Going crazy

What does "most compatible" mean?

"Tell me more about it."

I don't want to guess.

Shenhe found it amusing and replied with a "?".

Chen Yuchuan sent Gao Mingyuan's Weibo screenshot, then immediately deleted it.

"It's nothing, I was just asking."

"Pretend I didn't say anything."

After a while, he asked again, "What are you doing? What are you going to say tomorrow?"

Shenhe didn't take it seriously and told him, "I'm doing important things, don't bother me."

Chen Yuchuan finally quieted down.

Shen He turned on his computer. Although he had been on leave from school for some time, he still took a little time to read papers and journals as usual, marking down any potentially useful ideas and categorizing them into his database. For Shen He, these things, though tedious and annoying, were not entirely meaningless; most importantly, they ensured that his thinking remained sharp.

After all, playing professionally is just a phase, an outlet that allows him temporary peace, while academic research is a fallback plan he had long prepared. Regardless of the results or outcomes, he will leave cleanly and decisively after this year, not only from the game itself, but also from the rules and expectations he has long been tired of.

Meanwhile, at the VLG base, the team was still ranking up when a huge commotion suddenly shattered the relaxed atmosphere. Keyboards and mice were slammed to the floor, the sound of plastic and aluminum hitting the tiles echoing through the training room. Chen Yuchuan abruptly stood up, kicking his chair away which rolled on the floor with a screeching sound. His entire aura plummeted to freezing, becoming gloomy and intimidating. He grabbed the sports car keys from the table, said nothing, turned, and left. The base door slammed shut behind him, and then everything returned to calm.

Those left in the room froze for a moment. The game screen was frozen, the character still lurking in the jungle, relentlessly attacked by monsters without retaliating. The assistant coach wanted to call out to him, but immediately fell silent. In VLG, everyone tacitly understood that Chen Yuchuan's importance and status weren't solely due to being a champion player. Someone exchanged a glance, but no one spoke first. Another person helped him put away the keyboard and mouse, then took over the character to continue the game for him.

Such a loss of control is rare. Chen Yuchuan is usually arrogant and domineering, but he is more outspoken and decisive on the field, either being aggressive in tactical arrangements or disdainful of the base management's arrangements. He has lost his temper before, but his behavior is never extreme, and he has never shown such instinctive anger in front of others as he did tonight.

The manager, his face grim, quietly instructed staff to chase after the person, then turned and called the general manager. The training room returned to silence; everyone pretended nothing had happened, but the lingering echoes of the metal impact and unspoken questions remained in the air.

Chen Yuchuan drove quickly onto the highway. The biting cold wind of the spring night cooled his restless emotions a bit, but Shen He's words "Don't bother me" and Gao Mingyuan's "Most compatible" kept lingering in his mind.

The two teams' bases are in adjacent cities, but it's at least a three-hour drive between them. He couldn't worry about that now; he just wanted to find Shen He immediately and ask him what "most compatible" meant. But then he realized with dismay that he and Shen He weren't teammates, and he didn't even dare to ask Shen He if they were friends.

So he thought, without asking anything, he would just go and see, to confirm that Shenhe had really come back and hadn't forgotten him.

The phone lay quietly on the passenger seat when its screen suddenly lit up, but Chen Yuchuan didn't notice.

As oncoming headlights flashed repeatedly on the highway, two past events suddenly flashed into his mind, incredibly clear.

That winter during their second year of high school, the school sent representatives to the Youth Games. The teacher casually paired the two tall guys together and assigned them to the basketball team. Shen He, at that time, preferred swimming and wasn't particularly enthusiastic about basketball; he just wanted to coast along and didn't take training seriously, often making poor positioning and contributing many absurd shots. But every time Chen Yuchuan scored, he would exaggerate, saying, "My brother is really awesome!"

Therefore, Chen Yuchuan gave it his all, grabbing rebounds, dribbling forward, and defending, leaving no stone unturned. The team ultimately achieved a very good ranking, and he was recognized as an outstanding player for it.

After the competition, the two sat casually by the flowerbed outside the venue, their breath catching the light of the streetlights like a thin mist. Shen He, who had only participated briefly throughout the competition, held Chen Yuchuan's individual medal and joked, "We were really great." He added, "Remember, it's not just you who's great, it's the two of us." Chen Yuchuan remembered those words, as if they were etched into his heart. Yes, not with anyone else, just "the two of us."

Further ahead was the school's subject competition, which required group registration and participation. After much deliberation, the two chose the physics group. The experimental topic they drew required two people to operate the instruments. Shen He was in charge of the main operation, while Chen Yuchuan balanced the parameters. The two completed the task almost perfectly. Shen He's eyes shone as he said, "We cooperated so well. You understand me so well!"

Chen Yuchuan was torn: Everyone else calls it having a tacit understanding, but you know me, it actually sounds pretty good too.

All of these things were buzzing in his head right now. Shen He had never told him "the most." He was just angry, just concerned, and no one but him had the right to say it.

Outside the car window, signs flashed, and traffic gradually thickened. Chen Yuchuan's fingers tapped unconsciously on the steering wheel. Before Shen He, championships, family, money—these shallow things he possessed were not bargaining chips in conversation. He didn't know what stand he had to take to ask questions, or even if he had the right to. He parked the car on the outskirts of City A, the engine still idling, when his phone rang twice more. It was a text message from his manager, respectful yet anxious: "Where are you? Are you alright?"

Scrolling down, he saw a long string of concerned messages and reminders: a coach's brief "Be careful," a teammate's half-joking greeting, and someone from his "back home" asking what happened and if he needed help—all of which he didn't reply to. Only then did he notice the last unread message, one he'd overlooked in his rage, from Shen He: "What are the plans for tomorrow?"

The pent-up frustration in his chest suddenly dissipated, adrenaline surged, and his heart pounded. He tossed his phone back to the passenger seat and quickly drove onto the road into the city.

It didn't take long to get back to his place. He'd bought the apartment when he learned Shen He would be signing with ASG; the location was good, but not inconspicuous, well-managed, and offered excellent privacy. Before his official meeting with Shen He, he'd occasionally come to City A to check things out, so this was a decent place to stay. He tossed his coat on the floor, grabbed a can of liquor from the fridge, and took two big gulps. Chen Yuchuan's fingers swiped back and forth on the screen a few times, but he didn't reply to the message immediately. Shen He was probably already asleep.

He was always careful about such small things, afraid of saying the wrong thing and making Shenhe even more unhappy, and unsure of how he should appear: should he start over as ordinary friends, or shamelessly continue to pretend to be good old friends?

These complex emotions gradually dissipated under the influence of alcohol, and he drifted in and out of sleep. He woke up several times during the night, the time jumping to 5 a.m., 7 a.m., and finally stopping at 9 a.m. At 9:10 a.m., Chen Yuchuan opened his chat window with Shen He, his actions hurried and somewhat impatient, and sent a message:

"How about I pick you up at the entrance of your base at 10:30?"

Not receiving a reply from Shen He, Chen Yuchuan turned and opened Gao Mingyuan's chat window.

Shen He has a habit of jogging in the morning, but since he is new to the city and not familiar with the surrounding environment, he went to the base's gym to take a look. The equipment looked very new, and since his teammates didn't have the habit of exercising, it was also very clean. Shen He ran for a while.

After returning to the dorm after exercising, Shen He saw messages from Chen Yuchuan and Gao Mingyuan on his phone. He casually opened the message, saw the time Chen Yuchuan had set, and replied, "Okay."

Next was a message from Gao Mingyuan, the content of which was unclear:

"Sorry bro, I didn't know you minded... I've already deleted it."

Shen He didn't understand and replied with a "?".

Gao Mingyuan sent another screenshot of a chat, which was a conversation between him and Chen Yuchuan.

The chat history was also inexplicably nonsensical:

Chen Yuchuan: Styx cares a lot about privacy and personal space. He almost never posts anything on social media, let alone posts his private photos. He also feels very uncomfortable when others post his photos.

Chen Yuchuan: Delete the one from last night. Just find a reason to delete it.

Gao Mingyuan: Huh?

Gao Mingyuan: I don't know. I'll delete it right away.

Chen Yuchuan: Find a better excuse, otherwise your fans will start speculating about the reasons why you deleted your posts.

Gao Mingyuan: Okay.

Chen Yuchuan: Don't mention it after you've deleted it.

Shen He stared at the screenshot for a few seconds, his lips slightly pursed, almost subconsciously. Then he replied to Gao Mingyuan:

"Chen Yuchuan was teasing you on purpose because he thinks you're an honest person, didn't you realize?"

Gao Mingyuan immediately followed up with two sentences:

"Hey, we're all buddies. I can tell you're an i person. My girlfriend also told me that i people really dislike this."

"It was my oversight. We'll have many more matches to play together in the future. Just tell me if you feel uncomfortable."

"..."

This is a truly honest person.

Gao Mingyuan then asked, "So you know Chen Yuchuan? That explains why he suddenly came to play games with us before."

Shen He: "Yes, old friend."

Seeing that Shenhe didn't say much, Gao Mingyuan didn't ask any further questions.

Shen He opened Weibo. Gao Mingyuan's Weibo post from last night was indeed gone, replaced by a new selfie with a caption that seemed to be a carefully considered excuse:

"The coach said I filmed Styx's game interface and almost exposed the hero he's been practicing recently. This is our team's strategy, and I almost became the culprit.

The comments section was filled with schadenfreude.

[I told you to only post a picture of your back, and now you've gotten yourself into trouble.]

Why make such a fuss about sending a high-resolution close-up photo of your face (if it's not yours)?

Why send me a selfie? Send me a Styx selfie! A selfie won't reveal our tactics, right?

[Dude, you're not Silverwing, are you? You deleted the back view photo but didn't even bother to replace it with a front view photo.]

[No one wants to see your selfie.]

Shen He liked Gao Mingyuan's Weibo post and followed Chen Yuchuan, then put down his phone and went to take a shower. After he finished getting ready, it was almost time to meet Chen Yuchuan. He slung his bag over his shoulder, said goodbye to the manager, and walked out of the base gate.

A silver-gray sedan was parked at the entrance, its luxurious yet understated appearance bathed in sunlight. Chen Yuchuan was already waiting beside the car. Upon seeing him emerge, Chen Yuchuan casually opened the back door, and the two of them got in, one after the other.

Shen He then noticed there was a driver in the car. Chen Yuchuan leaned back in his seat, his voice tinged with fatigue but also sounding excited: "I didn't sleep well last night, let the driver drive, it'll be safer."

Shen He nodded, then asked, "Where to?"

As if he had planned this all along, Chen Yuchuan raised an eyebrow and said excitedly, "Don't worry, we won't go to crowded places. Just the two of us, let's relax."

The car drove from the city into the mountains, then turned onto a dirt road into a secluded ravine. The driver parked the car in an open area, and Chen Yuchuan got out, leaning against the door. He pulled out a cigarette from somewhere, glanced at Chen He, and didn't light it. He pointed to a small cluster of houses ahead and said in a flat tone, "It's my relative's land. Lots of rivers, clear water, no one bothers us."

Shenhe got out of the car, and a damp air carrying the scent of grass and trees rushed towards him. The stream was not far away, and the wind was a little cool. Shenhe took a deep breath, and the stuffiness in his chest disappeared along with it.

Chen Yuchuan took the equipment box out of the trunk, and Shen He raised an eyebrow at him, "Fishing?"

Chen Yuchuan's tone was filled with undisguised joy: "If you find it boring, you can still scold me now."

Shen He glanced at the water and nodded: "Not bad."