[Esports] I Started an Online Romance with a Big Shot After Retiring Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Duan Mingyue was silent for a while before saying, “Okay.”

Shen Yanjin wiped the corners of his eyes without a trace and smiled at him. “You go back first. I’ll go to the training room to get my phone.”

With that, he walked away, his retreating figure seeming somewhat flustered.

A faint smell of smoke still lingered in the air. Duan Mingyue stood there, watching him. The corridor lights stretched Shen Yanjin’s slender and desolate shadow long behind him. As the wind blew the clouds away and moonlight fell, there was an unspeakable loneliness.

Calculating carefully, too many things separated them. Family background, connections, wealth, status—each item was enough to create a chasm-like gap. If not for that encounter five years ago, the various coincidences and external factors, there would have been absolutely no possibility between them.

But even with the encounter five years ago, the fate given by heaven, they still missed each other.

It was Shen Yanjin. Not believing in fate, step by step, gritting his teeth, he paved a single-plank bridge and returned to his side.

Duan Mingyue lowered his eyelids. In his phone, a few messages sent an hour ago lay quietly, read but not replied to.

The sender was XXDY.

Every time he helped Duan Mingyue with something, there was extra remuneration. Private accounts meant no tax, and no one would go against money. XXDY was happy to earn this extra cash. Plus, since this time it concerned the “happiness of the rest of the life” of the Duan family’s next successor, he investigated even more vigorously.

It was just that the information database was too messy, and the data Duan Mingyue wanted traced back too far. After investigating for so many days, it finally came to fruition an hour ago.

In the chat logs he sent over, “Duan Mingyue’s” tone was cold and ruthless, every word drawing blood, forcing the person on the other end to retreat in defeat and finally flee in panic.

Know your place?

Wasn’t the person most lacking in self-awareness the very one who said those words?

Duan Mingyue wanted to laugh a little. He wasn’t a fool; he recognized at a glance exactly who was impersonating him.

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Six years.

This poisonous thorn should also be pulled out.

And it had to be pulled out justifiably and openly.

A trace of hostility flashed across his lowered eyes, but this hostility was quickly replaced by calm indifference. Shen Yanjin’s figure had disappeared at the end of the corridor, and only then did Duan Mingyue step toward the elevator.

It was late at night, but for the internet-addicted boys and girls in the esports industry, it wasn’t considered late. The day’s training ended, and the remaining time was for streaming, RANK entertainment, and free disposal.

And the fourth floor, the south side where Duan Mingyue’s room was located, had always been the quietest area.

After getting his phone, Shen Yanjin drafted a bunch of speeches in his mind while in the elevator, overturning and restarting repeatedly, feeling none were appropriate enough.

In the end, he still didn’t have enough courage to reveal his old scars in front of the person he loved.

But keep making people wait, saying nothing, hiding everything—what kind of matter was this?

He bit the bullet and opened the door to Duan Mingyue’s dorm.

Only a desk lamp was on in the room. The light below the lampshade was diffused very softly.

Duan Mingyue sat on the edge of the bed. He rarely wore glasses, and a laptop rested on his knees; he seemed to be handling some business. Seeing Shen Yanjin, he closed the laptop, took off his glasses, and smiled. “Come here.”

Shen Yanjin shuffled over slowly, was grabbed by the wrist by Duan Mingyue, pulled down, and sat closely next to him.

“I…” Opening his mouth, Shen Yanjin’s voice was somewhat raw. He paused, adjusted, and continued, “My sexual orientation was discovered once.”

The expression on Duan Mingyue’s face didn’t fluctuate significantly. He held the youth’s hand and said, “At HG?”

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“En, discovered by a roommate, and then… then the whole team knew.”

“So they fixed matches, trying to force you off the stage?”

Shen Yanjin was stunned, turning his head abruptly. “How did you know?”

Duan Mingyue smiled briefly. This smile had no warmth, only making one feel terribly cold down their back. He wasn’t a fool; hearing this, he naturally connected the dots with what Bai Dabai had said earlier about “targeting.”

If he had discovered Lu Yuan’s actions earlier back then.

If he had persisted in finding YanGold back then.

If he had recognized Sliver.

If…

However, there were no ifs. One wrong step led to every step wrong. Others were at fault, but Duan Mingyue also felt he was a fool. He had too many chances, yet he didn’t grasp a single one, letting his little Support stay in the garbage dump for five whole years.

Shen Yanjin felt filled with unease by his smile. “Brother?”

Duan Mingyue repeated unhurriedly what Shen Yanjin had said: “The past isn’t that important anymore? Shen Yanjin, do you really take yourself for a Bodhisattva, forgiving everything all at once like this?”

Shen Yanjin lowered his eyelids, didn’t speak, and rested his head on Duan Mingyue’s shoulder.

“It really isn’t that important anymore. I’m not a Bodhisattva; I just don’t want to be involved with those people in the slightest anymore. Really, not even a little bit.”

Winning a fight against a dog wasn’t something to brag about, and you might get bitten, lowering your own standing instead.

Shen Yanjin just wanted to go up and look forward now. He knew clearly that after he left, HG was just a pile of stinking fish and rotten shrimp. Soon they would fall to the secondary league and then walk the path of disbandment.

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HG had fixed matches and indeed harbored malice toward him because of his sexual orientation, but Shen Yanjin had no evidence and didn’t want to blow things up. Moreover, knowing HG would receive retribution sooner or later, why bother lowering himself to the level of those things?

Humans don’t bicker with dogs. Shen Yanjin did feel disgusted, but he couldn’t be bothered to hate. It was a waste of emotion; HG wasn’t worthy.

Duan Mingyue raised his hand, touching the back of his neck, smiling yet not smiling. “You are quite open-minded.”

However, what truly made Shen Yanjin hesitate wasn’t this matter. His eyes flickered, and he suddenly straightened up and began taking off his clothes.

Jacket, shirt—the youth’s smooth upper body was exposed.

Duan Mingyue truly hadn’t expected this development. Shen Yanjin indeed shared a bed with him, but he basically wore pajamas. Counting it up, he hadn’t seen the other’s body yet.

He intended to speak, but stopped abruptly upon seeing Shen Yanjin’s right hand.

“That half-month, I had surgery.” Shen Yanjin lowered his head. “Even if they didn’t force me, I would have retired. At that time, my hand couldn’t keep up anymore. Y-You don’t worry, the surgery and rehabilitation were very successful.”

But no matter how successful, it was impossible to return to the peak.

Broken things can be repaired, but cannot be as good as new.

On this point, both Duan Mingyue and Shen Yanjin knew clearly in their hearts.

Shen Yanjin was already twenty-two, considered an “advanced age” player. Unlike Duan Mingyue, his condition was definitely declining. It wasn’t obvious now, but what about a year later, two years later?

The time left for him wasn’t much.

A bout of silence.

Suddenly, Shen Yanjin’s right wrist was pulled, and immediately, soft, dry lips landed on it.

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He widened his eyes, pupils contracting slightly.

Duan Mingyue…

Duan Mingyue was actually kissing his scar.

The gentle kiss moved upward from the wrist, extending to the forearm, provoking a shivering itch on the tender scar.

Shen Yanjin’s mouth went dry; he almost couldn’t speak.

Duan Mingyue reached out to pull the youth into his arms, biting the snow-white earlobe.

“Thank you for doing so much for me,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Leave the rest to me, okay?”

Shen Yanjin hugged Duan Mingyue back, nodding vigorously.

Duan Mingyue said, “Then in the future, if I want to hold your hand, will you let me? Want to hug you, will you let me?”

An uncontrollable trace of unease flashed through Shen Yanjin’s heart, but he suppressed his shyness and gave an “En.” “Yes…”

The new season of WL arrived. As per the domestic region’s custom, every opening ceremony was held rather grandly.

Plus, this year’s first match was KW versus TWG. The points of interest doubled, and the popularity was also extremely high. The Alliance naturally invested more energy into promotion.

The match location was set at KW’s home stadium, the Cloud City Sports Center. Speaking of which, it was quite emotional; Shen Yanjin’s retirement battle was fought here, and unexpectedly, his first match after returning was also here.

Although as a substitute, he wouldn’t be playing.

Arriving at the venue by car, Shen Yanjin glanced outside. The entrance to the sports center was a sea of people holding light signs and support banners for each team. There were also many security guards working hard to maintain order, making it look like a concert scene.

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It couldn’t be helped; the popularity of the two teams was right there. Being the first match of the new season, fans intentionally compared, neither willing to lose the field.

Mi Yonghui instructed the driver to enter the venue through the staff channel, avoiding the fanatical fans as much as possible.

Shen Yanjin sat in his seat, looking down at his phone. TWG’s official Weibo released today’s starting roster two minutes ago. Jungler Shi Feng, but the Support wasn’t Aiai, but another unfamiliar ID, likely a newcomer promoted from TWG’s youth training.

What surprised Shen Yanjin even more was that it was one thing for a newcomer to start, but Aiai wasn’t even listed as a substitute. He simply didn’t appear on the participant list!

Other team members obviously saw this list too, each with different thoughts.

TWG’s Jungle-Support duo indeed had problems.

And given Aiai Song Aiyu’s seniority, if he insisted on not giving up the starting position, others couldn’t shake him either. The team wanted to make money, and to make money, they had to care about public opinion. Aiai’s popularity was high. Although his performance in scrims was poor, the official matches hadn’t started yet. As long as results weren’t an issue, the team wouldn’t tear face with him and force him out.

Song Aiyu left voluntarily.

Kai said Aiai liked Shi Feng.

But Shi Feng personally said he wanted to replace Aiai.

What must Song Aiyu have felt in his heart at that time?

He tried hard to adapt to the meta, but didn’t succeed and failed utterly. In the end, protective supports simply couldn’t shoulder the heavy responsibility of lane ganking. Relying solely on a jungler, the effect was worse than honestly protecting the ADC’s growth in the bot lane.

Actually, if Song Aiyu gritted his teeth, he could also use his protective supports to tough it out with Shi Feng. It wasn’t impossible to win.

But he didn’t.

He loved the arena, but he also had his pride and weakness.

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He didn’t want to drag Shi Feng down. He chose to withdraw, letting capable newcomers step up.

As a fellow player, Shen Yanjin knew very well that it required immense courage to make such a compromise and sacrifice.

Feeling empathy for his own kind, he sighed gently, his mood somewhat heavy.

He wondered… exactly how Shi Feng was feeling right now.

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