The night was deep.
Shawn finished washing up half an hour early, sat properly in front of his computer, put on his headphones, and solemnly logged into League of Legends. He stared at the grayed-out ID in his friends list—SilentScythe—and his heart, betraying him, began to pound wildly.
He had to get on good terms with Simon! The astronomical sum of five hundred thousand dollars depended on it.
Time ticked by, second by second. Just as Shawn was about to wear a hole through his gaming chair from sitting, the gray icon finally lit up.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" Simon's clear voice came through the headphones, with a slight static crackle. It sounded less distant than during the day, and a bit more... magnetic?
"I can hear you! I can hear you!" Shawn's voice was an octave higher from excitement, sounding just like a duck whose neck had been stepped on.
"Ready?" Simon asked.
"Ready when you are!"
The game began.
Shawn picked his best AP mage, LeBlanc, and headed to the mid lane. Simon, on the other hand, locked in a highly mechanical jungler, Lee Sin.
"Do you always play so... aggressively?" Shawn couldn't help but ask, watching Simon swagger into the enemy jungle right at the start of the game.
"This isn't being aggressive," Simon's calm voice replied. "This is called invading. The enemy jungler is weak early game. Who else's mental are you gonna break?"
Shawn's palms were sweating with nervousness. He controlled his Morgana, carefully last-hitting minions in the mid lane. He was terrified that a single mistake would drag this pro down.
"Mid, be careful. The enemy jungler might be coming to gank you," Simon warned.
"Where?" Before Shawn could react, Lillia shot out of the bush. In coordination with the enemy mid laner, Lux, they hit him with a full combo, leaving him with critical health.
"Fuck! Help! I'm dead, I'm dead!" Shawn yelled in a panic, nearly crushing his mouse in his grip.
"Don't panic. Run under your tower, bait out his CC," the voice in his headphones was still steady. "I'm on my way. He has no flash."
Just as Shawn was about to be killed, Simon's jungler hero flipped over the nearby wall like a ghostly black shadow. A brilliant flash of light crossed the screen, accompanied by the crisp sound of a kill. The two enemies, who had been swaggering just a moment ago, instantly became two corpses.
Double kill!
"Holy shit..." Shawn stared at the screen, his mouth hanging open in an "O." "Are... are you smurfing? You just one-shot them with your flying kick ultimate!"
"Jungle diff," Simon's tone was unruffled, with a hint of 'of course.' "You were good bait. Let's go, take dragon."
The rest of the game turned into Simon's personal highlight reel. He carried Shawn, the mid laner who could occasionally land a CC ability, and they dominated the Rift. Shawn's job was simple: stick close to Simon, and after he dived in, mash all the QWER keys on his keyboard and then shout "Awesome!"
Meanwhile, Simon was responsible for using all sorts of unbelievable plays to completely destroy the enemy team, who even typed out the indignant accusation "report x9 jungle" in all-chat.
"GG!"
When the enemy's Nexus exploded and the giant word "VICTORY" appeared on the screen, Shawn jumped up from his chair in excitement.
"We won! We won! You're a god, you're so fucking good!"
"Mm," Simon chuckled lightly. "It was alright."
Just like that, Shawn was carried by Simon, and they won several games in a row. He was ecstatic, feeling like he had never enjoyed this game so much. He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being carried to victory.
The next day, when Shawn went to work at the "Brokeback Mountain" coffee shop, his whole demeanor was different.
He looked at Simon, who was focused on making pour-over coffee behind the counter, his eyes filled with an undisguised gleam. In his eyes, Simon was no longer just a cold boss, but a walking, breathing, five-hundred-thousand-dollar... mobile vault.
He kept staring at Simon, his gaze burning, so intently that he forgot to move for a long while. He studied Simon's hands—those well-defined, long, and strong hands. Every movement in making coffee looked like he was printing money. He looked at Simon's calm profile, the abacus in his mind clacking away: one look could earn him five hundred dollars. If there were a few more "accidents," wouldn't he be able to achieve financial freedom this summer?
Simon felt the gaze that was practically burning a hole through him.
His movement of pouring water paused for a moment, and he cleared his throat, a little uncomfortable. He tried to ignore the gaze, but wherever he went, it followed him like a spotlight. His movements as he wiped the cups began to grow a little stiff. Even when he was making latte art for a customer, his hand trembled slightly, and the perfect heart turned into... a strange kidney bean.
The customer's expression became a little strange.
Shawn was completely unaware of how much trouble he was causing. He just found it strange. Why did his moneybags seem a little unhappy?
"Hey," Simon finally couldn't take it anymore. He put down the cup he was holding, wiped his hands with a cloth, and then, crossing his arms, leaned against the counter and raised an eyebrow at Shawn.
Shawn snapped out of his daze. "Huh?!"
"Is there something on my face?" Simon's tone was flat but held a hint of impatience. "Or is my apron on backward?"
"No! Nothing! Nothing at all!" Shawn shook his head frantically in a panic, his hands waving wildly in front of him as if directing traffic. "I... I was just spacing out! Right, spacing out! I was thinking... thinking about the meaning of life!"
Simon looked at his incoherent state, and the corner of his mouth curved into a very faint, mixed expression of helplessness and amusement, but it immediately returned to calm. "Is that so? And what conclusion did you come to?"
"...The conclusion is... we should all work hard?" After saying this, Shawn immediately picked up a cloth from the floor and, with the speed of someone fleeing for their life, rushed to the farthest corner, pretending to wipe a table that was already so clean it was reflective.
As he pretended to wipe the table, he was having a fierce argument with the system in his mind. "This damn system... when I don't need it, it spams me with missions, tripping and staring contests. Now when I really need it, it won't even issue a side quest like 'How to Fleece Your Moneybags for More Wool.' It's completely silent, playing dead at the critical moment. What's the use of you!"
The moment the words left his mouth.
[Ding!]
A small, translucent blue screen flickered into view.
Shawn's spirits lifted. Here it comes!