DPTBG Chapter 25

Zuo Tao looked for Jiang Ming like he’d lost his soul, but he was nowhere to be found in the end. He walked down the hall.

CAT’s interview had ended.

Zuo Tao’s wandering soul sat down on the sofa next to him, waiting. He was still wearing Song Shihan’s team jacket, and it was like Song Shihan’s voice was still lingering in his ear —

Zuo Tao, I really didn’t expect your tongue to be so sharp.

How could things end up like this? Everything that should not have been heard by Song Shihan, he heard.

In hindsight, there were hardly any instances in the past few days that weren’t out to destroy his image.

Burying his face into his collar, Zuo Tao let out a breath. Because of his foolishness, he felt lost and hopeless.

He pinched his fingers nervously, wishing he could go back to even just 10 minutes in the past, grab his own shoulder and swing at himself —

Zuo Tao, Zuo Tao, you’re being too careless. Song Shihan has become your AD now, that is undeniable. Whatever anyone else says, you should be satisfied.

Why did you have to open your mouth and talk?

Zuo Tao leaned against the sofa, sighing. After considering the circumstances, he came to a terrifying conclusion — regarding the standards of being “quiet”, “well-behaved”, and “obedient”, he seemed to have already destroyed two.

He has become a talkative and restless child.

His only saving grace was that he could still pretend to be obedient. As long as he could maintain that persona, the deductions from the other two could be made up for given the right opportunity.

While comforting himself, Zuo Tao worked hard to adjust his mindset.

Remembering the amusement in Song Shihan’s face when they spoke earlier, he felt like he still had a chance to salvage the situation.

The next step was to engrave obedience into his DNA. As long as he could stably act, he will be the most obedient player in the whole league! Anyway, even if he did it poorly, points were still there for effort, right?

After CAT’s interview, the staff quickly urged Zuo Tao to the set.

Wu Shuibo was touching up his makeup during the break, and a flash of pink caught his attention. He looked up and saw a very young boy, putting his mirror down as his eyes lit up. “Hi, PINK! I’m Bobo~”

Zuo Tao nodded politely, responding, “Hello.” As he spoke, he followed Song Shihan’s example and zipped his jacket up to the top.

It was a size too big on him, making it look empty as it pooled around his body. The sleeves were too long, too.

Zuo Tao sat on the sofa, folding the sleeves a few times and fixing his clothes so they at least sat properly on his body. He was about to say something when he noticed Song Shihan and the rest of the team were standing together not far away. They seemed to be waiting for him. Wang Qiu even clenched his hand and cheered for him.

He straightened his back.

He secretly cheered: Zuo Tao, here’s your chance to perform.

“Are you nervous?” Wu Shuibo asked with a smile, chin resting on a hand as he looked at Zuo Tao’s jacket with interest. “Relax, I’m just asking a few simple questions.

“By the way, is one requirement for Wildfire good looks?”

He shifted his gaze to the team’s direction. For a moment, Zuo Tao couldn’t understand what he meant, stupidly uttering “huh?”

He coughed. Wu Shuibo’s perfume was a little too strong, making his nose itch, which in turn made him feel even more uncomfortable. But it was difficult to say anything, so he decided to breathe as lightly as possible. If he couldn’t take it, he could just bury his nose into his collar.

“You’re quite good looking, like the protagonist of a manga, all pink and tender,” Wu Shuibo said. He was as straightforward as the rumors said he was, tilting his head to watch  Zuo Tao. “I really like your face, and your skin is also so good it’s almost like you don’t have pores at all.”

“That’s because the makeup artist applied powder,” Zuo Tao answered, feeling uncomfortable as he rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand. A faint look of disgust crossed his face.

Wu Shuio burst into laughter. “Aw, aren’t you just so cute? I want to steal you and take you home with me.”

Zuo Tao: …

“Sorry to interrupt,” Wang Qiu suddenly said, moving closer and handing Zuo Tao an unopened mask. “Captain told me to bring this to you to wear.”

Glancing at the camera, he said to Wu Shuibo, “Do you mind? Our support is down with the cold.”

Zuo Tao was stunned, glancing at Song Shihan. He was talking to the Little Bear TV staff, not paying attention to them at all; under his jacket he was wearing a simple white shirt, his wrist adorned with a Rolex. He looked mature but casual.

Wu Shuibo was surprised. “Wow!” He laughed, turning his head to look at Song Shihan as well, “It’s okay, you can go ahead. FIRE can be so thoughtful.”

With a teasing smile, he said, “Sure enough, our Taotao is most likable. I do have to warn you though, I’ll be posting some of these photos on my own account later; since you’re good looking, you’ll surely garner a lot of face con fans. If you cover up, that won’t happen.”

Zuo Tao had already opened the packaging and put the mask on, showing through his actions that he didn’t really mind these things.

Wu Shuibo simply smiled when he noticed, snapping his fingers at the cameraman and saying, “Let’s get started.”

Zuo Tao answered, “Okay.”

Wu Shuibo’s nickname of “machine gun mouth” in the esports industry was truly well-deserved. When the cameras started rolling, his entire person became much sharper, and he threw questions one after another. Sometimes he even set ‘small traps’ to make it more fun. If he fell for one of these traps, then it was no wonder that Si Zheng was terrified of getting interviewed by him.

Zuo Tao focused all his attention to the questions to avoid stepping into those mines, afraid that he might say something he could never recover from.

After all, his image could not withstand another blow.

After ten minutes, Wu Shuibo had finally gotten through the prepared question, but he didn’t immediately let Zuo Tao leave.

“PINK, let’s talk about something else for a sec. Your uncle and I are good friends behind the scenes, and I heard from Taisen that you took the college entrance examinations this year.” Wu Shuibo’s eyes burned with curiosity. “Why did you choose to enter the industry at this time?”

Zuo Tao didn’t hesitate, giving the standard answer: “Because I love it.”

Wu Shuibo: “Most players who choose to play professionally do so because of their love for the sport.” He smiled. “Is there anything else besides that?”

There was a strong implication in his words, and Zuo Tao felt that there was something wrong with the question. He blinked, pretending not to understand: “Huh?”

However, he forgot that Wu Shuibo was actually insane —

“All netizens know that you’re a passionate fan of FIRE,” he said, blinking at Zuo Tao. “The post from last night…” He started laughing. “Everyone’s saying that you got so mad your face turned blue. With that post, you became the first player in the history of the league to have negative points.”

Zuo Tao had nothing to say, but the same couldn’t be said about Wu Shuibo.

“Can you talk about your mental state at the time you were making that post?”

Zuo Tao’s lips, hidden under the mask, twitched, and he thought to himself, As soon as you stop talking the camera is brought almost to my face, can I really say no??

All the composure Zuo Tao had managed to gather seemed to leave him, and he glanced at Song Shihan. He had looked over at some point, causing Zuo Tao’s heart to skip in nervousness.

“En…

“It’s just… FIRE is a player I used to really, really like,” Zuo Tao said, scratching his head and racking his brains for ways to say what he wanted, but he couldn’t quite find the right words. “Of course, I still like him very much now. He’s great, an excellent player…”

While he spoke, he looked up at Song Shihan.

He was still looking, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. His face, still as expressionless as ever, was lit by the sunlight streaming in from the window, making his gaze look particularly deep.

When their eyes met, Zuo Tao’s brain short-circuited, and he blurted out, “And as captain, he is always tolerant. He’s taken good care of me and has been very patient with me since I came to the Wildfire family.

“He’s very different from what people say about him online. He’s not cold or distant at all, he’s actually very  good, and personally, I think he’s the best ADC in the league.

“So when I saw that post, I couldn’t resist… Sorry, as a public figure, I will definitely keep in mind my words and actions in the future. Please do not imitate me!”

Wu Shuibo gave Zuo Tao a look, smiling meaningfully as he teased, “Wow, such a heartfelt confession! I would almost think that you’re talking about a different FIRE altogether.”

Having it be called a ‘confession’ further messed with Zuo Tao’s mind. He waved his hands, confusion clear on his face. “Huh? No, that wasn’t a confession, it was just…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I understand,” Wu Shuibo said, smiling slyly. “Don’t misunderstand me, either; I was referring to the bond and brotherhood between teammates.”

Killing intent rose in Zuo Tao, but with all eyes on him he could only laugh and say, “Yeah… yes.”

“What a pure child. Congratulations on your success in idol-chasing!” Wu Shuibo didn’t bother to tease Zuo Tao anymore, finishing with, “That’s all for today’s interview. I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at the preliminaries! PINK, jiayou! Wildfire, jiayou!”

Zuo Tao released a breath in relief, standing up with the intent to leave.

However, before he could even take a single step forward, Wu Shuibo gave an exclamation from behind him —

“Whoa!”

Zuo Tao: …

His scalp tingled at the sound. He paused, turning to look at Wu Shuibo, asking, “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Wu Shuibo said, calling for the photographer to take one of Zuo Tao with his back facing him. “Are you wearing FIRE’s jacket?”

Team Wildfire’s uniform was different from other teams’ such that the player’s ID was printed clearly in a special font on the back of the jacket. The one Zuo Tao was wearing, obviously, read ‘FIRE’.

“Um,” Zuo Tao said, his heart still beating hard in his chest from Wu Shuibo’s earlier teasing. Alarm bells rang in his head, and he said, “I can explain!”

“No need to explain,” Wu Shuibo said, looking at Zuo Tao’s red ears. He smiled. “I didn’t mean anything.

“I just feel that the relationship between you bottom lane duo is really good.”

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