SITS CH69

Chapter 69: Toothache

A normal romance tends to leave a person plagued by the anxious insecurity of gain and loss.

By contrast, a somewhat abnormal romance can actually bring a profound sense of peace.

Xu Zhouye had no idea how his feelings appeared from Shen Man’s perspective, yet from his own point of view, his devotion to Shen Man was far from ordinary.

That abnormality manifested in an obsession that burned unchanged across a decade. Who would believe that from the very moment he watched Shen Man hoist that trophy, across all these years, his fervor for Shen Man hadn’t dimmed by even a fraction?

After making things official with Shen Man, Xu Zhouye had initially assumed he would feel more at ease. Unexpectedly, his restlessness only intensified.

He remained anxious, remained insecure, continuously masking a boiling tide of emotion beneath an easygoing smile. It took tremendous effort to smile calmly while watching Shen Man chat and laugh with other people. The sole silver lining was that Shen Man disliked interacting with too many people anyway, sparing Xu Zhouye a great deal of trouble.

Shen Man’s breezy, detached composure only made Xu Zhouye’s agitation look all the more ridiculous. Rationally, he knew Shen Man treated him differently from everyone else, yet emotionally he still craved more.

Until Shen Man suddenly got jealous over him.

Shen Man had gotten jealous. Shen Man had actually gotten jealous over him.

Absurd as it sounded, what flooded Xu Zhouye’s chest in that moment was unmatched euphoria.

“I’ll stay with you until the day you no longer need me.” How noble and magnanimous those words sounded. Yet Xu Zhouye felt deeply grateful he had spoken them while hugging Shen Man from behind, preventing Shen Man from seeing his face. His expression at that moment must have looked terrifying; even as he uttered that promise, his heart was letting out a cold, mocking sneer.

Leave? He would never leave. Even if Shen Man stopped needing him, he would never let go.

Completely oblivious to this, Shen Man seemed to find the notion of “forever” rather absurd, already contemplating how to make a graceful exit should they ever encounter the same predicament as Zhao Rui.

A graceful exit? Xu Zhouye found the thought laughable. Wrapping his arms tightly around Shen Man from behind, he held on with enough force to practically fuse him into his own body.

Don’t worry, ge. You’re never escaping me in this lifetime.

Preparations for the Masters Cup moved forward at full speed.

Unlike the complex format of the World Championship, the Masters Cup adopted a double-elimination bracket. Teams were drawn into head-to-head matchups: winners advanced through the upper bracket, while losers dropped to the lower bracket for another shot, cycling forward until elimination. Simply put, losing two series meant going home.

The bracket draw was set for Friday night, yet everyone had already grown tense by Wednesday.

Shen Man was playing games in his room late at night when he abruptly caught a whiff of smoke. Assuming something had caught fire, he searched everywhere before finally spotting their coach crouching with his rear stuck out in a corner of the garden below the balcony, burning something.

“Coach, what are you doing?” Shen Man slid open the balcony window and called down.

Startled half out of his skin by Shen Man’s voice, the coach jumped: “Why are you still awake this late?”

It was already past two in the morning.

Shen Man replied, “Drank too much coffee, can’t sleep.”

Holding three sticks of incense in his hand, the coach sighed: “Well, the bracket draw is tomorrow.”

Shen Man: “…”

They always said the end of science was metaphysics, yet seeing the coach burning incense and joss paper in the garden in the dead of night was genuinely creepy.

“Go to sleep,” the coach urged. “We still have scrims tomorrow morning.”

Silently closing the window and drawing the curtains, Shen Man headed back to bed.

This Masters Cup carried extraordinary weight for them. Capturing the trophy would make them the fastest team in Heart of the Wasteland history to achieve a Grand Slam, and an unbroken, consecutive Grand Slam at that.

Although the coach repeatedly told the squad to keep a calm mindset, judging by his midnight ritual burning joss paper outside the window, he was likely even more nervous than the players.

“Everyone stay relaxed. We survived Worlds; this is just a walk in the park,” the coach reassured the roster on Friday evening.

Shen Man spoke up: “Coach.”

The coach smiled: “What’s up, Shen Man, feeling nervous too? No worries…”

Mid-sentence, the former pro conducting the draw on the projector screen pulled out two capsules, revealing the names inside: BBB and ACE.

The atmosphere in the conference room froze solid for three seconds.

The coach let out a heart-wrenching wail: “Didn’t I burn joss paper?! How did we pull a draw like this?! It was this exact guy doing the draw last year, why is he back again?!”

Indeed, after struggling desperately to reach the playoffs last year, ACE had drawn 3B in the opening round of the Masters Cup and been promptly sent packing.

Instantly, heavy gloom descended over the entire room.

Only Shen Man stared at the screen for two seconds before calling out calmly: “Coach.”

Coach: “What?”

Shen Man asked, “Do you think there’s any chance this is last year’s replay?”

Coach: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

Shen Man pointed out: “Seafood Platform didn’t buy broadcast rights for the Masters Cup this year, remember?”

Lifting their eyes, everyone spotted the Seafood Platform watermark sitting in the top-right corner of the projected stream.

Sure enough, it was a classic Seafood Platform stunt. During a previous Spring Split when they were too stingy to purchase broadcast rights, they slapped current HCC titles onto the previous year’s VODs and looped them all day; plenty of clueless viewers had tuned in and watched multiple matches before realizing something wasn’t right.

Everyone was nearly laughed to tears by Seafood Platform’s sheer audacity.

Letting out a sheepish “Oh,” the coach silently switched websites over to Animal Platform.

Predictably, the official broadcast was still airing the opening ceremony, having not even started the draw yet. The sole problem was that the guest conducting the draw really was the exact retired player notorious for his atrocious luck last year.

“Why is it him every single year?” Zhao Rui groaned. “I suspect this is part of a conspiracy.”

As he spoke, the guest on screen walked up to the glass bowl filled with team capsules.

“Bro, bro, come through for us, give us some good luck!” Everyone clasped their hands together and began praying fervently.

“If we get a good draw, I’m willing to lose twenty catties,” Xu Xiaochong vowed.

“Get a good draw and I’ll give up meat for half a month,” Liu Shishi joined in.

“Then I’m willing to give up online dating for six months!” Gritting his teeth and stomping his foot, Zhao Rui threw down a ruthless oath.

Xu Zhouye chimed in: “I’ll cover late-night snacks for everyone for a whole month?”

Only Shen Man remained, prompting everyone to turn expectantly toward their captain.

Personally, Shen Man disapproved of feudal superstitions, yet meeting his teammates’ earnest stares, he pondered for two seconds before saying: “If we pull a good draw, I’m even willing to let myself win the championship.”

Everyone: “…” Who infected Shen Man with this level of shamelessness?

While they bantered back and forth, the draw officially began.

Living up to his nickname “Black Hand,” the guest never missed a beat, pulling two capsules from the bowl and opening them to reveal UN and BBB.

Well, someone else was taking the bad luck today.

Breathing a collective sigh of relief, everyone felt a brief pang of sympathy for UN.

“I seriously can’t stand this guy,” Zhao Rui condemned loudly. “Even with one-in-fifty-six odds he still manages to hit that matchup. Can we please invite someone with better luck next year?”

“Seconded,” Liu Shishi agreed. “This guy’s hands are way too cursed.”

The draw continued.

As the coach had analyzed earlier, only two teams posed a major threat to ACE this tournament: domestic rival UN, and Asian powerhouse BBB.

Moments later, ACE drew their opening opponent: European Spring Split champions VK.

Newly assembled this past spring, VK boasted an ultra-wealthy owner who had imported several top-tier foreign stars, propelling them straight to first place in Europe.

However, European teams generally trailed slightly behind the HCC in overall strength, so their true caliber could only be gauged once they clashed on stage.

Satisfied with the draw, the coach nodded: “Pretty decent.”

“WM arrived already too, right?” Zhao Rui asked. “I heard they’ve been bootcamping in the host city for a few weeks.”

WM, their old friends from Europe, had lent ACE their training facility during Worlds last year.

Unfortunately, the Masters Cup wasn’t hosted in ACE’s home city this time, taking place in TKR’s city instead, meaning WM was borrowing TKR’s facility.

“Borrowing their facility is fine,” Zhao Rui murmured. “I’m just worried Qin Yixing will take them out for hotpot…”

Recalling unpleasant memories, everyone’s expressions darkened instantly.

“Surely not?” the coach said. “After learning their lesson the past few times, their coaching staff definitely keeps them on a tight leash.”

Not just once, but multiple times in the past.

Whenever international players visited China for tournaments, sensitive stomachs inevitably fell victim to local cuisine. The most tragically hilarious incident involved an enthusiastic domestic player gifting a visiting team boxes of five-nut mooncakes (the sole legal equivalent to arsenic), sending an overseas player straight to the hospital on the spot; had the ambulance arrived any later, he might not have survived.

Terrified, the club issued an immediate public apology and docked the player three months’ salary.

According to the coach, pro gamers stayed cooped up in training rooms all day with razor-thin health bars; you didn’t even need poison, sprinkling a pinch of crushed peanuts into their lunch could wipe out two or three starters.

“When are we flying out, Coach?” Liu Shishi asked.

“Plenty of time left,” the coach replied. “It’s only a two-hour flight, what’s the rush? We have heavy scrim blocks scheduled lately, so nobody ask for leave. Once the Masters Cup ends, I’ll give you all a full week off.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Once the bracket draw went live, some rejoiced while others despaired.

In stark contrast to ACE’s relaxed atmosphere, UN’s base echoed with wails of despair.

Funny enough, looking at historical head-to-head records, UN held a flat zero percent win rate against 3B.

Running straight into the biggest raid boss in Round 1 left everyone gloomy.

“ACE must be pretty thrilled right now,” Zhou Yao remarked casually.

“Of course they are.” Gnawing on fried chicken, Luo Zhile noticed Shen Man had gone live and clicked into the stream, spotting Shen Man and Xu Zhouye queueing duo ranked.

With the Masters Cup approaching, training intensity across the league had ramped up sharply, filled with endless scrims and solo queue grinds.

“If I were them, I’d be thrilled too,” Luo Zhile added. “Xu Zhouye really is getting more ferocious by the day.”

Across recent tournaments, Shen Man’s throne as the #1 Marksman required no elaboration, yet Xu Zhouye hadn’t been overshadowed by his brilliance in the slightest. Rising like a dazzling supernova, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Shen Man like twin stars sharing the same sky.

“Yeah.” Never one to easily admit admiration, Zhou Yao surprisingly didn’t argue this time. “He really does have serious skill.”

On the livestream screen, Shen Man and Xu Zhouye were coordinating smoothly.

Just like on regular days, Shen Man spoke sparingly; outside of official tournament matches, he rarely said much at all.

Yet silence never hindered their seamless intuition.

Xu Zhouye dropped a casual ping on the map, and Shen Man rotated straight into the red quadrant to take the red buff without a single word exchanged between them.

“Their relationship is weirdly good,” Zhou Yao noted in puzzlement. “I thought Shen Man had a terrible temper.”

Casting a sidelong glance at Zhou Yao, Luo Zhile thought silently: Bro, you’re calling Shen Man’s temper bad? If someone ranked the worst-tempered players in the league, you’d easily place ahead of him. Knowing Zhou Yao had to be stroked along the fur, however, he replied smoothly: “Yeah, his temper isn’t great, and he didn’t get along well with old teammates.” Truthfully, it wasn’t that bad; ACE’s roster simply rotated too frequently back then, and one rookie had even been bullied to tears on stage by Qin Yixing.

Teaming with Shen Man brought countless perks, offset by one massive drawback: immense pressure.

Right now, Xu Zhouye had weathered that pressure effortlessly.

“If they win the Masters Cup,” Zhou Yao murmured, “they complete the Grand Slam.” He glanced over at Luo Zhile.

Understanding his meaning instantly, Luo Zhile smiled: “Right now, we’re only four trophies away from a Grand Slam ourselves.”

Zhou Yao let out a scoff: “Tch.”

Shen Man and Xu Zhouye’s ranked grind went smoothly, as the live patch suited Xu Zhouye’s playstyle to perfection.

Unfortunately, the tournament realm lagged one major patch behind live servers, slightly nerfing his jungle dominance.

They played late into the night.

“I’m starving,” Xu Zhouye groaned. “Ge, what are we grabbing for late-night snacks?”

Pressing his tongue lightly against the inside of his cheek, Shen Man said, “I’m skipping it.”

Xu Zhouye blinked: “Skipping? Why?”

Shen Man replied, “No appetite.”

No appetite? That sounded nothing like Shen Man, and Xu Zhouye wasn’t nearly gullible enough to buy it: “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

Shen Man shook his head: “No.”

Standing up, Xu Zhouye reached over and switched off both Shen Man’s webcam and microphone in one fluid motion.

Before Shen Man could react, he blinked: “What are you doing?”

Xu Zhouye asked: “Stomachache?”

Shen Man: “No…”

Xu Zhouye pressed: “Then what hurts?”

Shen Man desperately wanted to claim nothing hurt at all, yet under Xu Zhouye’s sharp, scrutinizing stare, flimsy lies crumbled instantly. Lowering his head slightly, his voice softened like a kid caught red-handed by a parent: “Toothache.”

Xu Zhouye: “…”

Shen Man mumbled: “Just internal heat, it’ll pass in a couple days.”

Xu Zhouye said, “Let me take a look.”

Shen Man: “…”

Xu Zhouye insisted: “Hurry up, let me see.”

Even though they had done far more intimate things together, opening his mouth wide for Xu Zhouye to inspect still felt profoundly embarrassing. Hesitating for a second before tilting his head back, Shen Man had his chin cupped firmly as Xu Zhouye pressed a thumb against his lower teeth, forcing his jaw open.

Shen Man’s teeth were neat and straight. Resting the tip of his tongue lightly against Xu Zhouye’s thumb with his dark lashes lowered self-consciously, Shen Man held still while Xu Zhouye examined closely, knitting his brows: “You have a wisdom tooth coming in.”

Shen Man mumbled indistinctly: “I brush my teeth.”

He certainly did brush; recalling Shen Man’s collection of adorable ice-cream-flavored toothpastes, Xu Zhouye’s eyes curved into a smile: “I know you brush your teeth. I said wisdom tooth, not a cavity.”

Shen Man: “…Oh.”

Xu Zhouye decided immediately: “We’re going to the hospital tomorrow to get an X-ray and pull it out.”

Shen Man: “!” Instantly, he tried clamping his jaw shut, paying zero heed to Xu Zhouye’s thumb still resting inside his mouth.

Getting his thumb bitten by Shen Man, Xu Zhouye chuckled: “What are you doing?”

Saying nothing, Shen Man stubbornly kept biting down.

“I took a look; even at a glance, I can tell that wisdom tooth is growing in crooked,” Xu Zhouye explained. “Leaving it alone definitely won’t work.”

Licking lightly across the pad of Xu Zhouye’s thumb, Shen Man sat in his chair while Xu Zhouye stood beside him, lifting his dark eyes to gaze up at Xu Zhouye with a faint trace of pitiful pleading.

Not much, just a sliver, looking exactly like a cat realizing it was about to be taken to the vet and refusing to step inside its carrier.

Xu Zhouye’s heart melted into mush, yet he refused to budge an inch: “Leaving it like that will push against your other teeth and ruin them.”

Shen Man mumbled muffledly: “If they get ruined, they get ruined, who cares…”

Xu Zhouye: “…”

When it came to fearing the dentist, terror truly spared neither young nor old, man nor woman.

Xu Zhouye recalled his own mother being terrified of dentists. When a tooth decayed, she stubbornly refused to get it checked until the rot ate straight down into the dental pulp, forcing his father to practically drag her to the hospital. Delaying had worsened the damage; a tooth that originally needed a simple filling required a full root canal instead. Sitting in the waiting room, Xu Zhouye had listened to his mother wailing like a slaughtered pig behind the treatment room door.

When she finally emerged with tear-streaked eyes, he had asked if it was really that scary.

Weeping, his mother had replied: “Just wait until you have to get your wisdom teeth pulled.”

Years later, as a teenager discovering his own wisdom teeth coming in, Xu Zhouye hadn’t even bothered telling his mother, heading to the clinic alone to have them extracted.

Aside from a slight pinch during the anesthesia injection, Xu Zhouye had completely failed to understand why his mother had been so terrified.

Now, it seemed Shen Man wasn’t particularly brave when it came to tooth extractions either.

Shen Man genuinely was terrified. He had undergone dental work once as a child, feeling as though the dentist’s drill weren’t boring into his tooth, but straight into his heart; by the time the appointment ended, his soul had practically left his body.

His grandmother had taken him back then: walking in smiling, walking out crying. Stroking his head, his grandmother had been about to buy him snacks to cheer him up before remembering he couldn’t eat anything right after an extraction.

That memory had left an indelible shadow across young Shen Man’s mind.

“Not happening,” Xu Zhouye stood firm. “The tournament starts soon. If you get it pulled now, there’s still time to recover; if it suddenly swells up or throbs in pain mid-tournament, we’re in big trouble.”

Striking a snake seven inches below the head, Xu Zhouye knew precisely what Shen Man feared most.

Having insisted on playing through a severe hand injury last year, Shen Man would never allow his physical condition to jeopardize ACE’s tournament performance.

Sure enough, the argument worked immediately, and Shen Man’s resolve softened.

“It doesn’t even hurt that much,” Shen Man muttered, unwilling to give up completely. “Taking some painkillers will fix it.”

Xu Zhouye shook his head: “Relying on painkillers long-term is completely out of the question, and your condition will only get worse.”

Wisdom teeth weren’t like ordinary ailments that healed with rest; the longer you ignored them, the worse they grew, eventually damaging neighboring teeth as well.

Shen Man sighed: “Then what do we do?”

Xu Zhouye said, “I’ll go with you to see the dentist tomorrow.”

Shen Man: “Can we not go?”

Xu Zhouye: “No.”

Shen Man: “No room for negotiation?”

Xu Zhouye: “Not even a sliver of room.” Pinching his thumb and index finger together to show a microscopic gap, he added, “None whatsoever.”

Lowering his head in defeat, the cat that hated the vet had finally been caught by its owner and stuffed mercilessly into the carrier.