"Hey, Brother Xuefeng. Will you marry me?"

The request came out of nowhere. Well, actually, it was in the middle of a wild boss fight. It made him pause for a second, his fingers halting and hovering hesitantly over the keyboard, but of course Ye Qiu had timed it so that it was during his skill cooldown period.

He dove back into it a half second later with a chuckle. "Haha. Good one."

"I was serious. Get that healer over there, 4 o'clock."

He sent an aoe attack in the healer's direction, knocking over a whole row of attackers.

"It's ten years too early for you to be asking that kind of thing. Behind you. Blademaster."

Ye Qiu parried off the attacking player and blasted him into an oncoming crowd of players with a falling flower palm.

"I've been thinking about it though. You're always supporting me, both in-game and in real life. You come from a decent family background. And most importantly, you're just my type."

He hummed while scanning the field for openings in the other guilds' formations. "I'm just supporting my captain as any vice-captain would. You shouldn't confuse that for love, little captain."

Ye Qiu charged into the fray, actively making an opening. Wu Xuefeng silently sent his over his support with another qi blast. They both refrained from talking again until the boss was almost dead.

"If I make you fall for me, then will you marry me, Brother Xuefeng?"

Though his captain was grown-up beyond his years, he still had the naive hopes and dreams of a child. Of course he didn't want to crush this child's wish, even if it does involve marrying him, apparently. One day, he'd grow out of his first puppy-love crush and forget all about him.

The boss fell with a magnificent splatter of animated blood. Wu Xuefeng walked his avatar over to collect the drops. Once they were safely in his inventory, he turned to his left, facing the young player. "How can you talk about marrying me when you still call me Brother?"

Ye Qiu never calls him Brother again.

"Xuefeng, will you marry me?"

They had gone out to a bar for the celebration party for winning of the first ever Glory alliance championships. Someone had tried to give the little captain a glass of the strongest booze they had as part of their celebratory drinking game and fearing for their barely-of-age and new drinker captain, he had declined on the part of both of them.

"This again?" he asked, still holding the confiscated drink.

Ye Qiu reached out with his hands, trying to sneak a sip. Xuefeng lifted the glass high above his head.

"I couldn't have gotten here without you. As I thought, we're really suited to be together." Ye Qiu stood on his tippy toes, trying to grasp the glass.

"That's just how it should be between a captain and his vice. You shouldn't read too deeply into it." Wu Xuefeng raised his eyebrow and lifted the glass even higher.

Ye Qiu sighed and came down. "I'll give you this if you say yes." He plucked the championship ring from his finger and held it out. The gold band glittered in the dim light of the bar.

"What use have I for a championship ring when I already have one of my own?" He lowered the drink and set it on the counter behind him.

"So it has to be diamond after all..."

Ye Qiu quickly darted behind him and made a sip at the alcohol. He choked at the bitter taste.

Wu Xuefeng sighed and plucked the glass from his hand. Legal drinking age or not, some things would only come with maturity.

"Xuefeng, Will you marry me?"

It was the night after their second championships. This time Ye Qiu had learned his lesson from last year and had stuck with an orange juice instead of trying the alcohol. Unfortunately, it turned out that one of their members had spiked the juice when no one was looking, and Ye Qiu had fallen asleep on the table, peacefully sleeping through the raucous celebration and even Wu Xuefeng carrying him on his back to his bed. Ye Qiu had spent the whole day in bed with a headache, only coming out like a nocturnal animal to play around in game with him before going to bed again.

"I saved up my salary to get you a diamond ring this time."

He retrieved a small velvet box from his back pocket of his day-old jeans which he had yet to take off since the match yesterday, and pushed it over to his right, where Xuefeng was sitting next to him in the training room.

Xuefeng nudged the box back towards him.

"Kids like you should be saving up their allowance to buy toys, not diamond rings."

"I'm already 19 and you still see me as a kid? Even though I'm your captain who has led you through two championships? Even though our partnership has persevered this far?"

Ye Qiu frowned as Xuefeng lifted his hand from the keyboard to pat him gently on the head. He reminisced about old times, when he had first met the dark haired youth who would play match after match against his best friend. Sometimes he could still see that youth in that twinkle in his eyes when his strategy was going to plan, or in those dimpled cheeks when he got a rare drop. "Hmm, maybe you're not quite a kid anymore, but you're still plenty childish, little captain."

If anything, Ye Qiu somehow looked even more determined.

"Xuefeng, I'm going to grow 5 centimeters by next year."

"Then you better eat all of your vegetables," he teased.

In the end, Ye Qiu didn't end up growing at all that year. Their teammates assured their captain that most boys stop growing around this time, but secretly, Wu Xuefeng thought it was because of the cigarette and coffee habits he picked up that year.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness.

"Little captain, come out please."

The voice came out muffled through the wooden door dividing the two of them.

"Don't call me little. And I don't want to."

"Please."

He didn't know what else he could say. Ye Qiu was too old to be sulking this much, wasn't he?

"Not until you say you'll stay."

He was helpless. "I'm sorry, captain. I can't." He had put everything aside in order to pursue esports and now it was all catching up to him with a speed rivalling a bullet train.

The door opened a smidge, and an amber iris was seen through the crack.

"If you can't stay, then you have to marry me."

Honestly, this kid. It was almost cute how persistent he was, and he couldn't deny that they had chemistry between them. Being with Ye Qiu was just so natural that it was like breathing. He did have his mischievous moments, but he felt nothing but trust and respect for his younger teammate and captain, who always did his best to come through for them.

"I'm sorry." The only thing he could do was apologize again.

The door slammed shut again.

"I thought we had something between us," warbled the muffled voice behind the door. "But if it was all a lie, then don't bother speaking to me again."

Eventually Ye Qiu came out from his room, because if there was one thing that he loved more than Wu Xuefeng, it was Glory. And they still had a championship to win.

Sitting in the Excellent Era's team area, surrounded by the cheering audience and the stadium lights, Xuefeng could hardly believe it would be his last time onstage. His last time fighting beside Ye Qiu. Despite his resolve to remain calm and fight his best, he felt a wave of emotion hit him right in the chest. It was both dizzying and exciting.

As they sat in the dark, Ye Qiu on his left as always, a warm hand wriggled its way in between his fingers. It was trembling slightly. He squeezed, steadying his captain's hand.

"Xuefeng, don't forget about me, okay? If you can promise me that, I'll send you off with a smile and a new championship ring."

He felt his heart skip a beat. He looked into his captain's still boyish face and saw the reluctance in his pursed lips, but also the blazing determination in his eyes. Even though he feared losing Wu Xuefeng, he was letting him go, with a smile. When had this clingy child grown up so suddenly?

He let go of Ye Qiu's hand to give him a firm bonk on the head, earning a noise of complaint from the young captain. He put on the widest, fondest smile that he could make.

"How could I ever forget you? We're partners in crime after all." He stood up and looked toward the bright lights of the stage. "Come on. Let's go win ourselves a third championship."

It was that time of year again. Whenever he looked at the date around this time of year, his fingers twitched for a keyboard and mouse, his heart would pound with half-remembered adrenaline, and his head would subconsciously keep turning left looking for someone who was no longer there.

He sighed and inserted the account card into the card-reader connected to the desktop at the internet cafe. Even after all this time, he could not forget his time spent in Glory nor his younger captain who had taken him to the highest peaks.

He began a fight in the arena, looking to warm up and refresh his memory.

It was just his luck that he was facing a battlemage.

His fingers moved automatically, remembering long-forgotten combos from his spars with Ye Qiu.

It still took him a few minutes to finish. It was to be expected. He only really allowed himself to remember around this time of year.

"Not bad," sailed out a smooth voice from behind.

It was deeper and more mature-sounding than he remembered, but of course it was him.

"Ye Qiu."

His former captain smiled as he sat down and set himself up on the computer to his left. "I go by Ye Xiu now."

"Ye Xiu." The different sound felt strange on his tongue but it was pleasant sounding and somehow it fit him more than Ye Qiu had ever had, even with the matching avatar name.

"Wanna spar? I'll go easy on you."

He let out a fond chuckle. "You? Go easy? No such thing."

"If you win, you can ask me anything and I'll answer truthfully. If I win, I get to ask you anything and you have to answer truthfully."

Despite himself, he cracked his knuckles in preparation. It was just too easy being back beside his former captain. "Let's go."

A tie.

How could it end in a tie? Of course this had be manufactured by a certain someone.

"Well, I guess we have no choice but to call it a tie. Since you could say that we both won, how about we both ask each other questions?"

Ah. He should have known.

"You can go first," Ye Xiu graciously offered. "What would you like to know?"

He thought for a while. Should he ask about the past? About Ye Xiu's mysterious background? Eventually he decided on neither of those things.

"Was it hard?"

"Was what hard?"

"Seeing Excellent Era fall."

It had always made his heart ache to read in the news about his beloved team's decline, but he had only allowed himself to look back on it every so often. In order to succeed in his new life, he needed to concentrate on the things in front of him. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for Ye Xiu, as his whole world was falling apart all around him.

The younger paused. Though he kept a straight face, Xuefeng could see the emotions running through his head.

"Yes," he finally answered with a glance out into the street. They watched someone with a red and white hat pass by the front windows and disappear down the street. "Though it was not as hard as I thought it would be. And that, perhaps, is what saddened me the most."

"I'm sorry."

"Let's not dwell on it. There was nothing either of us could have done."

"Even still..."

He could have stayed, like Ye Xiu had wanted him to.

"It's no use thinking about it afterwards." He waved off the concern with a flippant motion of his hand. "Now see, it's my turn to ask you a question."

Wu Xuefeng could not switch topics as easily as Ye Xiu, but he ran his fingers through his hair and said, "Alright. Ask away."

"Xuefeng, will you marry me?" He took out a small box from his coat pocket and opened it to reveal a ring with a tiny diamond embedded in the thin silvery band. Was that the same one from all those years ago? He could only gape at him with his mouth open.

"There's no way you can avoid it by saying I'm still a kid anymore. Is it a yes, or a no? Remember, the deal was you have to answer honestly."

He sighed. He should have expected this trap from his former captain, the one revered as the original of the four master tacticians.

"Honestly? I could see myself doing it. Ye Xiu, I really do care for you. At first, it was as the younger brother I never had, but as we went on, it became more like mutual trust, and respect, and partnership. I've missed you, these past few years."

"So is that a yes? Or a no?"

"I like you, Ye Xiu, but I don't think we can get married."

Seeing how quickly the light in his companion's eyes was beginning to falter, he quickly added, "at least, just yet." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "I don't really know anything about you, other than in regards to Glory. Why don't we start off with a few dates?"

It was embarrassing to admit, but he had never quite clicked with any of the women or even the men his parents had set him up with on blind dates. But somehow, he could see himself doing just that with Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu's amber eyes were glittering with excitement. "Dating with the intent to marry? I like the sound of that."

"Who ever said it was with intent to marry?"

"Me, of course. I don't know if you know this, Xuefeng, but I really, really like you."

Ye Xiu leaned in very close and laid his forehead down on his shoulder, hiding his face. His voice became softer, to almost a whisper. "Is it okay for me to date you with the intention to marry? Because I'm 100 percent serious. I really, really like you."

Xuefeng let himself remember how happy he had been, by this person's side, and how much he had regretted leaving.

"It's okay."

The younger lifted his head revealing a shit-eating grin gracing his handsome features.

"I love you, Xuefeng~"

Xuefeng playfully tried to punch Ye Xiu on the shoulder, but Ye Xiu darted away with a quick spin and floaty smile.

He sighed fondly. "Oh, you."

God, this kid would be the life of him.