CHAPTER 1:  MATCH

Shu Jia tilted her head up to look at the big screen.

On the blue side, Jinx carried her rocket launcher and charged straight into the enemy fountain, unstoppable.

The atmosphere at the LPL Summer Split venue was high, with fans all around barely able to hold back their excited shouts. On stage, the two commentators were bantering back and forth.

“Hey, have you noticed this about Wan,” the female commentator said with a smile in her voice. “Every game, he seems determined to uphold his personal tradition of diving into the enemy fountain. If he’s not already in their fountain, he’s on his way there. Thinking about it now, it’s actually kind of hilarious.”

The male commentator laughed in agreement. “Well, he is Wan-shen after all. Still so young, yet recognized across the LPL as the number one handsome guy. Tons of fans, too. His combined votes for the S4 and S5 All-Star Games are close to ten million. He’s definitely the undisputed popularity king.”

The two of them kept chatting, and just then, the red side’s nexus crystal exploded. The game froze on the final moment as the commentators gave their usual round of congratulations.

The big screen shifted from the in-game shot to the live stage feed.

Bright lights lit up the stage as both teams removed their headsets and tossed them onto the table. The camera swept across the players one by one, then deliberately paused on the second player from the left.

The entire audience erupted once again, screams bursting like a tidal wave.

On the screen, a boy in a short-sleeved team jersey came into view. His short black hair was slightly damp, giving him a youthful look.

He held a brown paper cup in one hand, sipping water while lowering his gaze. The black headset hung loosely around his neck.

Suddenly, Shu Jia felt someone grab her arm. She turned her head and saw her friend leaning over to check the time on her watch.

“It’s already almost ten o’clock,” her friend said, leaning back into her seat and waving her support board casually. “Are you going to dinner with Jiang Yuyu later and the WR people?”

Shu Jia nodded.

Around them, the final roar of the fans filled the venue, overwhelming and deafening.

“You’re going to help her block drinks, right?”

“Probably.”

Her eyes stayed on the stage as she absentmindedly packed up her things.

Her friend sighed enviously. “Must be nice, having a host for a friend. You get to go have fun wherever you want.”

“Then do me a favor later and help me get Wan’s autograph, yeah?”

Shu Jia blinked, confused. “Wan… who?”

Her friend stared at her in disbelief. “You seriously don’t know him?”

“I know who he is,” Shu Jia clarified, “I just don’t know what he looks like.”

Music blared from the speakers as the winning team stood up, lining up to shake hands with the losing side before stepping to the center of the stage and bowing toward the audience.

“Let me give you a tip,” her friend leaned over with a grin.

“Just look for the best-looking one.”

….

By the time Shu Jia and Jiang Yuyu made it down to the main lobby, there were still tons of fans crowding the entrance, so many that even security struggled to keep them back.

Shu Jia sighed. “Esports is this popular now? There are even fans bringing food. Even chasing idols doesn’t look this intense.”

Jiang Yuyu tugged her toward the back exit. “Bringing food is nothing. There are fans camping outside the players’ hotel rooms for autographs, fans knocking on their base doors… You’d be shocked at how many crazy ones there are.”

Shu Jia raised her brows. “It’s that extreme?”

“A lot of fans,” Jiang Yuyu said, “especially female fans. And most of them are into looks. These fans are called ‘wife fans’ or the ‘madam squad.’ Sometimes, they can be crazier than you can imagine.”

Recently, Jiang Yuyu had been making waves in the esports scene. On Weibo, she was known as the “new darling host of LPL” — pretty, sweet-voiced, and a skilled League player. Being inside the circle, she knew all sorts of insider gossip.

“So esports has its own sasaeng fans now?” Shu Jia said, half laughing, half exasperated.

“People say it all the time,” Jiang Yuyu said, slipping into her “expert mode.” “Last year, this year, and even next year — it’s all the golden age of esports.”

“Look at those pro players,” she continued, “they make some achievements, build a fanbase, and even after they retire, they can still make money — streaming, coaching, attending events… who wouldn’t want that?”

“Sounds nice.”

They exited through the back door, but there were still plenty of people waiting there.

The night wind was strong, and Shu Jia, wearing a thin white sweater, looked fragile in the breeze. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Jiang Yuyu had always thought Shu Jia carried an unexplainable kind of elegance — something classic, almost like she belonged to another era.

“Stick with me,” Jiang Yuyu whispered. “We’re taking WR’s car.”

Not far away, WR’s coach stood on the steps, chatting with someone. Their victory had obviously put him in a good mood.

“Fay!” Jiang Yuyu waved at him.

“Yuyu, you’re here! Let’s get going,” Fay said with a smile.

“Mind if I bring a friend?” Jiang Yuyu draped an arm over Shu Jia’s shoulder.

Shu Jia instantly felt a group of unfamiliar eyes turn toward her, sizing her up.

“This girl from inside the circle or outside? Never seen her before.”

“She’s not in the scene. Diamond rank,” Jiang Yuyu replied casually.

A ripple of surprise spread through the group.

“Which server? Add me later so we can duo queue.” A guy playing on his phone glanced up at her with a smile.

Jiang Yuyu snorted softly. “Please, tons of people want to duo with my friend. Ah Hao asks her all the time and gets rejected, okay?”

“For real?” someone exclaimed.

“Ah Hao’s such a show-off,” another guy chimed in. “He just loves streaming with girls.”

Shu Jia didn’t know what to say. Surrounded by strangers, she felt uncomfortable being the center of attention.

Finally, someone groaned loudly, “For f*ck’s sake, I’m starving! Can we go already?!”

“Hold on, we’re waiting for A-Dang. He’s still on the phone,” another man said.

Fay nodded. “Go get him. We’ll wait in the car.”

“Hey,” Shu Jia felt a tap on her shoulder.

A young boy behind her leaned forward, speaking in slightly awkward Mandarin. “You’re Yuyu-jie’s friend, right?”

“Mm.”

Shu Jia was replying to messages on her phone and answered a beat late.

“I know you! I really like your stuff,” the boy stammered, “I watch your food videos, and I catch your livestreams too. Your singing’s really good as well.”

“Thank you,” she said, a little surprised.

“Get her autograph, quick! Aren’t you always sneaking into her livestream on your alt account?” the guy next to him teased.

“N-no, I’m not,” the boy protested, flustered. “I-I didn’t even know you play League. You can add me if you want.”

“Any server’s fine — KR or CN,” he added quickly.

Before Shu Jia could reply, someone nearby jeered, “Yo, yo, yo, Xiao Ye’s already trying to pull her into his ranked squad. Smooth move, bro!”

“Steady as a rock, man,” another guy laughed, giving a thumbs up.

“Rock my ass!” someone else yelled.

The boy ducked his head, embarrassed, then threw an arm around the guy next to him, and the group dissolved into playful roughhousing.

The door beside her was suddenly pulled open.

A night breeze carrying the mixed scent of tobacco and lemon drifted in.

Shu Jia held her phone in her hands and tilted her head slightly, sitting upright and proper.

She saw a pair of eyes, lashes lowered. The black and clear pupils were like the depths of a dark sea.

It was past midnight. The dining table was cluttered with bowls, cups, and plates.

That dinner dragged on for more than three hours. Many people were already tipsy, leaning back in their chairs with soft smiles, whispering to those beside them.

The smoke in the air had left Shu Jia’s throat dry and sore.

The person next to her leaned over and asked if she wanted to go play games.

She shook her head.

But later, unable to resist Jiang Yuyu’s tugging, she followed her into a room across the way.

As soon as they walked in, a large crowd was already playing—chatting, drinking, singing, bursts of laughter filling the air.

The moment Jiang Yuyu stepped in, she abandoned Shu Jia and dove straight into the crowd.

The lights were dim, and Shu Jia couldn’t see very clearly. She fumbled around and sat down on a sofa near the door.

“You’re sitting on my earphone cord.”

The moment she sat down, a man’s voice suddenly sounded beside her ear, making Shu Jia jump.

“Sorry.” Shu Jia quickly shifted herself to the side.

A man bent over with one hand braced on the edge of the sofa. He saw her move aside and pulled out the white earphone cord.

Then, he sat down next to her.

The noise around them was boisterous. The yellowish light cast over him made him look weary and aloof.

And he seemed to have no interest in socializing at all. After sitting down, he didn’t say a single word.

Shu Jia found herself at an even greater loss for words.

Fortunately, the noisy background kept the atmosphere from becoming too awkward.

Then Shu Jia suddenly remembered something.

Her friend had asked her to find… Shu Jia tried hard to recall.

Wan.

S6WR’s ADC—the boy who could stir up screams from female fans the moment he appeared on screen.

Wearing a black jacket and trousers, he was now sitting quietly beside her.

She pulled a pen from her bag, grabbed a random sheet of sketch paper, and spread it flat across her knees.

“Hello.” Shu Jia hesitated for a moment, organizing her words carefully. “I have a friend who really likes you. Could you sign something for me?”

She held out the pen to him and thanked him politely. “Sorry to trouble you.”

After a moment, the man took the pen from her hand and pointed the pen cap toward her.

Puzzled, Shu Jia turned her head.

He met her gaze silently, resting his head on one hand.

She instantly understood and hurriedly twisted off the cap. But in her mind, her friend’s words suddenly echoed—

Just go for the best-looking one.

Still in that casual posture, the man signed his name directly on the paper laid across her knees.

Wan.

Just three simple letters, but written in a scrawl like a primary school kid’s handwriting. Shu Jia couldn’t help thinking, He looks so cool, but how is his handwriting this bad?

Her lips twitched with a smile she struggled to hold back. “Thank you.”

The silence between them lingered for a moment. Shu Jia racked her brain for something else to say. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Zhou Dang.” His voice wasn’t loud, low and faint.

Shu Jia carefully folded the paper, tucked it and the pen back into her bag, then turned to him with a smile. “I’m Shu Jia. Nice to meet you.”

Just then, a group of people came over, making the small space even more crowded. Clearly, they were here for Wan. Shu Jia even recognized a few of them—they had been the ones joking around in the car earlier.

The group plopped down in twos and threes. One boy sitting next to Wan winked at him, his hushed voice full of amusement: “What, already hitting it off with beast’s goddess so fast?”

“Ye Shen is gonna cry.”

The person in question clearly couldn’t be bothered. He slouched back into the sofa, looking both tired and lazy.

“Scram.”

The guy next to him shoved over a little, pushing Wan closer to Shu Jia.

Close enough that she could catch the faint lemon scent on him, close enough that she could almost hear her own heartbeat.

Someone teased wickedly, “Ah Dang’s mad because we’re cockblocking him.”

The whole group burst into laughter and heckling.

In the midst of the noise, Zhou Dang turned his face slightly toward Shu Jia. “Can you smell the smoke?”

Shu Jia nodded.

He bent down, opened a cigarette pack. Only two sticks left. He pulled one out, slipped it between his lips, and flicked his lighter.

“Dice game. Loser drinks.”

Zhou Dang exhaled a plume of white smoke, tossed the cigarette pack onto the coffee table, and leaned back into the sofa.

Someone in the room was singing Eason Chan’s Skirt Chaser. Shu Jia didn’t join in, just sat quietly to the side.

Voices grew loud and impatient, rowdy shouting filling the space. Many people’s cheeks were flushed red, tipsy with alcohol.

Strangely enough, the only thing Shu Jia clearly remembered afterward was the tattoo on the back of Zhou Dang’s hand—stark in black and white.

She remembered the way he braced his elbows on his knees, head lowered, smoking quietly.

Desire didn’t burn hot. It was like lemon-scented seawater, calm and silent under the moonlight.

---

Author’s Note: Just quietly writing a sweet little story to get through the winter.