# Chapter 114
But Shi Luo still hadn't called him "ge" even as the plane took off.
Under the bright sun, in broad daylight—with people everywhere around them—Shi Luo really couldn't bring himself to say it.
Yu Sui, on the other hand, was way more relaxed. And as there were fewer and fewer fans around, Yu Scum was getting increasingly shameless. Going through security, he dared to flirt with Shi Luo right in front of the checkpoint staff. After clearing customs, he naturally picked up Shi Luo's peripherals bag and slung it over his own shoulder. By the time they reached the VIP lounge, Yu Sui simply ignored everyone else and sat off to the side with Shi Luo alone, treating the rest of their teammates like they didn't exist.
Shi Luo was looking at Old Qiao's laptop. Yu Sui sat beside him with his eyes closed, feigning sleep, one hand resting on the back of the sofa behind Shi Luo. Their two peripherals bags were stacked together beside them... Anyone looking would sense that these two weren't exactly keeping a normal distance. There were a few strangers in the VIP lounge, one of whom kept glancing over at the two of them. Yu Sui was well aware they were being watched, but he neither hid nor fussed, his expression completely natural.
By now, everyone in the entire club already knew about them. The accompanying staff didn't dare stare, all pretending they noticed nothing. Chen Huo, however, was thoroughly fed up. "I'm just asking, what level of player gets someone to carry their peripherals bag for them?"
"I was so paranoid about accidents that I brought TWO keyboards! Both with steel plates! They weighed a ton!" Chen Huo ranted. "I was afraid they'd get damaged in checked luggage, so I had to carry them myself, and Shi Luo just—" He trailed off, too angry to continue.
" What's it to you? His trash boyfriend carries his stuff. Jealous?" Zhou Huo raised his phone to snap photos of Yu Sui and Shi Luo. "Why so green?"
Chen Huo rolled his eyes. "Not jealous, my ass. Acting like good teammates just moments ago, and the second the fans left, his true colors came out."
"With the fans gone, Yu Sui's正式开始了, huh?" Puppy chimed in with equal sarcasm. "I feel like... Chen Huo and I are here to compete at Worlds, while those two are on their honeymoon. Can you guys have some sense of urgency?"
"Isn't Shi Luo紧张 enough? In the time it's taken, he's been reviewing replay notes, while you guys what? And... there are always so many eyes watching during the regular season. Now that there's finally no one taking pictures, you can't blame them for letting loose a little, can you?" Zhou Huo looked at the photo he'd just taken, quite satisfied. "Once we're abroad, nobody knows us. Go crazy."
After less than an hour of rest, it was time to board. Yu Sui grabbed both their bags. Shi Luo reached for his own, but Yu Sui dodged his hand. "Just carry Old Qiao's laptop. Let's go."
What followed was a solid twelve hours on the plane. To get through the long journey, everyone had barely slept the night before. Shi Luo was the worst—he'd pulled an all-nighter training, playing nearly twenty hours straight. After boarding, the team chatted for a bit, then one by one put on earplugs and eye masks and drifted off. Occasionally someone would wake up, moving like a zombie to麻木ly drink water or eat something, then lie back down to sleep more.
Even so, upon landing, besides a few of the younger players who could handle it, everyone else was exhausted to the bone.
Going through customs, collecting luggage, heading to the hotel—it was around 8 PM, and there was some traffic on the way.
Yu Sui and Shi Luo sat in the back row of the vehicle. Yu Sui was teaching Shi Luo some basic German phrases. Shi Luo had an incredible ear for languages—Yu Sui basically only needed to say something twice for him to remember it all. After Shi Luo familiarized himself with the everyday German he'd need, he nodded. "Alright, I won't get lost now."
Yu Sui said, "Even if you do get lost, it's fine. I sent you the hotel address yesterday. If you get lost, just show it to the driver. And..."
Yu Sui spoke slowly. "Hotel phone number, emergency numbers, the contact info for the tournament officials... I think of all the contact info I could remember, I sent it all to you. If anything happens, you know who to reach out to. No need to panic."
From the front row, Zhou Huo heard this and slapped his forehead. "Oh right, Shi Luo, copy that address and those numbers and send them to the group chat? Everyone take a screenshot or whatever—it's actually pretty useful."
Shi Luo pulled out his phone, copied and pasted, and @'d everyone. Zhou Huo nodded. "Thanks. Aww... a scumbag in the house is worth more than gold. Thanks, God Luo. Let us common mortals enjoy being cared for by a渣男 too."
Yu Sui smiled but didn't dignify Zhou Huo with a response.
After Shi Luo sent the address and phone numbers, he noticed a few esports public accounts with "Whisper" in their IDs had sent push notifications. One was even from the official game account. Shi Luo clicked it open—it was a highlight reel of Yu Sui's climb to server first place, edited from his own stream.
Watching Yu Sui's highlight plays again, he still couldn't look away.
"God Luo." Yu Sui glanced at Shi Luo, his voice soft. "We should be at the hotel in about another half hour. That leaves another half hour..."
Shi Luo blinked, then caught on.
Yu Scum's room key...
Shi Luo opened his mouth, his face flushing.
He felt a pang of regret. There had been so many opportunities for them to be alone before—calls were made... Now with other people around, he definitely couldn't bring himself to do it.
Yu Sui watched Shi Luo's conflicted expression, smiling slightly. He wrote on Shi Luo's palm: *[Even things more than this, you've called out. What's the big deal?]*
Shi Luo's ears turned red. He grabbed Yu Sui's hand, stopping him from actually writing anything more.
During their small vacation at the base when it was just the two of them, Shi Luo really had... whatever he could say, whatever he couldn't say—he'd said it all.
There had been no one else around, and the circumstances had been what they were. Though later he felt like he'd gone a bit overboard, at the time it hadn't felt forced at all.
Yu Sui let Shi Luo hold his hand. Shi Luo took a deep breath, then wrote on Yu Sui's arm: *[It's competition period. We're not actually going to do anything anyway. What's the point of going to your room?]*
Yu Sui's expression remained calm. He wrote slowly: *[Anything except the real thing is on the table.]*
*[God Luo, how good my service is—others don't know. You should, right?]*
On the phone in Shi Luo's other hand, a public account notification was just popping up: "The Strongest on the Field—Three Minutes to Experience Whisper's Top-Tier Medical Support Skills."
Shi Luo knew Yu Sui had seen it. He locked the screen instantly. Yu Sui smiled and didn't push any further.
The half hour flashed by. There were people everywhere in the van. Once they got out, the official game company staff arrived—more people, plus cameras following them. Shi Luo grit his teeth... There were too many people. He couldn't call him "ge"—no way he was getting that key.
The game officials brought interview staff and camera crews to film everyone's check-in. Shi Luo, as a nineteen-year-old rookie making his Worlds debut this year, was also a hot topic at this tournament. The officials filmed him extensively and wanted a solo interview. Shi Luo glanced over at Zhou Huo and his teammates, who were already checking in. After a moment of hesitation, he stood老老实实where he was and接受了采访.
The official interpreter smiled at Shi Luo. "Evil, you're our first interviewed player this time! How do you feel?"
Shi Luo stared at the interpreter with a blank expression, thinking: *I feel like crap. I just lost my room key.*
Shi Luo's English was perfectly fine—his spoken English was actually quite good. The official interpreter looked surprised and said with a smile, "Okay, I think I might not have any work to do today."
They'd just landed, and the welcoming staff knew the players were exhausted. They didn't dare ask anything too pointed—all the questions were gentle, one after another. Things like how it felt to make Worlds for the first time, what he was looking forward to, and so on. Shi Luo answered them all. The interviewer was quite enthusiastic and noticed Shi Luo kept glancing toward the hotel front desk. Following his gaze, they saw Yu Sui there, and quickly asked Shi Luo about Yu Sui—how was he doing, how was his form holding up.
Shi Luo's guard went up. He figured these foreigners might be fishing for intel and trying to trick them out of tactical information. He shook his head and gave only minimal responses.
The interviewer smiled regretfully and asked if Shi Luo could take a few more photos. Shi Luo had no opinion—he didn't care who photographed him.
Puppy finished checking in and came over. He'd played in the EU LCS for two years, so the officials were more familiar with him. They immediately surrounded Puppy instead. Only then was Shi Luo able to slip away.
There were quite a few people at the front desk. Shi Luo couldn't be bothered to go over there. He sat down on a nearby sofa, his expression less than thrilled.
Soon, all of Free's check-ins were processed. Yu Sui returned Shi Luo's passport, handing him his room card. "1118. Yours."
Shi Luo nodded and took it. Yu Sui then handed him another card. "1120. Mine."
Shi Luo looked up, startled. "I didn't—"
*I haven't even called you "ge" yet.*
Yu Sui smiled, helpless. "Can't even tell when I'm teasing you? Are you dense or what."
The game officials saw Yu Sui and immediately abandoned Puppy, swarming around him instead, chattering away with questions.
"Did Yu Sui just hand you one of his room key cards?" Zhou Huo, having finished taking care of his own stuff, walked over to Shi Luo, squinting with a knowing grin. "Don't try to hide it. I checked in with him."
Shi Luo cleared his throat, silently acknowledging.
"Know what Yu Scum said earlier?" Zhou Huo's eyes crinkled with amusement. He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "He asked the front desk for an extra key card, and I knew it was for you. I said he was taking a public-funded honeymoon. And Yu Sui said—"
"He said he's worried you'll be nervous for Worlds."
"He said you haven't been sleeping well for the past several days. He noticed you're still a bit on edge, worried you'll choke at your first Worlds, worried it'll be your fault if something goes wrong."
"He said he's never done psychological coaching for anyone before, so he doesn't know what other ways there are to make you laugh or comfort you."
"So he just wanted to give you something a little fun. Something to take your mind off things for a bit."
Shi Luo's gaze flickered. He glanced sideways at Yu Sui, who was being interviewed in the distance.
"I felt like a jerk, so to make it up to him, I said I'd get an extra key made for Shi Luo too. Let him have a key to Shi Luo's room too. But Yu Sui said no need."
Zhou Huo let out a soft sigh, watching Shi Luo. "Yu Sui said... sometimes after matches or training, players aren't necessarily in a great mood. They want some time alone. He wanted to give you your own space. He thinks having someone who can walk into your room anytime isn't necessarily a good thing for you."
"I asked him, what about you? Don't you need alone time? Aren't you afraid of being disturbed?"
Zhou Huo raised an eyebrow. "Yu Sui said... he's not your average player."
"He doesn't need it."