# Chapter 58
At this moment of sharing each other's feelings, even if it wasn't like others who make grand oaths under the moon and flowers, they should at least say some sweet words properly. But Shi Luo couldn't say a single word right now—his tear glands seemed to have been switched on, completely beyond his control.
The more Shi Luo forced himself not to remember, the less he could control it. Originally he was silently sobbing, then burying his face in his arm to sniffle, and then his entire chest and organs ached so badly he couldn't help but hunch over. Shi Luo absolutely didn't want to be this much of a mess, but the moment he heard Yu Sui's confession, it was as if he'd automatically established some connection between their five senses. All the feelings and pain Yu Sui had suppressed for over two years were suddenly received by Shi Luo in that instant.
Shi Luo felt like his heart was about to explode from the pain.
If he could, Shi Luo would rather Yu Sui had only just started developing feelings for him.
Tears streamed down like they cost nothing. Shi Luo gripped his fists tightly, his shoulders spasming uncontrollably.
"Good lord…" Yu Sui had originally thought Shi Luo would just be moved for a moment, maybe shed a few tears. But Shi Luo's reaction was way too off the rails. Yu Sui stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Shi Luo's shoulder, lowering his voice. "What's wrong? Don't cry… since when are you such a crier?"
Shi Luo choked on his sobs and couldn't get a single word out. He shook his head, but the tears wouldn't stop.
Yu Sui brushed Shi Luo's forehead. "What's wrong? Feeling sick?"
Shi Luo just shook his head again. He wasn't physically uncomfortable at all—only his heart hurt, so badly he wished he could go back two years, back to when he confessed to Yu Sui, back to tell him that he liked him, that he'd wait for him, wait for him however many years it took.
Shi Luo slid off the lounge chair and crouched on the ground, silent, his whole body trembling.
"I told you not to dig too deep." Yu Sui心疼地 lowered his head and kissed Shi Luo's hair, his voice hoarse as he coaxed him. "I know everything…"
Yu Sui whispered near Shi Luo's ear: "You feel sorry for me, I understand it all…"
At his words, Shi Luo's tears fell even harder.
He just felt heartache—uncontrollably heartache—he was practically dying from it.
The small courtyard outside the base villa was only separated from where the teammates were eating by one living room.
The two of them had only been talking in low voices at first, unlikely to attract anyone's attention. But Shi Luo was crying way too extremely. They'd been out here for quite some time now—it was impossible not to be noticed.
In the restaurant, everyone who'd finished their fill of crayfish looked around left and right. Sensing that two people were missing, they naturally came looking.
Zhou Huo, Old Qiao, Chen Huo, and Puppy pushed open the door to come into the courtyard. The scene they saw left them all stunned.
Zhou Huo spoke carefully. "Did something… happen…?"
Everything had come too suddenly. Shi Luo had completely forgotten about his teammates in the first-floor villa. Shi Luo almost never cried in front of others, yet here he was, completely broken down. He buried his face in his arms, thinking, *F**k, just let me die.*
Fortunately, as gentle as ever, Yu Sui would always find a way to bail him out.
Yu Sui held Shi Luo with one arm, looked up at the four shocked teammates, and said: "We finally pushed into the top 100 of the national server. Thinking back on how tough this half-month of ranking grind was, I couldn't handle it for a moment."
Shi Luo: "…"
Shi Luo wiped his tears—tears shed for his rank-100 achievement—and wanted to die even more.
Zhou Huo heard this and guiltily stammered: "W-was it really that hard? I didn't… realize."
Old Qiao, equally shaken, also felt guilty. "Although this month's ranking push was a bit rushed, I really didn't expect the pressure to be this high. From now on, you guys should've said something earlier."
Chen Huo looked completely lost. He turned his head to get a closer look at Shi Luo, speechless. "…This emotional?"
Chen Huo swallowed hard, very quietly muttering to Puppy: "When I won the World Championship, I didn't even cry like this."
Puppy glanced at Yu Sui, instantly understanding what was really going on, but still couldn't resist adding salt to the wound: "Young age. Normal."
"Being young means you're… this sentimental?" Chen Huo still couldn't wrap his mind around it. "Who the f**k would believe this? Last season's national server number one rusher, this season crying his eyes out over pushing into the top 100?"
The truly clueless Old Qiao sympathized: "This season's ranking system isn't like the previous ones. Everyone's under pressure."
"That still doesn't justify this!" Chen Huo, also genuinely out of the loop, couldn't help but say. "If he cries at this, what about when we face NSN in the regular season? Seriously, Evil, let's make this clear—no matter win or loss against NSN, no crying allowed. Don't look at me, even your old team NSN won't be able to handle it."
Shi Luo gripped Yu Sui's T-shirt so tightly he wanted to grab a knife and stab Chen Huo.
"Alright, alright, are you done?" Yu Sui held back a laugh, shooting Puppy a look. "Get lost."
Puppy laughed his head off, pushing and pulling Chen Huo back inside. "That's enough. Although our whole team is full of thick-skinned big hearts here, everyone has moments when emotions get the better of them. Come on…"
Zhou Huo more or less figured it out too. His eyes lit up as he happily ushered everyone back into the base. He walked last. When closing the door, he couldn't help but peek out one more time, reminding them kindly: "It's past one already. Whatever's going on, you guys should get some sleep. Don't stay up too late."
With the interruption like this, no matter how collapsed the emotions were, it was impossible to keep crying. Shi Luo wiped his face and sniffled. "…I'm fine."
"You scared me." Yu Sui smiled helplessly. "You suddenly like this…"
Shi Luo, once he'd calmed down, also felt mortified. He pulled up the hem of his T-shirt and wiped his face, mumbling: "I said I'm fine."
Shi Luo had cried too hard just now—his forehead was still flushed. Yu Sui's hands ran cool. He pressed the back of his hand against Shi Luo's heated forehead. Shi Luo hadn't fully adjusted to their new relationship yet, instinctively flinching away.
Yu Sui's hand paused. "Don't want me to touch you?"
Shi Luo looked up at Yu Sui,抿了抿嘴唇，then leaned forward on his own, silently pressing his forehead against Yu Sui's palm.
Shi Luo's white, slightly coarse hair tickled Yu Sui's fingers. Yu Sui gently brushed through it and confirmed: "So this counts as being together?"
Shi Luo was silent for a moment, then hummed an affirmative.
Yu Sui let out a breath. Finally.
Yu Sui glanced sideways at the teammates in the base's first-floor living room—they were still there, and doing anything more intimate was really not appropriate. Although the timing was all wrong, there were so many things Yu Sui wanted to do. He thought about it and asked: "Want to go public?"
If they went public, they wouldn't have to hide from these people anymore.
Yu Sui had come out to his family long ago—he didn't care either way. Shi Luo's relationship with his family… was practically nonexistent. Even if someone tried to stand in their way, Shi Luo probably wouldn't give it a second thought.
Shi Luo rested his head against Yu Sui's hand, shook his head after a long while. "Not yet."
Yu Sui raised an eyebrow.
"The team's only been together for a short time. We don't have any results yet. If we go public for real… people will only focus on the gossip about teammates hooking up." Shi Luo said dully. "The day we lose a match, they'll definitely say you were too busy pursuing this to have any focus left for competition."
Shi Luo looked up at Yu Sui, quietly complaining: "You have too much black ink."
Yu Sui couldn't help but laugh. "You think I'm afraid of that?"
"I'm annoyed." Shi Luo frowned. "I get annoyed when I see those idiots running their mouths."
Yu Sui gently hooked a strand of Shi Luo's hair with his finger, voice low. "Feeling sorry for me?"
Shi Luo lowered his head, rubbing against Yu Sui's hand, and nodded.
Yu Sui glanced again at the people in the base living room, grinding his teeth.
Shi Luo looking like this—his heart hurting for Yu Sui—was way too endearing. Yu Sui really wanted to do something.
But he had to respect the kid's wishes. Shi Luo's considerations were indeed valid.
Yu Sui had stopped caring about outside evaluation long ago, but Shi Luo wasn't there yet.
Yu Sui could handle being misrepresented. Shi Luo couldn't.
"Alright." Other than not being able to do anything openly, going public or not made no difference to Yu Sui. The only thing he cared about was his and Shi Luo's relationship. "When you want to go public someday, tell me."
Shi Luo hummed in agreement.
The base door was pushed open a crack. Zhou Huo held his breath and poked his head out, whispering: "It's almost two."
Shi Luo immediately leaned back half a foot, turning his head to avoid Zhou Huo.
"Got it." Yu Sui stood up helplessly, extending his hand to Shi Luo. "Let's go."
Shi Luo grabbed Yu Sui's hand and stood up. The two of them walked back into the base together.
Shi Luo's eyes were still red, and he didn't want anyone to see. As soon as he passed through the base door, he lowered his head, quickly heading upstairs to his room.
Yu Sui followed a few steps behind, watching Shi Luo's retreating figure, the corner of his mouth slightly raised.
"So it's done?" Puppy sat on the sofa in the first-floor living room, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
Yu Sui made a shushing gesture, but couldn't hold back a smile.
Puppy撇嘴，picking up on things better than Chen Huo or Old Qiao, he'd more or less figured they were together, and more or less figured they didn't want to go public. He naturally wouldn't say more, just said bitterly: "Such prime years, first-row seat, spending every day together—and here we are."
Old Qiao was收拾ing the takeout boxes piled on the table. He looked up, confused. "What idiom game are you playing by yourself? If you're not sleeping, help me clean up. Everyone pack up and leave after eating! The cleaning lady's coming tomorrow and she'll have to deal with your mess first."
Puppy heard about work and bolted immediately.
On the second floor of the base, Shi Luo splashed cold water on his face several times. He looked up at the mirror, stared for a while, then couldn't help but laugh.
Really… they're really together?
Shi Luo suddenly felt a bit uncertain.
Yu Sui really did confess to him just now, right?
And said he'd liked him since he was a wild streamer.
The person he liked liked him back, and started falling for him even earlier—what kind of incredible luck is this?
Shi Luo wiped his face, lay down on the bed. Once he'd calmed down, the more he thought about it, the more unreal it all felt. But the scene from just moments ago was still vivid in his mind. Looking back, there were so many clues to be found.
Shi Luo whispered to himself: "He just likes me."
Every time he thought of Yu Sui, he couldn't help but think about how this person liked him. Every time he thought about how Yu Sui had liked him for so long, he couldn't help but feel heartache. And when he felt heartache, he wanted to kill Ji Yanhan. Shi Luo couldn't help but感叹once again how terrifyingly accurate his sixth sense was. He'd known from the moment he first saw Ji Yanhan that this guy wasn't any good—his instincts were right all along. This beast had blocked his path in so many ways.
Shi Luo rested his head on his arm, and couldn't help but blame Yu Sui a little.
Yu Sui was genuinely gentle when he was gentle, but he was also genuinely ruthless when he was ruthless.
Back then, he really hadn't let even a hint of affection show—just left.
Shi Luo closed his eyes, and his heartache started up again, beyond his control.
Shi Luo tossed and turned on the bed. His brain was too excited—he couldn't fall asleep for a while. He tossed like a pancake for almost an hour before drowsiness finally started to set in. Half asleep, half awake, Shi Luo felt a pang of regret.
Their first day as a couple, and he hadn't gotten a single thing out of it.
He'd actually let that trash-talker Yu—still factory-sealed, the only thing he'd snatched being his first kiss—get away like this…