Since they were in the middle of a match earlier, there wasnt any room to think about other things. Only now did Xiao Bai realizeJian Rong was using his ges thermos this entire time during the competition?!

Actually, it was quite common for those of the same gender to share drinks. Xiao Bai couldnt really care less about that, as he himself frequently helped Pine finish off his milk tea, coffee, milk, and so on and so forth.

But his ge was different.

Back when they were still little stars scattered throughout a certain area of Shanghais rented apartments, which were even worse off than a school dorm, they all used the same stainless steel cups. One time, Kan accidentally drank from Lu Boyuans cup. Though his ge hadnt said anything, he hadnt touched that cup again.

To call it mysophobia was a bit excessive. He just simply wasnt fond of his personal belongings being used by other people.

Upon discovering that the person next to him had gone mute, Lu Boyuan asked, Not going to continue?

Xiao Bai said, Im done.

After they returned to the break room, Ding-ge greeted them each with a big hug.

Incredible. Ding-ge raised the phone in his hand. I wont say anything else, Ive already made a reservation at a restaurant. Although it isnt the finals yet, these are special circumstances, and everyone performed extremely well, so we have to celebrate that somehow once the MVP interview is done, well head straight over. No need to practice this evening, have a good nights rest.

They were all too excited after winning the match, so the couch was completely empty. Instead, everyone stood and gathered around the doorway.

Lu Boyuan was worried that Jian Rong would be thirsty if he finished the coffee, so he handed the thermos back to him. I didnt add much sugar, is it too bitter.

As Jian Rong took back the bottle, their fingers bumped against each other.

He said lowly, Its not, it tastes good.

There were people surrounding them on all sides, giving them their congratulations and compliments.

After winning the semifinals, and then sharing an indirect kiss with Lu Boyuan in front of the camera, Jian Rongs heart was beating as fast as it had during the match.

Lu Boyuan was telling Moon about a few mistakes he had made while ganking the top lane in the third game.

When Lu Boyuan spoke, his Adams apple would occasionally bob up and down. Jian Rong glanced at it a few times before he twisted open the thermos lid and finished the rest of the coffee in one gulp.

Soon, a staff member came to fetch this matchs MVP for the solo interview.

In fact, they had all performed quite well during this semifinals match, and a brilliant outplay could be cut out for almost each member. Even Moon, who stepped up to the plate at the last minute, hadnt dragged the team down.

However, if they had to pick one person who played the best, even a random Bronze player would be able to definitively give the correct answer.

Two minutes later, Jian Rong appeared on the interview set.

The host couldnt help but shoot a few looks downward when he realized that Jian Rong had arrived while grasping something in his hands.

Jian Rong:

He forgot to put down the thermos beforehand.

Fortunately, the host remained professional, and he wasnt as gossipy as the previous troublemaker host. As was the standard, he asked several questions concerning the match.

Now that you just got the first penta kill of your professional career, do you feel extremely excited?

Mn.

There wasnt the slightest trace of excitement in his voice.

The host maintained his smile. why did you want to play Cassiopeia this time? As far as I can remember, it seems like you havent really played this champion too often. Could it be a secret weapon that youve kept hidden until now?

No. Jian Rong said indifferently, Cassiopeia relies on her teammates in the early game, and if you cant get an advantage, theres no way to play her. My accounts luck is bad and I dont run into many good players in ranked. Also in matches, Ive been playing the meta champions this entire time, which is why I havent really played her.

Then is there anything you want to say to Fighting Tiger?

Jian Rong glanced behind him before he said, Theyve probably already returned to their base by now, right? If I say it, can they hear me?

The host held back his laughter and asked his last question. Since Road didnt play during this semifinals, were you under more pressure than you ever were in the past? We all noticed that you were playing extremely carefully and cautiously these past few games. In the last round, you were also working hard to destroy the Nexus by yourself

Jian Rong replied with a question of his own. Isnt it normal to destroy the Nexus?

The host:

If this were anyone else, it would be normal, but do you not have any clue what kind of person you are.

Its true that I played very carefully today. Its the result of our training that Coach drilled into us while holding a stick in the back. Jian Rong paused briefly. Though, today I did indeed really want to win.

After the interview concluded and Jian Rong left the set, his teammates were already waiting by the back door. Lu Boyuan carried Jian Rongs equipment bag over his left shoulder and was in the middle of replying to a message on his phone.

Jian Rong was about to make his way over when a series of footsteps suddenly sounded from behind him. Before he could react, someone hooked their arm around his shoulders.

Xiao Rong, you played so beautifully today!

Jian Rong whipped his head around. Only then did he recall that Shiliu was also present at the stadium tonight. Since they had practice and couldnt leave the base, he had asked Ding-ge to help deliver the free tickets to Shiliu.

When you picked Cassiopeia, the fans sitting near me were even saying oh no, oh no, it was so funny Shiliu patted his shoulder in a brotherly fashion before he released him and smiled. If Im not remembering incorrectly, you used Cassiopeia to climb to rank one on the domestic server back then, right?

Mn. Jian Rong headed towards his teammates. You came by yourself?

Shiliu followed him and shook his head. No. Since you gave me two tickets, I brought a bro with me, but something came up last minute so he had to leave first.

Jian Rong nodded and walked over to Lu Boyuan. He glanced at his hand first before he said, Give me the equipment bag, I can carry it myself.

Lu Boyuan stood there solidly without moving. He swept a look at Shiliu and asked, despite knowing the answer, A friend?

Shiliu was a long-time social butterfly, and he immediately extended his hand towards Lu Boyuan. God Lu, we met at the finals last year, which I went to together with Xiao Rong ah, I forgot that you cant give any handshakes

I remember now. Its fine, Lu Boyuan smiled faintly, I can.

Lu Boyuans hand was still wrapped in bandages, so they shook hands loosely.

Understanding dawned belatedly on Shiliu, and he asked, Do you guys have a celebratory feast planned or something along those lines? If you do, I wont go and butt in.

Its not a celebratory feast. Yuan Qian said, amused, This is only the semifinals, whats there to celebrate? Were just going out to eat.

Okay, you guys go ahead. Shiliu pumped his fist. Good luck in the finals!

Jian Rong turned his head and asked, Then what will you do for dinner?

Shiliu: Dont worry. Shanghais so big, I wont starve.

Jian Rong furrowed his brows, somewhat hesitantShiliu had looked after him quite a bit back when he first started streaming. Afterwards, when Shiliu visited Shanghai, Jian Rong was always the one who took him around. Now that they hadnt seen each other in a few months, it didnt feel right to just exchange a few words and then leave.

Lu Boyuan said, Lets all go eat together.

Startled, Jian Rong looked at Lu Boyuan.

Shiliu hadnt expected for Lu Boyuan to speak up and invite him either. Ah? Wont it be inconvenient

Theres nothing inconvenient about it, Ding-ge instantly said. I reserved a private room, so theres plenty of space. Its not a problem to go together.

In the first place, Shiliu was a very extroverted person. Since even the teams manager had spoken, he definitely wouldnt keep declining the offer.

The reservation Ding-ge made was at a famous restaurant, and they could see the river scenery from inside the private room.

You all are allowed two small cups of alcohol today. Ding-ge picked up the wine glass to illustrate his point. Two drinks of this size, okay? Youll be fined if you drink more than thatXiao Lu, your hand is still injured, dont drink anything.

Shiliu picked up the bottle of wine, wanting to pour some for Jian Rong too. Jian Rong was about to refuse when someone blocked the opening of his glass for him. Because there were still bandages wrapped around the hand, it only hovered above the glass and didnt actually touch it.

Lu Boyuan said, He cant drink that.

Shiliu was taken aback. No way. He can drink, he used to always order alcohol back when we ate midnight snacks together.

Once bitten, twice shy. Jian Rong recalled the mess he had made of himself the last time he drank in front of Lu Boyuan, and he said, I still need to practice once I get back to the base, so no thanks.

Right as Shiliu set down the wine, Lu Boyuan feigned nonchalance as he asked, Did you eat midnight snacks together often?

We ate together a lot when I used to live in Shanghai. Shiliu said, After I moved back to my hometown to stream, it wasnt very easy to do so anymore.

Most likely because Jian Rong didnt talk a lot about himself, the other members were quite interested in this topic of conversation.

Xiao Bai was in the middle of redownloading those deleted apps. Youve known him for a long time then?

I met him at an internet cafe half a year after he first started streaming. At the time, he was only fifteen? Or even younger? Shiliu sighed. I can probably say that I watched him grow up.

Jian Rong felt like Shilius words made him seem like a child. With a wooden expression, he said, It was only a few years, so it doesnt count.

Shiliu laughed. Sure, so be it. I still remember, when I saw him in the internet cafe, he was gaming while also typing and flaming someone at the same time. I was staring in awe.

Yuan Qian: Did he already have this hair color when you first met him?

No, it was black. You know, his black hair made him look especially young, which was why all the people in the stream kept thinking he was a primary school student at the beginning

Xiao Bai snickered. A few days ago, a water friend also said I looked as youthful as a primary school student.

Pine: They were saying your mechanics were like a primary school students, there was no youthful part. Dont beautify your own memory.

Men became a lot more talkative after drinking alcohol, and they started discussing topic after topic around the table.

After eating and drinking his fill, Jian Rong ducked his head and pulled out his phone to check his unread messages. There were too many, with over forty unread messages from WeChat alone. They were all from those streamers that he had added as friends but had never really talked to, congratulating him on getting into the finals.

Lu Boyuan was listening to Shiliu talk about some events that took place back when he and Jian Rong first began duo queueing and streaming together. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Jian Rongs WeChat was filled with texts from profile pictures that contained girls all the way down.

Jian Rong clicked on the chat at the very top. He was contemplating whether to reply or not when someones fingertips suddenly scraped lightly against the back of his neck.

Jian Rongs nape was an extremely sensitive area, and he instantly locked his phone and sat up straight.

The others were still chatting. The influence of the alcohol somewhat magnified all of their voices, and they were currently asking Yuan Qian when he was going to marry Youyou, causing the entire room to be filled with rowdy cheers.

Their chairs were placed a bit close to each other. Very naturally, Lu Boyuan propped his elbow up on the back of Jian Rongs chair and gently twisted Jian Rongs hair between his fingers where the others couldnt see. Occasionally, his fingers would also brush against the skin near the tips of Jian Rongs hair.

Lu Boyuan was extremely fond of stroking Jian Rongs hair, as it was very soft. Jian Rongs hair was short, so every time he showered he would just go ahead and wash his hair too. As a result, even though he was clearly a relatively careless little video game nerd, his hair still smelled fragrant every single day.

When Xiao Bai turned in their direction to say something, Lu Boyuan felt Jian Rong give an obvious jolt.

Lu Boyuan was amused. He didnt want Jian Rong to be too nervous, so he let go of that lock of hair.

He was about to withdraw his hand when Jian Rong suddenly leaned backwards, rubbing his hair against Lu Boyuans index finger.

Taking advantage of his tipsiness, Xiao Bai once again asked the question that he had been curious about during the past few days. Ge, who exactly is the partner you mentioned before?

Lu Boyuans fingers stretched into Jian Rongs hair, and he chuckled. Take a guess.

Though Ding-ge said to only drink two cups, in the end some people still drank too much. Xiao Bai went back to the base while hanging off of Pine, whereas Yuan Qian directly called a car to send his girlfriend back home before returning to the base.

The only clear-headed people were the two who hadnt touched any alcohol.

Especially Jian Rong.

As he was showering in his room, he couldnt resist the urge to lower his head and knead the back of his neck. While rubbing that area, he thoughtwhat in the world was the reward that Lu Boyuan had mentioned?

It was already eleven had he forgotten?

If Jian Rong went to remind him, would that make him seem too fussy and demanding?

After exiting the bathroom, Jian Rong draped the towel over his head and opened his chat with Lu Boyuan on his phone. Right as he was hesitantly typing out a few words, a voice call suddenly came in.

Jian Rong swiftly answered the call. whats up?

The sound of water came from Lu Boyuans end. What are you doing right now?

Just finished taking a shower.

Im out of shampoo. There was a bit of an echo to Lu Boyuans voice. Lend me some of yours?

Jian Rong set out, carrying his personal bottle of shampoo.

Lu Boyuans room wasnt locked. The moment he walked in, the bathroom door opened, and Lu Boyuan came out holding a hair dryer.

The fragrant scent of shower gel clung to him, and his hair was clean and straight. It was evident that he had just finished blow-drying his hair.

Jian Rong looked at the hair dryer in his hand. Werent you out of shampoo?

Lu Boyuan reached out and closed the door before he leaned over and quickly gave him a kiss. I was afraid that you would run into someone on the way here and wouldnt be able to explain it, so I told you to bring it as an excuse.

Although their rooms were only a scant distance apart, Xiao Bai liked to sleepwalk after he had too much to drink. He had already paced back and forth seven or eight times along the corridor earlier, while also knocking on each of their doors.

Lu Boyuan said, Come here. Ill help you dry your hair.

Jian Rong subconsciously said, Your hand

I can do it with my left hand. Lu Boyuan called again, Come here.

Jian Rong sat on the bed with his back to Lu Boyuan. Clearly, Lu Boyuan wasnt very used to blow-drying someone elses hair, and his movements were clumsy. Jian Rongs hair turned into a complete mess after he was done.

Every time Lu Boyuans fingers sunk into his hair, a tingle would run down Jian Rongs back.

As a result, even after the hair dryer was turned off, Jian Rongs breathing was still quite heavy.

At that moment, the sound of a push notification abruptly came from under a pillow. When Lu Boyuan set down the hair dryer and lifted up the pillow, Jian Rong saw the phone placed underneath it.

The push notification had already automatically disappeared. The phone screen was frozen on the video that its owner hadnt exited out of before going to shower.

Sensing that the image was a bit familiar, Jian Rong leaned forward a little. After he fully discerned what was on the screen, he looked back in astonishment and asked, This video where did you find it?

It was a recording of one of Jian Rongs streams. The ID of the Cassiopeia on the screen was China Servers Number One Dad. It was Jian Rongs earliest ID, but it had eventually ended up censored by Riot.

At the very least, this video was three years old. Meanwhile, his earliest stream replay saved on the streaming platform was a video from last February.

Your Tieba. Lu Boyuan locked his phone. I put up a post in the forum, and a fan sent me the videos that they had collected.

Since the start of Jian Rongs fourth month of streaming, that hardcore fan had saved four or five of Jian Rongs stream recordings every month.

Jian Rong was still confused. Why are you watching these videos?

Lu Boyuan had searched up Jian Rongs videos before. However, at the time, it was for the sake of observing Jian Rongs technique, so the videos from the past year were more than enough.

Now, trying to find videos from even earlier it was because he wanted to see how Jian Rong had grown up by himself.

At the beginning, he was reticent and silent. When he saw a comment appear in the barrage, his eyes would light up, but after discovering that it was just an , he would lower his eyes again and sulk.

Back when he had black hair, he was indeed very well-behaved. Upon encountering girls who greeted him, he would awkwardly respond with an en or thank you. He ate every meal in front of the computer: steamed buns, instant noodles, eggs. It didnt matter how disgraceful of a meal it was.

Later, once he signed a contract with the platform, he still wasnt very popular, but at least he had a base salary. Finally, he became a bit more livelywhich was mainly displayed when he flamed and was flamed by LoL trolls.

After his popularity began to slightly pick up, Jian Rongs stream started to frequently be banned for five minute intervals due to reports from his own water friends. When the ban was up, he would continue to trade insults with them, and then he would end up being banned again. Currently, of the videos that Lu Boyuan had watched so far, the one with the highest record showed Jian Rong once being banned seventeen times in a single day.

Lu Boyuan rubbed his face. I wanted to see what my boyfriend was like in the past.

No way. Jian Rong remembered the expletives that he used to say in his streams, and he twisted around as he blurted out, Whats there to see? Its not like I was a particularly good person before.

Lu Boyuan laughed. Not good in what way? You were quite cute.

Im a guy, whats cute about me

Who knows. Lu Boyuan said mildly, Its probably because youre the one I like, which is why I think that youre cute.

To someone who personally believed that he was the most badass cool guy in the world, being praised as cute truly wasnt something worth getting very excited over.

Not even if it was coming from his boyfriend.

Jian Rong went silent for a few seconds, expressionless, before he said, But I like you, and I dont think that youre cute.

Jian Rong licked his lips. Anyway, stop watching those videos, I really wasnt up to any good back then. I constantly argued with my teammates, and the things I said were unpleasant too. Also, I participated in those dumbass PKs

Before Jian Rong could finish his sentence, Lu Boyuan tugged him onto the bed and pushed him down to kiss him.

After Lu Boyuan was done with the kiss, he turned his face to the side and huffed out a laugh. Then, he leaned down to kiss him again. He asked, Do you not argue with your teammates anymore? Xiao Bai would be furious if he heard that.

Jian Rong stared at Lu Boyuans lips and said hoarsely, thats what he deserves.

Both of their mouths tasted like the peppermint flavor from their toothpastes. Jian Rong was also more experienced now, and he hooked one arm around Lu Boyuans neck while he clutched at Lu Boyuans sheets with his other hand. He tilted his chin slightly upwards as he responded.

The bed was filled with Lu Boyuans scent, and Jian Rong inevitably recalled what they did here last time. He reacted even faster than he had any time before.

When Lu Boyuan reached out and touched his waist, Jian Rong trembled.

As he was closing his eyes, he suddenly thought of something. With a quiver, Jian Rong instantly grabbed onto Lu Boyuans shirt. Hang on

He stared at the bandages on Lu Boyuans hand. His face bright red, he said nervously, Dont do it, you still cant move your hand yet.

It wont affect it.

It will!! No matter what, Jian Rong wasnt willing to back off, and he started to prop himself up.

Lu Boyuan pressed him back down.

He said, Its not like I only have hands.

Jian Rongs pajama pants were very loose. With one tug, they fell with no force needed.

Jian Rong didnt understand, all the way up until Lu Boyuan ducked his head and shifted downwards

The moment he made contact, the area around Jian Rongs tailbone immediately tingled. His entire body arched up as he unconsciously grabbed hold of Lu Boyuans hair. Dont dont do that

Clang.

The sound of a door opening came from outside the roomXiao Bai was out once again to sleepwalk.

Upon hearing Xiao Bai knock on his own door and ask foolishly if he wanted to go down and eat breakfast together, goosebumps erupted all over Jian Rongs body.

Lu Boyuan didnt stop.

Jian Rong wanted to let out his voice, but at the same time, he didnt dare to. He felt like he was about to fall apart.

A few seconds later, he snatched up a random pillow next to him and bit down onto it.

Wei: Im back!!! And done with finals!!! What a thrilling chapter to return to ahhhh ::blushing::