Shen Kuangye had a very regular schedule. Every day he was the earliest to get up in the club, while Lu Xiangyang was the exact opposite and loved to sleep in.
But today, just as dawn was breaking, he felt the person beside him move.
Still half-asleep, Shen Kuangye thought Lu Xiangyang was just getting up to use the bathroom and didn't pay much attention.
But then he heard the rustling sound of fabric—Lu Xiangyang was getting dressed.
With his eyes half closed, he asked instinctively, "Where are you going?"
Lu Xiangyang didn't seem to expect him to wake up, so he vaguely made up an excuse. "Going downstairs to get some water."
Only then did Shen Kuangye close his eyes again. After a moment he added, "Don't drink anything cold."
Lu Xiangyang responded with a quiet "Mm."
Shen Kuangye heard him close the door and go downstairs, but after quite a while Lu Xiangyang still hadn't come back up.
He opened his eyes, quickly put on some clothes, and opened the door. The living room was empty—there wasn't a trace of Lu Xiangyang anywhere.
---
Lu Xiangyang had taken a taxi to the hospital.
Training had been so busy lately that he hadn't had time to visit Lu Ning. As soon as he reached the doorway he heard her laughter, along with the voice of a young girl.
"Really, Auntie. Would I lie to you?"
Lu Xiangyang pushed the door open and saw Lu Ning sitting on the hospital bed. Beside her was a delicate-looking girl.
The girl was wearing a hospital gown too. She was animatedly telling Lu Ning something, her eyebrows dancing with excitement. When they heard the sound of the door opening, both of them looked toward the entrance.
Lu Ning smiled. "Yangyang, why are you here so early?"
Lu Xiangyang walked over and handed her the breakfast he had just bought outside the hospital. In a low voice he said, "I missed you."
Lu Ning looked a little surprised. Lu Xiangyang had never said things like that before. And today he didn't seem to be in very high spirits.
She patted the side of the bed. "Come, sit next to Mom."
Lu Xiangyang walked over, but he noticed the girl had been staring at him the whole time. He felt a little confused. Before he could ask Do we know each other?, the girl spoke first, sounding extremely excited.
"Are you that—what team was it again—oh! Right! The new hunter for Team EAR?!"
Lu Ning was surprised. "Xiao Xu knows too?"
Xu Wen nodded. "Of course! Auntie, so the one you've been talking about all this time is Sun! The team he's in is really strong! Only really good players can get into EAR!"
Considering EAR's current ranking, what Xu Wen said almost sounded sarcastic, but her tone was completely sincere.
Lu Xiangyang glanced at her, gratitude in his eyes.
He didn't mind EAR's ranking, but in front of his mother he still hoped to be the son who had joined the strongest team—someone she could be proud of.
Lu Ning was clearly delighted. "Really? Yangyang hardly tells me anything about it."
Xu Wen grinned. "He must be waiting until he wins the championship before telling you—he wants to surprise you!"
She was sweet-tongued, and with just a few words she made Lu Ning extremely happy.
Lu Xiangyang listened quietly beside them, occasionally adding a sentence or two.
Today he had simply missed Lu Ning very much, so he came to see her.
Seeing that she was living happily made him happy too.
But he was still thinking about the ranked matches scheduled for noon, so after staying for a short while he prepared to leave.
Lu Ning tried to get out of bed to walk him out, but he stopped her.
"Mom, just stay here."
Xu Wen also persuaded her, "That's right, Auntie. You should rest."
Only then did Lu Ning give up. "Alright then."
---
After Lu Xiangyang stepped outside, the smile on his face completely disappeared.
He walked slowly with his head lowered when suddenly he heard a familiar voice behind him.
"Wait!"
He turned toward the sound, it was Xu Wen. She had run after him and was slightly out of breath.
"Sorry this is sudden, but let me introduce myself. My name is Xu Wen. Could you help me with something?"
"Sure."
A little embarrassed, Xu Wen took out a poster.
On it was a chibi-style illustration of the entire EAR team.
"Well… could you help me get your team's autographs? I… I have a friend who really wants one, but she's too busy with school to attend offline events. Could you get the whole team to sign it?"
As she spoke, she carefully watched Lu Xiangyang's expression.
"I can pay the market price. If it's inconvenient, that's okay too."
Her expression carried a hint of pleading.
Lu Xiangyang reached out and took the poster.
"Okay. I'll bring it to you next time. No need for money."
Xu Wen grinned. "Thank you! Can we add each other on WeChat? If you ever need anything you can come to me—like designing team merch or editing videos. I can do all that… for free."
She held up her QR code as she spoke.
After Lu Xiangyang scanned it and accepted the friend request, he looked at her seriously.
"And thank you for talking with my mom."
Xu Wen waved her hand. "Oh, that's nothing. I'm great at chatting, no one ever feels awkward around me. Besides…" she smiled faintly, "my illness might flare up anytime. If I don't talk now, maybe I won't get another chance later."
Lu Xiangyang frowned slightly. "Don't be so pessimistic."
"I know, I know. You sound just like my friend." As she said that, she seemed to think of someone and her mood dropped a little.
But she quickly adjusted herself and returned to her bright expression.
"Alright, it's settled then! I'll head back now. Bye!"
Lu Xiangyang waved back.
Looking down carefully at the poster in his hands, his face suddenly turned red.
Because on the illustration, everyone else had normal poses—but he and Shen Kuangye were different.
Shen Kuangye had one arm resting on his shoulder. Instead of looking at the camera, he was gazing at him gently.
And the artist had even drawn two small hearts between them.
---
"What's wrong with him?"
Someone whispered.
"No idea."
Another voice answered quietly.
Book and Jiang Chixin were whispering in a corner.
Both of them were looking toward Shen Kuangye, who was still practicing in the training room.
"I heard he's been here since eight this morning," Book said.
"And he's been playing nonstop."
"In a bad mood?" Jiang Chixin guessed.
"Isn't it obvious? He practically wrote I'm very unhappy on his face!" Book said.
"Why though?" Jiang Chixin thought for a moment. "Did he argue with Sun?"
Book suddenly felt enlightened.
"You know what… you might be right. Living together, small conflicts are inevitable. Should we go ask?"
"Is it really appropriate for us to ask about their personal matters?" Jiang Chixin hesitated.
Book waved dismissively. "What's wrong with that? Even if a couple argues, friends should try to mediate!"
Jiang Chixin slowly replied, "But… they're not a couple."
"That's even easier then! Brothers don't hold grudges overnight. You fight by the bed and make up by the end of it!"
Something about Book's logic felt a bit strange to Jiang Chixin, but he didn't dare argue and could only nod.
"Then… you go first?"
Book's earlier confidence immediately shrank. "Xin Xin, you look friendlier. You go."
Jiang Chixin waved his hands quickly. "No way. I'll stutter."
That was true.
Jiang Chixin had severe social anxiety. Book had spent a long time talking with him before he could communicate normally.
While the two of them were still pushing the task onto each other, Cheng Rang came downstairs.
He yawned, glanced at Shen Kuangye, raised an eyebrow slightly, then looked around.
"Where's my baby?"
Shen Kuangye, who had been playing games with a cold expression all morning, finally lifted his eyes.
Cheng Rang wasn't afraid at all. "Where is he? Do you know?"
It was precisely because he didn't know where Lu Xiangyang had gone that Shen Kuangye had thrown himself into training all morning.
"…."
He realized that he seemed to understand Lu Xiangyang less and less.
Perhaps since that turning point at the club, Lu Xiangyang was no longer the same person he remembered. He was growing.
It was clearly a good thing, but Shen Kuangye found himself inexplicably irritated—annoyed that he could no longer understand Lu Xiangyang's thoughts and feelings.
Just as the four of them were stuck in silence, the door suddenly opened.
Lu Xiangyang walked in holding a poster.
The moment their eyes met, Lu Xiangyang immediately looked away.
Shen Kuangye paused, then walked over.
The moment Lu Xiangyang saw him, he wanted to run.
Shen Kuangye immediately grabbed his wrist.
Jiang Chixin and Book looked at each other, confused.
Cheng Rang snorted lightly and went upstairs.
"Why are you running?" Shen Kuangye asked.
"I'm not running," Lu Xiangyang replied, his eyes wandering.
Shen Kuangye was silent for a few seconds, then lowered his gaze to the poster in Lu Xiangyang's hand.
Lu Xiangyang felt his gaze and glanced down as well. After pursing his lips, he finally spoke.
"By the way, Brother Kuangye… could you sign this poster?"
Shen Kuangye felt as if the word "trouble" had stabbed straight into his heart.
But in the end he simply took the pen silently and signed his name.
Lu Xiangyang then brought the poster to the others, and they all signed it readily.
When Book signed, he casually asked, "Ran into fans today?"
Lu Xiangyang answered vaguely, "Not really fans. Just a thank-you gift for a friend."
Shen Kuangye thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out which friend of Lu Xiangyang would ask for the team's autograph.
Or had Lu Xiangyang made a new friend he didn't know about?
After collecting all the signatures, Lu Xiangyang went upstairs to put the poster away so he could give it to Xu Wen next time he visited the hospital.
He had just placed it in the drawer when he heard the door click shut behind him.
Turning around, he saw Shen Kuangye standing there with his arms crossed, leaning against the door.
His tall figure blocked the doorway. In the dim light his sharp features were outlined clearly.
The oppressive aura around him seemed almost tangible, making the air thick and hard to breathe.
Shen Kuangye had no particular expression. He simply looked at him quietly.
Startled, Lu Xiangyang said stiffly, "Brother Kuangye… why did you come up?"
Shen Kuangye had already been standing at the door earlier, watching Lu Xiangyang carefully place the poster into the drawer—
as if it were something fragile.
"You only said three sentences to me today."
Lu Xiangyang froze. "…What?"
"One was an answer because I asked you something. The second was for someone else. The third was asking why I came upstairs."
His voice carried no obvious emotion.
"Lu Xiangyang… are you avoiding me?"
Lu Xiangyang felt a little guilty and instinctively denied it.
"I'm not…"
He just didn't know how to face Shen Kuangye right now.
Shen Kuangye walked closer and asked in a low voice, "Then why are you angry with me?"
Lu Xiangyang hurriedly explained, "I'm not angry."
"But you're avoiding me," Shen Kuangye said.
"I… I'm not avoiding you. I just have some things on my mind. I didn't want you to worry, so I wanted to try solving them myself."
After hearing that, the irritation in Shen Kuangye's heart suddenly eased.
"Is that really the case?"
"Really, really!"
Shen Kuangye's expression softened considerably.
"Is there anything I can help with?"
Lu Xiangyang quickly shook his head. "No need. I can handle it myself."
After all, this kind of problem could only be dealt with by himself.
There were only two possible solutions.
The first: Shen Kuangye liked him too, but Lu Xiangyang thought that was impossible.
The second: he would hide these feelings away and slowly deal with them himself.
"Alright then."
Shen Kuangye sat beside him and noticed Lu Xiangyang rubbing his eyes unconsciously.
"Not sleepy after getting up so early?"
Lu Xiangyang suddenly felt his body's exhaustion and yawned.
"A little."
"Sleep after training then."
Shen Kuangye raised an eyebrow. "Today's our rest day. Did you forget?"
Lu Xiangyang blinked, looking blank. "I forgot."
He had been distracted all day and completely forgot that today was their biweekly rest day.
"Then want to take a nap?"
Shen Kuangye asked with a faint smile.
Lu Xiangyang said shyly, "Okay."
He hadn't slept enough the night before. As soon as he lay down, exhaustion flooded over him.
Shen Kuangye hadn't slept much either.
After Lu Xiangyang fell asleep last night, he had stayed awake until past 3 a.m., only sleeping lightly before waking again around 7.
He had spent several hours playing games alone.
Both of them were extremely tired, and soon after lying down they fell asleep.
---
Downstairs, Book sent Shen Kuangye a message on WeChat telling them to come eat.
There was no response for a long time.
He and Jiang Chixin looked at each other.
Book turned pale. "Oh no… what if the conflict isn't resolved and they actually started fighting?"
"That… probably wouldn't happen?" Jiang Chixin said.
Shen Kuangye looked like someone with stable emotions who rarely showed them, and Lu Xiangyang wasn't the type to argue with people.
Jiang Chixin felt it was more likely for him to argue with Li Shu than for Lu Xiangyang to argue with Shen Kuangye.
Still worried, they went to their room together.
Book knocked on the door.
No response.
He tried calling Lu Xiangyang's name a few times, but still nothing.
Finally, they quietly pushed the door open.
The curtains were drawn.
The two people they thought might be having a cold war were lying close together, sleeping soundly.
Shen Kuangye's arm rested around Lu Xiangyang's waist.
The light from the doorway made him frown slightly, and he subconsciously lifted his hand to shield Lu Xiangyang's eyes.