# Chapter 97
Shi Luo leaned against the sofa, staring at the WeChat message Yu Sui had sent him, for a full three minutes.
Everyone else on the first floor waiting for dinner was occupied with their own devices—no one was paying attention to Shi Luo except Yu Sui. Shi Luo stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window by the base's front entrance, turning his back to Yu Sui to make sure he couldn't see his expression before finally replying:
**[Evil]**: [Captain, the big heart I've spent years building up is going to go to waste at your hands.]
Shi Luo hit send, pressed his lips together, and stared absent-mindedly at the small garden outside the base windows.
Shi Luo wasn't flirting. He meant every word.
Compared to seasoned veterans like Yu Sui, Chen Huo, and Puppy—all battle-hardened players—they weren't the same when they first started. Purely comparing psychological resilience among peers from the domestic region, Shi Luo's mental fortitude had been the strongest, no question about it.
After several seasons, the industry's assessment of him was that he was "young but mature"—unflappable, hard to rattle by external factors. Among players in their teens, he was a rare big-hearted competitor.
Half was natural talent, half was forged through experience. After taking enough hits, one naturally learns to stay composed under all kinds of circumstances.
But ever since Yu Sui returned to the country—especially after they got together—Shi Luo felt like he was regressing.
He got angry easily, anxious easily, overthought easily, got moved easily, worried about Yu Sui easily, felt insecure easily.
He'd been worn down bit by bit by Yu Sui's gentleness.
Reading Yu Sui's message—"anything others have, you'll have too. Everything I can give, I will"—the steel-edged, untouchable Shi Luo momentarily couldn't hold himself together.
That scumbag Yu Sui had never even been in a relationship before, yet he always knew exactly where to strike, precisely hitting the softest spots in Shi Luo's heart.
This kind of tenderness was what Shi Luo absolutely could not withstand.
Shi Luo's phone buzzed again.
**[Whisper]**: [Already waste?]
**[Whisper]**: [We're both pro players. Rod can give his girlfriend whatever, I can give my boyfriend whatever. Isn't that totally normal?]
Shi Luo took a deep breath, thinking to himself, *Can we really compare ourselves to Rod?*
**[Whisper]**: [As long as you're willing, I can give you even more.]
Shi Luo stared at his phone, his heart suddenly skipping a beat, and the faint bitterness in his chest vanished without a trace.
Yu Sui hadn't actually implied anything yet, but for some reason, Shi Luo's mind suddenly wandered into inappropriate territory. Sure enough, before he could reply, Yu Sui sent another message:
**[Whisper]**: [Shi Shen, let's make a deal. Rod proposed to his girlfriend after winning finals. If I win finals, can I get something else?]
Shi Luo's fingertips twitched. After a brief pause, he typed: [What do you want?]
Yu Sui replied without hesitation.
**[Whisper]**: [You.]
Shi Luo lowered his gaze, a faint smile tugging at his lips, a hint of embarrassment coloring his expression.
**[Whisper]**: [Shi Shen, do you need me to say it more lewd and direct than that?]
Shi Luo's throat bobbed. He replied quickly: [No need! I understand.]
Shi Luo glanced back. The league's top medical staff was sitting properly on the sofa, expression calm. Anyone who didn't know better would never guess he was sending indecent proposals to his teammate.
**[Whisper]**: [So, is that okay?]
Shi Luo grit his teeth. Did this really need to be asked?
There wouldn't be any training scheduled for the days after finals. If they really won, with perfect timing and the perfect excuse, they'd just... do it. Why did it need to be discussed in advance?!
Shi Luo was too embarrassed to reply, but Yu Sui was clearly in high spirits and kept pinging messages.
**[Whisper]**: [...I asked you a question, why were you looking at Zhou Huo? Do I need manager approval for this?]
**[Whisper]**: [Don't worry, if we really win, I can definitely get vacation days from Manager Zhou.]
**[Whisper]**: [I'll schedule the time properly, won't affect any of your training.]
**[Whisper]**: [Shi Shen?]
Shi Luo coughed. Just as he was hesitating over how to respond to make himself seem neither flustered nor shy, Yu Sui sent two more messages.
**[Whisper]**: [Was I not clear enough?]
**[Whisper]**: [To be explicit... Shi Shen, I'm asking if I can *you*.]
Shi Luo's face flushed scarlet.
"Food's ready." Zhou Huo helped carry dishes from the kitchen, tidying up while calling everyone over. He glanced at Shi Luo, frowning. "What's wrong with your face? Didn't your cold never fully go away?"
Shi Luo rubbed his face quickly, looking down and muttering, "No, it's fine. Already recovered."
The culprit sat down beside Shi Luo, reaching up to press his hand against Shi Luo's forehead. "No fever."
"Good." Zhou Huo fretted. "You look like your mind's somewhere else. Take care of yourself. This is the most crucial time—don't drop the ball. Drink hot water when you need to, wear long underwear when you need to."
Shi Luo took his bowl, glancing at the person beside him, grinding his teeth at Yu Sui's perfectly composed expression. "...Got it."
Ruined by Yu Sui's messages, Shi Luo barely registered what he'd eaten throughout the entire meal.
They hadn't been together that long, and their days were filled with nothing but training and competitions—no venue, no time, no energy for anything else. But now that they'd suddenly started talking about *this*, it was like a valve in Shi Luo's brain had been thrown open. During dinner, his mind kept wandering into half-suggestive territory.
Finally finishing dinner, Shi Luo was the first to head to the training room and boot up.
To act like he was being extra serious and not distracted, Shi Luo actually started a stream during his solo queue—a rare display of professionalism.
But as luck would have it, in his second solo queue match of the evening, he ran into Yu Sui, and they were on the same team.
Worried Yu Sui might say something he shouldn't, Shi Luo typed七八 messages in the team chat the moment he loaded in, all saying "I'm streaming."
The other two teammates were completely baffled. They were all high-ranked players—who hadn't streamed before? What was there to show off?
When Yu Sui saw Shi Luo's warning in team chat, he indeed stopped typing, played normally alongside Shi Luo, carried the team and crushed the opponents without missing a beat. But right as the game ended and they were waiting to be automatically transported out of the map, Yu Sui suddenly sent Shi Luo an in-game friend message:
**[Free-Whisper]**: [Shi Shen, you still haven't answered me. Yes or no?]
Shi Luo checked the friend message, his fingers trembling on the keyboard like they'd been burned.
Shi Luo didn't reply to Yu Sui, but his stream was full of innocent fans spamming to tell him that Yu Sui had messaged him.
Shi Luo grit his teeth and glanced past his monitor. Yu Sui wasn't waiting for a reply at all—he'd already queued into a new match.
The sweet fans in his stream were kindly reminding Shi Luo to reply to the message, some even curiously asking what "yes or no" meant.
Shi Luo took a deep breath. He really wanted to tell everyone: your Yu God is fine. He's just being a flirt.
And that Whisper who charged a hundred thousand per hour just for coaching? Soon, he'd be *his*.
So flustered by Yu Sui's teasing, Shi Luo stopped queuing directly. He picked up his phone to reply to Yu Sui.
**[Evil]**: [Yes.]
Yu Sui's new match had already started. Yu Sui glanced at it, saw it was from Shi Luo, and while still operating one-handed, picked up his phone to unlock and read it. Without breaking concentration on his game, after seeing Shi Luo's reply, Yu Sui smiled faintly and put his phone down.
Shi Luo cleared his throat and continued queuing.
But for the rest of the entire evening, every time Shi Luo wasn't actively in a match, his heart rate would spike. He couldn't control his thoughts.
First, he'd think about their usual intimate moments. Then, he'd think about Yu Sui's good physique. Then, he'd start imagining some decidedly inappropriate scenes. By the time his mind had driven too far down the highway to brake, filled with erotic thoughts, Shi Luo suddenly felt dissatisfied. Yu Sui was completely messing with his pre-match mentality, unfairly adding pressure!
What did "if I win finals, I want a reward" even mean?
What if they lost?
Then nothing happens?
The car had already hit the highway—did he think it could just turn around and come back?
Why does he need to win?
What if NSN loses?
Does he actually want the reward, or is he secretly demanding that Shi Luo absolutely not mess up in finals and carry the team to victory with everything he has?
Pushing his胆子 even further—was this whole thing even remotely connected to the competition?
It was supposed to be a private matter between the two of them. Why did it need this prerequisite condition?
In-game, Shi Luo fired a whole clip of bullets, somewhat irritated for no particular reason.
That day, after the matches ended, Shi Luo broke the rules the two of them had set. Once everyone had gone to sleep, he silently slipped into Yu Sui's room without a word.
Yu Sui saw Shi Luo and smiled, casually grabbing a pillow and setting it aside, pulling Shi Luo into the bed with him under the covers.
"Miss me?" Yu Sui let Shi Luo sleep on the inside of the bed, turned off the lights and got in himself. Yu Sui closed his eyes, holding Shi Luo close and making sure he was properly tucked in, murmuring near his ear, "I thought you'd go straight back to your dorm and sleep... Aren't you tired? You're the only one who didn't take a single break all night. Didn't drink any water, played the longest."
Shi Luo's expression was anything but pleased. After a pause, he replied flatly and grumpily, "Under these circumstances, how could I dare slack off?"
Yu Sui couldn't pick up on Shi Luo's hidden meaning. Half-opening his eyes, he said softly, "No need to be nervous. After you've been to Worlds once, you'll have experience. It's really not that big of a deal."
In the darkness, Shi Luo bit down on Yu Sui's sleeve with a苦大仇深 expression, finding a more comfortable position. Only after Yu Sui had fallen asleep did he grumble resentfully, "The nature of this has changed... this isn't just about Worlds anymore..."