All Paths Lead to Glory

Words by: alphera;   Art by: pandabaka

In the game of Glory, no one stands on a higher peak than Han Wenqing. Sure, his team doesn’t always win — but his individual skill is indisputably leagues above everyone else. 

There is a rumour though, practically an urban legend — that a long time ago, before the pro league even started, there was a player that stood with the fearsome Han Wenqing at that impossible peak.

No one knows who he is, or where he’d gone. All anyone knows of him is the name of his avatar: One Autumn Leaf.

Over the years, there are various sightings of this elusive character. Enough people have seen him for the legends to persist, but never enough to establish himself as real to most Glory players.

Thus, One Autumn Leaf continues to be a myth, except to a select few — Han Wenqing included.

From an early age, Ye Xiu has always been very aware of his responsibilities. He of course still had his own dreams even then — all children had them, after all — but he’d always tempered them with reality. Even running away wasn’t enough for him to believe that he could follow his own path in life. He’d believed he’d get to have maybe a few years of independence, before he was inevitably reeled back into the arms of familial duty.

He’d thought of running away as a breath of fresh air — refreshing, but ultimately, fleeting.

It isn’t until he meets Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng that he allows himself to learn to truly believe in dreams.

Life with the Su siblings is in no way easy, but it is… warm. Even though they can barely feed themselves, and each winter day is spent huddled together under the same pile of blankets because they're too poor for anything else… Ye Xiu has never felt safer and more invincible than when he started living with them.

Admittedly, it doesn’t actually take long for the Su Sibling’s relentless faith in the future and its endless possibilities to rub off on Ye Xiu. He’s lived a life so full of constraints and expectations, that he ended up hungry to wholeheartedly embrace this new beginning.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. On a rainy day at the cusp of what would have been the start of Ye Xiu’s bright future, this beautiful life screeches to a halt.

Faced with a Su Muqiu on a hospital bed, barely clinging to life, and a Su Mucheng valiantly trying to be strong beside him, Ye Xiu closes his eyes, and packs up all of his hopes and dreams into a small box in the back of his head.

Calling home to strike a deal with his family is the easiest choice he’s ever made. His dreams have never been just about Glory, after all. It has always been about Glory with Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng, this little family they’ve built for themselves, together. He knows exactly what parts of his dreams are truly most important, and there is no way he’s letting this miracle of Su Muqiu’s life slip away for anything.

Ye Qiu never expected that his brother would go home voluntarily, and definitely nowhere near this soon. It’s been barely three years since Ye Xiu ran away, and while that may feel long for most people their age, Ye Qiu knows intimately that three years of freedom is not enough to soothe a lifetime of expectations.

Honestly, Ye Qiu had fully expected that his overachieving older twin would have done something like establish a dynasty, or pioneer an industry, before coming home. To see him come back, without having made a personal mark on the world is unthinkable — and honestly, worrying.

And yet, here Ye Xiu is, at home, with no new accomplishments under his belt except the ability to do housework. 

It hurt a little, to know that Ye Xiu had come not for the sake of Ye Qiu, his own twin, but instead gave up a bright and happy future for a brother he chose instead.

He wants to stay angry, to rage and reject Ye Xiu and the new family he brought with him, but… honestly, Ye Qiu can understand Ye Xiu’s decision.

Ye Qiu is always going to be whole and hale at home. He is always going to have years of his life and an endless amount of resources at his beck and call. It is a dull, grey life… but in the overall scale of things, pretty decent. He will never be truly happy in it, but at least he will always have choices, and chances, eventually.

He isn’t actually heartless enough to begrudge Ye Xiu coming home for the sake of someone else’s literal life. 

Su Muqiu never expected to wake up. Honestly, as he lay bleeding on the asphalt that humid and horrible summer’s day, part of him had hoped that he wouldn’t wake up. Even though he didn’t want to die, didn’t want to leave Mucheng and Ye Xiu and everything they’ve built together, part of him knew that there was no way they could afford however much it would cost to keep him alive. He would have rather died than be a burden to his siblings, no hesitation.

And yet here he is, laying down on sterile white sheets, with Su Mucheng sleeping on a chair beside him.

What feels like every single bone, muscle, and pore of his body hurts, and his mind feels foggy, but the bottom line is that he could feel. Somehow, despite all the odds, he is alive. He wants to savour the feeling, but he can't help but worry about how this is even possible.

Su Muqiu has no idea how long he lies there, his thoughts and feelings chasing each other in circles, before Su Mucheng wakes up.

He doesn’t even notice he’s been crying until Su Mucheng points it out.

When Su Mucheng wakes up, the first thing she sees is Su Muqiu’s heartbroken face.

Heartbroken, but alive.

No one can possibly blame her for bursting into tears herself. Seeing her brother awake after so long really makes it hit home that he is going to, despite everything, survive. But with this realisation is the acceptance that, at the same time, nothing will ever be the same. She still has Su Muqiu, and Ye Xiu, but it is no longer going to be the three of them against the world, and not in a good, world-has-already-been-conquered, way.

Her brother is alive, but their dreams have still crumbled to dust. Su Mucheng will never be able to see her beloved brothers reach the peak of Glory, not alone and definitely not together. Su Muqiu still has a long road of recovery ahead of him, and even when he fully recovers, his health will never be able to keep up with the lifestyle of a pro gamer… and as for Ye Xiu? He’s now trapped in a gilded cage he’d willingly walked into. All because of one freak accident.

Fate is fickle, and Su Mucheng feels helplessly caught in its whims.

“Hey, what’s with all the tears? You’re making me feel like I’m not wanted here.” Su Muqiu attempts to joke, but his own tears and his raspy voice ruin the effect.

“You’re crying too!” Su Mucheng answers, wiping her tears away. “Does that mean you’re not glad to see me?” She attempts to tease back, plastering a wobbly smile on her face.

Su Muqiu blinks, startled, and tries to wipe his cheeks, only to flinch at the pain that shoots through his body at his attempt to move.

“Careful!” Su Mucheng admonishes, “you’ve been hurt pretty badly, and you’ve been asleep for a few days. You have to take things slow.”

Su Muqiu takes a few deep breaths to deal with the pain, and smiles wanly at his sister. “Where’s Ye Xiu?”

Su Mucheng pauses, visibly weighing her options. “He’s with his parents right now.” She finally admits.

Su Muqiu’s face falls. “Parents?” He asks weakly.

Ye Xiu has shared many funny stories of his brother, but never his parents. Both Su Mucheng and Su Muqiu have always been under the impression that Ye Xiu did not enjoy a good relationship with his parents, and it visibly bothers Su Muqiu to think that he’s probably the only reason Ye Xiu has reestablished contact with them.

“Yes,” Su Mucheng answers hesitantly. “Ye Xiu asked for their help, after we got the call about your accident. They’re… overbearing, for sure, but… not that bad,” she continues slowly, carefully considering each word. “Not as bad as we thought they could have been, for sure.”

“I see…” Su Muqiu says, after staring at his sister for a long moment. “What now?”

Su Mucheng shifts uncomfortably. She hasn’t really been privy to any of Ye Xiu’s talks with his family. It’s not her place.

“I don’t know,” she answers honestly, “but… I think we’ll be okay,” she says. 

She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and takes her brother’s IV-less hand in both of her own. “No. We’ll make it okay.” She says, a determined glint in her eye. “No matter what happens, you, me, and Ye Xiu… we will make it okay.”

Faced with his sister’s steadfast resolve, Su Muqiu can’t help but believe.

Despite all their trepidation, the Su Siblings integrate into the Ye household practically seamlessly. There seem to be three main reasons for it: first, because the Su siblings are nothing if not adaptable. Second, because in a way, Ye Xiu’s parents considered them to thank for Ye Xiu’s return. And third but not the least, because it has apparently always been one of Madam Ye’s dearest wishes to have a little girl to dote on.

It’s both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because they spend the next few years of their lives in comfort and luxury. A curse, because they are viscerally aware that each privilege they now have comes on the back of Ye Xiu’s continuous work.

So they do what they’ve always done. They work hard. 

Things slowly fall into place. Su Muqiu studiously follows his physical therapy, and works on catching up on his missed education. Su Mucheng attends finishing school on her school break, and learns to blend into the high society parties their self-proclaimed "Auntie Ye" insists on bringing them to.

Ye Xiu runs at double the pace, and is ready to apply for university by the end of their first year back.

It takes a year and a half before Ye Qiu decides he’s had enough of all the martyrdom, and arranges for a heart-to-heart with Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng.

“Look,” he starts, “you don’t have to do what we have to do.”

“...What do you mean?” Su Muqiu asks.

“I get why you’re doing all this self-sacrificing bullshit. Honestly, no wonder Ye Xiu got along with you so fast. You’re all the same. All the weird guilty responsibility. The thing is, it’s useless for everyone to suffer at the same time. As long as Ye Xiu is doing what our parents want him to do, they won’t care much about what the rest of us do. For me, that means I can play second fiddle. Less responsibility for less attention. It took Ye Xiu leaving for me to realise how good I had it being the younger brother, and how much he had to pay for all the attention being a ‘golden first son’ brought him.” Ye Qiu answers, before pausing and staring critically at the two siblings in front of him.

“As for you two… Su Muqiu, you’re a tool. You basically owe your life to my parents, and that one act of benevolence is enough for my parents to have eternal leverage over my brother. As for what you do with your own life? That doesn’t matter to them. As long as you’re alive, they’re keeping their end of their ‘bargain’ with Ye Xiu.”

He takes a deep breath, and sets his eyes upon Su Mucheng, a tinge of pity on his face. “As for you … I’m sure you know what you are to them.”

“A pretty baby doll that they can dress up and show off.” Su Mucheng answers, not at all bitterly.

Su Muqiu makes an indignant noise and Ye Qiu winces.

“It’s not that they don’t love you in their own way… it’s just that for them, each person has a particular role, and as long as they can keep those little boxes in their heads straight, then it’s all fine. Ye Xiu is the perfect son and heir. I am the baby boy, the funny child they can indulge. Su Muqiu, you’re the distant nephew they’re proud of being able to help. And Su Mucheng… even if you were born into this family by blood, you’d still be the perfect baby doll they’ll dress up and show off. It’s the way they grew up, and their parents grew up. It’s no excuse for their shittiness. But it is what it is.”

“What is even the point of you telling us about this?” Su Muqiu asks angrily.

“Shut up. I’m getting there. The point is, you can use their mindset to your advantage. It’s something Ye Xiu once tried to teach me, but I’d only learned when he came back with you two in tow. Play up fitting into their expectations, and do whatever makes you happy on the side. I’ve been spending this year of freedom exploring music. I’m still going into business, as they expect — but I want to focus on music production, something I never would have been able to do if Ye Xiu weren’t around to take care of the main holdings. You two should find things that make you happy, because right now, the only things that can make Ye Xiu happy are seeing us, his siblings, by blood and by choice, happy.”

There is silence as Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng absorb Ye Qiu’s impassioned speech, and then Su Mucheng’s face turns thoughtful.

“You said that as long as we fit the roles they want us to fit, then we can do whatever else we want. Does this work for Ye Xiu too?” She asks.

“I guess?” Ye Qiu answers, uncertainly. “But being the perfect heir is pretty restrictive.”

“But say we put a few building blocks in place. And frame what Ye Xiu really wants as a business opportunity. Will that work?” Su Muqiu asks, quickly catching onto his sister’s idea.

Ye Qiu is only a little slower on the uptake. “Probably? But playing games is a bit of a hard sell, isn’t it?”

Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng look at each other with twin faces of determination.

“We’ll make it work.” Su Muqiu says confidently.

It’s never been just about the game for Ye Xiu, after all. It’s about Glory, and all that entails.

The Su siblings and Ye Xiu start making changes immediately. Su Muqiu approaches Tao Xuan, and is able to convince his old friend to restart the dream of having a pro team together. Ye Qiu helps secure funding, and Su Mucheng starts convincing Madam Ye that a true modern lady of leisure isn’t about not working period, but about not having to work but still choosing to benevolently or perseveringly follow a career.

Their plans work.

Team Excellent Era debuts in the second season of Glory as a middle-tier team. Not great, but not bad at all given their business and operational constraints. Their players are good, but not astounding. What really sets them apart is their R&D. With Su Muqiu at their helm, Excellent Era’s weapons and equipment start to outstrip the other teams’, and they somehow manage to break through to the quarterfinals in the Glory Professional Alliance’s third season, despite the lack of any “stars” in the team. 

It isn’t until Season 4 — Excellent Era’s third year in the league — that things really pick up for them. 

Han Wenqing feels his heart thundering in his chest when Dancing Rain first appears on Excellent Era’s roster. It’s not the opponent he wants to meet onstage most, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll finally have a chance to find out what happened to One Autumn Leaf.

It takes only a few minutes of battle against Dancing Rain for Han Wenqing to realise that the player behind it isn’t One Autumn Leaf’s companion. But it’s the middle of the match, and he has to bottle his disappointment.

After though — after the match, after the handshakes, after the interviews — he approaches Dancing Rain’s new player and hopes .

He knocks on the door of Excellent Era’s ready room, heart in his throat, and feels a profound sense of relief when he hears a familiar voice when the door opens. 

“Autumn Tree.” Han Wenqing says, ignoring the player who’d opened the door.

Inside, Su Mucheng looks up at the doorway. Her phone is on a table beside her, screen lit up in a call as she rummages through her bag.

“Did someone just say Autumn Tree? As in… my old account?” A voice asks from the phone’s speakers.

Han Wenqing is vaguely aware of the other players exchanging confused looks and whispering amongst each other, but he frankly couldn’t care less. All of his attention was hopelessly caught on the familiar voice on the phone.

“Yes.” Su Mucheng answers, still looking at her team’s guest. “Han Wenqing remembers you.”

“Old Han??? Wow, I’m flattered. I made that much of an impression?”

Han Wenqing’s brows furrow. Of course Autumn Tree made an impression; Han Wenqing could count on one hand the number of times he’d met One Autumn Leaf without the noisy Sharpshooter loitering nearby. He steps into the room to stand in front of the phone.

“Where’s One Autumn Leaf?” Han Wenqing asks, direct as ever.

Su Mucheng and a few of the other players laugh.

There’s a brief silence on the line, then a playful wail comes through the line. “So rude! So mean! How can I let someone like you know where my precious One Autumn Leaf is!” Autumn Tree says. 

Han Wenqing’s expression grows thunderous, and most of the players make nervous excuses to leave. In the end, only Su Mucheng, her captain, and her vice captain are left. “Be serious,” he says warningly.

“I am serious.” Autumn Tree says, without hesitation. “Sorry, but who are you to demand anything of us?” He continues, irritated. “Little sis, I’ll talk to you later. Go and hurry home.”

The call ends, and Han Wenqing feels worryingly bereft, while Su Mucheng continues to stare intently at his face. “If you’re worried about One Autumn Leaf’s player”, she says, “then I can at least tell you this much: you don’t need to worry about him. He's fine. One day you’ll probably even get to meet him.”

“And if that’s not enough for me?” Han Wenqing asks, eyebrow raised. 

“Well then. You’ll just have to work for it.” She answers with a cheeky smile, before giving him a polite bow and leaving with the rest of Excellent Era.

Despite the lack of concrete information, Han Wenqing feels better than he did just a few minutes ago. Determination to prove himself has never been a trait he lacked. As long as Su Mucheng sticks to her word, then Han Wenqing is sure he’ll have answers sooner or later.

“He’s been asking after you, you know.” Su Muqiu tells Ye Xiu as they watch Tyranny’s final home game of the regular season.

“Hmm?” Ye Xiu hums distractedly, too busy watching Desert Dust cleaning up the group stage.

Su Muqiu rolls his eyes. “Him. Desert Dust. Han Wenqing. Has been asking about you.”

This clarification manages to actually distract Ye Xiu from the game. It helps that it’s currently the break between competition stages. Sometimes, Su Muqiu thinks that not even fires or earthquakes would distract Ye Xiu from watching competitions — but then he remembers he’s the reason Ye Xiu isn’t in those competitions instead of just watching, and he has to distract himself before he spirals.

“What does he ask about, exactly?” Ye Xiu says, one eyebrow raised.

Su Muqiu shrugs. “Ask Mucheng. I only got to talk to him once before I decided he was too annoying to deal with. His wallet face? Perfectly matches his personality.”

Ye Xiu’s other eyebrow climbs to join the first, but he turns back to the livestream instead of pursuing the topic.

Su Muqiu honestly isn’t even sure if he should have mentioned it. It’s just that Ye Xiu seems so… not sad, exactly, but blank. And he was watching Desert Dust with so much intensity, and with a passion Su Muqiu rarely gets to see anymore. He just wanted to try to keep that fire in Ye Xiu alive for a little longer. After all, he, Mucheng, and Ye Qiu still have a few years left before they can bring their plans into fruition.

Team Excellent Era is the Season 4 Champion of the Glory Professional Alliance, beating out the 2-time consecutive champion, Team Tyranny. Unsurprisingly, the general mood in Tyranny’s club HQ is sombre — with one truly unexpected exception.

In his dorm room, Han Wenqing is smiling at his phone’s screen.

“I heard you’ve been looking for me,”  the message on his phone reads. “I would say sorry for your loss, but we both know that’s just how competition works. And I would say I was cheering for you, but we both know I was cheering for Su Mucheng and Excellent Era.”

Han Wenqing doesn’t know if this is Su Mucheng’s idea of a consolation prize, or if One Autumn Leaf has just been hanging onto his contact details and not doing anything about it — but he’s glad. Oddly, it feels right to finally be able to talk to his once-rival on the night of his loss against the team said rival was meant to join.

“No need to gloat,” Han Wenqing types, “we’ll beat them next year.” 

“Sorry. I’m betting on Blue Rain. Have you paid attention to that new warlock? He’s a genius. I haven’t seen anyone as good at maximising each team member as him. Too bad about his hand speed, but I’m sure his blade master assistant can deal with that for him.”

Han Wenqing’s brow twitches. He’s forgotten how annoying One Autumn Leaf can be. 

Despite the reminder of One Autumn Leaf’s less agreeable traits, Han Wenqing ends up chatting with the player — Ye Xiu, his QQ name says — all night.

Ye Qiu is happy that his brother has been happier lately. Really, he is. Except there should really be a limit to the amount of smiling one can do at a computer screen.

It’s annoying, how Ye Xiu just seems to perk up whenever he’s at home on his phone or his computer. It’s also annoying, how Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng have been so obviously scheming together. Without him.

So. Ye Qiu is unhappy with the state of the world, and he deals with it the same way he’s done since he was a child: make sure everybody knows it.

It takes a full day of picking at his food and not looking anyone in the face before Su Mucheng gives in to his tantrum. Ye Qiu feels only very slightly guilty. He knows that his tantrums only ever work because it plays at Su Mucheng’s guilt at taking away his family’s attention from him, but in this case he feels a little justified.

Ye Xiu was his brother. Sure, he’s agreed to share. But the sharing is supposed to be two-way. He shouldn’t have to feel like it was him that didn’t fit in in their little group.

Ye Qiu is mollified by the fact that Su Mucheng looks appropriately contrite from the very start of the conversation.

“We didn’t mean to exclude you,” she says earnestly, “we’re just… it’s been just the two of us for so long. We slip up even with Ye Xiu.”

Ye Qiu grunts irritably. “At least you’re self aware, I guess. But whatever. What’s with the scheming?” He asks, a tacit signal that he’s willing to accept Su Mucheng’s apology — as long as they try harder in the future.

Su Mucheng makes a tiny smile of relief for a moment, before her expression transforms into a devious grin.

“We think we can move our timeline up.” She says gleefully.

Ye Qiu raises both brows in surprise. “I know you’re one of like, the only three female players, on top of being objectively the prettiest one, on top of being a champion in your first year… but even all of that can’t have given you as much influence as we need.”

“Definitely not,” Su Mucheng agrees, “but we have a potential new ally~” she sing-songs.

Ye Qiu squints at her suspiciously. He is one of the few people on this earth fully aware of how much of a devil Su Mucheng really is, and he doesn’t trust that expression on her face at all. There’s a reason Su Mucheng is Ye Xiu’s number 1 partner in crime, after all. Ye Qiu has never met anyone who loves chaos as much as her.

“Who?” He asks, a little afraid of the answer.

Su Mucheng smirks. “His boyfriend!”

Ye Qiu chokes on his own spit. “What do you mean, boyfriend? ”

Su Muqiu liked being the bad cop. Unfortunately for him, he so rarely got to do it, as he was, one, allegedly born with the most relaxed attitude the world has ever seen; and two, admittedly had the least scary face out of all his friends and family. He had thought this… thing with Han Wenqing would finally be his chance to be The Bad Cop, considering how much Su Mucheng seems to enjoy the whole debacle. Unfortunately, Ye Qiu looks like he’s about to forcefully take that title, given his entire face has been red in anger since Su Muqiu walked into the room half an hour ago.

Well. At least, for once, it’s not Su Mucheng pulling one or both of the twins to gang up on Su Muqiu. For once, he’s the one with backup. Maybe he can be the bad cop deputy to Ye Qiu’s bad cop chief.

“We are not collaborating with this… this…” Ye Qiu trails off, face starting to turn a little bit purple.

“Okay. I just want to clarify before Ye Qiu dies or something. Han Wenqing is not actually Ye Xiu’s boyfriend.” Su Muqiu says.

“And he is never going to be! ” Ye Qiu decides, indignant.

Su Mucheng only laughs.

“Sure, sure. But we can still use his help.” She says confidently.

Unfortunately for everyone in her life, Su Mucheng has an annoying habit of being almost always right. And this is definitely one of those moments.

He’s self aware enough to acknowledge that the reasons he and Ye Qiu don't like Han Wenqing are rooted in their own fear and insecurities. He also knows that Han Wenqing is genuinely trustworthy and does have the kind of pull with the Glory Professional Alliance that they need to help give Ye Xiu part of his dream back. While Su Muqiu is confident that he and Mucheng can eventually reach that level of influence, it will take years more of hard work, and Su Muqiu’s irrational issues are not worth waiting that long to help Ye Xiu.

This is why when Ye Qiu looks to Su Muqiu in askance, Su Muqiu nods grimly. Whether they like it or not, Han Wenqing’s help is worth it, so they just have to suck it up.

Ye Qiu sighs angrily, but ultimately agrees to their plan. They all love Ye Xiu, after all. A little discomfort and jealousy and insecurity is worth his happiness.

It doesn’t surprise Han Wenqing to find out that Ye Xiu’s kept up with Glory. There are reasons, after all, that the two of them managed to stand on top of the game for so long in their youths. Talent can only get you so far. Passion, diligence, and real love for the game are what can carry you through, and those three aren’t things that can just magically disappear, despite what life tries to throw at you.

People now are starting to forget how the lives of pro players haven’t always been so rich and glamorous. Even though as recently as last year, some pros still made salaries that were barely enough to live on, even with housing covered by their clubs.

Han Wenqing, though, will never forget. After all, he lived through the beginning of the league, and watched so many people risk their entire futures for the love of the game. He knew very well that their generation of pros — or prospective pros, in Ye Xiu’s case — lived and died by Glory. 

Still. No matter how much Han Wenqing believed that One Autumn Leaf understood and even shared his own love and connection to Glory, and all that entailed — having irrefutable, solid proof of it is something entirely different. It is a relief, to be able to know for sure that somewhere in the world, there is someone who can perfectly understand him. It’s the type of connection that Han Wenqing refuses to let slip away (again) — so he works hard for it, and more importantly, makes time for it.

It helps that it’s only with Ye Xiu that Han Wenqing can explore the world of Glory outside of work, without feeling like he’s babysitting.

“Su Muqiu will be very offended.” Ye Xiu says when Han Wenqing tells him this.

Han Wenqing rolls his eyes. “Su Muqiu is good, but that’s not enough to make it feel like I’m not babysitting when we play.” He says, “He’s better when you’re around. So my statement stands.”

“How about Su Mucheng, then?” Ye Xiu asks.

Han Wenqing stays silent, and Ye Xiu laughs knowingly. “I see she’s charmed you too. She can take care of herself, Old Han.”

“I know she can,” Han Wenqing answers unhesitatingly. “But she’s your baby sister.”

“How sweet,” Ye Xiu says teasingly, and Han Wenqing just rolls his eyes.

They spend the night in companionable silence, barely even having to signal each other in-game, and Han Wenqing decides that he would do anything to get to keep this.

It genuinely surprises Ye Xiu to see Feng Xianjun’s name in his appointment calendar. He knows for a fact that he didn’t set it, and he highly doubts his father did it either — and yet there was no denying the “GPA: Feng Xianjun” set for Monday next week. Then he remembers how dodgy his siblings have been lately, very obviously hatching a Devious Plan between them, and then things snap into place.

To be fair, he could never have expected this to be what they were scheming about. He’s surprised they actually managed to do this. Convincing their dad that the GPA is viable is one thing, since anything is doable with Su Mucheng’s charm coupled with their mom’s insistence on spoiling her… but getting the GPA chairman to travel all the way to Ye Xiu’s office? Impressive.

Feng Xianjun is a mature man in his second year of leading an industry full of untold potential, and his hunger for success is sky high. He comes into the investment meeting full of the kind of passion Ye Xiu likes, and more importantly, all the statistics and projections his father always looks for, from marketing potential to finance.

To say it ends in success is an understatement. Feng Xianjun is so compelling, in fact, that Ye Xiu gets assigned the GPA partnership as his first major solo project.

When his father leaves them to work out the specifics, Ye Xiu turns to Feng Xianjun with a raised brow. “You look surprisingly happy for someone who was just assigned a company newbie.”

Feng Xianjun straightens up in his seat. “You’ve come highly recommended,” he says earnestly. “From what I understand, the two of us are in a similar situation. We’re both smart, new in our positions, and have much to prove… but most importantly, we both love Glory.”

Despite himself, Ye Xiu feels warmed by the chairman’s words. “That’s a lot of faith to put in someone recommended by a researcher and a rookie.”

Feng Xianjun blinks. “Pardon?” 

Ye Xiu narrows his eyes in thought. “It seems I misunderstood. Regardless, I hope for a fruitful collaboration with you, chairman,” he says, holding his hand out for a final handshake.

Feng Xianjun brightens. “Absolutely. Glory deserves only our very best.”

Ye Xiu smiles. “Yes. It does.”

“I see Mucheng’s charmed you enough to be able to rope you into her schemes,” Ye Xiu tells Han Wenqing the next time they meet in-game.

“You talk as if that wasn’t something I wouldn’t have done on my own, if I had any idea it was on the table.” Han Wenqing answers, unembarrassed.

Ye Xiu doesn’t answer.

The thing is, Ye Xiu does know how much Han Wenqing values him both as a player and as a person. He did, after all, doggedly pursue every small lead he came across just to reestablish contact with Ye Xiu, and regularly spent a sizable chunk of his precious little free time with Ye Xiu. Still, to even indirectly bet the future of his career and job industry on a man he hasn’t even met face to face — that was beyond anything Ye Xiu could have expected.

Ye Xiu is used to the weight of expectation, but this felt different. More. It feels like faith, and that’s something he’s not used to dealing with outside of his siblings.

It feels good.

It takes a great deal of sharpness of eye and environmental awareness to become a Glory pro player. This, combined with shrewdness and sharp decision-making are what make them so successful in their field. Unfortunately, part of this is wanting to know things — after all, being unprepared is the surest way to failure. So, when a young man (known most commonly as "The Rando") starts showing up to restricted areas and events of the GPA, the pro players can’t help but want to know who he is, and why he’s around. 

The buzz around The Rando stays pretty light — that is, until the day Tyranny’s players find him leaving their ready room before a match. They are confused, of course, but all in all no one is too bothered. The guy seems to be allowed anywhere, and it’s not like the ready room has any confidential materials in it.

No, the problem in this scenario is not that The Rando was in the ready room — the issue is in who was in the ready room with him.

Team Tyranny’s players find their scary, unflappable captain inside. Smiling. Not an extra scary one promising retribution, nor an intimidating one daring you to fight. It is an actual, honest to god, fond smile. Tyranny’s players fight like they are possessed that day, each member absolutely terrified of the backlash of ruining Captain Han’s good mood.

Their performance is so extraordinary that even the other professional players comment on it in various QQ chats. Which, of course, eventually leads to someone or other spilling the beans in one of the smaller, “safer” group chats. Which then of course eventually leads to every single pro player hearing about some version of the story — with varying levels of truth.

Needless to say, the rumour mill explodes, and each appearance of The Rando precipitates reverberating aftershocks of discussion.

In true chaotic GPA pros fashion, people reach a healthy mix of conclusions, from surprisingly accurate to hilariously wrong. When the dust settles, the top 3 theories end up being: First, that he is the chairman’s secret son who Han Wenqing has fallen in love with, and who seems to like Han Wenqing back. Second is that he is Han Wenqing’s sugar baby, and gets to do whatever he wants because what are the GPA staff gonna do? Tell Han Wenqing to his face that his boyfriend can’t be wandering around? The third theory, meanwhile, is that he is the chairman’s assistant who has seduced Captain Han, because he is not very good at his job (obviously, because why else would his attitude be so flippant and irreverent, and why else would his presence in GPA events be so sporadic and unpredictable), and is banking on Captain Han’s pull (read: scary face) with the GPA to keep him employed.

Unfortunately, even the most curious and enterprising of the players cannot get a more definite answer on The Rando’s identity. After all, they’re far too afraid to interrogate either Han Wenqing or his closest friend and vice-captain, Zhang Xinjie, about it.

What no one realises is Excellent Era’s absolute silence on the topic. They have, after all, met The Rando — or as they know him, Ye Xiu — many times before. They’re all well aware that Ye Xiu had almost been one of them, and that Ye Xiu’s involvement with the league has always been one of the biggest goals of Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng. 

None of them are about to reveal any of this though, because Su Mucheng is enjoying the chaos a little too much, and no one has the guts to cut in on her fun. Besides, honestly speaking, none of them know what to make of the whole thing with Han Wenqing either. Silence just seems safer all in all.

Ye Xiu waves his hand cheekily as soon as Han Wenqing steps into Tyranny’s prep room. Han Wenqing only raises a brow. “Ye Xiu.” He says, nodding in greeting. 

Ye Xiu raises a brow. “So sure, are you? I could be just about anyone.” Ye Xiu says. 

“No one would dare”, Han Wenqing answers, rolling his eyes.

Ye Xiu huffs a small laugh. “That’s true. It doesn’t matter how much this room lacks security, the threat of your displeasure is probably enough to keep everyone except your team away. Very handy.”

“What brings you here?” Han Wenqing asks, straightforward as ever.

“Isn't it about time we met face to face?” Ye Xiu asks back, smirking, and holding out a hand to shake. Han Wenqing’s brows furrow slightly, clearly knowing Ye Xiu’s not being entirely upfront, but takes the offered hand anyway.

Ye Xiu squeezes Han Wenqing’s hand, and looks him straight in the eye. “Thank you”, Ye Xiu says, smirk softening into a sincere smile.

Han Wenqing’s lips twitch up into a smile of his own. “You’re welcome.” 

Ye Xiu nods, lets go, and walks away. “Good luck on the match”, he says right before stepping out the door, waving jauntily at the members of team Tyranny on their way in.

Han Wenqing’s smile stays stubbornly on his face all the way through the day’s match.

It takes over a year before the media catch on to the rumours that have been circulating around the pro players. Consequently, it takes that long for Han Wenqing to catch on to the popular theories. Baffled, he brings up the topic with Ye Xiu in one of their arena appointments.

Ye Xiu just laughs at him. “Your wallet face is really something else”, Ye Xiu says, “that not even your teammates have slipped in front of you about this.”

Han Wenqing stays silent, mulling over what he’s learned as he basks in the exhilaration of battling Ye Xiu. 

“They’re not exactly wrong though.” Han Wenqing says, after he gets trounced in his distraction. 

“That I’ve seduced you for a place in Glory?” Ye Xiu asks, sardonically,

“No.” Han Wenqing immediately responds. “Ye Xiu. You know what I mean.”

Ye Xiu is quiet for a moment, then: “I know.”

They’ve never talked about what’s been brewing between them, but they are both aware and honest enough with themselves to know that finding each other again has been instrumental in their lives and happiness. Denying it at this point is useless.

“They’re not entirely wrong.” Ye Xiu says.

“Good.” Han Wenqing answers, smiling.

Despite the undying curiosity of the GPA players, the mystery of The Rando remains largely unsolved for five more years, until at the end of the Ninth Season, when Chairman Feng gathers what feels like the entire alliance together for a banquet, all expenses paid.

“Does the GPA even have enough money for this?” Chu Yunxiu muses, staring at the ballroom’s glittering chandeliers. “Lou Guanning, you’re filthy rich. You know how these things go. How much do you think they spent for this get-together?”

Lou Guanning blinks in surprise at being asked such a direct question. “The GPA is sponsored by some of the most successful and well-connected conglomerates that exist in our nation. As long as they agree to the expenditure, the GPA can most definitely afford the fees.”

“By successful and well-connected,” Chu Yunxiu asks, fascinated, “do you mean more, less, or about the same as your family?”

Lou Guanning coughs into his fist, speechless at Chu Yunxiu’s frankness. “Among their top sponsors, there’s at least one of each category.”

Chu Yunxiu still looks curious, and Lou Guanning obliges her by expounding. “But this is a private club, and only members are allowed to book or pay for the use of any venue within it.” He pauses, thoughtful. “I think it’s likely that the Ye family is footing the bill, as they have been members here since it was built, and the older son seems very heavily involved in the GPA —  I often see him attending the games and events.”

“What does he look like?” Li Xuan asks, finally no longer pretending that he isn’t listening. “Maybe we’ve seen him around.”

“He’s… not really very eye-catching.” Lou Guanning says, apologetic. “He’s very good at everything he sets out to do, including blending in. Although… I think… yes, that’s him, talking to the chairman.”

Lou Guanning’s captivated audience looks in the direction he’s gesturing at, and their jaws drop to the floor. Talking to Chairman Feng is The Rando .

“Wait. Does this make Captain Han the sugar baby?” Chu Yunxiu asks in shock.

“Pardon???” Lou Guanning exclaims, aghast. “The sugar baby jokes are all about Ye Xiu? Is the pro league that out of touch with the rest of the world? Their family is a huge deal, and it’s not like they’re hermits. Ye Xiu’s team in his company beat out my family for at least three large contracts in the past quarter; how on earth can anyone think he’s a sugar baby? ” 

Someone at the table chokes, but before anyone can say more, Chairman Feng goes up to the small stage and taps on the mic.

“Hello everyone. On behalf of the GPA, I’d like to thank everyone for coming,” Chairman Feng starts, smiling wider than the players can ever remember him seeing. “Recently, the GPA has been hearing talk about the establishment of a worldwide Glory competition. Nothing’s been officially cascaded to us yet, but we have good reason to believe that it’s going to happen in the next year or two. We want to stay ahead of the competition, and luckily our sponsors have agreed to take the leap with us.” A wave of applause follows this statement, and Chairman Feng positively beams at everyone.

“As I'm sure some of you have noticed, every single one of us in here is a member of the GPA. There is no press. We would like to ask for your discretion about the world competition rumours, as again, nothing has been confirmed. In everyone else's minds, this is only a meeting to prepare for the launch of the GPA's tenth year anniversary. However, we in the GPA executive committee felt that the rumours of the world competition was information you all needed to know, in order to fully understand what we’re about to do, and hopefully to also better facilitate your cooperation with us.” He gestures to the side and The Rando — Ye Xiu, walks up.

“This is Ye Xiu, one of our primary investors. He has also been personally instrumental in the research the GPA relies on for improvements in the league’s structure and management. He will be leading the China Glory Training Camp, which will officially convene in a few weeks. Invites will be sent out to the selected team members in the next few days.”

Chairman Feng gestures at Ye Xiu to take the floor, either completely unaware or uncaring of the uncharacteristic silence in the ballroom.

“Good evening,,” Ye Xiu says, a foxy smile fixed firmly on his face, “I look forward to working with everyone.” With this, he hands the microphone back to Chairman Feng, looks in Han Wenqing’s direction, and winks.

All hell breaks loose.

Han Wenqing raises one hand to his forehead in exasperation.

Su Mucheng laughs.

Coda.

The uproar at Ye Xiu not just managing the China Glory Camp, but also leading it, dies down as fast as it began. It is, after all, hard to argue about the credentials of someone who keeps trouncing everyone else, up to and including Captain Han.

Which, honestly, explains so much. It figures that Han Wenqing, the strongest individual player Glory has ever seen since its inception, would only ever have eyes for someone who is somehow scarier. Which Ye Xiu definitely is, given that he has both the skill to keep up with the best duelists, and the brain to keep up with the master tacticians. It doesn’t help that his ruthless, black-hearted practicality beats even that of the said tacticians—honed as it is by years of navigating politics and business dealings.

“You make so much sense now,” Huang Shaotian says accusingly at Su Mucheng during one lunch break. 

“Hmmm?” Su Mucheng hums, tilting her head to one side innocently, in an way eerily reminiscent of their new coach.

“That! That that that! Pure evil hiding behind an innocent face! You have that face, but you’re even meaner than my captain! I know the truth!” Huang Shaotian practically yells, pointing a finger at her.

“Mean?” Su Mucheng asks, eyes widening and turning glassy with hurt. “I’m mean?”

The rest of the players snicker at the display, well used to their antics by now. 

“You can’t fool me! You can’t fool any of us! You’re nearly as black hearted as that-that demon!”

“Who’s a demon?” A voice behind Huang Shaotian asks, and the players watching burst into raucous laughter at Huang Shaotian’s panic.

All except Han Wenqing, who looks on with a bittersweet ache in his chest. 

Ye Xiu’s existence has always been brilliant, from the very first time Han Wenqing met him, but seeing Ye Xiu here, thriving in the world he should have been part of since long ago, is a special kind of treat. It is beyond brilliance. Here, in the China Glory Training Camp, Ye Xiu looks truly happy. It’s unfathomable, how it took almost a decade for Ye Xiu to get here, when few people love Glory even half as much as him.

He’s beyond glad he was able to help bring this into fruition.

When lunch break ends, Han Wenqing is, uncharacteristically, the last to head back to training, content as he is to watch Ye Xiu for as long as he can. He’s so preoccupied that he’s surprised when a hand grabs his to thread their fingers together.

“Thank you.” Ye Xiu says, as he watches the rest of the team shuffle back towards their training stations.

Han Wenqing squeezes the warm hand in his, and pulls Ye Xiu closer without breaking stride.

“You’re welcome,” he says, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a small, helpless smile.

Both of them relish the freaked out reactions of the China Glory Team when they enter the training room hand in hand.