Accompany You Ch 12.3

Chapter 12: The Heart Belongs To (Part 3)

“Are you on break tomorrow as well?” Qiu Ying suddenly asked while sitting in the back of the car. “There are always a lot of boys at my cousin’s house who love playing Conquer, they’ve always wanted to see a professional player. If you have time, can you come?”

She spoke very quickly as well as very eagerly, as if she wanted to prove something, wanted to hold something in the palm of her hands. When she finished speaking she began looking for a way out for herself as well; it was quite a strange request to begin with, even if she was rejected it’d be fine…

“Alright.”

Qiu Ying’s heart skipped a beat. He replied so easily.

In the evening when Qiu Ying relayed this information to Gu Jiayi, her cousin jumped with joy and said, “Xia Ling’s also going to come, day after next!”

Qiu Ying’s impression of Xia Ling couldn’t be considered good. Initially, she felt like it was a pity about his past, but later on she saw him for a bit at Gu Jiayi’s house. Back then, she was looking for a photo album on the lowest shelf of the cabinet. When Xia Ling suddenly stood behind her, she got so scared she nearly hit and broke the glass door.

“Hey, you’re showing.” The boy tilted his head. “It’s blue.”

Qiu Ying pulled down her skirt in a hurry, incredibly embarrassed.

That afternoon when she’d played with them, she profoundly understood that Xia Ling was a poisonous man.

For a while it was: “Don’t say such stupid words even though you don’t know anything.”

In another while it was: “Your brain’s broken, hurry up and dunk it in the toilet and breathe some fresh air from the sewers, maybe it’ll make you a little more normal.”

Qiu Ying couldn’t help but lament that he was so handsome, but probably because his words made him too deserving of a good smack, according to this defense, no one was able to do a thing against him.

Shooting a glance at how happy Gu Jiayi was to her side, Qiu Ying helplessly shook her head. Every single teenage girl in love was all unimaginable…

**

On Sunday, when Qiu Ying brought Ji Xiangkong to Gu Jiayi’s home, her parents had just left the house. There were already a dozen boys sitting in the spacious living room, in line to jump around and play a motion-sensing game.

The moment they saw Ji Xiangkong, they threw away the hand remotes one after another. It was a good while before they reacted, so excited they were beside themselves, as if they were meeting a movie star.

“Void!”

“Oh my God! It’s the real deal!” 

“I’ve only seen him on TV!”

“Can I take a picture with you?”

Ji Xiangkong was long used to this kind of treatment, extremely experienced with signing his autograph and taking pictures. He glimpsed a boy nesting in the corner of the sofa, looking at him with dull interest. When their eyes met, the teen revealed a sneer on his face and said with a poor tone, “Are you that noob one?”

Qiu Ying nearly squeezed her Coke can to bursting. Gu Jiayi’s face went ashen. All of the other boys looked at each other — As expected of Xia Ling, he said what was in our hearts!

Ji Xiangkong laughed without minding it, casually pulling out a chair to sit down in front of the long round table of computers. Like newborn calves who had no fear of tigers, the boys rubbed their hands together and suggested that they take turns solo 1v1ing Ji Xiangkong in mid lane. Ji Xiangkong didn’t reject it; after allowing them to push two waves of troops, he easily beat their asses.

It was a feeling like a contest between two people where one side couldn’t even clearly see the moves the other side was making and was kicked out of the ring.

Out of all of them, the game between Ji Xiangkong and Xia Ling took the longest. The two sides fought back and forth, the situation becoming extremely nervewracking for a period of time.

“Xia Ling’s solo rank is in the Top 20 of the country!”

There was no anxiety at all with the result. Xia Ling was defeated.

Reality proved that when the best player amongst the commoners faced a professional player who’d gone through special training, their levels were still staggered. While Ji Xiangkong was called handicapped, that was the conclusion that had been put forth by professional players who tended to be quite at the top.

Qiu Ying couldn’t help but raise her chin in pride. Those big gods in the chat who clamored “I’ll go up, I can do it too” would be throwing stones in their glass houses if they dared take up the challenge face-to-face.

These few exchanges were like an icebreaker game and they quickly grew familiar with each other. The cheers and laughter were unceasing; even Xia Ling no longer said anything disrespectful. Qiu Ying looked at the scene of Ji Xiangkong playing with teenage children like this so noisily. Her heart became very, very soft. 

**

Later on, when Ji Xiangkong showed them the interview of the champion team of the World Esports Tournament on TV and replayed the highs and lows of the competition, the astonishing reversals time and time again made shout aloud in interest.

There was a boy who couldn’t help but lament, “I’m really jealous of you guys! You get bonuses by playing games!”

“This isn’t playing.” Ji Xiangkong shook his head. “In the very beginning, basketball was also a game, and it slowly developed into professional leagues like the NBA. Esports is officially recognized as a sport by the country, but while it’s different from something like basketball, the spirit it conveys is the same.”

Ji Xiangkong set aside his casual sitting posture to spread both legs out, lean forward, set his elbows on his knees, and clasp his hands together.

He said evenly, “Esports tests a person’s ability for rational analysis, perseverance, physical strength, reaction, attention, endurance, how they assess the overall situation, and the ability to cooperate with a team. If you want to get good results, other than talent, you still need to practice arduously and rigorously day after day.”

Qiu Ying had always felt that Ji Xiangkong had a sort of awe-inspiring feeling whenever he spoke seriously. Calm and unperturbed, logic clear-cut, it was like he was a completely different person from his normal casual appearance.

“Professional players usually live together inside the club in order to develop a silent understanding between the team members and can’t even go back home a few times a year; they need to exercise their bodies in order to maintain their physical fitness for long and taxing competitions, working and resting on a schedule; they need to hone their hand speed and reaction time in order to improve their operating. They play several practice competitions of Best-of-3s every day, study their training videos, observe other people’s games, sum up their experiences, learn and develop new heroes, new lineups, new tactics. After training finishes every day, they’ll individually train their feeling in solo-queue to maintain their condition.”

A new door seemed to have been thrown open for the boys. Their entire beings were devoted to listening, just like good students who were focused on listening to a lecture.

“Not only that, professional players need to have extremely strong hearts. If you guys imagine it, there are thousands of people behind you in a competition watching your every move and action. If you’re just a little bit not careful with your operating, the audience will spray you with dog blood until your head is soaked…”

The boys seemed to experience that feeling and immediately went taut, each of them. Qiu Ying glared at him — Look at the way you’ve scared these kids.

A few more words later, the boys were faithfully in respect of him, all calling out “Ji god” and chasing curiously after him asking about even more information regarding the esports circle.

There was someone who asked, “Ji god, do you think I could become a professional player?”

There was another who said, “I’m willing to suffer for my dream!”

“Not just anyone can become a global-level player. Every year there are only so few teams who can win the medal, but there are thousands upon thousands of losers.” Ji Xiangkong’s voice was gentle and yet did not lose its momentum. “If you choose this path, you have to win, have to gain results, have to reach the top of the pyramid. Otherwise, otherwise you would just have wasted your time.”

After dinner, Qiu Ying did the washing up in the kitchen. Ji Xiangkong came over to help out.

Qiu Ying handed the rubber gloves to him. “Thank you for coming today.”

Ji Xiangkong winked at her deviously. “I said it before — no matter what you ask me to do, I’ll satisfy you.”

There was a hint of sweetness in Qiu Ying’s chest. She smiled in embarrassment, her whole body nearly flowing with warmth.

“And I was also pretty surprised today. That Xia Ling’s playstyle and overall style is extremely similar to Captain Cris, back then. He’s a player in the Top 20 of the national rankings and a lot of clubs are paying attention to him, so I didn’t expect to meet the honored one himself.”

“Does he have the potential to go pro?”

“He has a boundless path before him.” A bit helplessly, Ji Xiangkong lamented, “I really envy those kids with fast hands, who have talent.”

Now there were only the two of them. Pretending to be calm, Qiu Ying asked, “Last time you said… you said you like me. What kind of like was it?”

Ji Xiangkong smiled. “What do you think?”

Qiu Ying carefully opened her mouth. “… ‘You don’t hate me’ kind? As a fan? A friend?”

Ji Xiangkong didn’t speak, concentrating on washing the dishes in front of the sink. It was so quiet around them it was a bit frightening. A bit of sourness floated up in Qiu Ying’s nose as she regretted how abrupt she’d been and her heart slowly sank downward.

Clatter—

Ji Xiangkong had somehow overturned the fruit plate. Tangerines, apples, and pears rolled on the floor. Qiu Ying hurriedly knelt down to pick them up, but the principal culprit did not help, instead kneeling next to her to look on as if nothing had happened.

Qiu Ying turned her head to look at him in dissatisfaction. “Ai, don’t just stay there, move your hands…”

Before she finished speaking, Ji Xiangkong suddenly took her by the waist, bowed his head, and kissed her. Like a dragonfly glancing off the water, just a touch, a test.

When their lips separated, Qiu Ying wasn’t at all prepared and her entire face was dumbfounded. Ji Xiangkong moved slightest away from her, his eyes cast down. His straight nose bridge brushed against the tip of her nose, his breath scattered on her face, damp and hot.

He dipped his head again to take her soft lips, at times licking them, at times lightly biting, at times slightly pulling. A numbing sensation spread all throughout her body while Qiu Ying grasped the clothes on his chest in a fluster, her limbs gradually weakening as her whole body went soft.

The door of the kitchen wasn’t closed. In the open crack, the sounds of the kids gaming filtered in.

“The other side’s support and ADC are showing off their love!”

“My eyes, they’re burning! Hurry with your ability!”

“Burn! Burn! Burn them up!”

Ji Xiangkong used more and more strength. Qiu Ying’s cheeks were fiery hot as she gasped for breath, her eyes disoriented from being bullied. She froze as she heard Gu Jiayi call from outside, “Ying jie, need help?”

Ji Xiangkong relaxed somewhat, leaving a gap for Qiu Ying. She did her best to get out a full sentence: “No need…”

Without waiting for her to finish speaking, Ji Xiangkong bit her lower lip and pulled her up from the ground. One hand looped around her thin waist and pressed her close to him, the other palm clasped the back of her head to continuously deepen the kiss. Qiu Ying, completely strengthless, helplessly allowed him to attack the city and plunder the land with his kiss. They were wound tight with each other, entangled. Her heart leapt like the beat of a drum.

She suddenly heard the sound of footsteps from not far away — there was someone coming! Alarm bells sounded in her head and she began to struggle in agitation.

Seeing that she was ill at ease, Ji Xiangkong held her wrist behind her back and purposely made a sound with his kiss. The people outside couldn’t hear, but at this moment it became unendingly louder in her ears. She truly wanted to kill him. She kicked at his calf with her foot, heart up in her throat. Only when the footsteps at the entrance walked further away did the alarms stop ringing.

After a while, Ji Xiangkong finally set her lips free. His fingers rubbed her small earlobes as he said quietly, “I like you this way.”

When Gu Jiayi opened the door, Qiu Ying was picking things up with her back facing her, without turning back her head. Ji Xiangkong was standing at the door. He stepped sideways to block off Qiu Ying with his tall body, smile gentle and friendly. “I can help her enough here, you guys keep playing.”

Gu Jiayi nodded and closed the door with great tact.

Ji Xiangkong took out a can of Cola from the fridge and handed it to Qiu Ying, tapping his lip with his index finger.

“You’re red here.” He ticked up a corner of his mouth, smiling. “I did that.”

Qiu Ying put the cola can on the side of her painful and red mouth, glaring at him angrily. “Scoundrel.”

“Mm.” The smile in Ji Xiangkong’s eyes deepened even further as he gently patted her hair. From the top of her head to the tips of her hair, his movements were ambiguous and lazy, as if he was placating a lamb. “I’ll be even more so in the future.”

previous chapter | contents page | next chapter

***

(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)