CHAPTER 5: CAUGHT FEELINGS? 

“What’s going on? Weren’t you supposed to drink for me?” Jiang Yuyu teased in her message.

Shu Jia ignored her, covering her burning cheeks with her hands as she tapped on the picture over and over, looking at it again and again.

Jiang Yuyu ended up calling directly.

“When did you and Zhou Dang start hooking up?” was her opening line.

Shu Jia hurried to deny it. “No, no.”

“No?” Jiang Yuyu’s tone was dripping with suspicion. “Come on, you can’t fool me. I can tell something’s going on.”

“What could you possibly tell?” Shu Jia asked.

“I can tell you’ve got a thing for Zhou Dang.” Jiang Yuyu gave a smug little laugh and kept poking at her. “As your longtime friend, I’m going with ninety-nine percent instinct here.”

“What?”

“You’re in love, Shu Jia.”

Ever since Jiang Yuyu’s words hit home, Shu Jia had felt like her soul had flown out of her body. She sat dazed on the floor, leaning against her bed.

Her mind drifted back to the first night she’d seen Zhou Dang.

She even remembered the tiniest details. Amid a group of strangers, with the rowdy, gaudy atmosphere, all the beer on the table gone. She’d been slumped over the table, propping her temple with the back of her hand, and when she turned her head slightly, she could see Zhou Dang.

He had single-lidded eyes, but the outer corners were long and slanted, shaped like peach petals. His expression was calm, chatting idly with friends, sometimes breaking into a laugh.

On the left, a sharp white canine tooth, half-hidden, catching lightly on his lips.

It was beautiful.

Shu Jia thought, if she had a tail—

——though it was a little embarrassing to admit—

That night, sitting beside him, she wouldn’t have been able to stop it from wagging.

Afterwards, Shu Jia made dinner in the kitchen, put it in the fridge, tidied up, then told her cousin, “There’s food in the fridge. Heat it up if you’re hungry. I’m going out for a bit.”

Her cousin sprawled on the couch, checked the time, and said, “It’s only seven o’clock! Your nightlife’s starting way too early, sis. Careful with your kidneys.”

With her back to her, Shu Jia sat down to change shoes. “Jiang Yuyu asked me to go to the supermarket with her.”

“Shopping, I’d believe. Supermarket, what kind of excuse is that?”

Shu Jia couldn’t be bothered to reply. She got up, opened the door, and tossed back one last instruction. “Stay home and don’t run around.”

“What flavor do you want?”

Jiang Yuyu was eyeing the rows of ice cream through the glass case, asking Shu Jia.

Shu Jia hugged her bag and thought for a moment. “Whatever you get, just grab me one too.”

Jiang Yuyu frowned and gave her a side-eye. “Can’t you be a little more decisive?”

Shu Jia nudged her, telling her to hurry up.

Jiang Yuyu turned back to make her choice.

“Okay, let’s go.” She finally picked—one matcha, one chocolate.

Shu Jia reached out to take one. “Give it to me, I’ll pay.”

But Jiang Yuyu just lifted both hands out of reach, using her height to her advantage. “I’ll pay.”

Shu Jia was speechless and followed her. “So why the sudden whim to drag me to the supermarket?”

After paying, Jiang Yuyu handed her one of the ice creams. “Because I wanted to hear you talk about your feelings.”

“What feelings?”

“You tell me,” Jiang Yuyu shot back. “Girlish feelings.”

Shu Jia’s face went red. After a pause, she stammered, “Don’t talk nonsense.”

“What nonsense am I even talking about?”

Jiang Yuyu slung an arm around her shoulders and leaned in, lowering her voice like she was sharing some juicy gossip.
“Be honest with me—did you fall for Zhou Dang? I’ve known you for so long, and I’ve never seen you voluntarily block a drink for a guy before.”

Shu Jia stayed silent.

“See? Look at you. That expression says it all.” Jiang Yuyu tilted her head and glanced at her slyly. “If you like him, then just go for it.”

Shu Jia raised her eyes and glanced at her. “He looks like the hard-to-chase type.”

“No, no, no.” Jiang Yuyu calmly shook her head, sounding like she was some kind of expert. “Based on my many years of ‘driving experience,’ Wan—he’s the type whose heart is racing so hard it’s about to kick his lungs out, but his face still looks all cold and emperor-like.”

“Oh.” Shu Jia clearly didn’t believe Jiang Yuyu’s nonsense.

“Fine, then let’s bet on it.”

“What are we betting on?”

Jiang Yuyu’s lips curved into a mysterious smile. “Whether Zhou Dang will chase after you or not.”

Shu Jia replied lazily, “He won’t.”

“No, no, no.” Jiang Yuyu dragged Shu Jia into the elevator, heading for the second floor to get food. “Forget it if you don’t believe me.”

“I can already see the future,” Jiang Yuyu said excitedly. “When Wan chases you, the entire esports circle is going to explode! I’ve even come up with the headline for the gossip posts: ‘LPL’s God of Visuals, Wan, Captivated by the Oxygen Goddess Streamer; A Million Devoted Male Fans Begging for Her Hand.’”

Shu Jia couldn’t help but laugh helplessly. “Oxygen goddess streamer? What even is that supposed to mean?”

“In everyone’s eyes, you’re exactly that type—a gentle, soft beauty who’s as refreshing as oxygen,” Jiang Yuyu said matter-of-factly.

“I’m not just making it up either.” She leaned in, looking like she was about to spill another piece of gossip. “Do you know about the hot meme going around on Weibo right now?”

“What meme?”

“Wan blacklisting his female fans!” Jiang Yuyu widened her eyes when she realized Shu Jia didn’t know. “Hold on, let me find it for you. There’s this one post that had me laughing to death.”

“Here, here, here!” Jiang Yuyu scrolled for a while before finally shoving her phone toward Shu Jia. “Look, look! This one’s hilarious.”

Shu Jia took the phone and glanced down, but the moment she saw the headline, she nearly choked from laughing:

“Absolutely No X-Fans! Wan Goes on a Blacklisting Frenzy Against Female Fans.”

What the hell…

She was dying of laughter and continued scrolling down.

….

Among all the LPL players, WR’s ADC, Wan God, definitely had the most indescribable temper.

He kept all enthusiastic female fans at arm’s length. And not just one or two. Not even three or four. We’re talking an entire batch.
According to insider sources, the number of female fans he’d blocked could probably form a “Wan God Cold Palace Alliance.”

Especially for a pro gamer, this was rare. Even though there were plenty of players who secretly hooked up with fans, Wan had proven with his actions that “shooting your shot from a thousand miles away doesn’t guarantee success.”

But at the same time, people started questioning whether Wan God’s sexual orientation was… normal.

After all, no one had ever seen a girl around him. Fans didn’t know whether they should be relieved or heartbroken.

….

Shu Jia laughed while reading and said to Jiang Yuyu, “You guys have way too much imagination. He’s only nineteen.”

“What about nineteen?” Jiang Yuyu clicked her tongue. “You can have kids at nineteen.”

Shu Jia handed the phone back to her and shook her head. “Forget it, forget it. What does him blocking female fans have to do with me?”

“How does it not have anything to do with you?” Jiang Yuyu took the phone, looking at her like she was hopeless. “That just means you’re the only girl who’s actually managed to get connected to him. Blocking that drink for him? Think about it—that’s super ambiguous.”

Shu Jia fell silent. “I was the one who offered to block the drink. It doesn’t really have anything to do with him.”

“But he didn’t refuse, did he?”

Shu Jia didn’t bother arguing with her anymore and instead focused on helping her younger cousin pick out snacks for the weekend.

Just then, Jiang Yuyu’s phone rang. She answered, “Hello?”

“Where are you guys? We’re on the third floor too!” The voice on the other end asked.

Jiang Yuyu frowned and glanced around.

Shu Jia gave her a suspicious look, suddenly getting a bad feeling. “You’ve got friends coming?”

Jiang Yuyu glanced at her slowly, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

And Shu Jia really did find out soon enough.

They turned the corner—and ran right into a group of people.

Shu Jia froze on the spot, caught completely off guard.

There were five or six young men, some of them wearing WR’s team jerseys, slippers on their feet, clearly having just popped out for a quick grocery run.

But the point was—Zhou Dang was among them.

The moment she looked up, her gaze collided with a pair of clear, deep, silent black eyes.

His hair was cropped short now, clean and neat, just brushing his ears. His skin was pale. The loose, light-blue crew-neck T-shirt made him look lean and a little too thin—like a high school student.

Jiang Yuyu tugged her along, stepping forward to greet them. “Haha, what a coincidence!”

Shu Jia’s heart skipped, her mind going blank, and she instinctively followed her.

One of the guys grinned at them and said, “Coincidence my ass. Weren’t you just on the phone with Abu?”

Jiang Yuyu wasn’t embarrassed at all at being exposed and was clearly close with this group. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was just helping out Little Ye, okay? Brought the goddess here to meet her little fanboy.”

Everyone burst out laughing.

A guy named Beast stammered, face flushing red. “I… I…”

“How have you been in Shanghai for this long and still can’t speak proper Mandarin?” Jiang Yuyu teased him.

Shu Jia gave an awkward smile and greeted them politely. “Hi, I’m Shu Jia.”

“We all know who you are. Beast sneaks into the base to watch your livestream every day,” Abu said, laughing.

GGbond and Zhou Dang were standing at the back, waiting while everyone chatted.

GGbond nudged Zhou Dang with his elbow, lowering his voice as he leaned in.
“The girl next to Jiang Yuyu… isn’t that the one who blocked the drink for you?”

Zhou Dang didn’t answer.

GGbond clicked his tongue twice when he noticed Zhou Dang just staring at her, and couldn’t help sneaking a glance at the girl himself.

She was standing a little away from them, wearing a pale yellow floral dress, her long hair falling softly over her shoulders.

Pretty easy on the eyes.

Zhou Dang still hadn’t said a word. GGbond hesitated, then tested the waters cautiously.
“Don’t tell me… you actually like her?”

He had just been teasing casually, but unexpectedly, Zhou Dang smiled.

And said—

“Probably.”

GGbond’s eyes went wide as he sucked in a sharp breath.

---

Author’s Note:
Aaaaahhhhhh =-= Every time I write scenes between the male and female leads, my inner fangirl explodes…
I have dance class today, but I figured I’d still update. Hmph, not like anyone’s praising me anyway!
Going out for hotpot tomorrow—see you guys later =3 chu chu

Oh, and yes, the whole “blacklisting female fans” thing is real. The real-life inspiration for the ML is also an esports guy and super cold, hahaha, just borrowing that trait~