WCG Chapter 73

Jiang Shi quickly realized what he had just said, but this time he didn’t back down. Meeting Xie Xu’s gaze directly, he added, “You’ve never hugged me before.”  

Instead, this stinky cat had enjoyed it far more than he deserved.  

Xie Xu, hearing the sour note in Jiang Shi’s voice, looked at him and said, “I have hugged you before.”  

Jiang Shi was startled. “What?”  

Xie Xu reminded him, “When your foot got stuck in the snow[mfn]hug and carry uses the same character in Chinese[/mfn].”

Jiang Shi immediately thought of that embarrassing moment, and his ears turned red. “That doesn’t count!”  

At the time, he had been covering his face the whole time, too embarrassed to even savor what it felt like to be held by Xie Xu.  

Just as he was preparing to defend himself further, Xie Xu reached out and pulled him into an embrace.  

Jiang Shi’s head bumped into Xie Xu’s shoulder. The faint, clean scent of laundry detergent mixed with his natural fragrance filled his nose. Both unfamiliar and oddly familiar at the same time.  

He hadn’t expected…  

Xie Xu’s execution of such an action was so prompt.  

A hand ruffled the back of his head gently, much like Xie Xu had done earlier when teasing the cat. This time, Xie Xu’s tone carried a hint of amusement as he asked, “Does this count?”  

Jiang Shi had never been hugged like this before. His limbs stiffened as he stood frozen for a moment, but he eventually mustered the courage to return the hug, mumbling, “I guess it counts.”  

“But it has to last longer than the hug you gave that cat. Otherwise, I’ll wrap it up in a blanket tonight and give it a beating.”  

Xie Xu chuckled at his “threat” and agreed, “Alright.”  

However, before the hug lasted ten seconds, the door—left slightly ajar—creaked open.  

“Xiao Shi, is Xu here? Lele said you two went to look for Xiao Hei—”  

Yuan Yang froze mid-sentence, his eyes widening in shock as he looked at the two people embracing by the bed.  

Because of the angle, Jiang Shi locked eyes with Yuan Yang.  

Without thinking, he shoved Xie Xu away and explained at lightning speed, “Yang-ge, the captain said he was feeling dizzy, so I was just helping him steady himself.”  

Jiang Shi’s shove was surprisingly strong. Caught off guard, Xie Xu stumbled back three steps before bumping into the edge of the bed to steady himself.  

Yuan Yang’s gaze flickered between the two of them, and he coughed lightly, saying, “I was just going to ask what you guys wanted for a late-night snack. Never mind, never mind, carry on.”  

Tonight’s game had been a big win for Jiang Shi, so it wasn’t a bad idea to let the “couple” unwind a bit.  

With that thought, Yuan Yang tactfully exited the room and even closed the door behind him.  

As the door clicked shut, Jiang Shi, who had been keeping his distance from Xie Xu, immediately stepped closer, his voice filled with concern. “Captain, are you okay?”  

Xie Xu gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m fine, just a little sore from the push.”  

Jiang Shi’s heart tightened. He leaned down, attempting to lift Xie Xu’s pant leg. “Did you bruise yourself?”  

Xie Xu took a step back and pulled Jiang Shi up. “It’s not that bad.”  

“But earlier today, when you flung my hand away, I hit it on the railing,” Xie Xu said, his tone casual.  

Jiang Shi: “!!!”  

He immediately grabbed Xie Xu’s right hand and examined it from every angle. “Where does it hurt?”  

Xie Xu opened his palm and said, “The side of my pinky finger feels a little off, but it shouldn’t affect gameplay.”  

“Who’s worried about the game?!” Jiang Shi gently prodded Xie Xu’s pinky, his voice tinged with guilt. “This is all my fault. From now on, I promise to hold your hand properly.”  

No more letting go, even if Yuan Yang or Jiang Lele tried to scare him again.  

Xie Xu responded with a soft “Mm.”  

Jiang Shi carefully massaged Xie Xu’s pinky, ensuring there was no major injury. Relieved, he loosened his grip, but he didn’t completely let go and continued to hold Xie Xu’s hand.  

Sneaking a glance at Xie Xu, who was now examining the Snowman figurine in his display case, Jiang Shi felt emboldened enough to play with the small mole on Xie Xu’s hand, watching its color fade and return.  

“Do you like the hero Snowman?” Xie Xu asked, gesturing toward the collection.  

The display case was almost entirely filled with Snowman merchandise, some of which were so rare that even Xie Xu hadn’t managed to get his hands on them.  

“Not really,” Jiang Shi replied, finally letting go of Xie Xu’s hand. “I just happened to grow fond of this merch by coincidence.”  

He only collected snowman merch—nothing else from the franchise appealed to him.  

“What about this one?” Xie Xu pointed to the centerpiece of the display: two figurines of Snowman and Senna posed as if kissing. “Do you like this too?”  

Following Xie Xu’s gaze, Jiang Shi instantly noticed the two dolls. His face turned crimson as he fumbled for an explanation, but no words came.  

He had just arranged them like that today. How did Xie Xu notice them so quickly…  

Jiang Shi closed his eyes and decided to go all in. “Isn’t it obvious?”  

If he didn’t like them, why would he put them in the prime spot of the display case?  

Xie Xu hadn’t expected such a direct response this time. He chuckled softly. “You’re right. My question was unnecessary.”  

Jiang Shi’s desk wasn’t just filled with snowman merch — it also featured various Xie Xu fan items, including a miniature flag with Xie Xu’s chibi avatar from his first competition. Jiang Shi had even found a proper holder for it, creating a neat and thoughtful arrangement.  

In contrast, the other desk was an entirely different story. It was cluttered with odds and ends from Jiang Shi’s previous move, some belonging to the cat and some to himself.  

What didn’t fit on the desk was shoved into a box under it, creating a stark contrast to the tidy display case nearby.  

Even the back of Jiang Shi’s chair had a tank top draped over it, with a red-edged piece of clothing underneath revealing a partial Superman logo.  

Jiang Shi’s eye twitched, and he quickly bundled up the tank top and Superman shirt, stuffing them into his wardrobe. “They’re clean, I just forgot to put them away.”  

Not stopping there, he swept everything off his desk into the box beneath, kicking it further under the desk to hide it. “I’m usually not this messy—it’s just been a hectic training period.”  

Xie Xu, seeing Jiang Shi’s flustered state, calmly said, “I’m not here to inspect your room for cleanliness.”  

For a 19-year-old boy, a messy room was entirely normal.  

Hearing that Xie Xu didn’t mind, Jiang Shi secretly sighed in relief. “By the way, I think my old mic is in that box. I’ll need it later, let me find it.”  

But instead of finding the microphone, he unearthed a poster of a male celebrity.  

Frowning, Jiang Shi crumpled it up and tossed it into the trash.  

Xie Xu recognized the celebrity—a hugely popular figure often praised for his godly looks.  

“Do you like him? TKI has other products associated with him.”  

The implication was that Jiang Shi could meet the celebrity if he wanted to.  

“Bamboo stuffed that into my hands, saying the guy was handsome,” Jiang Shi replied while rummaging through the box. “He’s just average!”  

Too much makeup — not even half as good-looking as Xie Xu.  

Realizing what he had just said, Jiang Shi looked up seriously at Xie Xu. “Captain, don’t ask me questions like that again. You already know who I like best.”  

Finally pulling out the microphone, Jiang Shi set it on the desk and stood up. “We won against Lion tonight, so I don’t have to deal with those CP fans hating me. Plus, my upcoming keyboard ad will turn out great.”  

“I’ll try my best to bring in more sales, land more endorsements, and make more money.”  

He reached out tentatively, trying to hold Xie Xu’s hand. “Yang-ge even said that if I re-sign next season, my value will at least double from now.” 

“Captain, I’m not bad—I’ll make sure you have a good life.”  

Xie Xu looked at Jiang Shi’s earnest face, suppressing a smile. “What kind of life?”  

The question stumped Jiang Shi.  

Caught up in his grand promises, he hadn’t thought about the specifics.  

After some hesitation, he said, “I can get up half an hour early to make wontons for you. Does that count?”  

Xie Xu couldn’t help but laugh, ruffling Jiang Shi’s hair. “It counts.”  

What a great sacrifice.  

Jiang Shi, seeing the smile in Xie Xu’s eyes, couldn’t help but grin. “So, Captain, you’d better think it over quickly. Once you’ve decided, I’ll start making wontons for you!”  

Then, as if remembering something, he added, “I know you have a lot of fangirls. We can keep it a secret—you don’t have to worry about that.”  

Being a “secret lover” made it all the more thrilling~

Hearing Jiang Shi’s thoughtful suggestion, Xie Xu’s gaze softened slightly.  

So, is this why Jiang Shi didn’t hesitate to push him away in front of others?  

“Jiang Shi, were you and your ex-boyfriend also keeping it secret?” Xie Xu asked casually, as if changing the topic. “But it seems like your livestream fans all know about him.”  

At the mention of his ex-boyfriend, Jiang Shi’s internal alarms went off.  

Bringing up an ex in the context of a new relationship was taboo.  

Even if Jiang Shi was a bit clueless at times, he understood that much.  

“Captain, he doesn’t matter,” Jiang Shi gritted his teeth. “To be honest, I broke it off before we even properly started. I don’t even know his name.”  

That guy’s ID was just a string of numbers, and Jiang Shi couldn’t even remember it now.  

But at the time, he had been truly, deeply in love. After the breakup, he mentioned it in his livestreams for so long that his fans all remembered he had an ex-boyfriend.  

“You don’t know his name?” Xie Xu lowered his gaze, fixing Jiang Shi with a steady look. “Then what did you call him?”  

Jiang Shi instantly fell silent, no matter how intensely Xie Xu stared at him.  

There was no way he could admit that he used to cling to the guy, calling him “gege” every day…  

He hadn’t even called Xie Xu “gege” more than a couple of times..

Jiang Shi’s heart raced as he quickly leaned into Xie Xu’s embrace and whispered, “I swear, I’ve completely forgotten about him. Back then, it was just a silly fling.”  

“I only like you now, Captain.”  

If Bamboo were there, he would definitely call Jiang Shi a scumbag, saying he’d spout any lie to placate Xie Xu.  

With his face buried in Xie Xu’s chest, Jiang Shi’s expression was hidden from view. Similarly, he couldn’t see Xie Xu’s face.  

Xie Xu remained silent for a long time, so long that Jiang Shi’s arms, wrapped around his waist, began to stiffen. Finally, Xie Xu responded, “In private, you don’t have to call me Captain.”  

Jiang Shi looked up, testing the waters. “Call you Xie Xu? Or—”  

“Gege?”  

Jiang Shi naturally elongated the word with a playful tone, sounding like he was begging. After saying it, his ears turned bright red, his clear eyes looking both obedient and endearing.  

Xie Xu held his gaze for a few seconds before asking, “Have you called anyone else gege before?”  

Jiang Shi answered without hesitation, “Of course not.”  

In other words, the only times he’d ever used the term were for Xie Xu.  

Xie Xu looked at the bashful Jiang Shi in his arms, hesitated briefly, and finally replied with a soft “Mm.”  

Perhaps that was true.  

---

In the end, it was Yuan Yang who knocked on the door and dragged the two lovebirds out of the room.  

Falling in love didn’t mean they could neglect training. One hour was the absolute limit of his patience.  

Thus, Jiang Shi had no choice but to take his battered old microphone to the training room.  

Originally, he wanted to duo-queue with Xie Xu, but for some reason, Xie Xu seemed uninterested, saying he wanted to review today’s game videos first and would queue with Jiang Shi later.  

Left with no choice, Jiang Shi reluctantly accepted Jiang Lele’s invitation to trio-queue. 

However, after a few games, Yu Hui abruptly quit, giving a simple reason—

He couldn’t hear Jiang Shi properly. Combined with Jiang Lele’s incessant chatter, the noise was unbearable.  

Jiang Shi patted his microphone. “Is the static really that bad?”  

Had the sound quality deteriorated from being left unused for so long?  

Jiang Lele winced at the piercing noise in his headset, pulling it away from his ears. “T Bao, your microphone is worse than those cheap electric static mics. Your voice sounds like it’s underwater, muffled and heavy.”  

He was lucky if he could make out nine out of ten words Jiang Shi said.  

“No way,” Jiang Shi muttered, puzzled. “I used this for a long time when I streamed.”  

“Though back then, my livestream didn’t have many viewers, so maybe no one mentioned it?”  

Jiang Lele could only thank his lucky stars that he hadn’t been subjected to this microphone when he became a fan of Jiang Shi. “Good thing I wasn’t tortured by this mic. It’s awful…”  

Jiang Shi: “…”  

“Hey, don’t spread lies. Back when I used this mic, someone even said my voice was cute.”  

Although, to be fair, it was him shamelessly pestering his ex-boyfriend, who had reluctantly responded with an “Mm.”  

Back then, he had no problem communicating with his ex. Every word he said was heard and even received a response.  

“Who’s the unlucky guy?” Jiang Lele asked, looking disgusted. “Anyone who could call your voice cute must’ve really been in love with you.”  

He assumed it was one of Jiang Shi’s friends, like Bamboo.  

Jiang Lele always spoke loudly, and after he finished, Jiang Shi clearly felt the weight of someone’s gaze on him.  

His heart skipped a beat, and he began spinning nonsense. “What love? He was just someone unimportant.”  

“Back then, he kept begging me to help him rank up. If it weren’t for the sake of knowing him, I would’ve turned him down ages ago.”  

Xie Xu: “…”  

He looked at Jiang Shi with a faint, amused smile. “Didn’t you say you’d forgotten him completely?”  

Jiang Shi: “…”  

Too many lies, and now he couldn’t keep them straight.  

Before he could come up with a new excuse, a team request suddenly popped up in the squad.  

[TLG-Xu has applied to join your team. Do you accept?]  

Xie Xu put on his headset. “What’s up with your mic? Let me hear it.”