Chapter 176

“Is this the convenient place you mentioned for the two of us to train?”

Mo Yin leaned against the wall, his mask hanging halfway down his cheek, expressionless.

Ye Chi gripped the private room door, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. He finally understood why the owner had that expression when he and Mo Yin arrived at the shop earlier.

Since Mo Yin logged off last night, Ye Chi couldn’t calm his mind.

Tomorrow, Mo Yin had a day off, and so did they.

During the tournament season, esports teams rarely got holidays, maybe two or three times a month.

It was rare to have a holiday, let alone on the same day.

Could they meet?

This question tormented Ye Chi, and he finally came up with a solution.

Mo Yin’s day off meant staying at the base, mainly for gaming training.

Ye Chi had been a network administrator and maintained a good relationship with the internet cafe’s owner. After becoming a professional player, that internet cafe became a hotspot for esports fans for a while, and the owner made good money. At the beginning of this year, he even renovated the place.

Ye Chi called the internet cafe owner to book a gaming room.

“Tomorrow? Sure, no problem. You can come anytime. Are five of you coming together?” The owner asked warmly. He didn’t play games but knew there were five people in Ye Chi’s team.

“No, just two of us. A clean and tidy room with good soundproofing will do.”

“Okay, got it, no problem.”

Amidst repeated assurances and strange laughter, the owner hung up.

Ye Chi thought the owner might have misunderstood, but on second thought, there wasn’t much room for misunderstanding, and he chuckled softly.

After booking the room, Ye Chi tentatively messaged Mo Yin on WeChat.

Mo Yin agreed.

So, the next day, Ye Chi rented a car to pick up Mo Yin. When they arrived at the internet cafe, Ye Chi took Mo Yin through a concealed back door to avoid being recognized.

The owner had received a call in advance and was waiting at the back door. When he heard the knock, he immediately opened it and smiled upon seeing the tall Ye Chi. “Little Ye is here.”

Ye Chi smiled back. “Thank you, boss.”

As Ye Chi entered through the back door, Mo Yin, who was behind him, finally appeared.

The smile on the owner’s face froze as he saw another tall young man, his expression suddenly colorful.

Ye Chi didn’t know if the owner recognized Mo Yin, so he simply said, “He’s my friend.”

“Oh, a friend…”

Ye Chi asked, “Which floor is the room on?”

The owner mechanically handed over the access card.

The newly renovated internet cafe was modern and futuristic, with silver-metallic stairs. They didn’t take the elevator and went straight to the third floor, swiping open room 316.

Ye Chi opened the door and let Mo Yin enter first.

After Mo Yin entered, he stood at the door for a moment, glanced back at Ye Chi.

Mo Yin still wore a hat and mask, his cold and piercing eyes scanning. Ye Chi’s hand on the door trembled slightly, and he involuntarily smiled.

Mo Yin walked in, leaned against the wall, removed his mask, and asked the crucial question.

The room was indeed clean: a snowy white desk, silver computers, white keyboards, gaming chairs—one blue, one pink—neatly arranged in front of connected computer desks, occupying a third of the room.

The remaining two-thirds were occupied by a large bed.

“Wait here, I’ll go find the boss,” Ye Chi pushed open the door and went out again.

Mo Yin caught a glimpse of Ye Chi’s reddened ears as he passed by.

“Not my fault,” the boss defended himself, “I mean, when you mentioned it last night, I thought that was what you meant, just two people, why would you need good soundproofing? Of course, I misunderstood, and your tone on the phone last night was quite… suggestive…”

Ye Chi sighed helplessly, “Do I seem like that kind of person?”

The boss shrugged, “Who knows, people change, right? You esports guys are all wild. I’ve seen a lot online about players dating internet celebrities, birds of a feather flock together. Besides, you’re young and full of vitality. It’s normal to date.”

Ye Chi didn’t say much and asked, “Do you have a more regular room?”

“We do have private rooms, but they’re not particularly clean. Your friend looks very particular. I specially cleaned up that room for you. I’ll tell you, all the sheets and pillowcases are new.”

Ye Chi fell silent for a moment. “Can you clean up a private room for us now?”

“Sure, wait about twenty minutes. I’ll have someone clean one up for you.”

With negotiations settled, Ye Chi went upstairs.

When he opened the door to the private room, he found Mo Yin already seated in front of the computer, with the game already launched on the screen.

“I talked to the boss. He’ll clean one up for us in twenty minutes.”

“No need.”

Mo Yin selected his hero, his gaze focused intensely on the screen. “The Feng Shui here is good. We’ll get into a game in five minutes.”

The door closed automatically with a click from Ye Chi’s loosened grip.

There was only a pink gaming chair left. Ye Chi pulled it out and sat down, glancing at Mo Yin’s screen.

Mo Yin was playing on his main account, even in broad daylight, managing to get into a game on his server’s top-ranked account was no easy feat.

Ye Chi sat there, hesitated for a while, then spoke up. “The boss misunderstood, so…”

“Misunderstood what?”

Mo Yin’s eyes remained fixed on the game screen as his hands worked the controls, his lips moving lightly as he spoke to Ye Chi. Perhaps because most of his focus was on the game, his words came quickly, almost without hesitation.

Ye Chi’s heart stirred slightly. He took a deep breath. “He misunderstood that I brought my girlfriend here for a date.”

“Oh?” Mo Yin controlled his hero, his tone casual. “Do you often bring your girlfriend to internet cafes to book rooms?”

“Of course not—”

“Oh.”

Ye Chi hesitated for a few seconds, then steadied himself. “I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh.”

“And I’ve never booked a room with anyone.”

“Mm.”

Mo Yin seemed completely uninterested in what Ye Chi was saying.

Ye Chi felt a wave of frustration. He had been so nervous explaining this. To Mo Yin, it probably seemed quite bizarre. What did this have to do with Mo Yin? Mo Yin clearly didn’t care…

After killing the opposing hero, Mo Yin recalled to base and quickly bought equipment. He casually remarked, “So you’re saying you’re a virgin?” As he spoke, Mo Yin’s peripheral vision glanced at Ye Chi. Ye Chi’s eyes were bright black, his expression tense. He seemed calm, but his flushed ears betrayed him.

Mo Yin looked away, returning to the game.

The room was filled with the sounds of mouse clicks and keyboard strokes, along with in-game effects. Ye Chi sat there as if he had been muted.

“Your phone.”

Mo Yin reminded him.

Ye Chi answered the phone.

“The room is ready. Come to the second floor.”

Ye Chi swallowed hard, looking at Mo Yin.

Mo Yin had been calm throughout, whether it was seeing the outrageous bed in the room or their conversation just now.

“The boss said the new room is ready.”

“No need,” Mo Yin turned to look at Ye Chi. “This place is fine.”

“…I’ll go buy some water.”

Ye Chi awkwardly left the room.

The call hadn’t ended, and the boss faintly heard their conversation. He asked over the phone, “Are you changing rooms or not? You don’t want to? Need water? I’ll send up a case.”

Ye Chi felt a bit exhausted. He took a few deep breaths, raised his hand, and said into the phone, “No need, forget it.”

At the end of the third-floor corridor, there was a vending machine. Ye Chi absentmindedly ordered two bottles of water.

With a clunk, the mineral water rolled down. Ye Chi’s heart beat heavily twice. As he regained his senses, he picked up the water and looked towards the direction of the private room, his breathing erratic, his chest rising and falling.

When Ye Chi returned, Mo Yin was about to finish up at the base, already dismantling crystals in front of the base.

“Water.”

Mo Yin focused on the computer screen, extending his left hand diagonally.

Ye Chi looked at Mo Yin’s neatly trimmed fingertips, handed over the water, realized he hadn’t unscrewed it, and reached out to take it back. His fingers touched the surface of the water bottle.

The base exploded.

Mo Yin turned his head, looking up at Ye Chi.

Ye Chi: “…I forgot to unscrew it.”

Because Mo Yin was so focused on gaming, Ye Chi thought to help him unscrew the water bottle. It was a logical thought, but now that Mo Yin had finished the game, he could have easily opened it himself.

Ye Chi felt a flush of warmth spreading across his face and fingertips. He didn’t let go of the bottle. Mo Yin didn’t pull his hand back either. Both hands held onto the water bottle as if they were competing.

Ye Chi composed himself and was about to let go when Mo Yin released his grip first, turning his head to close the game’s settlement interface. He then turned back to look at Ye Chi, his eyelashes falling gently, staring at the water bottle in Ye Chi’s hand.

Ye Chi felt like he was waking from a dream, unscrewing the water bottle and handing it over again.

Mo Yin took the bottle, took a big gulp, and handed it back to Ye Chi.

“Log in, let’s queue for a solo room.”

Mo Yin said, then glanced mockingly at the large bed behind Ye Chi.

Ye Chi: “…”

Ye Chi pulled out the pink gaming chair and sat down, powering up his computer.

The computer booted up quickly. Ye Chi moved the mouse to the game interface, opened the game, paused at the login screen, and turned to look at Mo Yin beside him.

“Even though you might not care about this, I still want to say it. I really haven’t done it.”

Mo Yin logged off his alternate account, his expression as indifferent as ever, showing he really didn’t care.

Ye Chi took a deep breath, turned his head, and entered his username and password.

“Got it.”

It sounded like an illusion, yet somehow he felt Mo Yin had heard him.

Ye Chi turned his head too quickly, and the chair followed with a “whoosh.”

Mo Yin had already logged into his alternate account. Glancing over, Ye Chi’s tense expression visibly relaxed, and a smile even crept onto his lips—a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, but a deep smile in his eyes.

“Give you two seconds to log in.”

In the garden of the complex, seven professional players sat in a circle.

“They must have gone out together.”

Chen Dong gritted his teeth, filled with righteous indignation. He was very upset about Ye Chi secretly hooking up with his idol behind his teammates’ backs.

Ding Wenquan shook his head. “MY doesn’t take vacations to go out.”

“Then what else?” Chen Dong said, “Both of them left the base one after the other. Crazy Brother clearly took Mai Bao away.”

“MY didn’t know Quit before going pro?”

“Impossible,” Sun Yuanyang said decisively, “Crazy Brother’s family background doesn’t support him for such high-end social interactions unless he washed Mai Bao’s car. Does Mai Bao drive?”

Zhang Hanyu, dragged along for the “team building,” sat next to Tang Qi, discussing the new patch.

Suddenly, REAL’s top laner Liancheng said, “Crazy Brother’s alt account is online.”

Tang Qi jolted and quickly pulled out his phone.

Guang Ming realized something and also took out his phone.

The two jungle and support players glanced at each other and said in unison, “MY’s alt account is online.”

“What?” Chen Dong stood up abruptly. “MY has an alt account?”

Seven people, two cars, exchanging intelligence as they mixed and matched.

“They’re both online and not at the base. No need to say more, they must be at the internet cafe!”

“Internet cafes easily expose their whereabouts,” Sun Yuanyang confidently made his judgment from the other car, “So Crazy Brother must have taken Mai Bao to his territory!”

“Mai Bao has never been to an internet cafe…”

Guang Ming frowned, realizing he had also called MY “Mai Bao,” and pursed his lips deeply.

“This is interesting.”

Ding Wenquan folded his arms.

Tang Qi worried, “There are so many of us going over. Won’t that be too conspicuous?”

“It’s okay,” Zhang Hanyu said calmly, “we don’t have many fans.”

Tang Qi: We have a lot of fans!

The two cars arrived at the internet cafe, parked surreptitiously on the side of the road, with no one getting out.

Boldly running over, and then hesitated.

“You go down and see.”

“…I don’t go down. I look good and have fans.”

“Then, Hanyu, you…”

“What do you mean? Am I not handsome?”

“How about… rock-paper-scissors?”

Downstairs, the two cars were arguing over who would go in to investigate, while upstairs in the private room, Mo Yin and Ye Chi had already played three rounds.

Face-to-face communication was more efficient than voice chat. Ye Chi was focused during the game, trying to clear his mind of distractions.

“Take a break,” Ye Chi said, “relax your wrist.”

“Okay.”

Mo Yin half lay down on the bed, his left arm blocking his eyes, his long legs casually draped over the edge of the bed. He was dressed plainly and conservatively, with no skin showing except for his neck and hands, yet it made Ye Chi’s throat instantly dry.

“What？”

Mo Yin seemed unaware of his own attractiveness, oblivious to the gaze directed at him. He appeared completely unguarded, lips moving lightly as he calmly asked back.

“Are you hungry?”