Chapter 24

“Go to bed early, Captain Rong.”

Rong Yi then saw this sleep-deprived, moody killing machine let go of him and return to the bed, obediently sleeping alone.

The kiss, with its burning warmth, seemed to linger on his lips.

This was their second kiss while fully conscious—though Xiao Yin might not have been very awake himself.

Rong Yi sat there, lost in thought for a while. When he looked back, Xiao Yin was already wrapped in the blanket, deeply asleep.

He couldn’t write anymore. He got up quietly, washed up silently, and then climbed onto the bed from the other side.

In adult relationships, there aren’t so many things that need to be explained. Xiao Yin had checked out of his own room, and Rong Yi didn’t object. Both of them knew what it meant—they were going to sleep in the same bed.

However, they both also knew that their relationship was now more about cooperation than love. During the competition period, nothing was going to happen.

Both of them were used to leaving a small night light on. Rong Yi turned off the light by Xiao Yin’s bed and left the hallway light on. The warm light cast faint shadows, extending to Xiao Yin’s back before disappearing.

Xiao Yin was sleeping on his side facing him, his sleep posture perfect. His eyes were closed, his lips tightly shut, and the handsome lines of his face were softened by the darkness, making his long, dark eyelashes appear even longer.

Rong Yi was mesmerized, admiring the handsome man for a while before wrapping himself in the blanket and closing his eyes.

His dreams were filled with past events.

However, it was no longer the intense struggles with RS but the encounter with Xiao Yin.

Back then, RO was a team at the peak of its glory in the League. That day, he went to the League Organizer’s office with Lin Yi and happened to see RO playing a Regular Season match against another team.

Rong Yi glanced at the match and said, “RO has a new Jungler? Quite aggressive.”

He was one of the few Players in the League with a Coach-level perspective, able to see the essence of things at a glance—RO’s new Jungler was sharp and unstoppable, while the other team members played steadily.

They had been locking horns with RO during the Regular Season—RO’s Coach had been meticulously targeting them, giving Rong Yi quite a headache for a while.

“Their new Jungler isn’t blending well with the team, how long has it been?” Rong Yi asked casually.

Lin Yi casually mentioned, “Yeah, not really fitting in. Been in Youth Training for three months, still a lone wolf. They say he has a lot of conflicts with the team.”

Rong Yi became interested. “What’s his name? Maybe we can bring him to our RS Team. I’ll see how I can poach him. I can’t stand seeing talent go to waste.”

Joking aside, he was indeed thinking about poaching. RS had just restructured and was in desperate need of players. Rong Yi was constantly flying around the country looking for talent.

He was in dire need of players, but his standards were incredibly high. After Lin Yi left, he leveraged his status as RS’s Captain to sneak into the arena and watch the entire match.

A generation of talents, a generation of gods. Yin, this new player, was the only god of the new generation, unsurpassable.

After watching the match, Rong Yi was convinced of this idea.

His relationship with RO wasn’t good due to their rival team status. If he approached them directly, RO would never let him go. So that day, he patiently waited for a long time, finally catching Xiao Yin in the players’ restroom.

Xiao Yin was dressed all in black that day, wearing a black mask, looking tall and cold, avoiding eye contact. He was washing his hands at the sink. Rong Yi pretended to wash his hands too. Xiao Yin washed slower than usual, so Rong Yi stopped pretending, turned off the faucet, and waited until those sharp, indifferent eyes looked over.

He solemnly handed him a business card. “Hey, handsome, interested in RS Team?”

Xiao Yin had a very upright and aloof personality. At first, he ignored Rong Yi’s persistent overtures. Eventually, unable to stand the bombardment, he agreed to meet a few times.

Rong Yi couldn’t remember what they talked about, probably something about how following him, the only active world champion, could lead to great things. Xiao Yin likely didn’t pay much attention, but they did have several meals and cups of coffee, and gradually began chatting online.

A week later, he hadn’t successfully poached Xiao Yin, but he had fallen for him himself.

He called Lin Yi. “Lin Yi, I can’t sleep if I don’t see Yin for a day.”

Lin Yi replied, “Seeing you like this, I can’t sleep either. We used to worry about setting you up with girls for blind dates, but now I get it. You’ve chosen a narrow path.”

Rong Yi sheepishly hung up the phone and, the next day, awkwardly confessed his feelings to Xiao Yin.

As usual, Xiao Yin didn’t show much reaction, simply saying, “Got it.”

Rong Yi pressed on, “What do you mean by ‘got it’?”

“It means I’m with you,” Xiao Yin responded, maintaining his businesslike aloofness, and emphasized, “But where I go is up to me.”

Rong Yi thought that was fair enough. After all, love was love, and being on the same team was a matter of career—two separate things.

He was too young then to realize that the worst way to start a relationship was to mix it with personal gain.

Rong Yi slept well and woke up to find Xiao Yin still asleep.

His head throbbed painfully as he checked his phone; he had only slept for five hours. Despite going to bed late, his internal clock woke him up early and reliably.

In recent years, his health had declined, unlike when he was younger and could sleep soundly the moment his head hit the pillow. Falling back asleep after waking up was incredibly difficult now.

He scrolled through his messages and found one from Lin Yi: “Are you guys from VIT leaving today? I’m heading back to the League Region today too. Can I hitch a ride?”

Rong Yi nodded and sent him the support team’s contact info. “Sure, I’ll let them know.”

“No need for all that trouble. I’ll come find you. When we get there, I’ll treat you guys to a massage!” Lin Yi replied. “Which room are you in?”

Rong Yi looked at the still-sleeping Xiao Yin across from him and replied quietly.

“I’m in Yin-Ge’s room.”

Lin Yi: “…?”

After half a minute, Lin Yi finally typed with difficulty, “So, where should I go?”

Rong Yi, unfazed, replied, “That’s why I told you to contact our support team.”

Lin Yi didn’t respond, likely busy contacting the support team. Rong Yi also sent a private message to the assistant.

Hitching a ride was a minor issue. Xiao Yin had the financial clout to charter an entire flight, allowing room for even the support team’s families, let alone squeezing in Lin Yi.

Rong Yi browsed through some messages from his fans for a few minutes. Then Lin Yi replied, “All set. I’ll meet you guys at noon. Maybe you should tell Xiao Yin; I’ll treat you both to lunch and a massage afterward.”

Rong Yi responded, “Sure, I’ll tell him when he wakes up. Today’s our last day off.”

Today’s messages from Rong Yi carried quite a bit of information.

Lin Yi lay in another hotel ten kilometers away, tossing and turning. After much deliberation, he finally couldn’t resist asking, “Are you guys asleep?”

Rong Yi: “.”

Rong Yi coldly replied, “No, it’s not the off-season.”

Lin Yi quickly grasped the key point: “So… does that mean… in the off-season you guys… go crazy…”

Seeing Lin Yi’s message, Rong Yi’s hand shook, and his phone silently dropped into the blanket.

He picked it up, sent an “Aaaah!” emoji with a bear being punched, and then, blushing, denied it: “No, he wouldn’t.”

“Don’t overthink it.”

Lin Yi began to worry: “You’re both men, and since you’re in a relationship and on the same team, it’s bound to happen sooner or later. I’m just concerned that after getting back together, your relationship isn’t like before. If he doesn’t make a move on you, might he go messing around outside?”

Rong Yi had been close to Lin Yi for years and knew Lin Yi had his best interests at heart.

He thought it over.

That possibility wasn’t entirely out of the question. But Xiao Yin wouldn’t mess around; someone with a cleanliness obsession wouldn’t play around casually.

However, maintaining a superficial relationship while having a steady side piece wasn’t entirely impossible either. That was, of course, the most extreme scenario.

The current situation seemed to be that Xiao Yin had no time for romance and no interest in doing anything with him. They would just work together to bring VIT up and then part ways amicably.

If they ended up sleeping together, then treating it as a Casual sex partner situation seemed feasible.

At least Xiao Yin was straightforward and wouldn’t mess around, and Rong Yi wouldn’t be losing out.

Thinking this way, Rong Yi felt much more at ease and thought maybe… it could work.

He shared his thoughts with Lin Yi.

Lin Yi was still nervous: “But Xiao Yin is a man. Even though I won’t pry into your private relationship matters, how does he… um… you know, release?”

“Probably the same way he’s been doing it for the past twenty years,” Rong Yi answered, not very confidently.

Lin Yi fell silent.

He was completely speechless.

Thinking about this, Rong Yi looked up at Xiao Yin.

The sun had already risen. The forecast predicted clear skies today, and even this early, the sunlight was already leisurely streaming in, illuminating Xiao Yin’s face.

Whether Xiao Yin had strong needs in that aspect was something Rong Yi couldn’t say for sure. Based on past experiences, he thought it might be quite strong, as after each time, Rong Yi himself was left in a half-dead state.

But Xiao Yin was very rational. He wouldn’t let such matters affect his life, nor would he deliberately consider them.

Originally, Rong Yi was attracted to Xiao Yin’s steadiness and restraint, as well as his decisiveness on the arena, where he could ignore the highest potential gains in front of him without hesitation.

Xiao Yin also held records of driving audiences and commentators crazy in various arenas. In his hands, many players had narrowly escaped death, but there had never been a player who made an extreme, spectacular escape from him.

The reason was simple: once Xiao Yin started chasing someone, he would chase them to the death. If he couldn’t kill them, he naturally wouldn’t pursue them.

Rong Yi’s thoughts drifted further and further until he spaced out for a long while. Suddenly, he realized that Xiao Yin had already opened his eyes.

Those dark, deep eyes were staring at him. When Rong Yi’s gaze returned, Xiao Yin said, “Morning.”

Rong Yi’s hand shook again, and his phone fell back into the blanket.

He reached out to grab his phone, but the sheets in this hotel were very slippery, and the phone had already slid over to Xiao Yin’s side. Xiao Yin looked down to help him find it, but the room was dim, and he couldn’t see anything. After searching for a while without success, Rong Yi leaned over to look for it.

His head brushed against Xiao Yin’s chest. After searching for a long time, he finally found his phone near their knees.

Xiao Yin didn’t move, but Rong Yi could hear his breathing slightly intensify just above his head, clearer than before but still very steady.