DPTBG Chapter 17

The next morning.

Zuo Tao went to Jiang Ming’s office with his eyes surrounded by dark circles.

He stayed up until late last night, fighting against antis until way past midnight. In the end, by the time he put his phone down to sleep, it was already past 3 in the morning.

“Stayed up late, huh?”

The events of last night, including Zuo Tao’s repost at the end, Jiang Ming only learned about this morning. He had been in the esports industry for years, but the bloody scene he witnessed still shocked him to his core. It took him a while to recover enough to come back to his senses.

Especially ZZ’s kill highlights. It was re-edited and reposted by other zombie blogs, and Jiang Ming could barely get through a few before he had to quit. The sound effects still haunted his mind until now — “REBORN-WIND was killed by this noble one again! REBORN-WIND was killed by this noble one again!”.

This could be said to be a stain in WIND’s career that could never be erased.

Getting killed by a support hero, especially one that was known to be trash among support heroes. The mood REBORN’s coach was in right now, it wasn’t difficult to imagine.

Jiang Ming actually laughed, at least until he saw that Zuo Tao joined in on the fun. Seeing that he’d even fought against WIND’s loyalists, his good mood immediately plummeted.

Sighing, Jiang Ming looked at Zuo Tao in front of him.

The boy looked like he’d just woken from a nap, a handful of hairs sticking up stupidly on top of his head. His eyes were still dazed and confused, looking like an innocent, uninitiated young master.

He couldn’t find it in himself to scold the boy, but he finally managed to give him a serious talking-to. “Zuo Tao, those comments that you see on the internet, it’s better to just ignore them in the future. With the interest in our industry rising, some fans’ behavior will just become more and more unbridled, so try to avoid getting caught up as much as possible.”

“I’m sorry,” Zuo Tao said, apologizing straightforwardly. He scratched at his head and said, “I woke up last night, and saw that a lot of people were mentioning me, telling me that ZZ played the Fairy Song after learning from me. I responded and didn’t really pay attention to what he posted beforehand.” Zuo Tao looked truly guilty, as if he really was feeling bad over his actions. “Coach, this won’t affect the team, will it?”

After speaking, he couldn’t quite hold it anymore; he yawned, forcing a few tears into his eyes.

Jiang Ming couldn’t quite respond negatively, feeling like he was just being a villain. “It won’t. Besides, you’re pretty much collateral damage. I think the one getting rushed the hardest is FG’s WIZARD. He was after all the one who reposted the video first.”

He clicked his tongue. “Then again, that ZZ seems like a prick. Try to stay away from him in the future. If he gets attached to your name, the netizens will just have more things to scold you for.

Zuo Tao received an arrow straight to his conscience, but he had to smile nonetheless. “…you’re right, I’ll be more careful.”

Jiang Ming: “But you don’t have to worry too much. Although he doesn’t seem hostile towards you, it’d still be better to have less contact with him in the future.”

Tired of this embarrassment, Zuo Tao changed the topic. “Coach, didn’t you say someone was coming to take measurements for the uniform?”

“Right.” Jiang Ming took a tape measure out from his drawer, handing it to Zuo Tao, who took it with confusion.

“I’m measuring myself?”

“Ask FIRE, I’ve already asked him.” Jiang Ming walked out of his office, Zuo Tao following close behind. “I have somewhere to go. You guys are in charge of your morning training. The preliminaries are coming up. You have to improve team coordination.”

“But…” But Jiang Ming could no longer hear; he had already rushed down the stairs.

Did he mean that Song Shihan had to take his measurements?

That was what he meant, right?

Zuo Tao couldn’t help giggling. How embarrassing would it be to ask his male god to take his measurements?

A few minutes later, Zuo Tao stood in front of Song Shihan’s door. His heart was beating with anticipation as he organized his script in his head. Clearing his throat, he finally raised a hand to knock on the door. There was no response, however.

Zuo Tao knocked a few more times.

 

Nothing.

Was he still asleep? He couldn’t be; Jiang Ming said he’d already informed him. With that, Zuo Tao bent his waist and put his ear on the door. Who would have expected that at that exact moment, the  handle would move and the door would open inwards?

Zuo Tao was caught off-guard. Because his weight was leaning forward, he stumbled into the room half a step.

He had no idea what Song Shihan might be thinking, but he was at least certain that he looked like an idiot.

“What are you doing?” Song Shihan asked. He was rubbing his hair dry with a towel, eyebrows  furrowed as he watched Zuo Tao fumbling.

What drowse remained in Zuo Tao vanished at the sound of that slightly hoarse voice. He straightened his back and said, “I’m not a pervert.”

Song Shihan: …

“Wait, I mean…” At this point, Zuo Tao swore to himself not to stay up too late surfing the internet again. Lack of sleep truly made people stupid. After a long moment with still no acceptable explanation, Zuo Tao simply accepted death. “Coach told me to ask you to take my measurements for the uniform.” He took out the tape measure and added, “I knocked but no one was answering.”

Song Shihan’s eyes lingered on the red mark on Zuo Tao’s forehead before he stopped to the side and said, “I was in the shower, I didn’t hear. Sit anywhere, I’ll be done soon.”

Zuo Tao followed Song Shihan into his room, finally allowing himself to look to the side a few times. Maybe he was in a rush to get to the door; Song Shihan was barefoot, the bathrobe barely tied around him, allowing a glimpse to his abdominal muscles.

Zuo Tao didn’t have the shamelessness to be able to stare for long periods of time. “Or, you finish up, and I’ll just wait outside? You can send a message when you’re done.”

“No need.” Song Shihan moved towards the bathroom. “I’ll just  dry my hair.”

Zuo Tao finally agreed and sat down on the stool by the desk. It wasn’t until he heard the sound of the blowdryer coming from the bathroom did he look around Song Shihan’s room.

The interior was simply decorated. There was almost nothing aside from the bare necessities. On the desk sat a high-end PC, the power light still on. Next to the mouse was an empty can of beer.

Zuo Tao slipped his hand into his pocket, where his fingers grazed a small piece of metal. He took it out to take a look; it was the ring from the Wangzi milk Song Shihan had opened for him yesterday.

He leaned over the table, playing with the ring in his hand. He slipped it around his pinky finger, took it off, and then put it back on again.

Just a few months ago, he couldn’t even dare to dream that he would be this close to Song Shihan.

Now, though, he didn’t  only meet him, they even became teammates, and they would be playing together in the future. Their lines of lives crossed and were moving forward together.

Life was full of unbelievable surprises, indeed. One had no idea when they would meet amazing encounters.

“I’m done.”

When Song Shihan came out of the bathroom, he had already changed into loose sportswear.  He took the tape measure and said, “Get up.”

Zuo Tao hurried to do as he was told. “What do I have to do?”

Song Shihan’s instructions were short: “Stand still and raise your arms.”

Zuo Tao did so. He watched Song Shihan as he stretched the tape measure from the shoulder to the cuffs. He asked, “Is this for the sleeves?”

Song Shian hummed in assent, taking his phone out to write down what he’d taken. “Put your arms down.” Next, he measured Zuo Tao’s shoulder width and collar.

Zuo Tao had no idea that taking measurements would require them to be so close to each other. It was fine  at first, but gradually he began feeling uncomfortable, the feeling spreading to his limbs and churning in his belly.

He could barely even breathe from the nerves.

He didn’t know where to rest his eyes. As soon as he looked up, he was face-to-face with Song Shihan’s adam’s apple and sharp jawline. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was this man.

Feeling his ears heat, Zuo Tao pursed his lips. “Not done yet?”

“Almost,” Song Shihan answered.

Before Zuo Tao could even breathe a sigh of relief, Song Shihan bent and moved his arms around him, wrapping the tape around him from behind.

The distance between them went into the negatives.

It was just having his bust measured, but Zuo Tao tensed up all the same. For a moment, he almost confused the  action for a hug.

Warm air fell against the side of his neck, arousing a tingling sensation akin to electric shocks on his skin. The unknown citrus scent dominated his sense of smell.

Zuo Tao felt like he was going crazy.

Song Shihan noticed Zuo Tao’s stiffness, glancing at the boy to ask, “What’s wrong?”

Zuo Tao’s heart skipped a beat, and he forced himself to calm down. “I’m just… ticklish.”

Song Shihan laughed lightly but didn’t respond. After finishing up by measuring his legs, he said, “Done.”

Zuo Tao was blushing as he left Song Shihan’s room. Going back to his own room and taking a seat, he realized something even more terrible.

He had always had the bad habit of forgetting things. He’d left the pull tab of that Wangzi milk on Song Shihan’s desk.

His phone vibrated, and when he checked he saw a message from Song Shihan.

It was a picture of the ring lying next to his PC’s keyboard.

Zuo Tao: …

【FIRE: Yours?】

【PINK: Yeah.】

【FIRE: You still need it?】

Zuo Tao scratched his head, every cell in his body screaming. To lessen whatever impact his strange behavior may have, he replied with trembling fingers —

【PINK: No.】

【PINK: I was going to throw it anyway.】

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