at you while subtly scanning the room for hidden cameras. For as long as he could remember, his father berated him for wasting his time playing a “stupid game.” But now, the serious stubborn man has apparently opened his own account and wanted his son to show him around.
Ye Xiu has to admit, he is pretty curious. He can’t even imagine his father picking up a video game, let alone such an involved game like Glory. (Was he wearing a headset? Ye Xiu would have to convince Ye Qiu to take a picture for him later).
***
Ye Xiu snags a spare account card from the guild and goes to meet his father at their predetermined time in one of the beginner villages. The new server had already been open for some time, so it’s not teeming with players like it once was, but even if it were crowded, Ye Xiu is certain he would be able to spot his father right away given what he’s named his character.
Lord Grim’s Daddy.
Lots of players name their characters ridiculous names like this, mostly to show their admiration (or hate) for a certain pro player. Though a name like Lord Grim’s Daddy seems more like the latter, Ye Xiu is fairly certain his father didn’t mean it as an insult. More than likely, the names Lord Grim’s Father and Lord Grim’s Dad were already taken so his father had to settle with Lord Grim’s Daddy.
Daddy. Even when they were really little, the Ye twins never called their father ‘daddy.’ Not once. Ye Xiu feels something stir in his heart and he wonders for a moment if this is his father finally opening up to him, but he quickly dismisses the thought.
Ye Xiu sends a friend request and maneuvers his character over to Lord Grim’s Daddy’s side. He’s about to say “hi” when he overhears his father talking to the person next to him.
“Just click the little blue button in the middle of the screen. The one that says confirm.” A very familiar voice is saying.
Just one look at the username is more than enough to confirm his suspicions.
The Real Ye Qiu.
(With the name Ye Qiu holding a god-like status in the land of Glory, this name has of course already been taken, so the username has a bunch of random numbers and symbols after it, making it look anything but legitimate).
“Hey little brother!” Ye Xiu smirks and immediately sends Ye Qiu a friend request.
Ye Xiu listens to his brother fumble together some excuse about how their father made him create an account and how he was very very busy right now working on a presentation for his work. Ye Xiu also notes that his brother just says these things but doesn’t actually make a move to log off. He even accepts his friend request and party invite.
Ye Xiu takes his family to run one of the low level dungeons. They don’t break a record or anything, just sort of play around. It’s mostly the twins helping their father figure out the controls (it’s slow going, but he seems to be enjoying himself which is the important part). Ye Qiu gets way too into everything and knows way too much about the game mechanics to have been forced into playing, but Ye Xiu let’s it slide. For now.
They clear the dungeon once and decide to call it a night. Their father has to take an important phone call soon, Ye Qiu really does need to work on tomorrow’s presentation, and Ye Xiu has a strategy meeting with his team in less than five minutes. They’re all busy, but they still make plans to meet up again around the same time the following week. It will probably just be for a quick quest or dungeon run, but that’s still more quality time than they've spent together in a long while. The Ye family might not be great at expressing emotions, but they really do care about each other, even if it manifests itself in odd ways sometimes.
As he’s logging off, Ye Xiu hears a loud cackle behind him and he turns around to see Chen Guo laughing hysterically. She’s holding Su Mucheng for support (who is also having a very difficult time keeping a straight face).
“Really!?” Chen Guo wheezes, “The Real Ye Qiu!? Lord Grim’s Daddy ? Does bad naming sense run in your family or something?”