Just as Lu Xiangyang was about to refuse outright, he was surprised to see that Shen Kuangye had already accepted the duo queue invitation.
Little Sheep's in-game home was incredibly lavish—practically every piece of furniture imaginable was there.
As soon as Shen Kuangye entered, he sent a message: "Duo practice?"
Shen Kuangye, under the nickname supersun, replied coldly: "Mm."
[Hiss, I smell some love triangle drama.]
[Not every day you see SUN secretly jealous while duo queuing with Little Sheep. Today's finally the chance to see the main partner show dominance?]
[Let's guess when Little Sheep will realize the person across isn't SUN.]
After Shen Kuangye said "mm," Little Sheep waited over ten seconds before opening the duo training.
He then sent another message: "Voice chat?"
supersun: "No need."
Lu Xiangyang hurriedly took out his phone to explain to Shen Luoyu.
Shen Luoyu quickly replied: "It's fine."
"I thought you were in a bad mood today."
Lu Xiangyang thought Shen Luoyu would give up, but to his surprise, he still sent Shen Kuangye a duo practice invite—though this time his tone was much colder.
"One-on-one killer rounds?"
"Sure."
The two of them then played like they were showing off, trying to take each other down or slip past in under 30 seconds.
It was during this time that the livestream audience first realized just how skilled Shen Kuangye was and how deep his character pool ran.
Shen Luoyu usually played as the human side, but occasionally he'd take the role of the hunter. With a 90% win rate, he easily reached the top rank with 30 stars.
After several rounds, Shen Kuangye displayed a level of mastery that stunned everyone.
To the public, WILD might have seemed just a substitute player. In ranked games, Shen Kuangye always filled whatever role the team lacked, taking on the heaviest responsibilities calmly, no matter the position.
But in these dozens of matches, he used almost entirely different characters each time, each round lasting over 60 seconds.
When Shen Kuangye played as the hunter, he was even more reckless. Even after two months, he hadn't lost the muscle memory built over four or five years, and Shen Luoyu rarely won.
[SUN was already terrifying before, but WILD just redefined my understanding.]
[This person is insanely strong… character pool, fundamentals… just a substitute player is a waste.]
[EAR isn't lacking rescuers or observers right now; roles are fixed.]
[Why can't I hear SUN's voice? Did he fall asleep?]
[And his hunter play is amazing—seems even more skilled than the veteran pros.]
…
When Shen Kuangye came back to himself, he realized his arm was pressed against something soft.
He turned his head and saw that Lu Xiangyang had fallen asleep—probably from leaning over to watch earlier. His face had slowly slid closer to Shen Kuangye's side.
Glancing at the time, it was already past 2 a.m.
Little Sheep started another round, but Shen Kuangye clicked "Exit."
His tone was no longer as gentle as it had been with Lu Xiangyang: "Not joining?"
supersun: "Mm."
supersun: "He's asleep."
[?]
[Wait, are you actually sharing the same bed?]
[Why isn't Little Sheep saying anything?]
[I feel like he's about to break down.]
[Something feels off… as if Little Sheep already knew it wasn't SUN.]
After Shen Kuangye said this, the other party went silent.
Little Sheep's reaction was exactly what he expected. He had only guessed before; now he was certain—this Little Sheep liked Lu Xiangyang.
Thinking of Shen Luoyu's decent face and the gentle smile he gave Lu Xiangyang back then, Shen Kuangye felt a surge of irritation.
He directly left the team room, browsed around Lu Xiangyang's in-game home, bought him a new set of furniture, and after checking out the only pinned note and homepage Lu Xiangyang had for him, his mood finally eased slightly.
[Ending the stream, everyone get some sleep early too.]
After saying this, he quickly exited the streaming app.
As soon as he laid back on the bed, Lu Xiangyang mumbled softly and snuggled closer: "Brother, why aren't you playing anymore?"
Shen Kuangye adjusted his position so he could hold him in his arms and quietly asked: "Did I disturb your sleep?"
Lu Xiangyang shook his head slowly: "Not at all."
His voice gradually faded until there was nothing left.
Shen Kuangye calmed himself, realizing that their behavior tonight had been somewhat childish.
Lu Xiangyang's only pinned game account was him. The only friend on his homepage was him. The only person on his intimacy wall was him.
Little Sheep didn't even come close, he didn't need to care.
He closed his eyes.
At 2:15 a.m., Shen Kuangye opened his eyes.
His mind kept replaying the few matches where he had been unexpectedly defeated by Little Sheep's flashes.
If only he hadn't made those mistakes.
It was as if he had to outplay Little Sheep every time to prove something.
At 2:30 a.m., Shen Kuangye opened his eyes again.
Whenever he closed them, his mind pictured that day—the boy called Little Sheep standing next to Lu Xiangyang.
Shen Kuangye had always been curious: what had they talked about that day?
At 3 a.m., Shen Kuangye woke again.
He frowned, feeling agitated—what was happening to him today?
Every time he closed his eyes, images of Lu Xiangyang and Little Sheep surfaced in his mind.
This feeling was so unfamiliar, Shen Kuangye had never experienced it in over twenty years of life.
At that moment, Lu Xiangyang mumbled sleepily: "Brother, can't sleep?"
Shen Kuangye instinctively said: "No."
He felt he hadn't moved much, yet somehow had woken Lu Xiangyang.
"Liar."
Lu Xiangyang snorted softly. "Brother, you're clearly having insomnia."
As he spoke, he lightly patted Shen Kuangye's back, soothing him like Lu Ning used to, softly humming a lullaby.
Amazingly, Shen Kuangye soon felt sleepy and sank into Lu Xiangyang's embrace.
——
The next morning, Shen Kuangye woke to find Lu Xiangyang gone.
He glanced at the time—just past 8 a.m.
Lu Xiangyang, who used to linger in bed at this hour, seemed to have been waking earlier and earlier for training each day.
Shen Kuangye opened the door and heard Lu Xiangyang voice-chatting with someone—no need to guess who he was duo queuing with.
Expressionless, Shen Kuangye carried a cup downstairs.
Lu Xiangyang, in the middle of an intense match, glanced up quickly and said casually: "Brother, you're awake."
Shen Luoyu paused as well: "Brother?"
Lu Xiangyang explained casually: "It's just WILD."
Shen Luoyu's voice remained gentle: "Are you two biological brothers?"
Lu Xiangyang said: "Not really, it's just—"
Before he could finish, Shen Kuangye set a full cup of water beside him: "Drink up, baby."
Lu Xiangyang looked at him in surprise, mouthing: "I didn't mute my mic."
Shen Kuangye lowered his gaze, voice calm and unapologetic: "Sorry, I forgot."
Shen Luoyu was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed: "You two are really close."
Lu Xiangyang loved hearing this, grinning: "Of course."
"By the way," Shen Luoyu asked, "are you free this weekend? There's a good movie coming out, I want to invite you to watch it."
"To watch a movie?"
Lu Xiangyang repeated the question, thinking.
Shen Kuangye's ears perked up, and he held his breath slightly.
Seconds later, he heard Lu Xiangyang happily agree.
"Sure, no matches Sunday night, so let's go then. I'll still train during the day."
Shen Kuangye's face went stiff: "..."
His anxious heart finally sank.
Shen Luoyu had something else to do, chatted briefly with Lu Xiangyang, then hung up.
"What? You said Aurora went back to Japan? Didn't they just arrive a few days ago?"
Li Shu's voice rang out as he and Xing Xing came downstairs one after the other.
"Who knows? Dinner was fine last night, but Tsuki came back looking grim. Then their team manager told me at 5 a.m. they were leaving, not staying here." Xing Xing sighed. "Came all the way to China, and they leave after barely a few practice matches? We haven't even analyzed their training styles."
"Maybe something urgent came up. Didn't you see Tsuki's face yesterday? Not even ten shocked faces in a row match how terrifying he looked," Li Shu recalled.
"Indeed. Aurora's funded entirely by Tsuki's family business. If he's unhappy, the whole team has to appease him. It's not surprising they left so abruptly."
"At least our club is better," Li Shu pretended to wipe nonexistent tears. "At least we're free."
"Our club's only advantage is probably freedom. Our boss is nothing like Tsuki. Tsuki has family backing; our boss fought his way up from scratch. Loved esports but wasn't good at it, so he used his first earnings to start this club," Xing Xing said, sipping a Sprite.
"Then our boss must be amazing. Why have I never seen him?" Li Shu asked.
"Busy with business," Xing Xing brushed it off.
He pointed to Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang, then looked at Li Shu: "Look at you all. Those two train early every day without a moment's slack. You sleep in, slowly eat breakfast, then play ranked."
Li Shu suddenly exclaimed: "Oh no, I forgot my phone! I'll go upstairs first."
Xing Xing smiled helplessly.
After Li Shu left, he came over to Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang, quietly asking: "No conflicts with Tsuki last night, right?"
Tsuki left first, Shen Kuangye left shortly after, and Lu Xiangyang went out a bit later.
Xing Xing estimated something might have happened during that time.
Lu Xiangyang shook his head blankly: "Nope."
Shen Kuangye calmly replied: "Nope."
"Good. Train well."
Xing Xing patted them on the shoulders, carrying out the club's trash while humming, leaving just Shen Kuangye and Lu Xiangyang.
Shen Kuangye thought that it was actually good Aurora left—if they stayed, the next encounter might have embarrassed Lu Xiangyang.
He suddenly felt a gaze on him. Turning, he saw Lu Xiangyang tilting his head, smiling: "Brother, why did you suddenly call me 'baby' in front of someone else?"