Chapter Text
Su Mucheng has watched enough dramas to recognize what love looks like—or, no, to say she knows love is too ambitious a statement. Love comes in so many forms, so many strains, so many flavors, she doubts even a dedicated scholar could name all the individual strands of love weaving together this universe.
Ye Xiu and Glory, for example—could that be considered love? Su Mucheng would certainly argue yes, but that's beside the point.
Romantic love. Or, more simply, the seed of it: romantic attraction. That's simple enough to recognize.
Su Mucheng has always been perceptive, attentive to others. A vital skill honed to survive the streets, one that translates well to playing support on the battlefield and will form the core of what makes her a good captain. She learns from everyone around her, and that includes all the many fictional people from her various dramas. Thousands of lovers falling in love in some manner or another, played out over hundreds of quirky rom-coms and theatrical tragedies and simple slice-of-lifes. Chu Yunxiu is the only one she knows who's consumed more shows than her, but never once has Su Mucheng lost a bet regarding a romantic subplot. Even in real life, Su Mucheng was the only one of the Golden Generation unsurprised when Fang Minghua announced his marriage.
So really, it comes as no surprise that Su Mucheng is the first to realize: Fang Rui's joke hides a grain of truth. He might really have fallen for her.
"Fuck, Sis Mu! That was too perfect, I'll fall in love with you!"
At the time, Su Mucheng was confident his words were just that. A jest, a joke. In the heat of a life-and-death match, Fang Rui's desperation to survive, Su Mucheng's timely round of support—a shameless thank you from the Master of Playing Dirty. They're all much too focused on winning to spare it a second thought.
But the words echo in her thoughts from time to time, and eventually, Su Mucheng would come to recognize that innocuous shout as the germ of the seed of attraction.
From there, it's an accumulation of little moments, so insignificant, so vague that even Su Mucheng is half convinced she's overthinking it.
A playful wink, a supportive clap to the shoulder, a light ribbing to invite her in on a joke. A fist bump after a beautiful play, a shamelessly bold and optimistic declaration to cheer her when they lose.
Perhaps he's doing it as a friend, or maybe a brother, a fellow teammate from Happy while they're at Worlds, or after their return, as a reliable Vice Captain supporting his newly minted Captain.
It's hard to tell, even with her discerning eye, because it's seemingly all the same to Fang Rui, who's never been one for naming things. But so long as it's not problematic for her or the team, Su Mucheng is content to let things be, to hold suspicion without judgment.
As Season 11 unfolds, the pile of subtle cues grows, and so does Su Mucheng's suspicion that this is a crush. Or, something more than the typical Captain-Vice Captain relationship, something more intimate.
Like that time they lost to Wind Howl. When Su Mucheng turns to make a teasing comment to her Vice Captain, she finds him glowering not at Tang Hao, who'd cornered Fang Rui in the team match, but at Liu Hao, who'd abstained from the individual matches only to surprise them with a closer ranged build, tailored to waylay Dancing Rain.
As much as Su Mucheng appreciates a fellow Liu Hao hater, she gives Fang Rui a nudge to remind him there's still an audience in the stadium and cameras rolling. Fang Rui snaps out of his funk and looks at her and—ah, yes, this is definitely something outside the realm of brothers-in-arms, in the domain of infatuation.
That immediate softening of his features, that playful smirk springing from his frown, that mostly humorous, fractionally serious declaration to "protect our Goddess Su, let no one lay a hand on her."
He leaves her with an exaggerated wink before setting off to wrangle the kids for the post-match lineup, and—Su Mucheng isn't sure what to make of the moment. Is it something to acknowledge? To discourage? Or continue to leave it alone?
Leave it alone, she decides. It's not like she's looking for romance, especially now in the middle of the season, and from Fang Rui's behavior thus far, neither is he. They've been doing fine so far and, whatever this budding attraction is, she trusts Fang Rui to manage it.
…Except he doesn't. And he doesn't seem to notice, either?
It gets more and more out of hand, to the point where their teammates, friends, and even the new rookies pick up on the no longer vague signs of romantic attraction. Su Mucheng even hints at it to Fang Rui a couple times, yet each time he pounds his fist to his palm only to comprehend a totally different matter.
Maybe it's denial, maybe extreme self-ignorance. Whatever it is, it seems that Fang Rui genuinely does not realize his own crush.
And maybe, as the subject of his attraction, Su Mucheng should be more annoyed, even upset about the situation. But she can't muster up any of those feelings. Fang Rui's still a good friend, fun teammate, and excellent Vice Captain who complements her leadership well. She can't think of this as any more than an endearing quirk of his.
Besides, if Fang Rui continues like this, Su Mucheng thinks it'll be pretty amusing; he's already twisting himself in loops to justify his behavior as simply friendship, or the attentiveness of a quintessential Vice Captain. She's curious how much more outrageous his excuses can be.
And when it inevitably ends, either with a confession or a quiet fizzling out of interest, well that's something to deal with later. Bringing their scraggly team to the championships is enough work right now.
So she'll just sit back, pull out her sunflower seeds, and watch the show.
Or not. After all, this is the interactive game of life, her life, not a predetermined drama unfolding on the screen. So what if she's banned from the betting pools in the name of fairness? She might as well rig them herself, and it's a golden opportunity to fluster the shameless Master of Dirtiness while she's at it.
Yes, Su Mucheng smiles beatifically, this will be a lot of fun.