Chapter 62
Zhou Huo froze for a moment, then quickly nodded. "Yes, yes, yes, you two chat. I'm going now."
Chen Huo gloated. "His condition has been off since this morning. He deserves to be kept after."
Puppy watched Chen Huo with annoyance, pushing him toward the door. "Just shut up, will you?"
The group chattered and made noise as they left the rest area. Zhou Huo closed the door behind the two of them.
Shi Luo took a deep breath. He was in the wrong, so there was nothing to say.
His performance on stage today really had been terrible. If it hadn't been for that unlucky bastard ROD holding things together, he would've been the one getting flamed by the players for his awful condition.
If this were still IAC, Zhao Feng would definitely have called him in for a talk. But Free was a special case—the club had no real management structure, and Zhou Huo didn't dare boss them around. Whenever someone had a problem, only Yu Sui handled it.
Shi Luo would rather get scolded by Zhou Huo than have Yu Sui lecture him. He was annoyed, wanting to smoke a cigarette, but smoking while being reprimanded felt like crossing a line—too provocative. It would escalate the conflict and make him seem disrespectful. Shi Luo frowned, sat on the table, grabbed the gum, popped several pieces into his mouth, and waited while chewing moodily.
Shi Luo kept his head down, feeling irritated. He didn't want to wait for Yu Sui to lecture him, so he took the initiative to admit his mistakes, his expression hard. "I knew seeing the forums would affect me, and it did. I kept thinking the next one to get flamed would be... me. During the match, watching ROD space out like that, I kept thinking I'd end up the same way. The worse his condition got, the more it affected me. I lost focus several times, and then..."
Shi Luo raked his fingers through his hair. "And then I played like that."
Shi Luo kept his head down, waiting to be scolded.
Half a minute passed, but Yu Sui still didn't say anything.
Shi Luo feared this most—Yu Sui saying absolutely nothing. He forced himself to look up, glancing at Yu Sui, and noticed a faint smile at the corner of Yu Sui's lips.
Shi Luo stared at Yu Sui, dazed. "You..."
Shi Luo felt awkward. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"You already know what went wrong. What else is there for me to say?" Yu Sui's tone was relaxed. "The situation is simple enough. You've analyzed it yourself. What happened is that you couldn't handle the pressure, and your mentality broke a bit. That's all."
Shi Luo obviously knew that himself, but having Yu Sui spell it out so bluntly still made him feel embarrassed. He lowered his voice. "So..."
"Figure it out yourself," Yu Sui said bluntly.
Shi Luo was stunned.
"You're not new to this industry. You don't need me to hold your hand step by step anymore when it comes to handling unexpected situations. This isn't your first time." Yu Sui looked at Shi Luo calmly. "When I defected from the region, you handled such a huge scandal. Can you really not handle this?"
Shi Luo pressed his lips together, uncomfortable. "Of course I..."
"I'd love to treat you like a rookie, like two years ago, explaining every little detail to you, guiding you step by step. But..." A flash of regret crossed Yu Sui's eyes, and he continued, "You're not a rookie anymore. A two-year professional player who's weathered so many major controversies—how could I underestimate you?"
Shi Luo was taken aback. Recalling all the soul-crushing situations he'd been through before and comparing them to this minor thing, it really wasn't worth mentioning.
"You can absolutely handle this on your own. I don't want to micromanage. That would be disrespectful to your two-year professional career." Yu Sui looked Shi Luo in the eye, then smiled. "God Shi, back at IAC you didn't even need a psychologist. Are you really going to crack under this? Or..."
Yu Sui paused and asked, "Are you撒娇?"
Shi Luo's ears turned red. From Yu Sui's perspective, he really did seem like he was playing up his vulnerability.
This made Shi Luo even more embarrassed.
"We just started dating. I don't have experience, and I haven't been sleeping well these past few days, so my brain just wasn't working." Shi Luo's face slightly flushed as he spoke quickly in a low voice. "Under normal circumstances, I could've adjusted in less than five minutes."
Shi Luo took a deep breath, looked up at Yu Sui, and the turmoil in his heart nearly vanished.
He'd survived Yu Sui's departure two years ago. What was there to be afraid of now?
He was in a relationship with Yu Sui, and it was mutual. Who were they hurting?
Even if it got discovered, let them flame all they wanted. He had a clear conscience. What was there to fear?
There was no need to worry for Yu Sui either, just as Yu Sui had said—nothing could faze him. How melodramatic was this?
Shi Luo felt a pang of guilt. Yu Sui didn't underestimate him at all. It was himself who had underestimated Yu Sui.
Yu Sui wouldn't care about any of this.
Shi Luo's emotions completely settled. He felt awkward and said, "I had a moment of stupidity. I'm fine now."
Shi Luo glanced at the clock in the rest area and cleared his throat. "Let's go. The others are going to get impatient waiting."
"The gum." Yu Sui wasn't in a hurry, reminding Shi Luo, "The fans will definitely want photos when we go out. Keeping gum in your mouth is impolite."
Shi Luo looked around, wanting to grab a tissue to spit the gum into. Unfortunately, that frugal bastard Lao Qiao had grabbed all the tissues from the rest area when he left earlier.
Yu Sui also scanned the room—there wasn't a single piece of paper anywhere. Yu Sui casually picked up the team poster that Zhou Huo had brought, tore off a corner, and handed it to Shi Luo.
Shi Luo: "..."
Yu Sui handed it over naturally. "Spit."
"If this gets discovered... you'll be fined at least twenty thousand." Shi Luo's voice was low as he awkwardly spat the gum onto the paper in Yu Sui's hand. "As a professional player, intentionally damaging Whisper's promotional poster."
Yu Sui chuckled. "Go ahead and report it to the officials."
Shi Luo wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, muttering, "Such a nice poster, and now it lost an arm... I could've just stopped chewing and not blown bubbles."
"I'm kidding." Yu Sui wrapped up the gum and set it aside, speaking unhurriedly. "I didn't ask you to spit out the gum for the fans."
Yu Sui stepped forward half a pace, his voice low. "It was for me."
Shi Luo looked up. Before he could react, Yu Sui kissed him on the lips.
Yu Sui's hand naturally wrapped around Shi Luo's waist, pulling him into his embrace.
Shi Luo's eyes flew open. Yu Sui's string of actions had been so sudden that Shi Luo was completely unprepared. His two hands instinctively spread open, and his heart was pounding like fireworks.
This was... were they actually kissing?!!
Shi Luo's mind went completely blank.
Actually, ever since the day they confessed to each other, Shi Luo had wanted to kiss Yu Sui. He'd wanted it so badly. But one thing after another always got in the way, and it had been frustrating. Yu Sui had always seemed so calm about it, so Shi Luo had assumed Yu Sui wasn't as eager as he was. But now...
As Yu Sui tentatively licked along the seam of his lips, Shi Luo's heart was in chaos. No matter how impatient he'd been, he'd only wanted to kiss Yu Sui's lips and get a little something. But Yu Sui, who always seemed so unhurried, was actually this bold in practice?! Age really showed—absolutely not innocent!
Shi Luo's face was so hot he felt like he was about to catch fire. He moved his lips, then closed his eyes, letting Yu Sui do as he pleased.
It might have been only two minutes, or it might have been half an hour. When Yu Sui finally released him, Shi Luo was dazed, his voice unsteady. "You..."
Shi Luo licked his slightly reddened lips, stammering, "You, you..."
"Sorry. It was held in too long." Yu Sui ruffled Shi Luo's hair, his breathing also slightly uneven. "I wanted to be a gentleman, but I lost control."
Shi Luo felt awkward. "It's fine. Should we... should we go?"
Yu Sui picked up his and Shi Luo's equipment bags. "Let's go."
They left the rest area, passed through the fans still holding light sticks waiting for them, followed the staff to the underground parking lot, and boarded Free team's van. Even as the car started moving, Shi Luo was still in a daze.
Two years ago, Yu Sui had let him have his first kiss.
Two years later, Yu Sui had let him have his first French kiss.
So he... really had to take responsibility for Yu Sui now.
Chen Huo carefully observed Shi Luo's expression, whispering to Puppy, "He looks like he got scolded stupid. Deserved."
Puppy sighed tiredly, too exhausted to explain to an idiot.
Zhou Huo knew exactly what was going on but didn't expose them. Still, he was curious and couldn't help glancing at the two of them through the rearview mirror. The more he watched, the more excited he got. He tried to contain himself for a while but eventually couldn't hold back, carefully asking, "Hey, I really do think ROD got a raw deal. What's wrong with dating?"
Lao Qiao sighed. "Tell me about it."
"I never asked you guys before, so let's chat about it now." Zhou Huo asked casually, "Have any of you ever dated?"
Lao Qiao shook his head. "No. Before going pro, I was constantly worried about my family's debts. No way I had the state of mind for that. And after going pro, there's even less time."
"No." Chen Huo shook his head and sighed. "Day after day, the only woman I meet is the aunt who cooks for us. Where am I supposed to find someone to date?"
Puppy said quietly, "No. No luck with the ladies."
Zhou Huo looked at Yu Sui expectantly, but Yu Sui pretended not to hear. The moment he got in the car, he closed his eyes and didn't move.
Shi Luo nearby was spaced out and genuinely didn't hear anything. Zhou Huo couldn't hold back and urged, "Shi Luo, what about you?"
Shi Luo snapped back to reality. "What?"
Zhou Huo asked again. Shi Luo glanced at Yu Sui, and after a moment, vaguely said, "I... have dated."
The moment those words fell, Zhou Huo, Lao Qiao, and Chen Huo all looked at Shi Luo.
Chen Huo slapped his thigh. "Right! You said back then that you weren't a virgin. Alright, Luoluo. How old were you then? You hadn't even turned eighteen!"
Lao Qiao was equally shocked, speechless. "So much romantic experience at such a young age? This... people really are different."
"Ah, that's not a big deal." Zhou Huo cut off Lao Qiao, eager to ask more. "You're dating now? How far has it gone?"
Shi Luo grit his teeth and glared at Zhou Huo. This guy knew everything—he was clearly trying to find out about his and Yu Sui's progress.
"Wait, don't tell me yet!!" Zhou Huo loudly interrupted Shi Luo, excitedly reminding the cameraman in the van, "Is the camera on? This is Evil's first love revelation. Quick, record this for content!"
Shi Luo gritted his teeth, reminding Zhou Huo in a low voice, "ROD just got attacked for dating. Are you trying to start trouble?"
"That's him being actively dating. Yours is in the past." Zhou Huo was impatient to capture some memories for Yu Sui and Shi Luo, trying to deflect. "Come on, come on, record everything."
Shi Luo looked at Yu Sui for help, but that person who'd just taken advantage of him was still pretending to sleep, only the corners of his lips slightly raised.
"I..."
Shi Luo had no choice. Flushing, he roughly said, "We... got to the kissing stage."
"Wow." Zhou Huo, abusing his power for personal gain, was excited to learn more. "Who made the first move?"
Shi Luo held his breath for a moment, then said, "Him."
Chen Huo was envious. "That forward?!"
Zhou Huo barely held back his laughter, pressing on. "At the time... did you really like him a lot?"
Shi Luo glared at Zhou Huo, remembering the camera, refraining from making a move, and endured. "Yeah."
Zhou Huo's eyes sparkled. He was about to ask more when Yu Sui, satisfied, decided to play peacemaker. "That's enough. Let's leave it at that."
Zhou Huo had to stop.
After the cameraman put the camera away, Yu Sui sat up properly. When he was sure no one was looking, his hand gently slipped into Shi Luo's team uniform sleeve.
Yu Sui lightly held Shi Luo's hand, writing character by character in his palm: I like you too.