Archive of Our Own

Xie Lian had very few pleasures in life.

His friends, his pet ball python, and the special free afternoons when he could afford the time to put on his headset and play a game, just like old times. He almost missed the days when he could spend hours playing long into the night, speaking to a video camera as though it could listen. The hours he spent editing and cutting the clips were as liberating as they were arduous.

Yet, like most good things, it all eventually came to an end.

With college on the front burner of priorities and his strict father breathing down his neck, Xie Lian rarely even had a second to breathe let alone relax and unwind with a video game. Forget making videos entirely, which was something that Xie Lian did have a difficult time letting go of.
Student loan debt also piled up, and so work also became a priority. Juggling the two became a nigh impossible task, and the fact that class got canceled today at all was a blessing.

Clearing the heap of clothes off of his computer chair and pulling it over to his desk, Xie Lian let out a soft breath before booting up his PC. The poor old thing had been running on fumes the last couple of years, and he barely had enough to afford a new one. Hopefully the frame rate required alone for his favorite game wouldn’t break the whole thing, so he could only utter a small prayer as the computer remained on the black loading screen for what felt like an eternity.

His roommates were absent, so luckily the apartment was quiet and peaceful. Just the kind of atmosphere Xie Lian loved when it came to gaming. Nestling into the chair and feeling the familiar ache of the ill-supporting cushion while his computer finally displayed his wallpaper, it was finally time for him to relax and-

BANG!

Xie Lian froze, peeking over the top of his chair at his bedroom door. ‘Was it Feng Xin and Mu Qing?’ He wondered silently to himself, guessing they may have gotten into another fight. The last time they fought was just that morning over the brand of coffee creamer that Feng Xin picked up not being the right kind, so it wasn’t too farfetched to guess.

BANG BANG BANG!

Blinking owlishly, Xie Lian stood up from his chair then, now curious as to what or who could possibly be making that noise. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both had keys, and it wasn’t like they really had any other visitors. Slipping on his glasses, Xie Lian exited his bedroom.

Well, it seems like he should check it out. Just to be safe.

The banging continued as Xie Lian made his way to the door, in fact it grew faster and louder the closer he came.

BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG!

It sounded like a jackhammer was bashing away at his door by the time he twisted the knob, opening it to find out just what the hell was going on.

“Hel-”

“WELL IF IT ISN’T MY SHIT-FOR-BRAINS COUSIN! FINALLY YOU OPENED THE DAMN DOOR!” A raucous voice shouted, and immediately Xie Lian could feel a headache come on.

Of course, of all times when his classes were canceled…

“Why are you here, Qi Rong?”

The aforementioned menace stood proudly before his door, and Xie Lian suppressed the urge to slam it in his face. He had to be somewhat courteous and allow the boy inside, guessing that he had been dropped off and was now subsequently stuck at the apartment. Qi Rong was the one who got into the accident and had his license revoked, but now Xie Lian felt like the punishment was his, instead.
Qi Rong strode past him, wasting no time in slumping on the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table, which made Xie Lian grimace as he was still wearing his shoes. If Mu Qing saw this, he’d probably have a heart attack.

“Why am I here? You promised Mom that I could come over today! Or did you forget?” Qi Rong bitterly responded, picking up a magazine that Feng Xin had left on the couch cushion, flipping through it idly. The memory floated into Xie Lian’s mind as he suddenly became aware of his Mother’s words during their last phone conversation. He had been so tired that he was just agreeing to everything she said during her ten hour long speech, he didn’t even think about what she had actually said!

Drawing his hand over his face, Xie Lian let out a groan at his own past self. Really, his luck could hardly ever get any worse. The one day that he had free to do nothing, and now he had no one but himself to blame.

“Well, I am busy today, so if you wouldn’t mind-”

“Busy? HAH! Nice try cousin, but I already know your classes got canceled today, and you’re all caught up with homework because Dad would kill you if you weren’t!” Qi Rong barked, making Xie Lian freeze in his attempt to escape to his bedroom. The younger teen then stood up, darting down the hall. Although Xie Lian swiped for his shoulder, it was too late as Qi Rong had already disappeared into his bedroom.

“WOAH! LOOK AT THIS DINOSAUR!” Qi Rong shouted, and Xie Lian could only rub the space in between his eyebrows as his irritation grew. Turning the corner, he could only watch as his cousin slapped the protruding back of his poor computer. “This thing has to be at least as old as me! You haven’t bought a new computer yet!? This is just sad!” He shouted, his laughter echoing within the small room. He was about to hit it once more, but his hand was caught before he could even try it again.

“Could you please take your shoes off first before entering my room?” Xie Lian asked in a sickly sweet voice, his eyebrows twitching as he tried to mask the rage he felt bubbling up.

Qi Rong groaned and kicked his feet, letting his shoes fly off into the corner of the room and onto the laundry pile that Xie Lian had just removed from his chair. The elder felt centimeters away from snapping, but he swallowed it down for the sake of his own sanity as he knew from plenty of experience that yelling at Qi Rong would only make matters much worse. So, swallowing what little pride he had, Xie Lian walked out of the room and to the small kitchenette to brew himself a cup of tea.

It only made sense, given his recent track record of luck that his one free day was just a rug to be pulled from under him. Even his frantic rush home from work once he got the email now felt completely useless. He was burrowed deep in his thoughts as he let the water boil, staring blankly at the kettle.

It wasn't until he heard a shout that Xie Lian was pulled from his thoughts, and Qi Rong was now no longer in his room but instead by the television in the living room. “You still have this fucking game!?” He yelled, picking up the cartridge of Mario Party for Xie Lian’s beat up Nintendo 64. Glancing over, Xie Lian took a second to compute how exactly Qi Rong had just miraculously managed to find the game that Xie Lian had been looking for for the last several weeks.

Someone or something was just out to get him, he surmised miserably as he poured the boiled water into a mug, putting the tea bag inside. “Yeah, I do.” He muttered, and there was a moment of surprising silence, which caught his attention more than Qi Rong’s loud noises and wails ever could.
His cousin was staring at the cartridge, eyes fixed on the label, and Xie Lian had half the mind to call out to him, but he stopped himself when he noticed Qi Rong walking over to put the cartridge into the console.

The retro start up made Xie Lian feel the warm and fuzzy sensation of nostalgia, and he didn’t even realize that his feet had carried him over the couch, which he was now sitting down on right beside Qi Rong. His cousin was looking at him with a smug expression as he handed over the controller, mischief in his eyes. “Ready to get your ass kicked?” He sneered, and Xie Lian took it with a small smile.

Well, even if the situation wasn’t exactly ideal, he was still doing what he planned to do. It could be worse.

Xie Lian grinned. “Bring it on.”

Hours passed as the two played, and Qi Rong was thoroughly convinced that the bots they played against were cheating somehow.

Like that made sense.

Still, this all made Xie Lian so very nostalgic, reminding him of the simpler time that he had just been dreaming about. For Qi Rong to actually sit still and play a game with him was an astonishing rarity, let alone for as long as they have been playing. It had been years since the pair even managed to get along for an evening, let alone be able to actually play a game together.

His cousin still tried to swipe the controller out of his hand or distract him during minigames purposely so that he would mess up, but the fact that that was the worst of it was a blessing that Xie Lian was willing to accept.

Xie Lian didn’t even realize how late it had gotten until he heard a key being used on the door, the sound catching his attention immediately. His roommates must be just getting home, he figured as he paused the game. It produced a rather loud complaint from Qi Rong, but he was already practiced with ignoring him and instead went to open the door to let them in.

“Hey, there’s a van waiting outside, is that yours?” Feng Xin asked, pointing behind him with his thumb. Glancing over his shoulder, Xie Lian noticed that it was in fact his mother’s van, and he smiled a little.

“It is. Here, let me put your stuff down.” He took the bags from Mu Qing’s hands and sat them on the counter before turning to Qi Rong, who was glaring daggers at the two who just walked in. “Qi Rong, Mom’s here to pick you up.” He announced, and the aforementioned teen groaned as he stood up and headed into Xie Lian’s room to grab his shoes.
When Xie Lian turned, he was met with Feng Xin and Mu Qing grilling him with hard stares. “What?” He sweated, taking the contents out of the bags that they brought.

“Did you lose a bet again, or something?” Feng Xin asked.

“Why is he here?” Mu Qing questioned.

Xie Lian could only raise his hands in surrender as he laughed softly. “Quiet down, you two. I’ll explain later.”

Qi Rong emerged from the bedroom looking a bit sour, but his expression quickly changed as he stuck out his tongue at them. “Later, Losers!” He shouted before running out the door, slamming it behind him. Xie Lian let out a breathy sigh after the door was shut, sinking back onto the counter.

“So?” Feng Xin said expectantly, which made Xie Lian tense.

“Look, my mom called last night, and apparently I agreed to having Qi Rong over without thinking about it.” Xie Lian explained, scratching at his cheek awkwardly. “I know, it sounds stupid, but that’s really what-”

“After what he did to our apartment last time he was here?” Mu Qing snapped, the mere memory causing rage to bubble up to the point it was visible. “I was vacuuming up plant dirt for a fucking WEEK!”

Xie Lian raised his hands again, hoping to at least calm some of Mu Qing’s anger. “Alright alright, I understand. He didn’t do anything this time, we just played some games. That’s all.” He tried to defend, which only earned him a rolling of the other’s eyes.

Feng Xin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, before he seemed to remember something and his expression sparked. “Oh, I just remembered. Xie Lian, Shi Qingxuan and her girlfriend invited us out for bubble tea tonight. Wanna come?”

Xie Lian’s expression brightened and he nodded with sparkling enthusiasm. “Really? At this hour? I’d love to!” He grinned, before pausing. “Let me just throw on a sweater, I bet it’s colder out now.” Hurrying into his room, Xie Lian threw on a cream colored cardigan over his t-shirt and then left to rejoin his friends again. Mu Qing still seemed miffed about the whole thing with Qi Rong, but at least he wasn’t complaining about it.

That was the most Xie Lian could ask for.

Feng Xin had already turned the TV and the Nintendo 64 off, his keys in hand as he gestured towards the door. “Everyone ready?” He asked, and with a resounding ‘yes’ they headed out.

The automated doorbell chimed as the three men entered, eyes already scanning the place in the search of-

Oh, there they are.

Shi Qingxuan had lifted herself out of her seat, waving enthusiastically at them. Her style of dress was the complete opposite of her counterpart, in a way that was almost amusing to look at. She wore a pastel pink beret that was decorated with a white lace bow, her auburn hair delicately curled in a way that it looked like it had been gently windblown into place. She wore a pink pastel retro gaming shirt, the anime character on it drawn in that familiar cutesy style that Xie Lian had seen around on the internet. A pastel purple skirt with suspenders and heels of a matching color completed the look, and Xie Lian also couldn’t help but notice that both of her wrists were holding a ton of the little pastel plastic star bracelets, which clinked noisily as she waved.

Sitting across from her was He Xuan, who was looking every bit out of place from her girlfriend as she usually did. Her jet black hair was long and straight, with aviator sunglasses resting on top of her head with the arms gently sweeping her hair away from her face. Her black leather jacket rested on her shoulders with empty sleeves, and her shirt was black and had ‘GAME OVER’ written on it in glitched-out letters. It was worth noting that she also wore a spiked choker that had chains hanging from it, the centered link holding a charm that looked like a fish skeleton. The black distressed jeans and fishnets underneath only added to it, though it was a cute touch Xie Lian noticed that her black boots did have some pastel pink decorations on them.

“Hey you guys! It’s about time you showed up!” Shi Qingxuan shouted excitedly, to which she got a rather pointed stare from one of the tired shop employees. Xie Lian sat down at their table with a smile, followed by Mu Qing as Feng Xin handled the drink orders. He already had all of their orders memorized by heart, and they often left it up to him to do the ordering.

Xie Lian was practically glowing now that he got to be around his best friends again, his eyes creasing into crescent shapes. “How are you doing today, Shi Qingxuan?” He asked heartily.

The other laughed, clapping her hands together. “Great! My viewers really enjoyed the last game I played, and now I just found out that the producers made a sequel!”

“Qingxuan, the game has been out for two years now.” He Xuan piped up, popping her lips after touching up her black lipstick from where the straw wore it off.

“Yeah, well, it’s new to me!”

“Viewers?” Xie Lian tilted his head. He didn’t recall Shi Qingxuan mentioning anything about this before. “Do you make gaming videos, or something?”

At his question, Shi Qingxuan responded with a wiggly hand gesture. “Eh, well. Sort of. I stream! People like to sit around and watch me play games sometimes, and so they join me whenever they feel like it. I do have a youtube side gig going on with all of the highlights, but my main thing is streaming.”

Xie Lian’s eyes sparkled with interest just as Feng Xin returned to the table, setting down and handing out the tea to his two roommates. Mu Qing took his and sipped it without even looking, his face screwing up at the taste as he retracted. “The fuck is this? Strawberry?” He cursed, staring at the cup as though it offended him. Feng Xin stared at him for a long moment before sighing.

“Fine, I’ll take it back. My mistake.”

“No, fuck off.”

Mu Qing continued sipping at the tea with furrowed brows, though Feng Xin seemed to smirk to himself. How typical. Even when he got the right kind, Mu Qing still acted like he hated it to save himself the embarrassment of admitting that strawberry was his favorite flavor. That was just the kind of person Mu Qing was, Xie Lian noted.

He laughed at his roommates’ bickering, knowing that he couldn’t escape it even when they were in public. Turning his attention back to Shi Qingxuan, he was still rather intrigued about the whole idea of streaming, so to say that she had his complete attention was an understatement. “So this streaming thing… What kind of games do you play?”

Shi Qingxuan hummed in response, tapping her cheek. “Honestly, it depends. Viewers will generally watch me no matter what game I play, but there are some that they aren’t as interested in. Single player games are good if you want people to chill and experience the story with you, and MOBAs are only if you feel like being competitive because people will critique you in the comments.”

Xie Lian blinked.

“MOBAs?”

Shi Qingxuan blanked at that. “Mobile Online Battle Arenas? It's a type of game style! Jeez Xie Lian, I almost can’t believe you used to be a Gaming Youtuber back in the day! How did you not know that?”

Xie Lian laughed awkwardly, scratching at his cheek. “It’s been a really long time since I used to make videos, have mercy on me.”

“You used to be a gaming youtuber?” He Xuan asked, causing the rest of the table to finally start engaging in their conversation.

“Yeah, a pretty popular one at that.” Feng Xin chimed in, speaking up for Xie Lian.

“Too bad his popularity took a nasty hit.” Mu Qing snidely added, which made Feng Xin glare at him.

Shi Qingxuan blinked. “Huh? I thought it just declined because of lack of posting?” She leaned in, now curious about the story. Xie Lian didn’t exactly want to tell it, but now he was backed into a corner.

“Well, it's not that interesting. My channel had started to get really big, big enough that sponsors were starting to take notice. I was asked to endorse a game, and it seemed interesting enough so I played the demo and talked about it.” Xie Lian then sighed, fiddling with his cup of bubble tea.

“Well, apparently by the time the game was supposed to be released, it turned out to be a scam. They took the money of everyone who pre-ordered it and ran away, never answering any questions about it and just disappearing off the internet entirely. Of course, the people who paid all of that money wanted answers, so they came to me. Even though I said that I had no part in it and had no idea that would happen, they still wanted someone to blame. So they boycotted my channel, made videos against me… It was just one mess after another.”

Shi Qingxuan looked at him with a saddened expression, but Xie Lian simply sipped his drink, enjoying the gentle floral flavor of the rose tea.

“Xie Lian, that’s awful…”

He shrugged. “It’s been long enough now that everyone has pretty much forgotten who I am, so it doesn’t bother me much anymore.” Lifting the cup, he only played with the straw idly. “Though I do miss it.”

Shi Qingxuan thought it over, before her eyes lit up with an idea. “Why don’t you try streaming? If everyone has forgotten you by now, maybe a change in platform might help!” She cheered, and Xie Lian considered it. Now that was a possibility, but then he remembered his poor excuse of a PC and how it could barely run a game, let alone all of the applications required.

“I would try, but I just don’t think my setup would be able to handle it all.”

He Xuan blinked, before leaning over to reach into her bag. “I can help with that.” She spoke up, pulling a sleek black laptop from it. “I was planning on junking the thing, but it still works. You might be able to use it, the camera quality is decent and the graphics card needs an update, but it should be functionable overall.”

Xie Lian’s eyes glittered as he picked the laptop up, before bowing his head to her in thanks. “I really appreciate it, thank you.” He was quick to set the laptop aside as He Xuan waved it away, shifting to take out her phone and start texting.

“So this is the site I used, and here are all the set up tools you need…” Shi Qingxuan began, chattering excitedly about it. Well, for his first stream it wouldn’t be bad to try. It’s not like he was trying to be professional or anything, and it wasn’t like he really had the time to do a lot of it, either. The laptop He Xuan gave him would be more than sufficient, even if it was on the cheaper side of gaming laptops.

Shi Qingxuan already had him well on his way to start, now it was just the matter of actually finding the time to do it.

Well, no time like the present, he supposed.

Feng Xin was the one to pop in next, speaking up at last. “New laptop, Xie Lian? Does that mean you can finally join our team?” He asked, eyes betraying his excitement. It seems like he wanted to have Xie Lian along for a while, but he knew money was tight. Luckily enough, things had just changed.

“I guess so.” Xie Lian responded with a smile. “Who’s all in the team again? I know it was you and Mu Qing-”

“Feng Xin, Lang Qianqiu, and I.” Mu Qing cut him off, finishing his strawberry tea to the point that nothing was left. “Quan Yizhen used to play with us, but he has taken a break because he’s got exams. There is also Pei Ming and Xuan Ji, but they’ve been fighting off and on again so we kicked them out until they can get their shit together.”

Xie Lian’s lips formed a small ‘o’ shape as he listened, nodding attentively. “Well, if everything seems to work fine, then sure! I’d love to!”

Feng Xin grinned, crossing his arms and nodding with approval. “Great, glad to have you aboard.”

Feng Xin and Mu Qing, admittedly, did not seem like the type of guys who’d be interested in video games. Feng Xin was a typical jock type, with his red jacket and plain white t-shirt, his hair long and pulled up into a small bun on top, the bottom a shaved undercut. Mu Qing, on the other hand, had a darker ‘punk’ like aesthetic that suited dark colors and chains. His own hair was longer than Feng Xin’s, the dyed silver locks pulled into a high ponytail. His dark brown roots were starting to show however, threading through the silver strands. The fact that they were both more intense about gaming than him had thrown many for a loop, to the point that it was almost ironic considering Xie Lian’s history as a gaming content creator.

The friends chatted for a while about this and that, before eventually they all made their way home.

“By the way, Xie Lian.” Feng Xin called, catching the boy’s attention. “Do you want to get rid of that old computer of yours now that you have that new one? It’ll take me just a second.”

He smiled, pulling his USB stick from the tower of his old PC. “Sure, if you wouldn’t mind. I already have all of the files backed up.” He said, and stood aside as Feng Xin picked up the massive monitor, lugging the heavy thing out of his room. He shortly returned for the tower, making sure all of the wires were unplugged and cleaned up.

When Feng Xin returned to the kitchen, Xie Lian thanked him with a smile and handed him a small bag of chips. “What are you going to do now?” He asked, peeking over his shoulder down the hall to see if Mu Qing was in sight.

“Probably going to do some studying, I have an exam coming up and Mu Qing will slaughter me if I fail this one.” Feng Xin laughed, taking the chip bag with a smile. Xie Lian nodded, offering a little salute. He knew that Mu Qing was hounding Feng Xin about his grades, so he wished him luck as the two retired to their respective rooms.

Checking the time, Xie Lian let out a little sigh. It was hardly late, in fact it was still a decent time to spare a few hours. Well, what better way to spend those hours than breaking in his new gift?

It took a half an hour to set up the laptop, much to Xie Lian’s displeasure. It was in decent condition, but the amount of applications installed slowed it to a crawl. Most of the time was taken by Xie Lian factory resetting it and cleaning the internal files so there were no viruses. Not that there really was anything, but it didn’t hurt to check.
Once the computer had been swept clean and personalized to Xie Lian’s liking, he began installing Steam and the programs that Shi Qingxuan recommended. The installs took some time, so Xie Lian put on some music to zone out while he waited.

If he had his way, he would have gone into making gaming content full time. College was fine and he didn’t hate it, but he would have rather went into a major he actually wished to pursue. Engineering was hardly something that fascinated him, but his father pushed it on him so he could get a ‘real job.’ History interested him far more, and he began to sorrowfully miss the electives he was able to squeeze in pertaining to such a topic. His thoughts were swiftly swatted away by the pinging noise on the laptop, which he turned his attention to.

Seemed like everything was ready and in order. The closer Xie Lian got to starting, the more giddy he got. Now that everything was downloaded and ready to go, all he had to do was start the stream.

Taking a breath and moving the mini usb mouse toward the button, Xie Lian started the stream.

The sound of a shower running filled the expansive penthouse apartment, the sound echoing off of the walls. The bathroom was open and lavish, with fine tile and a decorative marble sink. The door was wide open, which allowed an adventurous little black cat to come and go as he pleased, munching on the food that sat inside of a silver bowl. His black spiked collar had a silver tag in the shape of a butterfly that clinked against the bowl as he ate. Then, with a cheerful flick of his tail, the cat padded away.

A chime from a nearby smartphone alerted the shower’s current occupant, who slid aside the glass door and stepped out, wiping his hand dry on a nearby crimson red towel and reaching for the object.

”My girlfriend managed to talk him into it, he’s streaming tonight. I had to pretend I didn’t know about his old channel to get them to talk about it. I don’t know when exactly he’ll start, but from what he is telling Qingxuan, I’m guessing it will be about 8 o’ clock. Just don’t forget your side of the deal.” - He Xuan

The man smirked to himself, tapping his bottom lip with the upper edge of his phone. This was perfect, he’d been waiting for the opportunity to finally see him back in action once more.

Now, it has finally come.

”I know, dinner’s on me. Shi Qingxuan can come if she likes as well.” - Hua Cheng He wrote back with haste, before walking into his bedroom with hastened steps. He tried to be graceful, but the little bastard that was his cat weaved in between his legs. It was lucky that he was able to get around without tripping, but that didn’t stop him from getting pissed off at the creature. “Do you want to die?” He threatened half-heartedly, pulling out a simple shirt and sweats from his closet and throwing it on with a haphazard attitude. He hardly had any interest in any matter that was not what was on his mind at that current moment, and he quickly booted up his PC. As he waited for everything to load, he began braiding his hair loosely, securing it with a red elastic.

He Xuan had conveniently sent Xie Lian’s new username and a link to his profile, which made Hua Cheng smile. TaiziDianxia, hm? It suited him. All of the memes that made fun of him called him pretentious and stuck up, so the fact that he embraced it and called himself such a name was a pleasing amount of sass that he expected from Xie Lian.
E’ming hopped up into his lap the second he sat down, the cuddly cat curling up into a little ball. Hua Cheng gave the cat two small pats before he noticed that the stream had already started.

Joining in, his eyes widened when he saw the state of it. The set up was crude, but functioning. Seems like He Xuan’s laptop was decent enough, but not perfect. Glancing at the viewer count, he noticed that he was the only one that joined so far.

“Hello, CrimsonRain! So nice of you to join!”

Hua Cheng froze the second he heard that voice, staring intently at the screen. His heart was beating faster than it was before. After all of this time, it was him. Hua Cheng almost couldn’t believe it.

As a kid in the foster system, there was little that really ever made him happy. Bouncing from home to home, guardian to guardian, it all was a larger pain in the ass than it had to be. It wasn’t until he went to school that he was given a small laptop, and that thing became his saving grace.
It was only pure chance that he stumbled across Xie Lian’s channel, but he was forever glad he did. Every day he would watch the new uploads religiously. Some he would even rewatch every now and then. Even after the incident that had everyone shun the creator, Hua Cheng was still adamantly supportive of him and vocally expressed it often.

Now, seeing him playing games again just like old times, but this time in a way that he could finally interact with him made Hua Cheng’s whole year.

Maybe even his whole lifetime.

CrimsonRain: “Hello to you too. So, what are you playing today?”

His cheek was resting on his palm the entire time as he watched, listening to Xie Lian talk excitedly about the game he was playing and how that it was his favorite. Of course, he already knew that already. It was the same game he made a whole playlist series on back on his old channel, and just being able to watch it like this was a blessing. The game was an indie horror, the kind that he knew Xie Lian loved despite being absolutely terrified of the jumpscares. It was cute, in all honesty.

It was an hour into the stream when someone else joined, and already Hua Cheng was on the chat like a hawk.

“Bro, your camera quality sucks ass.”

Reading the message, Xie Lian laughed weakly as his attention was pulled from the game. “I know it’s not the most state of the art equipment, but sometimes we just have to make do, right?”

Hua Cheng’s fingers twitched on the keyboard, just waiting for the next disrespectful comment to pop up. Luckily, the chat went quiet for a little while and he relaxed into his chair. The game resumed and Hua Cheng typed little praises for things he did well, even pointing out little secrets that he managed to remember from his time watching the videos of this game over and over.

The stream stretched on for a couple more hours, many viewers coming and going. No one had dared say anything rude again after Hua Cheng verbally decimated the last guy who dared, and so far there were no other real disturbances.

Then, Hua Cheng got an idea.

Next thing he knew, Xie Lian let out a rather uncharacteristic screech, which he quickly covered his mouth afterwards. It was cute, honestly, seeing him get so flustered. He could only stare at his face as it went through a cycle of emotions.

“C-CrimsonRain, did you-” Xie Lian stammered, staring at his screen. He was close enough that Hua Cheng could see the reflections of his screen inside of those honey colored eyes, and the man could only let out a dreamy sigh.

“Did-Did you mean to put that many-… That many zeros…? T-There must have been a mistake, you couldn’t possibly have intended to send me that much-!”

Hua Cheng, while smirking, began to type once more.

CrimsonRain: “There is no mistake. Every single cent is for Gege to do with as he pleases.”

Xie Lian choked, and the man behind the screen name laughed out loud. Hua Cheng truly enjoyed being able to spoil him like this, to be able to repay him for all of the times that he saved his life in the past.

It was the least he could do.

Xie Lian closed the stream, flustered and grateful. Truly grateful, as Hua Cheng had definitely lost count of how many times the other said the words ‘thank you’ in a row. Which was quite telling, since he was always able to keep track of everything that Xie Lian had ever said.
Removing E’ming from his lap, Hua Cheng flopped onto his bed with a full heart. That went even better than he thought, and he was eager to pick up his phone.

“I’m in a good mood, so let’s make it two dinners and a shopping trip for Shi Qingxuan. Oh, and I’ll buy you both the latest season pass for that game you play together. Destiny 2, right?” - Hua Cheng

Tossing his phone to the side, Hua Cheng could hardly contain the giddiness that was swallowing him alive. Though it was hardly dignified, he rolled left and right on his bed from the sudden burst of energy that flooded his body. After that short burst, he suddenly sat up quick enough that it spooked E’ming from where he was snuggled up, causing the little one eyed cat to jump down from the bed.

An idea came to him quickly, and one that he definitely could not ignore. The same excitement jolted down his spine, and he grabbed his phone from where he tossed it, tapping on the screen at a rapid pace.

After all, there was no time like the present.

A few months passed since that stream, and after the sudden gift of more money than he could possibly ask for, Xie Lian floundered with what to do with it. His initial reaction was to donate it all to charity, but after adamant refusals from both Feng Xin and Mu Qing with many valid points regarding his need for it. So, Xie Lian relented, and began to use the gift in tiny increments. The gifts from the mysterious CrimsonRain also didn’t stop either, and before he knew it, he had a fully upgraded and custom built gaming computer sent from his one and only subscriber. It came just in time, because not even a day later, He Xuan’s laptop had pretty much been run into the ground from the extensive games that Xie Lian had forced upon it.

Over time, his setup improved in quality, both from the gifts and Xie Lian’s own purchases. He even managed to get a brand new desk, chair, and headset as well as a microphone and camera. Slowly, things were beginning to look up, and he only had CrimsonRain to thank.

Then Wednesday rolled around, and the energy could be felt throughout the entire apartment.

Wednesday were the days that they gathered to play competitively, and it was a day that he and his roommates looked forward to immensely.

That was, at least, until a resounding groan came from Feng Xin in the room across from Xie Lian’s. “Damn it, Quan Yizhen canceled on us again.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “We need five people for this game, we can’t just play with someone random.”

“Well, why not?” Xie Lian piped up, still munching on the french fries he got earlier from their lunch. “How bad could it be?”

As soon as those words left his mouth, the look that Feng Xin shot him made him mentally retract the statement. “You don’t understand, Xie Lian. This is life or death. Playing with random players could utterly destroy our KDA, do you want to risk that?”

Xie Lian blinked. He knew Feng Xin and Mu Qing played pretty competitively, but he didn’t know it was to that sort of extent. Sighing, he simply shook his head. “Well, why don’t we just do it this once? We still have four players, right? There isn’t much one player missing could really do to mess up our game.”
From the way Feng Xin grumbled, he knew that the other wanted to argue but couldn’t against his logic. Smiling to himself, Xie Lian returned his attention to the lobby screen, watching as Feng Xin and Mu Qing joined in. It was only a moment longer before Lang Qianqiu popped in and their team was now as complete as it could get.

The second Xie Lian started his stream, there was that one viewer that always popped in right away. He smiled, now very familiar with this occurrence.

“Good evening, CrimsonRain! Back again, are we?” He greeted jovially, smiling when the aforementioned viewer responded.

CrimsonRain: “Hello to you too, Gege. What are you playing today?”

Ah, the same question that CrimsonRain would always ask. Even though Xie Lian would announce it on his Twitter which he knew the other followed, he still always asked the same question as though wishing for him to talk endlessly about the game. Xie Lian smiled, sliding his headset on properly. It was rather sweet, having someone who actually liked to listen to him talk.
“We’re playing Smite today! I only recently started playing it and only played a little bit, though my friends are better at it than I am. They play really competitively and I only tend to play for fun. Today we’re actually down a man, though. I tried to reassure Feng Xin, but he didn’t seem too happy about it. I’m sure it will be okay, though!” He said cheerfully, before leaning in to read the chat text.

CrimsonRain: “Gege won’t have to worry about that.”

Xie Lian laughed softly in response, before turning his attention back to the game. When it came to team battles, he always picked the support role. Feng Xin and Mu Qing handled the offensive well with their high damage. Feng Xin preferred the assassin class, and Tsukuyomi quickly became his God of choice. Mu Qing on the other hand played a great mage and could play a vicious Ao Kuang, his damage output more than most. Lang Qianqiu usually played tanks, so when he chose Cabrakan as his character, playing support fell onto Xie Lian. He didn’t mind, his main was the perfect character to use for support in his play style, anyway.
Locking in Chang’e as the timer to choose counted down, he glanced at the chat when he had the moment to. It was rather quiet, which was honestly expected, but CrimsonRain wasn’t even saying anything.

Drumming his fingers against the wood of his desk, he smiled. “I wonder who we will play against today!” He wondered aloud, his party chat now enabled.

“Hopefully not any Nox players. After the last time, I refuse to go head to head against one.” Feng Xin grumbled through the mic.

“That’s because you kept rushing the lane, Dumbass.” Mu Qing griped back, and Xie Lian could hear the eye roll in his voice. “If you hadn’t tried to tower dive to kill her, you wouldn’t have gotten stuck.”

“You’re a jungler, Feng Xin. Shouldn’t you be focusing on the jungle instead of the lane anyway?” Lang Qianqiu piped in, and Feng Xin audibly groaned out ‘whatever.’

“Now now, let’s all try to communicate better this time.” Xie Lian spoke, his tone soft and cheerful. “If you needed help getting away, Feng Xin, you could always call me over when my ultimate is ready.”

“Who’s the random guy playing?” Mu Qing asked, and Xie Lian glanced over at the side bar.

“Hunter type, he’s playing Hou Yi it looks like.” Lang Qianqiu responded, his voice crackling over the mic.

Feng Xin sighed audibly, grumbling something about ‘kill stealers’ under his breath. “Well that’s fine, we needed more physical damage on our team. We would have been balanced if Mu Qing didn’t refuse to play a warrior.” He spoke pointedly, and that earned a sound of what seemed like Mu Qing muting his mic. From the muffled expletives coming from outside his door and from the minor feedback from Feng Xin’s mic, it seemed Mu Qing had something to say about that.

Xie Lian only laughed it off, before turning his attention to the game as they finally loaded in. He instinctively bought his items, each one conveniently set up so he knew exactly what order to buy them in.

“So, what’s the strategy this time, Feng Xin?” He asked thoughtfully, beginning to move out towards the mana camps.

Feng Xin muttered under his breath as he chose his items, before finally acknowledging Xie Lian’s question. “Huh? Oh, Mu Qing will focus on solo-ing the left lane. You and the Hou Yi can take right to ensure that he doesn’t die and fuck it up, and Lang Qianqiu will focus on middle lane. I’ll be in the jungle, but I’ll mainly focus on helping Mu Qing get the kills he needs.”

“Cabrakan in mid? Are you sure? I can take mid no sweat” Mu Qing cut in.

“I have my doubts.” Feng Xin scoffed, and they headed off to their respective spots.

“Relax guys, I got this.” Lang Qianqiu quipped back.

Xie Lian used the in-game chat to tell the Hou Yi player to follow him after he grabbed the buff, and they headed down the lane. It was only then that he realized that the player was using the skin that matched his own.

“... That’s kind of cute.”

“Huh? What is?” Lang Qianqiu asked, and Xie Lian only realized then that he had said his thoughts aloud.

“Uh- Oh, I just noticed that the Hou Yi player had the matching skin that goes with mine, that’s all. He must’ve picked it on purpose.” Xie Lian spoke sheepishly, now finding his reaction to it rather silly after saying it out loud.

“Hopefully he’s not trash.” Mu Qing grunted with the roll of his eyes evident in his tone, his thoughts clearly not on the cosmetic parts of the game.

Their opponents began coming down the lane, and Xie Lian was prepared to give them the best he got.

“Baron, left lane.” Mu Qing’s voice came up, and Feng Xin was quick to respond.

“Really? Odd choice to have solo but I guess it can be done. Should I ambush him?”

“Dunno, he’s playing cautiously and dancing around the tower. Give it a minute, I might be able to lure him out.”

Xie Lian noticed that the opponent he and the Hou Yi faced was an Izanami, and he mentally made a note to buy some wards. He felt like he blinked for a moment and the sound that echoed through the game caught his attention.

‘First Blood.’

Blinking, stupefied, he wondered who could have possibly died already.

“Lang Qianqiu, was that-” Xie Lian began to speak, before noticing that the Izanami that had faced them was gone, and her countdown was up.

Did the Hou Yi really just tower dive this early in the game? What a risk!

“Well that was fast.” Feng Xin muttered, but it seemed that the death had shaken the other team’s morale, because it was right after that Mu Qing scored that kill against the Baron Samedi.

The Hou Yi came towards Xie Lian and jumped around him, almost as though flaunting his recent kill. Thinking it was just to catch his attention to heal him, Xie Lian used his 3 to restore what little health he had lost.
A cheerful ‘thanks’ came from the in-game chat before they began to push along with the lane minions, already striking the tower.

“You guys are already pushing tower?” Feng Xin’s voice cut in, and Xie Lian confirmed it. “Alright, I’m coming over to help clear out any reinforcements they might have. Mu Qing, start pushing the left lane. Lang Qianqiu, take this time to grab some buffs if you need it.”

Lang Qianqiu replied with an affirmative while Mu Qing uttered a groan of ‘don’t tell me what to do’ before doing exactly what Feng Xin told him to.

Typical.

The Hou Yi announced that his ultimate was ready, and Xie Lian perked up. “Who do we have on us, Feng Xin?” He asked, already formulating a plan in his mind.

“Looks like it’s Izanami, Awilix and Ymir.” Feng Xin responded, looking at his map as they popped up within the range of his ward. “Baron is staying in left and is engaged with Mu Qing.”

“Good. Keep Ymir busy if you can, I have a plan.”

As though already guessing what his plan is, the Hou Yi began his ultimate the second the Izanami and Awilix came around the corner and were precisely where they wanted them, the buffer period of its start allowing Xie Lian plenty of time to catch them off guard. Using his blink stone relic, he teleported forward and launched his ultimate, stunning the two in place and chipping off a decent amount of health just as the Hou Yi’s ultimate began hammering down shot after shot.

The successful hit resulted in a double kill, and Xie Lian’s cheer was followed by a ‘holy shit’ from Feng Xin.

“What the hell is he building!? He shouldn’t be able to kill them so fast!” Mu Qing shouted, and Xie Lian tabbed the score menu open.

It seemed that Feng Xin was doing the same thing, as he soon spoke up to answer. “He’s doing a fucking early game carry build.”

“That’s good, right?” Xie Lian piped up out of curiosity.

“It is, but it’ll be annoying as shit. This means that he will be doing a lot of kill stealing.” Feng Xin groaned.

“As long as he holds his own, I could care less.” Lang Qianqiu replied, his shrug in his voice.

Well, luckily for Xie Lian, kill stealing was rarely something to be mad about. Perks of playing support, he supposed.

The game continued on, and Feng Xin grew continuously annoyed at the random player that kept stealing his kills, and with a very one-sided battle, they triumphed over the enemy team’s titan. The Hou Yi had certainly carried them, with his kills reaching the highest number out of them all. Xie Lian was just happy that the number of his healing was rather high.

“What’s this guy’s username? Maybe we should add him to the team.” Xie Lian mused, looking over the after game scoreboards.

“What, so we can get more kills stolen?” Mu Qing grumbled, but Lang Qianqiu was the one that spoke up this time.

“Hey, Xie Lian has a point. If he’s this good, it’ll save us the hassle of worrying about the next random being bad.”

Xie Lian had already sent him an invite, peeking at the username in turn.

Reading it over, his eyes went wide. “CrimsonRain!? I didn’t know he played this game!”

“CrimsonRain?” Feng Xin spoke up, his tone taking on a haunted sound, almost as though he couldn’t believe that was what Xie Lian had just said.

“Yeah!” Xie Lian replied cheerfully. “He is always watching my streams! Here, I’ll shoot him an invite-”

Mu Qing was the one to speak up next, but his voice was just as shaken as Feng Xin’s. “Xie Lian, do you know who Crimson Rain is?” When Xie Lian made a noise to confirm that he didn’t, Mu Qing continued. “He’s only one of the most famous pro gamers in the league! Did you know who made an entire elite team quit gaming entirely after just one match!?”

Xie Lian blinked, watching the icon for CrimsonRain’s profile pop up in their team list. “Really? He’s that good? He seems super nice, maybe it’ll be fun to play with him!”

There was some fiddling in the voice chat before another voice spoke up, one that was quite unfamiliar to Xie Lian.

“Hello, everyone. Good game.”

The sound made Xie Lian’s face pink up, his eyes wide and blinking. Even with the crackling feedback of their microphones, he could catch the deep and down right sultry tone of the man that was behind the name of ‘CrimsonRain.’

“Hello! You did great last game!” Xie Lian responded quickly, mentally fanning away any thoughts he had in regards to that voice of his. It proved unhelpful, as the deep chuckle that followed after his words seemed to rumble straight down the length of his spine.

The laugh was followed up with a soft intake of breath, before he spoke up again. “It was all thanks to Gege’s well timed healing. You saved my life more times than I could count.”

Xie Lian was about to respond, but Feng Xin butted in. “So, do you have a name we can call you, CrimsonRain? Or are we still going to call you by your username?” He asked, and the man hummed.

“My name is Hua Cheng, but I’d prefer it if Gege referred to me as San Lang.”

Xie Lian flushed softly at hearing ‘Gege’ out loud, only having ever read it in his messages before. “San Lang? Alright then.”

There was an awkward silence that fell between them and Feng Xin and Mu Qing, but luckily Lang Qianqiu was quick to break it. “Ready for another match?” He asked, and everyone responded affirmatively.

As they loaded in, Xie Lian asked Hua Cheng some idle questions, mainly about his in-game main and the builds he liked to use, and he even offered some gentle suggestions of other characters to use that would benefit their team dynamic. Hua Cheng seemed more than willing to listen, even taking him up on his offer and mapped out builds for the characters Xie Lian listed without hesitation. When they loaded in, Xie Lian noticed that Hua Cheng was still matching him with his Hou Yi skin, and he actually blushed a little at that.

Something so silly as a matching video game skin was enough to make his heart flutter, what kind of person is he?

“Are you going to stop flirting and play, or what?” Mu Qing grumbled, causing Xie Lian to sputter and buy the wrong item on his menu. He was about to apologize to Hua Cheng, but the other simply laughed in return.

“Gege was just giving me tips on how to play better, maybe you should listen to him some time.” Hua Cheng bit back, and Xie Lian had to force himself not to laugh. He could practically hear the vein wanting to burst from Mu Qing’s forehead.

“Let’s just play, alright?” He spoke up, and eventually the bickering died down as they focused on winning the game.

With Hua Cheng’s help, their team reigned undefeated. Even in their ranked matches, the other team stood no match for them and were effectively steam rolled. It was almost unbelievable, but now knowing about Hua Cheng’s history as a pro gamer, it wasn’t that unbelievable when Xie Lian really thought about it.

After a couple of games and Lang Qianqiu signed off, Feng Xin and Mu Qing did as well. Xie Lian signed off of his stream, sticking around in the game chat for a little bit afterwards. Only a moment passed before Hua Cheng spoke up again. “Would Gege mind it if this one asked for his Discord?” He asked, his tone sounding more polite and kind than the one he had used previously during his banter with Feng Xin.

Xie Lian hummed in response, before shaking his head. “Not at all!” He read out the username and the number tag, smiling wide when he received the friend request. Adding him as a friend, he stared giddily at the name.

Hua Cheng’s smile was evident in his laugh, and his voice seemed even a little breathy as he spoke up again. “I had fun playing with you, Gege. I hope we can play together again.”

Xie Lian muttered a soft ‘I hope so too,’ before finally exiting the game. Throwing himself into his bed, he held his pillow to his face and screamed into it, letting it be muffled by the coarse fabric. To think that his one subscriber would not only join his stream to watch, but join his game and become his discord friend!? It was already a surprise enough to find out that he was a pro, but the fact that he was being so nice to him just made it all feel so much sweeter.

Wednesdays were now a day that Xie Lian began to excitedly look forward to, as well.

Qi Rong lounged on Xie Lian’s couch, his feet kicked up on the coffee table again, though this time thankfully his shoes were off. Mu Qing was home, but he practically refused to leave his room until Qi Rong was out of the building. He likely had his headphones on, considering that no amount of Qi Rong’s shouting seemed to make him exit.

Xie Lian walked over with a cup of tea, silently hoping to placate Qi Rong with Mario Party again like he did the last time he visited. “What’s been going on lately?” He asked, his smile twitching as he forced it to remain on his face.

His cousin sighed dramatically, leaning his head over the edge of the back of the couch, his green hair tumbling over the edge. Xie Lian was always silently grateful that Qi Rong dyed his hair. With the way it was before, they would always get mistaken for each other. Even though their faces looked hardly alike, an untrained eye often couldn’t decipher who was who. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He hissed, crossing his arms. “You ghosted mom for the last month or so, so stop pretending that you care.”

Ah, so it was to be one of those days.

“Qi Rong, you know that I’m very busy.” Xie Lian said softly, but Qi Rong only stamped on the coffee table in response, making it creak pathetically under the weight of his foot.

“Bullshit! I know you’ve been gaming officially again, don’t fucking lie to me, you asshole!” Qi Rong barked, along with a slew of other colorful insults that Xie Lian would rather not think about. “I could tell Dad at any second, you know! You aren’t the smart, perfect child he thinks you are! You’re just another piece of shit like the rest of us!”

Xie Lian stopped, his face immediately becoming as white as a sheet of paper. Although most of Qi Rong’s threats were usually empty as he often couldn’t back them up, this was one that he had plenty of ammunition for and Xie Lian supplied it all.

Well, that was one way to ensure that Xie Lian would never be able to play another game again in his life.

Xie Lian let out a choked up noise, and Qi Rong only gave him a smug grin as though proving his superiority over him at long last. Xie Lian lowered his head, gritting his teeth for a moment as he tried to remain calm. “What do you want?”

“What?” Qi Rong asked in response with a lilt to his tone, knowing what Xie Lian meant but wanting to hear him say it anyway.

“What… What do I have to do to make you keep this between us?” Xie Lian reiterated, screwing his eyes shut.

“OH THIS IS GREAT!” Qi Rong shouted, shooting up onto his feet. “PERFECT SHINING STAR COUSIN IS ACTUALLY GOING TO SUCH LENGTHS TO TRY AND BRIBE ME! ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!” His voice was as loud and cacophonous as ever, but this time it only served to deepen Xie Lian’s humiliation.

Xie Lian’s voice wavered as he spoke up again, unsure if he was doing the right thing. “Just say something! Anything!” He spat out, his patience growing thin.

Qi Rong’s raving died down, and he stared at Xie Lian for a moment before he hummed rather loudly, thinking on it for an exaggerated amount of time. “Let’s see… How about, you let me play with you in your next streams! Oh, and you tell your entire audience that I’m better than you in every way!” He shouted, laughing maniacally.

Xie Lian’s face contorted to show his reluctance, but it was all a ruse. Qi Rong wanted that reaction, but he didn’t know that Xie Lian only had one subscriber and wasn’t as massively popular as the other must’ve thought he was.

Not to mention, that one subscriber was now a part of his team.

“I can try, but our team is full-”

“I don’t give a shit! Kick someone out!” Qi Rong stomped his foot, his arms crossing. “It’s either that, or give up on it all together!”

Xie Lian sighed heavily, knowing he had no choice but to relent. “Fine, alright.” He huffed, rubbing the space between his eyebrows. Qi Rong grinned, seemingly satisfied with that response. When the door to the apartment opened however, any ounce of smugness completely melted away from his expression.

When Xie Lian turned, he saw Feng Xin and Lang Qianqiu walking in, the latter’s arms full with grocery bags. It didn’t take long for the sour look on Qi Rong’s face to be mirrored by him, and he who had been previously laughing at something Feng Xin said was suddenly stone cold silent.
The tension was thick enough that Xie Lian swore it could be cut, and there was only a brief moment before Qi Rong groaned. “This is fucking lame. I’m going home.”

His cousin put his shoes on and walked out the door, and as if broken from a trance, Lang Qianqiu turned to resume putting groceries away.

“Lang Qianqiu happened to be at the store while I was there, he offered to help me take the bags home since I didn’t take the car.” Feng Xin explained, as though reading Xie Lian’s mind from the look on his face alone. “I didn’t know Qi Rong was over, I would’ve-”

“Don’t worry about it, Feng Xin.” Lang Qianqiu cut him off, seeming to not want to dwell on it longer than necessary. Feng Xin seemed to get the memo and nodded towards the younger male. He said his farewells and closed the door behind Lang Qianqiu after he left, before letting out a sigh.

Xie Lian blinked, still seeming to be awfully lost after that whole situation. “What was that all about?” He wondered aloud, half hoping that Feng Xin would know and answer him.

Feng Xin sighed and only shook his head, which caused more concern to bubble up than previously. “It’s not really my place to say anything on the matter, but just so you’re aware, Lang Qianqiu and Qi Rong have a… A history.” That was really all he had to say about it, and Xie Lian couldn’t even pry any more before Feng Xin retreated to Mu Qing’s bedroom, likely to have another one of their study sessions.

Well, the mood in the whole apartment just went from bad to worse. How could he possibly convince them to let Qi Rong play with them now?

Xie Lian trudged back to his own room, slumping onto his bed and huffing softly to himself. His thoughts were so tangled that he didn’t even realize that he had dozed off, waking only two hours later.
It was the sound of some things being nudged around in the tank beside his bed that roused him from his sleep, Xie Lian noticing his white snake nosing her way against the covering of its enclosure, seeming as though she wished to comfort him. Laughing softly, Xie Lian lifted the lid carefully and took the python into his hands, letting the large snake curl around his arm in the way she liked. Although Xie Lian was broke, Ruoye was always treated the best a snake could possibly be. With the highest grade of heat lamps, foods, and things to climb around, there was no lying about the fact that Xie Lian loved his snake.

“Oh Ruoye, what am I to do?” He asked softly as Ruoye flicked her tongue, slithering slowly up his arm to wrap herself lazily over his shoulders. It made Xie Lian laugh softly when Ruoye turned into a little scaly scarf like this, mainly because it reminded him of the time where he accidentally walked into the nearby convenience store with her still around his neck and scared the shit out of more than a few occupants. Her little forked tongue flicked out here and there, but she seemed more than happy to remain in place where she laid.
Rubbing delicately at the top of her smooth head, Xie Lian turned his attention to his phone which had previously been abandoned on his bed.

Opening Discord, his face heated up as he shot a message CrimsonRain-

Or, rather, San lang.

“It’s been a while since we played together, are you able to play this wednesday?” 6:35 PM

Expecting not to get a response for a while, Xie Lian turned his phone off, but the notification came almost immediately.

“This San Lang would be grateful to be able to play with Gege again.” 6:35 PM

The simple message made Xie Lian feel a sudden burst of mirthful energy bloom in his chest, and his thumbs practically flew across the keyboard in his race to respond back just as quickly as the other had.

“Really? That’s great! I’ll shoot you a message when we start!” 6:36 PM

He set his phone aside and cheered to himself silently, kicking his legs. He had no explanation as to why the thought of being able to play games with Hua Cheng was so exciting, but he definitely couldn’t quell the bubbling rush of happiness that seemed to spawn in whenever the thought crossed his mind.

There was a second, however, where he remembered what had transpired previously. Qi Rong wanted to play with him now, and wasn’t about to take no for an answer. He even was willing to go as far as blackmail him with exposing his secret hobby to his father!

Xie Lian wasn’t exactly embarrassed of Qi Rong, nor did he necessarily hate playing games with him, but to think of having him play with him on the team that Feng Xin and Mu Qing had so carefully curated to keep their perfect score exactly that… Fear began to set in.

With both Feng Xin and Mu Qing currently unavailable and Lang Qianqiu was offline, there was only one other person on the team he could contact regarding his little predicament.

”One more thing, San Lang, if you don’t mind.” 6:41 PM

Once again, Hua Cheng immediately replied.

”What is it, Gege? Do you miss me so badly that you’re reaching out to me again so soon?” 6:42 PM

Xie Lian flushed, now hastily typing in return.

”Ah, nothing like that, San Lang! I just wanted to tell you that” 6:42 PM
”Well” 6:42 PM
”My cousin is wanting to play with us this coming wednesday, but he’s not exactly…” 6:42 PM
”Easy to get along with.” 6:42 PM
”I didn’t want to scare you off or anything. He can be really vulgar.” 6:43 PM

There was a brief moment where Xie Lian's eyes were fixated on the text that said Hua Cheng was typing, and not even Ruoye’s burrowing into his hair could distract him from it.

”I won’t be bothered by it, Gege has no reason to worry for this San Lang.”6:43 PM

Xie Lian let out a sigh of relief, before hurriedly texting back.

”Okay then, awesome! I’ll talk to you Wednesday!” 6:43 PM

He grinned excitedly as he set his phone aside, feeling a wave of giddiness burst through his chest. It certainly cut through the foul mood he was having before, and after taking the time to carefully unwind Ruoye from his neck, he set her gently back into her tank. “I suppose I should tell Feng Xin and Mu Qing about this whole mess, huh Ruoye?” He huffed, almost not wanting to deal with it at all. Still, there were worse things in the world.

He opened his bedroom door and headed to the kitchen, rehearsing what he was going to say in his head over and over. He knew that his roommates were studying and he didn’t want to bother them, but he had to tell them about it sooner or later.

Conveniently, it seems that the stars aligned just right for him because Feng Xin was already in the kitchen, shirtless and downing a bottle of water.

“Hey, Feng Xin. Can I ask you something?” Xie Lian spoke up, which seemed to startle the other, causing him to choke on the water he was drinking.

Feng Xin coughed a couple of times, before looking at Xie Lian. “Fuck, what is it?” He asked, still coughing out any water that may have gotten stuck.

Xie Lian raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, shaking them quickly. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you! I just… Well, I need to tell you something.”

Feng Xin paused, his posture straightening as he gestured for Xie Lian to continue, tossing the empty water bottle into the trash.

“Well you see, I got myself into a predicament. When Qi Rong came over today, he told me that he found out about my whole streaming gig, and now he’s threatening to tell my father about it unless he gets to play with us on Wednesdays.” Xie Lian’s words spilled out faster and faster the longer he spoke, his fingers fiddling together anxiously. “You know how my father is, if-if he finds out-”

Feng Xin cut off Xie Lian with the sound of his hand slapping his forehead. “Damn it…” He grumbled, running his hand down his face while dragging on his skin. “I guess he can, but that fucks up our entire team dynamic.”

Xie Lian blanched, he knew how important it all was to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, to be the one to destroy it because of his own bad luck was truly a bite in the ass. “I know, I know and I’m sorry.”

Feng Xin then glanced back at him, before shaking his head. “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now other than to work around it. I’ll talk to Mu Qing and Lang Qianqiu, see what they want to do about the whole matter. How about you go see Shi Qingxuan or something? You had a long day and I can even tell you're stressed.”

Xie Lian sighed in defeat, nodding to what Feng Xin said. “Yeah, I’ll give her a call… By the way Feng Xin, are you taking a shower? If you need to, I have some soaps in the closet you can use, I hardly touch them.” He spoke up, gesturing to his lack of clothing.

Feng Xin stared at him for a moment, almost as if he wasn’t understanding why Xie Lian would bring up such a thing, before his face cleared as though suddenly remembering something and he cleared his throat. “Huh- Oh, yeah, I am taking a shower. Uh. Thanks.” He stammered awkwardly, his face pinking.

It may have been a rather odd reaction, but his roommates were always sort of weird about things so Xie Lian just smiled in return. “You’re welcome. Well, I’ll be off then! I’ll text you when I get back!” He ran to grab his phone and returned to slip on his shoes, waving goodbye to Feng Xin before disappearing out the door.

Feng Xin stood in the kitchen for a few seconds, before he was once again surprised by a pair of arms wrapping around his waist.

“You’re ’taking a shower,’ huh?” Mu Qing’s voice teased, the edge to it one that made Feng Xin grumble a rather colorful expletive under his breath.

“Shut the fuck up and go back to bed. I’m not done with you.”

Xie Lian had called Shi Qingxuan while heading over to her place, and she was more than willing to have him over.

“He Xuan has her friend over though, I hope you don’t mind!” Her cheerful voice crackled over the phone’s receiver, and Xie Lian smiled. A friend of He Xuan’s? He wondered what kind of person they were.

“I don’t mind at all!” He replied earnestly, walking up the steps that lead to her apartment. “I’m right outside now.”

“Okay, I’ll let you in.” She replied, and Xie Lian hastedly climbed the many stairs to the floor where Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan resided together.
He stood outside with an anxious tap to his foot, barely waiting a minute before the door opened to reveal Shi Qingxuan’s smiling face. “Xie Lian! It's so good to see you!” She said loudly, pulling him inside and into a tight hug. Even though she knew he was coming, it was almost as if she was presenting him to the entire apartment.

Xie Lian greeted her kindly and gave her a gentle pat on the back, waiting for her to retract first before he removed his shoes and stepped inside. Her apartment was clean and well decorated, plushies of pokemon dotting the shelves on the wall and against one wall was a rather large aquarium. They were He Xuan’s fish, he recalled.

He Xuan was in the kitchen, leaning over the center island before her attention was called by the return of her girlfriend and the entrance of Xie Lian, which made her smile a bit smugly. Shi Qingxuan didn’t hesitate to run forward, throwing her arms around her. Luckily, it seemed that He Xuan was rather used to this, because she still remained standing despite being quite literally tackled. “It’s good to see you, Xie Lian.” She greeted, her mature voice echoing through the kitchen.

He smiled in return, before glancing around the apartment, seeming to be looking for someone. “Shi Qingxuan told me your friend was here, did I miss him?”

He Xuan shook her head, and Xie Lian smiled a little. “Nah, he just stepped out for a sec to take a call, he’ll be back.”

Nodding, he went to take a seat on one of the stools that was resting by the island, his chin resting in his palm.

“So, what brought you over here, hm? Did Feng Xin and Mu Qing kick you out?” Shi Qingxuan asked, giggling deviously as though there was some sort of naughty secret that Xie Lian wasn’t privy to.

He could only shake his head, before sighing and slumping down further onto the counter. “No, but there is an issue that’s been on my mind. You know how my father is super strict and doesn’t like me doing literally anything that doesn’t involve school, work or fencing lessons?” When she nodded, Xie Lian sighed and continued. “Qi Rong found out about my stream, and he says he’ll tell Dad about it if I don’t let him play with me.”

Shi Qingxuan’s jaw dropped, and she did take a second to process just what exactly he said before speaking. “That does suck.” She muttered affirmatively, her arms crossing. “So what are you going to do about it?”

Xie Lian shrugged helplessly, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I told Feng Xin and he told me that he was going to talk to Mu Qing and Lang Qianqiu about it-... What?”

He was cut off by the look on Shi Qingxuan’s face, and he could only blink twice as she leaned over the counter. “Wait wait wait-” She choked out, her hands shaking before her wildly. “You’re telling me that Lang Qianqiu is on your team? And-And now, you’re telling me that Qi Rong is trying to join?”

Xie Lian only looked at her with a helplessly lost expression, confusion clear as day on his face. “Feng Xin mentioned something about them having history, do you know about it?” He asked, and Shi Qingxuan stared at him for a moment.
Being the known gossip, there was no way that Shi Qingxuan didn’t know about it. She never really spread dirt, but for some reason, she always knew everything about everyone. Seems like she knew something about Qi Rong that Xie Lian, his own cousin, didn’t even know.

Something that had to do with Lang Qianqiu.

“Oh they have history alright.” Shi Qingxuan responded, her arms crossing. “They used to date.”

If Xie Lian was drinking anything, he was certain it would be all over the floor beside him in that very second. “What do you mean date? Lang Qianqiu used to be Qi Rong’s boyfriend? Really?” Xie Lian couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but Shi Qingxuan was hardly one to lie about things like that. In fact, she could hardly lie without her nervous laughter getting in the way. So with the fact that she said all of this with a straight face made Xie Lian not know whether to laugh or cry.

“Yeah, they had a really nasty falling out or something.” Shi Qingxuan said, her lips pressing into a slight pout. “I wish I knew the details, but that’s really all I know about it.”

Xie Lian was still lost in thought about Qi Rong’s relationship when the glass door that led out to the balcony slid open, and the fourth occupant stepped in. “That wasn’t supposed to take that long, but my agent is apparently incompetent.” He grumbled, and the sound of his voice made Xie Lian’s head shoot upright.

He recognized that voice. That deep baritone that purred so sweetly. Even if he hadn’t heard it every Wednesday for two months in a row, he felt as though it would still catch his attention. Slowly, he turned around and looked at the one who stood there, swallowing hard.

Standing in the doorway was the most breathtaking man he had ever seen. He was tall and slender, wearing a wine red button down that tucked into black skinny jeans. Xie Lian could see a hint of a charm bracelet just underneath one of his sleeves, the bracelet decorated with silver butterfly charms that clinked together when he moved his arm to close the glass door behind him.
Trailing his eyes up slowly, he noted that the man had long black hair tied into a braid that was draped over his shoulder and tied off with a red ribbon, and he also noticed that the man was wearing an eyepatch while his other uncovered eye was staring right at him.

He was staring right at him.

That realization immediately snapped Xie Lian out of his inner thoughts, his face flushing brightly as he laughed awkwardly. “H-Hello! You must be He Xuan’s friend.” He spoke, playing dumb in his anxiety. Pretending that he didn’t recognize him was possibly the worst idea he had, especially since he was a terrible liar.

The man let out a laugh at his awkward greeting, seeming to be mulling over the thought of teasing him or having mercy.
Xie Lian could only hope that it was the latter.

“I am. Though I thought I was also your friend, Gege.”

Xie Lian nearly choked at hearing it out loud in front of him and not just through the headset. “R-Right, yes, I wasn’t certain it was you! Since we never… Ah… Actually met- You know, like- face to face.” He stuttered, trying to keep some semblance of calm. He wasn’t expecting for Hua Cheng to actually be so close as to be He Xuan’s friend, let alone be in the exact same area that he was!

The world truly was a small place.

Xie Lian missed the look that He Xuan and Shi Qingxuan gave each other before Shi Qingxuan quickly gave him a swift pat on the shoulder. “Oh right! I totally forgot! I was going to pick up some snacks from the store with He Xuan and I completely neglected to do that! Do you want anything, Xie Lian?”

Xie Lian blinked, glancing at his friend for a moment. “To the store? Do you want me to come with you? I can help carry-”

“No!” Shi Qingxuan blurted out, crossing her arms in an ‘x’ shape before her. “I mean- Thank you for the offer, but I already have a big strong girlfriend to do all the heavy lifting. I was just asking if you wanted something to eat!”

Xie Lian shook his head, and Shi Qingxuan seemed satisfied enough with that answer that she all but grabbed He Xuan by the arm and dragged her along out the door. He could only blink at the pair’s odd behavior, blinking owlishly before his attention was caught by a low chuckle that came from behind him.

“Don’t mind them, gege. She’s been scatterbrained like that all day.” Hua Cheng spoke smoothly, coming forward to take a seat on the stool beside him.

It was then that Xie Lian became hyper aware of the fact that he and Hua Cheng were now alone in the apartment together, and he fiddled with his fingers at the turbulent feelings that were darting around his gut. “Is that so? I hope everything is alright.” He muttered softly. He had so many questions to ask him, like how long he knew He Xuan, if he was living in the area and what he did for a living. It all felt so invasive to him no matter how he tried to word it in his brain, so every question died prematurely on his tongue.

Hua Cheng seemed to pick up on his awkward feelings, because just as Xie Lian fell short on things to say, he was swift to pick up the conversation. “So, it’s nice to finally meet you.” He said, his smile even more charming than the one Xie Lian imagined from the sound of his voice. “I had no idea you were so close, so when He Xuan mentioned that it was you who was coming over, I was surprised.”

Xie Lian tilted his head, intent to listen to what the other had to say. The sound of his voice always caught his attention, but now hearing it finally in person, it was no different than a siren’s call. “Oh- Uh, yeah! We didn’t exactly have plans to hang out together today, or anything. I just- uh- I was having a rough time, and I kinda just showed up. I’m just glad that Shi Qingxuan-” Xie Lian paused in his rambling and blinked. “Wait. I told you already, didn’t I? That’s right, I told you about it first.” He laughed, scratching at his cheek.
He was tripping over his words like a shy teenager all over again, how embarrassing is that? Swallowing his shame, he went to speak up once more only to be stopped then he saw the look in Hua Cheng’s eye.

“So I was the first Gege told about his problem?” He asked, before letting out a rather handsome sounding chuckle. “I’m honored to know that Gege finds this one reliable enough to vent his frustrations to.”

His words made Xie Lian blush, sincerity coating the meaning of every word. There was no hint of sarcasm of passive aggressiveness, only complete truth.

It was unlike anything that Xie Lian had ever experienced before.

“Well, I’m sure everything will turn out alright!” Xie Lian spoke up again, trying to keep up a more positive attitude. “After all, I still have you, Feng Xin and Mu Qing, right? We’ll do just fine!”

Hua Cheng smiled at him, and it only took one glance at it to absolutely take away all of the air in Xie Lian’s lungs.
Growing up, romantic attraction of any kind wasn’t at the forefront of his mind. Even without the constant abstinence lectures that came with being raised religiously, Xie Lian simply had more interest in doing other things like researching history and collecting odd trinkets from unusual gift shops and tourist attractions. It really wasn’t until Feng Xin introduced his former girlfriend to him that he even began considering why people would be interested in relationships.

Yet, now, in a sudden rush he began feeling exactly what Shi Qingxuan described when she had first realized that she had a crush on He Xuan. The rapid fluttering of butterflies she spoke of now feeling more like the enraged buzzing of a very pissed off nest of hornets.

Wait.

Did that mean-

Oh no.

He had only known Hua Cheng for a couple of months, but the two had spoken so regularly that Xie Lian had already felt as though he knew the man his entire life. They clicked in such a short instance, and now that they had met face to face at last, the crushing weight of emotions that Xie Lian could originally ignore had crashed onto him like a tidal wave.

“... Gege?”

Xie Lian blinked, suddenly becoming aware once more of his surroundings and his face flushed brightly when he realized that Hua Cheng had been talking to him the entire time he was having his internal panic. “S-Sorry, I guess I wasn’t quite all there just now. I’ve had… A lot on my mind.” He spoke quickly, trying to push aside his inward panic as Hua Cheng simply chuckled.

“That’s alright. I was just talking about how I enjoyed playing with you. We really work well together as a team.” Hua Cheng said to fill in the blanks, and Xie Lian slowly began to recall what exactly Hua Cheng had been saying.

Flushing a bit, Xie Lian couldn’t help but feel rather happy at hearing that. If Mu Qing said the truth and Hua Cheng really was one of the best pros out there, then that was one of the biggest compliments he had gotten in a long while from anyone. “Really? I’m glad to hear that. I don’t play as competitively as Feng Xin and Mu Qing, but I still try my best.” He responded, now finally falling back into the comfortable conversation.

Hua Cheng rested his elbow on the surface of the island and leaned his cheek fully into his palm, looking as though Xie Lian held his rapt attention. “I mean it, Gege plays better than some pros in the league. Most of those trash are too focused on getting the most kills instead of supporting their team, but Gege seems more interested in keeping everyone alive.”

The compliment received a rather embarrassed laugh from Xie Lian, who seemed to be suddenly fascinated by the material that the surface of the kitchen island was made from. “Is that so?” He responded, his voice barely above a whisper.

Hua Cheng smirked and parted his lips seemingly to respond, but he was cut off by Shi Qingxuan’s rather boisterous return.

Well, it can always wait.

Unlike every other Wednesday, this was one that Xie Lian didn’t look forward to.

Qi Rong was still insistent on joining the game, and there was a significant amount of back-and-forths that he had to endure with the rest of the team members to try and figure out how it would work. Lang Qianqiu was still adamant in regards to playing in the team, none of them willing to back down. That, at least, was reassuring.

Didn’t change that they needed to find a game that could host 5 players.

“What about Overwatch?” Lang Qianqiu offered, and Mu Qing seemed to be adverse to it at first, a complaint on his lips. Though it seemed that Feng Xin must’ve intervened, because he quickly fell silent.

“Overwatch is fine as long as Gege is okay with it.” Hua Cheng sighed, sounding already bored with the conversation.

Xie Lian sweated, unsure of what to say. He never really played Overwatch as he was certainly not that into playing first person shooter type games, but it seemed to be the one that they all agreed on. “Well, if it works, I’ll play it. You guys are all doing this for me, anyway.” He said softly, tapping on the load menu. He was glad Feng Xin had already shared his game library with him so he was able to get it installed in no time, and the computer that Hua Cheng had gifted him was capable of running it almost immediately.

“Well, I guess I’ll add Qi Rong, now.” Xie Lian said with a shaky smile, tabbing over to their game chat and adding him in.

There was a loud slurping noise, as though someone was taking a rather forceful sip from a clearly empty cup of soda. “‘Sup, fuckers.” Qi Rong greeted crassly, causing Xie Lian to rub the space between his eyebrows.

“So we decided to play Overwatch.” Xie Lian announced, trying to keep his voice composed at the very least. “Is that alright?”

There was a surprisingly long period of silence on Qi Rong’s end as the others also seemed to hold their breaths in wait for his response, before he let out a grunt and a “Yeah, that’s fine.”

Xie Lian was happy that they were able to agree on something, already having the game loading up. “Alright, I’m starting my stream! Let me know when everyone is ready.”

The next few minutes went into the set up and to Xie Lian greeting his viewers, and as he promised, he boasted about Qi Rong’s capability. He grinned nervously as everyone loaded in, muttering a soft “here goes nothing” as he chose his character. He decided to fall into the support role again, glancing at the character names in the corner to refresh his memory.

He eventually chose Mercy, already somewhat familiar with her move style from earlier gameplay trailers he managed to catch. Lang Qianqiu was quick to pick his main, Reinhardt. It was almost expected at this point, since he hardly played anyone else. Qi Rong was quick in picking as well, selecting Junkrat as his character. Hua Cheng followed up with Zarya, settling on his pick shortly after they did.

“Feng Xin, are you still picking Hanzo?” Mu Qing’s voice came over the mic.

“I was planning on it, but I can run support if you want.” Feng Xin offered, noticing their team’s current dynamic

“No, it’s fine.” Mu Qing sighed, locking in Moira as his character before Feng Xin followed up with picking Hanzo.

There was a crass chirp of “cry about it” from Qi Rong as they selected their map, Xie Lian could only laugh softly.

“Thanks, Mu Qing.” He said softly, getting a soft grumble in response.

It took little time for the game to begin, and Xie Lian could only nibble on his lip with anxiety. He could only see how it would go, all things considered. King’s Row was the map that they were playing on, a ‘hybrid game map’ as Feng Xin helpfully explained.

“Stay close to me, Gege.” Hua Cheng spoke up, his tone even sweeter than usual. It made Xie Lian’s face burn a bit brighter and he could barely respond before his attention was drawn back to the game.

Qi Rong was the first to run forward, almost as though he was eagerly awaiting for the enemies to swarm in. The first stage was fighting over the payload, Xie Lian knew that much, and he could only think of the carnage that laid ahead if his cousin went out alone.

“Qi Rong, maybe we should-” He spoke up, before Qi Rong’s yell cut him off.

“LET’S GO!” He shouted before taking off, and Xie Lian could only be dumbfounded before Lang Qianqiu’s Reinhardt went to catch up with him.

“I got him, just focus on securing the target.” He said, and Xie Lian could only follow what the rest of the team was doing.

“I’m coming to help out too. Xie Lian, stay with them.” Mu Qing ordered, before he too moved on ahead.

Sticking close by Feng Xin and Hua Cheng, Xie Lian boosted Feng Xin’s attack as the other began to fire at the incoming enemy team. Hua Cheng was also quick to step in, blocking any attempts they made on firing at Xie Lian. He was practically untouchable at this point, as he switched to healing whenever necessary.

Catching up with Qi Rong and the two that followed him was easy now that they had chipped off a few players on the enemy team, Hua Cheng still hovering close by.

“There’s a Widow.” Lang Qianqiu announced, and almost as though he summoned her, shots began to fire.

At least Qi Rong was decent enough at strafing, even though it wasn’t exactly necessary since Lang Qianqiu’s shield could have been effective enough in protecting him. Still, he seemed adamant to keep fighting, and whether it was just a lucky break or a well timed attack, he managed to strike the Widowmaker from wherever she was hiding.

“Nice one!” Xie Lian praised, still trying to keep up his end of the deal to sing Qi Rong’s praises.

There was barely time to celebrate as the enemy team returned, swarming in around them. Now that he knew there was a sniper, Hua Cheng was extra vigilant, keeping his aim steady.

“Can you pick off that Widow, Feng Xin?” Mu Qing’s voice came through, and it wasn’t even a moment later when the game announced that she had been eliminated.

“... Thanks.”

The firefight continued, and Xie Lian kept up his best in the meantime, fluttering to and fro with his healing and power boost ability. It was a bit overwhelming, but the understanding of how it all worked came quickly as he watched his team fall into place together.

Well, for the most part.

“Did you really just whiff your fucking ultimate?” Feng Xin’s voice interrupted his focus.

“Shut up!” Qi Rong shouted back.

“It’s not that hard to land a hit. If you’re trash just say so.” Mu Qing snapped, nearly dodging one of the hits from the enemy team’s Tracer before he fell back behind Lang Qianqiu.

“Alright alright…” Xie Lian tried to mitigate, but his attention was soon grabbed by Hua Cheng’s voice.

“My ultimate is ready.” He announced smoothly.

“Give me a fuckin’ sec.” Feng Xin grumbled, tapping furiously on his keyboard as he went toe to toe with the Tracer to get her off of Mu Qing. “Mine is almost ready too, we gotta round them up.”

Xie Lian kept a close eye on Feng Xin as he darted around, focusing entirely on healing Lang Qianqiu as he trudged forward. Qi Rong ended up being used as bait, as the team soon zeroed their focus on him.
Well, if he was good at anything, it was certainly running away. He managed to slip back between their lines, strafing around one of the alleys and successfully bottle necking them.

“Now!” Feng Xin shouted as Hua Cheng unleashed his ultimate, the graviton surge pulling the ones who had been following Qi Rong into place and rendering them immobile. He followed up with his own ultimate, smashing into them and killing the five players that were grouped up there.

“There’s one left!” Mu Qing shouted, realizing this a bit too late before he was shot and killed by the Tracer that had gotten behind him. He cursed loudly, and Xie Lian gently muted him on his mic for the time being.

Qi Rong was next, and it seemed that the Tracer was adamant enough in making him her target that she didn’t even notice Lang Qianqiu’s Reinhardt charging, slamming and killing her directly in the wall located behind.

“I could’ve killed her!” Qi Rong huffed, but there was significantly less bite than usual to his words.

“You’re welcome.” Lang Qianqiu responded rather coldly, before falling quiet as they pressed ahead.

The game proceeded in a similar manner, Qi Rong usually being unintentionally used as bait and then circling around to refocus on one large team attack. Xie Lian was still surprised that they had managed to win as the match was closer than most, but he was still satisfied with the outcome.

Well, all things considered, it could have been a hell of a lot worse.

They managed to play a few rounds effectively, before their team splintering became worse. Qi Rong had even managed to piss off Hua Cheng, which led him to be convinced that the other had gotten him killed somehow on purpose.

Whether Hua Cheng really got Qi Rong killed, remains to be seen.

They played for a bit longer before Lang Qianqiu had to get off, and eventually both Feng Xin and Mu Qing left as well. Hua Cheng said good night and signed off shortly after, prompting Xie Lian to end his stream.

Glancing over the chat history, Xie Lian blinked at some of the comments he read.

”He’s the ‘best’? Are you kidding? He sucks ass.”

”Bro if you completely whiff an ultimate like that, you’re already trash. Uninstall.”

”TaiziDianxia must be desperate for players if he let a clown like that on his team.”

The comments weren’t exactly unexpected, but something about them really got under Xie Lian’s skin. If they had to talk shit at all, they could shit talk about his own playing. Not Qi Rong’s, who had nothing to do with the stream other than Xie Lian’s brief praise.

He was already bristled about the whole situation, but what caught him off guard was that Qi Rong had yet to leave the party. He was about to speak up before a grumble from the other crackled over his mic.

“What was that? I didn’t understand.” Xie Lian spoke up, resulting in an aggravated huff.

“I said your friends are assholes and I hate playing with them!” Qi Rong griped, causing Xie Lian’s face to sour. He was about to say something, but his cousin once again surprised him.

“... But… Thanks, I guess. For letting me play with you and shit.”

Xie Lian stared confused at the game chat, uncertain of what it was he just heard, but then slowly the pieces of the puzzle began to click into place.

Every time Qi Rong visited in the last couple of months, every time that they even spoke to one another, there had been one constant. Realizing it now, it all made sense.

“... Qi Rong.” Xie Lian began tentatively, almost as though he would spook his cousin away if he approached the subject too hastily. “Did you… Did you do all of this just because you wanted to play a game with me?”

There was a long stretch of silence, before a frustrated roar came from the other side of the mic. “YEAH! SO? WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT MATTER?” He shouted, and Xie Lian almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

He actually felt a bit happy, hearing him actually admit something like that. “You know, you could have just asked instead of threatening me with Dad. I would have said yes.”

Qi Rong went quiet as though he was processing it, but it didn’t seem to scare him away yet. “You’re always busy and shit though.” He huffed. “You never have time anymore.”

So the truth came out.

If he was honest with himself, Xie Lian missed it too. It had been too long since he was able to sit and play a game, let alone play one with his cousin. “So? I can always make time, Qi Rong. All you have to do is ask.”

Qi Rong seemed to bristle at Xie Lian’s words, yelling out a “Yeah, whatever, see ya” before disconnecting promptly. Still, he was left feeling rather pleased with himself.

Falling onto his bed, he grabbed his phone and checked it, noticing two messages from Hua Cheng. Feeling his heart speed up, he opened it with eager taps.

”Gege played very well today.” 9:37 PM

”That one resurrection you did saved the game.” 9:38 PM

Xie Lian laughed giddily, eagerly typing back.

”I’m glad you think so, San Lang. I was really trying my best!” 9:45 PM

There was a moment before Hua Cheng started typing, and Xie Lian stared at those moving dots longer than he would care to admit.

”Gege’s best is more than enough. This San Lang is happy to have such a supportive team mate.” 9:45 PM

Xie Lian took a minute, a thought popping up in his head that made him hide his phone in his chest. What he had said to Qi Rong really brought him back to terms with what exactly it was that he wanted to do, and not what was expected of him. He hardly made time for anyone anymore, and getting back into gaming was the first thing he did for himself in years.

So, resolutely, he decided not to fool himself any longer.

Swallowing hard, his thumbs poised on the digital keyboard, Xie Lian began to write.

”So San Lang, I was wondering.” 9:46 PM

”What is it, Gege?” 9:46 PM

Well, here goes nothing.
”Would you” 9:47 PM
”I don’t know” 9:47 PM
”Like to go out for lunch tomorrow or something?” 9:47 PM

There was a brief moment of stillness as Xie Lian held his breath, but soon Hua Cheng began typing again.

”Is Gege asking me out on a date?” 9:48PM

Xie Lian knew he was teasing, but something about what he said made his heart leap into his throat. He could hardly stop himself as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

”Well, I suppose. Yeah. If you’d like to call it that. I just really liked talking to you at Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan’s place, and I was wondering if you would like to do that again.” 9:48 PM

This time, there was zero hesitation.

”I’d love to, Gege. How about this Saturday?” 9:48 PM

Xie Liam’s face flushed a bright red before he typed out a quick ‘Great!’ and told Hua Cheng good night even though they had said it to each other already earlier.

He guessed it was another thing to look forward to.

Saturday rolled around faster than Xie Lian was expecting, the day sneaking up on him like a pouncing tiger. He could only fix his hair anxiously so many times before Mu Qing shouted at him that he was making him nervous, to which Xie Lian softly apologized. He stared down at his phone, waiting for Hua Cheng’s message while fussing over his appearance, wondering if the button down and the cream colored sweater was a bit too casual.

”I’m outside, Gege.” 10:30 AM

When the message blinked on his screen, Xie Lian was out the door, hastily pulling on his white sneakers as he stumbled out, laughing at his own clumsiness. He saw Hua Cheng waiting outside, arms crossed over the silver handlebars of his motorcycle. Hua Cheng seemed like the type to drive one, but the fact that he actually did still surprised Xie Lian.

Getting on with Hua Cheng’s help and listening to him instruct him how to hold on, Xie Lian could barely process anything except the fact that he was currently holding on to Hua Cheng at that very moment. Although thin, the man was built solidly, and Xie Lian could feel the muscles that lie just beneath his shirt. Swallowing hard and nodding when Hua Cheng asked if he was ready, they took off down the street.

The local cafe wasn’t too far thankfully, and the two dismounted the bike, heading inside.

“It’s a nice day out, why don’t we find a table on the outdoor patio?” Hua Cheng suggested, and Xie Lian seemed pleased with that idea. Requesting the table, the two sat down and ordered drinks, Hua Cheng getting just a black coffee and Xie Lian a chai tea latte.

“So the last game went really well, all things considered.” Xie Lian spoke, trying to ease into some light conversation.

Hua Cheng hummed in response, once again rewarding Xie Lian with his full attention. The fact that he still continued to do that made him feel rather flustered, but grateful. “I agree. You did really well with problem solving.” He replied.

Xie Lian tried to hide the dumb smile that came up when Hua Cheng praised him, but he couldn’t help the corners of his mouth that kept twitching upright.

“Thanks, I just wanted everyone to have a good time.”

“And we did, thanks to you.”

The waitress returned with their drinks, and Xie Lian sighed happily as he glanced out at the bustling street. “You know, I wanted to say thank you.”

Hua Cheng paused with his lip on the rim of his cup, pulling it away to look at him. “For what?”

“For sending me those gifts. For believing in me and watching my streams when no one else did. For playing with me. There are so many things I could thank you for, San Lang. All you have to do is ask for the list.” He hummed, fiddling with his cup as Hua Cheng laughed.

“Those are just things that Gege deserves, this San Lang truly did nothing worthy of Xie Lian’s thanks.” Hua Cheng said, but he stopped as soon as Xie Lian shook his head.

“I mean it, San Lang. Thank you.”

At his sincere words, Xie Lian could have sworn that he saw red bloom across Hua Cheng’s face. Smiling to himself, he took a sip of his drink, enjoying the warmth from it before setting it down. He looked at Hua Cheng before something over his shoulder caught his eye, and for a moment he stared at the street before he processed what was going on.

He could see Lang Qianqiu walking with Qi Rong down the sidewalk, talking passionately about something. Any outsider might assume it was an argument, but Xie Lian knew his cousin a bit better than that.

That made him smile. Seemed as though some things did work out.

Speaking of that…

Xie Lian refocused his gaze on Hua Cheng, who happened to be looking at him already, eye half lidded. The smile that curled on his lips made him flush, and there was just a brief moment as Xie Lian toyed with his cup that the two fell into a rather intense staring contest.

“I wonder if Gege knows how beautiful he looks today.” Hua Cheng commented passively, and Xie Lian’s heart fluttered at that. The bold words were moving, and Xie Lian knew at that moment that he too wanted to be bold.

“I know I’m not as beautiful as San Lang.” He quipped back, and smirked a little when Hua Cheng’s eye sparked with an unfamiliar light.

“Is Gege blinder than I am?” Hua Cheng spoke incredulously, placing his hand on his chest in exaggerated shock. “There is no way he truly believes that.”

“But I do!”

Hua Cheng seemed to take a minute to fully process that, before he turned his head away. Xie Lian could see a brief glimpse of a cherry red face, but quickly the other schooled his expression into a casual one. “Then, this one is grateful to have received such high praise.” He spoke, the slightest waver to his tone.

Xie Lian smiled brightly, and Hua Cheng looked completely lost for a second.

Thumbing his cup, Xie Lian then thought for a moment before speaking up again. “San Lang, would you… Maybe… Like to do this again, sometime?” He asked, and the spark he saw in that eye made his heart leap once again.

“As a date?” He asked, his tone teasing once again.

Even though Xie Lian was flustered before, he simply smiled. “Yeah, if that’s alright with you.”

Hua Cheng smiled, and suddenly, Xie Lian finally realized just how lovely it was to do what he wanted with nothing else weighing him down.

“I’d love to.”