Work Text:
“Zhang Xinjie, Zhang Xinjie, Zhang Xinjie!” His name came out like a hailstorm of bullets, and Zhang Xinjie looked up to see Huang Shaotian bouncing over to him, dodging around other players with quick smiles and apologies when he happened to knock into people.
“Huang Shaotian.”
“You remembered! That’s so nice of you Zhang Xinjie, I knew you weren’t just distracted by my captain and Xiao Shiqin, I knew you would remember my name, after all, it’s important to know your opponents and you know all about that.” Zhang Xinjie wondered if he should remind Huang Shaotian that the 4 of them have been in a group chat since the season 3 finals, but suspected it won’t change his sentiment.
“Of course I remember you, do you need something from me?”
“How busy is your captain right now?” Of all the questions Zhang Xinjie was prepared to hear from Huang Shaotian, this wasn’t one of them. He was waiting patiently, following along after him as he kept his gaze on Zhang Xinjie.
“I’m not sure, it would be better to speak to Captain Wenqing about it.”
“Don’t try to trick me Zhang Xinjie, you forget, my captain is just as sneaky as yours, I can’t be tricked. You sent us all your schedule for this month, you’re so organised and prepared, you know your captain’s schedule as well as your own, so I just thought it would be easier to come and ask you about it.” Zhang Xinjie frowned and Huang Shaotian just grinned at him sunnily. It’s true, Zhang Xinjie had been in charge of the All-Stars itinerary, which meant he knows that Han Wenqing is just waiting for the event to start.
That doesn’t mean he’s pleased that Huang Shaotian parsed all of this out from his schedule from the beginning of the month. He made a mental note of the moment, and vowed to jot it down properly once he gets his hands on his notebook. Huang Shaotian doesn’t seem concerned by the long wait for an answer and Zhang Xinjie begrudgingly gave him one.
“Captain Wenqing isn’t busy right now,” as they make it to the door of their waiting area Huang Shaotian, having received the confirmation he’s waiting for, finally tells him what he wants.
“That’s good, I thought so, we don’t have anything to do yet either, can I borrow him, can I borrow your captain for a little bit, it won’t interfere with anything I promise, don’t make that face at me Xinjie, I can keep an eye on the time, I’m so good at doing things on time, I just want to borrow Captain Han for a little bit.”
“Why?” Huang Shaotian flapped one hand carelessly, as if he was swatting away a fly, unconcerned.
“Ah you’re so serious, I’m not plotting anything at all, it’s just All-Stars right now!”
“I know it’s All-Stars Shaotian, why does that matter?”
“You haven’t thought about it? I shouldn’t be surprised, you’re just like my captain, planning planning planning and forgetting about the other things about today, like the opportunity to make friends!”
“Make friends?”
“Yes! We’re pro players now Zhang Xinjie, which means we can make friends with other pro players, on my list I have so many people I want to make friends with, Han Wenqing is on the list so I thought I’d come ask you about it!” Zhang Xinjie took a moment to marvel at his thought process before he stuck his head into the room and called for Han Wenqing.
Zhang Xinjie kept his eyes on Huang Shaotian, wondering if Han Wenqing’s infamous face would shake his confidence. It didn’t surprise him when Huang Shaotian just stuck on hand out sunny grin in place.
“Hello Senior! I’m Huang Shaotian, I debuted this year, you know this already because we played Tyranny just a few weeks again and you saw all my speech bubbles, I wanted to meet you at All-Stars as well, because at All-Stars you don’t have to be afraid of my Troubling Rain, it’s a much more relaxing atmosphere.” Zhang Xinjie enjoyed the startled expression on Han Wenqing’s face, while Huang Shaotian’s reputation had begun to precede him, no one was ever quite as prepared for it as they thought.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Han Wenqing glanced over to where Zhang Xinjie was stood, hoping for some kind of guidance but Huang Shaotian just lit up, wide grin spreading across his face.
“Yes yes, it is very nice to meet you, I remember seeing Desert Dust standees in the internet cafe I used to go to, someone stole one once, I remember! Oh oh, and Xinjie said you aren’t busy at the moment, and if it’s about a schedule then he will be right, so can I borrow you, it will only take a few moments!” Han Wenqing found that he understood most of what Huang Shaotian had just said, so he just nodded and let Huang Shaotian take a hold of his arm and start to tow him down the corridor.
Han Wenqing took a moment to turn his head back to look at Zhang Xinjie as if he will have something illuminating for him. Instead, he sees that his vice-captain is simply following after them, curiosity written across his features. The fact that Zhang Xinjie isn’t sure what Huang Shaotian is up makes Han Wenqing hope that whatever he’s being borrowed for isn’t too chaotic.
There’s a large crowd of people gathered around the door that leads to what Zhang Xinjie can assume is where Blue Rain are waiting for All-Stars to officially kick off. He recognises a few of the faces, Wang Jiexi is talking quietly to Fang Shiqian, and his vice-captain is rolling his eyes at him. A lot of the people there are wearing the same confused expression that Han Wenqing is sporting, which suggests that Huang Shaotian hasn’t explained what he’s up to.
Zhang Xinjie is impressed that Huang Shaotian has been able to hold this many pros in one place without an explanation. He can’t help but wonder if it’s been achieved with threats or promises and he sets himself a reminder to ask about it later.
“Oi, Huang Shaotian, why are we all waiting here?” Zhang Jiale spotted them first and called out first but several others also spoke up, echoing the sentiment.
Huang Shaotian just opened the door with a flourish, bright sunny smile still in place. There’s no one else in the room except Yu Wenzhou, who has his head bowed, looking at something on his tablet while jotting something down with his free hand.
The sound of the door has him looking up and Zhang Xinjie can’t help his satisfaction when Yu Wenzhou visibly startled at the crowd gathered before him. He gets a look from Huang Shaotian and he makes a note to add that to his notes when he has a chance. They’re only partway through his first season, he needs plenty more information before he can be confident on his read of Huang Shaotian.
“Ah, Shaotian,” Yu Wenzhou seemed to scramble for the words for a few long moments before he regained his composure. “Is this why you cleared the rest of the team out?”
“No!” When Yu Wenzhou just arched an eyebrow at him, Huang Shaotian’s vehemence strained out of him. “Well, yes, but I didn’t just kick them out, I talked to them about it first, captain!”
“Is there a reason for this gathering?” The question buoyed Huang Shaotian’s spirits again, and he tugged Han Wenqing forward a little. Zhang Xinjie wondered briefly if he should do something to prevent Han Wenqing being first on the chopping block, of whatever Huang Shaotian had arranged. By the time he’s thought of it, it’s too late and Zhang Xinjie just settled in to watch how it would all unfold.
“Captain, captain you can be so forgetful, I told you all about the opportunities at All-Stars, everyone is all in one place for once, we have to take advantage of that captain! I remember, I sent you a memo about it, because you said that memos should be used for very important and vital team business, and this is definitely something that falls under being important and vital! I can’t believe you’ve already forgotten about it, it’s a good thing I already had a plan, you have to keep up captain!”
Huang Shaotian’s quick-fire ramble meant nothing to the group assembled, but realisation dawned on Yu Wenzhou’s face and he sighed, even as an amused quirk tugged at his mouth.
“Shaotian is this you making sure we get to meet the other pro players?” Huang Shaotian nodded enthusiastically as he nudged Han Wenqing forward, undeterred by his confused frown, truly fearless.
“Yes! See, I knew sending that memo was important, you do remember what I was talking about!” Yu Wenzhou just smiled at his vice-captain before turning his attention to Han Wenqing.
“Captain Han, I apologise for my vice-captain’s enthusiasm.” Yu Wenzhou’s smile was warm as he shook his hand and Han Wenqing nodded.
“Corralling team members is an essential part of the captaincy.” His response was serious, but Yu Wenzhou just nodded thoughtfully, smile not shifting an inch.
“Then I’d appreciate the chance to get advice on this from a senior. Though it’s true our vice-captain’s differ in temperament.” They both turned their gazes over to where Zhang Xinjie was still observing the scene from a distance, while Huang Shaotian was using his quick fire speech to organise the remaining pros into a line.
“They do differ greatly.” Han Wenqing’s lips twitched into a smile as Yu Wenzhou gestured fruitlessly to stop Huang Shaotian from poking the other pro players back into line before he stepped aside to join Zhang Xinjie. “Do you need me to organise something like this for you?
His vice-captain’s open horror had been exactly what he’d been looking for and Zhang Xinjie’s expression smoothed out when he realised that Han Wenqing wasn’t being serious.
“There is no reason to organise something like this for me Wenqing, I would ask that you never do something like this for me.” Han Wenqing can’t help but think that Zhang Xinjie’s seriousness is endearing and he nods solemnly.
Despite Huang Shaotian’s loud and frequent objections, Fang Shiqian and Wang Jiexi, step up to meet Yu Wenzhou together. Huang Shaotian’s protests that people are supposed to be meeting his captain one on one are ignored, much to his chagrin.
“You just let him run around like this?” Fang Shiqian’s words were blunt and Yu Wenzhou just shrugged slightly, watching Huang Shaotian fondly.
“He says it’s an essential part of his vice-captain duties, taking care of his captain.” Wang Jiexi looked over to where Huang Shaotian was enthusiastically shoving a headshot of Zhang Jiale at the man in question while brandishing a pen like his sword. Zhang Jiale looked a little shell shocked and Sun Zheping carefully guided the pen into his hand which seemed to snap him out of it.
“He seems to be getting quite a bit out of it as well.” Wang Jiexi commented dryly and Yu Wenzhou huffed out a laugh when Huang Shaotian waved the autographed photograph at him.
“He can have other motives to complete his vice captain duties, I never expected his memo to come to this.” Fang Shiqian cast another look around the room before turning to address Wang Jiexi.
“I’m not organising one of these for you, you can meet your heroes and be starry-eyed over them without me.”
“In fairness Vice-Captain Fang, it has been a year since Captain Wang’s debut, it might be considered a little late for something like this. Especially since he’s hasn’t gained a reputation of being slow.” The unlike me hung in the air for a few moments before Fang Shiqian snorted, knocking his shoulder against Wang Jiexi’s in his amusement.
“You’ve given him another reason to not introduce me to people Captain Yu.” Wang Jiexi’s words were sorrowful, but the glint in his eye wasn’t and Fang Shiqian just rolled his eyes at him.
“I was never going to introduce you to people, your face would scare them off,” Fang Shiqian nodded at Huang Shaotian as they left, still pointing out his carefully curated list of why he kept Wang Jiexi away from people.
Yu Wenzhou, having settled into the rhythm of the impromptu meet and greet, looked up to face the next player, when Huang Shaotian darted over to interrupt.
“Hey hey hey Su Mucheng!! I told you that you could come if you brought Senior Ye Qiu with you, I know he avoids all of us at events like this but I thought with your charm you could come and convince him to meet my captain!”
“You said that I could come if I tried to bring Ye Qiu, I did try to bring him but it didn’t work.” Huang Shaotian thought that Su Mucheng’s sweet smile was an indication that she was lying to him, but before he could continue with his interrogation, Yu Wenzhou cut in.
“Su Mucheng doesn’t have to bring Ye Qiu to be welcome here Shaotian.”
“Besides, your captain has slow hands, not slow feet, you couldn’t have brought him with you? Why did you drag us all here?” Huang Shaotian geared up to deliver another rousing speech on his duties as a vice-captain and Yu Wenzhou offered Su Mucheng a bottle of iced tea.
“To experience Blue Rain’s hospitality?” Su Mucheng flicked her gaze to where Huang Shaotian had climbed onto a chair to properly articulate his point and Yu Wenzhou just smiled helplessly and offered her another drink.
“Thank you for your hospitality Captain Yu,” Su Mucheng’s focus on Yu Wenzhou had Huang Shaotian opening his mouth in offense but before he could start up on defending his hospitality, Su Mucheng had already left with her drinks.
Huang Shaotian looked mournfully down at the drinks fridge. Su Mucheng had taken both his favourites. He perked up when Sun Zheping and Zhang Jiale walked up, the Hundred Blossoms vice-captain complaining quietly.
“And our waiting area is on the other side of this stadium, dragging me all the way out here—“
“Hey Senior, you can’t slander me like this, I didn’t drag you anywhere! Captain Han was dragged over here and so were a couple of other people, but I didn’t drag you over, you just saw Sun Zheping coming with me and followed him!” Huang Shaotian watched as Zhang Jiale flushed almost as pink as his team uniform before he opened his mouth to protest.
“Anyone would follow their captain if their captain was going with somewhere with you!”
“That is true, after all, Xinjie followed Captain Han here without Shaotian asking for him.” Yu Wenzhou’s mild comment stopped both Zhang Jiale and Huang Shaotian in their tracks as they turned to look at where Zhang Xinjie was still stood.
“If you’re not interested in my company I can leave Wenzhou.” Was his offered remark, tone dry when Yu Wenzhou just smiled at him.
“I am pleased to meet you both, we studied your duo play while Shaotian and I were preparing for our debut.”
“We’ll be sure to keep an eye on the both of you then.” Sun Zheping offered a smile to Yu Wenzhou who returned it before nudging at Huang Shaotian to stop thinking of ways to rile Zhang Jiale up further.
Despite the chaos of the meeting at the beginning, Yu Wenzhou quickly realised just how carefully Huang Shaotian had planned his meet and greet, for just as they were approaching the last 20 minutes before the event officially kicked off, he was saying goodbye to the last pro and adding their contact information to his phone.
Huang Shaotian joined him on the sofa and Yu Wenzhou could feel the way his leg was bouncing without even looking at him. He still turned to look and he was met with the expression he’d predicted, hopeful and expectant all at once.
“Yes Shaotian, you were right, All-Stars is a great time to make friends.” Yu Wenzhou smiled as Huang Shaotian slung an arm around his shoulder, pressing up against his side, warm and comforting.
“I told you captain, I take my duties as your vice-captain very carefully, I can even do it next year if you want, oh! Or tomorrow captain?”
While Yu Wenzhou was able to talk Huang Shaotian out of repeating the meet and greet on the next day, Yu Wenzhou’s impromptu introduction to a line of pro players became a favoured All-Stars story. Huang Shaotian was immensely proud of himself, especially when he saw his captain messaging someone he’d corralled into the line.
His vice-captain duties had only just begun, but they were off to a great start.