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“You’re not Huang Shao,” Zheng Xuan said, blinking dumbly at the corner table.
The person who wasn’t Huang Shaotian stared back at him. “You’re not Captain Yu.”
Around them, the tiny space buzzed with patrons and chatter, the air heavy with sugar-sweet syrup. The chill of condensation pooled between Zheng Xuan's fingers where he clutched at his drink, dripping onto his nicest pair of jeans. How embarrassing for him.
In lieu of a greeting, he double-checked his phone.
Troubling Rain: meet me at the boba shop next to our hotel
Troubling Rain: i put hair gel in your suitcase next to your razor. use it
Troubling Rain: dress nice and come alone
Troubling Rain: are you doing it???? well well well are you??
Troubling Rain: don’t be late that would be rude
Getting instructions that read like a spy novel was far from the strangest thing that ever happened to him at Blue Rain. It wasn’t even the strangest thing this week. Zheng Xuan had chalked it up to Huang Shao being Huang Shao and didn’t ask questions. Maybe he should have, but what’s done was done.
And it wasn’t like he was unhappy to steal time with the person in front of him.
Placing a discrete kiss to Yu Feng’s cheek, Zheng Xuan took a seat beside him. “What are you doing here?”
Yu Feng sighed and fished out his phone, revealing a message eerily similar to the one Zheng Xuan received. The only difference, aside from the length, was the sender. Swoksaar. Yu Wenzhou.
“How strange.” Zheng Xuan passed over his own phone, suspicion blooming bright in his mind.
Yu Feng’s next words confirmed it. “I think we’re being set up.”
Beneath the table, he took Yu Feng’s hand into his own. “I’m not complaining. I didn’t think I’d get to see you again before my flight back home.”
This was their first All-Star weekend apart. Zheng Xuan normally didn’t care for the event, but this year he jumped at the chance to travel. He hadn’t anticipated how unsettling it would be to see his former teammate in another team’s uniform. Yu Feng held himself taller in his new role as captain. Taller and brighter and so much prouder than he ever looked in Blue Rain. Zheng Xuan was proud of him but it was the kind of pride that ached.
The trip was worth it, though. Phone calls and video chats weren’t the same as holding a person in your arms.
Yu Feng leaned in, taking a sip of Zheng Xuan’s milk tea and making a face at all the sugar. “Are those two still circling each other?”
“Last week the captain smiled at Huang Shao, and Troubling Rain walked into a tree.”
Yu Feng grinned, a shark scenting blood. “I have an idea.” And then he froze, his hand darting out towards Zheng Xuan’s hair. “Are you wearing hair gel?”
“Shut up.”
(Yu Feng was upfront about his goals from the start. Glory came first and everything else was second. He had his eyes on the summit and no personal relationship would keep him from reaching the top. No matter how much the relationship meant to him. No matter how much it hurt to leave. He chose his career over his boyfriend and hoped Zheng Xuan wouldn’t hate him when it was done.
He never expected that Zheng Xuan—casual Zheng Xuan, unmotivated Zheng Xuan—would be the one to propose their current arrangement.
“Who says we have to break up?”)
“Captain, can you help me with a favor?”
Yu Wenzhou’s kind eyes flickered up as he closed his notebook. “What is it?”
It was probably nerves that conjured the image of his captain as a shaggy sheepdog guarding the flock. Zheng Xuan squeezed his eyes shut. Why couldn’t he be like a normal person and imagine people naked when he was nervous? Except no, that was way worse. And Huang Shaotian might actually murder him.
No more stalling. He could do this. It was for the good of the team, after all.
He took a deep breath and said, “I ran into Yu Feng at the All-Stars and he mentioned he needs a few notebooks for writing down ideas now that he’s captain. Can you come with me to the stationery store and recommend one?”
Yu Wenzhou’s smile was placid but Zheng Xuan had seen him use it on Huang Shaotian often enough that he recognized it as a sign of amusement. “I’m happy to help. I’m glad to hear you’re still in touch with him. Moving to another team is no reason not to stay close.”
Zheng Xuan hid his own smile. He completely agreed.
Right on schedule, the office door opened. Zheng Xuan schooled his expression into what he hoped was surprise and not constipation.
Huang Shaotian entered, the same time as he did every day, in a flurry of excited chatter. It didn’t take more than a casual nudge to get him to tag along on their errand. For the first time, Zheng Xuan maybe understood why Yu Wenzhou enjoyed being a tactician. It was satisfying when a plan unfolded exactly as expected. And then he caught Yu Wenzhou’s knowing gaze and nearly had a heart attack. Luckily, Huang Shaotian chose that moment to dart from the room and Yu Wenzhou trailed after him.
Five minutes after they all entered the stationery store, Zheng Xuan faked a phone call and slipped away. Pulling out his phone, he brought up Yu Feng’s profile.
bullet rain: It’s done. This better work. If the captain gives me extra practice for the rest of my life I’m blaming you
blossoming chaos: he won’t. he’ll be too busy giving “extra practice” to huang shao
bullet rain: No no no my bleeding eyes
blossoming chaos: how about “extra practice” with me
bullet rain: Thinking about you and the captain isn’t any better
blossoming chaos: ….
blossoming chaos: i meant me and you
bullet rain: Oh
bullet rain: Keep talking
Zheng Xuan set aside his worries in favor of far more pleasant things.
Yu Feng snuck out of his hotel, pondering the nature of fruit baskets.
Specifically, if he should get one for Zou Yuan. What was the acceptable form of saying ‘Thanks for watching the team while my boyfriend and I secretly help my old captain get some chatterbox ass,’ anyway? His mom always said, when in doubt give a fruit basket, but he didn’t think this was what she meant.
The familiar sight of Blue Rain pulled him from his thoughts. Checking his phone, he reread the message from Lu Hanwen, the latest shining star at Blue Rain. His replacement.
It certainly didn’t take them long to fill his shoes.
Stop it, he told himself. He left, of course they found someone else. What did he expect?
A pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind. “Something wrong?”
For someone who claimed to never want to expend much effort, Zheng Xuan always seemed to know when Yu Feng needed him. “Your Lu Hanwen invited me to come visit tomorrow for a friendly match. I didn’t expect Captain Yu and Huang Shao would call in reinforcements so quickly. And from a kid.”
Zheng Xuan laughed. “You know the captain, he has a plan for everything. He probably thought it would be too obvious to do it himself after the ‘mix up’ at the All-Stars.”
“Did he suspect anything when you ditched them at the stationery store?”
“He looked at me when I faked the call from my grandmother. I thought he was seeing straight into my soul. I nearly had a heart attack from the stress. I’m never doing that again, I’d rather die from secondhand sexual frustration.” His arms around Yu Feng shifted as he shrugged. “But the next day, the captain was writing in a notebook with a little lion on the cover and Huang Shao looked smug, so I think it worked.”
“Good job.” Yu Feng created a group chat with his former captain and vice-captain, quickly typing out: I’m near Blue Rain. Meet in 30 min at our usual sweet shop for old time’s sake?
When he was done, he tugged Zheng Xuan towards their destination. “That place used to be run down but I read on Weibo that ever since it changed owners it’s considered a hot date spot.”
“I’m the one who sent you that link, remember?” Zheng Xuan didn’t ask questions when they ended up at the entrance to Blue Rain rather than the sweet shop. A lack of ambition didn’t equal a lack of intelligence.
They reached Zheng Xuan’s bedroom in record time.
Troubling Rain: Yu Feng! Yu Feng Yu Feng Yu Feng Yu Feng
Troubling Rain: where are you, get over here right now
Troubling Rain: did you get lost? did you lose your brain when you left our team? where are you
Troubling Rain: zheng xuan you’re late too how could you do this to me. betrayal
Troubling Rain: @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos @BlossomingChaos
Troubling Rain: when you say you’re going to meet a person that means you meet a person. what do you have to say for yourself. stand up and fight
[Troubling Rain has been removed from the chat by Swoksaar]
Swoksaar: We’ll discuss tomorrow. Have a pleasant evening Captain Yu
Blossoming Chaos: you too captain yu
The sun wasn’t yet up when Zheng Xuan’s very pleasant dream was interrupted by a frantic pounding at his door. He rubbed his eyes and reluctantly got out of bed to put on a robe.
When he opened the door, it was to the sight of a raging Huang Shaotian, still in his pajamas with his hair mused in every direction. The pajamas were patterned with cartoon images of Troubling Rain and Swoksaar. Zheng Xuan bit his lip, wishing for his phone to take a few good blackmail pictures.
“A table for four means four people, Zheng Xuan. Four people, it’s not hard. One, two, three, four! Not two. Can you count?”
“I didn’t send that message. Did you forget how to read? It was Yu Feng.”
“Don’t play dirty with me, Zheng Xuan. I’m the sneaky player on this team. I know you two are scheming. Dirty tricks!”
“There was nothing dirty about it. Don’t you know the saying about dual core teamwork? One plus one is more than two.”
“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! There were candles on the table. The waitress said we were a nice couple! I had to spend the whole night with the captain.”
“The whole night?” Yu Feng popped up behind Zheng Xuan’s shoulder.
“That’s none of your business!” After a second, Huang Shaotian choked, his eyes going wide. “Wait, you! What are you— You’re here? It’s the morning why are you still…Why are you— Wait, it worked?” He slapped a hand over his mouth, but Zheng Xuan could still make out a muffled, “It worked, it worked, I can’t believe it worked,” as he sprinted away.
“That was fun.” Zheng Xuan closed the door with his hip and the lingering trash talk faded into muffled indignation.
A warm breath ghosted in his ear. “Should we tell him?”
“That we never broke up? The captain will have it figured out by breakfast, if he hasn’t already.” Zheng Xuan groaned. “I’m a dead man.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Yu Feng’s laughter ticked his ear. “Did you see the massive hickey under Huang Shao’s collar? Forget extra training, you’re going to get an all-expenses-paid vacation to anywhere you want.”
Zheng Xuan turned around and buried his head in Yu Feng’s shoulder. “The only place I want to be is back in bed.”
If Yu Feng was late for the friendly team match later that day, no one said a word. They were too busy gossiping about how Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian never showed up at all.