Drunk

Everyone else was already in the KTV.

Wen Man and his group had just returned to the hotel to drop off their things.

When Xue Wei was almost there, he suddenly remembered that Wen Man had said he would throw a welcome party for him.

He was very afraid of such occasions and disliked crowded places with many strangers.

Suddenly remembering this, his steps hesitated, and he said to Wen Man: “That welcome party…”

“It’s fine. I’ll take you; just stay by my side. It’s just for them to get to know you,” Wen Man said.

His words sounded a bit strange.

It wasn’t “for everyone to get to know each other,” but “for them to get to know you.”

Xue Wei “oh”ed and followed him in.

This KTV had become the leisure spot for most of the All-Star participants these past few days—they couldn’t go anywhere else.

The venue also had facilities like billiards and pool, but these ‘otaku’ guys were hardly interested in those things; they still loved to sing.

Upon entering, every room was deafening.

Wen Man went to the front desk, ordered a cup of ginger tea, handed it to Xue Wei, then took him straight up to the third floor by elevator.

The private room on the third floor was large and a bit quieter.

Wen Man pushed open the door, and the people inside were singing.

Members of National Team One and Team Two were scattered throughout the large private room.

A small chubby guy was passionately singing.

The Team One members closest to the door looked up at them.

The singing stopped, and everyone greeted: “Captain Wen! Hello, Captain. Have the coaches arrived?”

“Not yet, later,” Wen Man reached out and blocked a team member who was trying to get up and turn on the lights. “You guys continue. I just brought someone over to say hello. Just make a note of him.”

“He is NOW, this person next to me. He’s a member of your National Team Two next season, positioned as a sniper. You’ll be teammates and opponents on the field, so you’ll see each other. You can learn a lot from him.”

Wen Man gently put an arm around Xue Wei’s shoulder.

Xue Wei was unaccustomed to crowds and felt entirely ill at ease, appearing somewhat stiff.

Under the dim KTV lights, the young man’s skin was fair, dressed in white with a red scarf, a figure like crushed jade and snow, very eye-catching.

“Welcome, welcome! This side is Team Two, the other side is Team One.” The chubby guy who was singing was very enthusiastic, rushing over to shake Xue Wei’s hand.

Wen Man gently slapped the chubby guy’s hand away: “Alright, go back to your spot. I’m taking him first.”

“Where are you going?!! Captain Wen, you found a new person and you’re not playing with us anymore?!!” The chubby guy teased, and the others also joined in with half-hearted taunts, the mixed emotions unclear.

Several members of National Team One looked at Xue Wei, their gazes sharp, carrying the competitive spirit of youth and curiosity about the newcomer.

“Hey, Little P, the newcomer is here.” Someone next to him nudged.

Pandora was still sitting by the table, looking at the song selection screen, not even lifting his head.

He let out a cold snort: “Mm, got it.”

The other members of National Team Two looked up, smiled in his direction, but their reactions weren’t as enthusiastic.

They continued to tease and clap.

Xue Wei didn’t pay much attention to these things.

What made him feel relieved was that Wen Man didn’t make him stay long.

Soon, he took him out of the national team’s private room.

Leaving the private room, a cold breeze swept through the corridor.

Wen Man was still leading him forward.

“Where are we going?” Xue Wei hadn’t seen the welcome party.

Although he found welcome parties awkward, he was still a little bit concerned that the promised one wasn’t happening.

“To the other side, our place.” Wen Man led him, pushed open a door, and a large burst of confetti exploded in their faces.

On the coffee table was a large cake, the room was decorated with countless colorful balloons, and people behind the door emerged, laughing.

Knife: “Surprise!!!! Welcome our Pretty Boy!!!”

Alan: “Here they come, here they come!! Finally here! We’ve been waiting for so long.”

People behind them cheered.

The entire European team, and the national team’s training staff, were all here.

Xue Wei recognized most of them.

“Those seats over there are reserved for EGT,” Wen Man said, pointing to the seats, “They’ll be over in a bit. You can sit down and eat something first.”

“The cake is for Pretty’s little boy. Let’s welcome NOW into the new year’s league! Let’s welcome our new world-class sniper!”

God Knife had even written a speech, a small notepad with Chinese characters he looked up, marked with pinyin.

He read it in a crooked but very heartfelt manner, like a poetry recitation: “It was a privilege to meet you once upon a time…”

Xue Wei was led to sit in front of the cake, his face flushed.

He stammered to the people around him: “Th-thank you.”

With people he knew around, he felt less awkward and began to eat his cake in peace.

On the small cake, “Welcome Cake for NOW” was written in jam, very plain and simple.

He cut the cake into many pieces, took the smallest plate for himself, then sat in a corner and started eating.

Others didn’t bother him with conversation.

This private room was large, and everyone was doing their own thing.

As he sat eating cake, Wen Man brought him a hot water bottle and a bottle of milk, then sat down beside him.

God Knife also came over.

He tried to get closer to Xue Wei, but Wen Man blocked him with an outstretched hand: “You sit here.”

Knife said: “I want to sit next to the pretty boy.”

Wen Man crossed his legs, leaning back into the sofa: “Then ask him yourself.”

Xue Wei was focused on eating cake and didn’t notice their conversation.

God Knife glanced at him, wanted to speak, but held back, finally sitting back down silently.

‘Little lone wolf. Unfamiliar people cannot be petted; they might even bite.’

Knife sat alone, feeling lonely.

He started trying to talk to Wen Man: “You明…”

“Shut up,” Wen Man said in German.

Knife choked, shrinking back in loneliness, feeling how cold the world was.

He couldn’t sing any Chinese KTV songs.

He looked around, dragged over a gaming laptop, and started playing Solitaire.

Not long after, the EGT members also arrived.

As Zhao Xiaoyi, Wanshi, and Dangdang entered, seeing the people in the room, they were all pleasantly surprised.

“Oh my god, I actually saw God Knife! Can I go talk to him and ask for some real-time advice on free agent play?!” Dangdang said in a low voice.

“I think so! I think we can even queue up to ask for advice! After all, I’m an assaulter, and I also really need to learn how to play assault!” Wanshi’s eyes sparkled.

Zhao Xiaoyi also thought for a moment: “I’m different. Although I don’t feel anything about free agents, God Knife is one of my idols!!! Let’s go ask for advice!”

So the three of them ran over and surrounded Knife.

Knife was startled: “?”

He didn’t recognize these three little kids.

He asked nervously: “I, you guys, um? What are you doing?”

Wanshi and his group’s eyes were sparkling: “Can we invite you to play together with us?”

Knife: “What are you saying? I don’t understand. Are you asking about the cake? It’s over there.”

This string of Chinese was surprisingly fluent.

Before he could escape, Wen Man, with good intentions, translated for him: “They want you to play games with them, and they’ve admired and worshipped you for a long time. To promote Sino-German friendship and friendly international league exchanges, there are several machines over there. Go ahead, you guys, good luck.”

Knife:

‘His words halted abruptly.’

He was dragged away by three sparkling-eyed little kids.

Xue Wei finished eating cake, then looked up and found that others had already started playing games on the other side.

He thought for a moment, then quietly leaned over and asked Wen Man: “Are they still playing games after they’re done eating? Didn’t they say they’d get tired of it?”

His movements now were much more intimate than before.

It was as if a small beast had relaxed its guard.

When he leaned over to ask him, his body moved slightly closer, his soft, fragrant breath wafting before him.

Wen Man lowered his eyes, gazing at the tablecloth’s texture, silent for a moment.

Only when Xue Wei looked at him strangely did he say in a low voice:

“Mm.”

The KTV lights were dim, and the singing was deafening, yet he could hear his own heartbeat.

After Xue Wei finished his cake, he became a bit bolder and started leaning over to watch the excitement on the other side.

Wanshi and Dangdang were getting soundly beaten by God Knife.

God Knife was laughing heartily, speaking in some gibberish they didn’t understand.

The group gestured like monkeys, conveying information through facial expressions and tones, and actually had a back-and-forth game.

After finishing, Xue Wei also finished watching the fun.

A group of people ordered barbecue and fast food, along with various alcoholic drinks.

So the singers stopped singing, and the gamers stopped playing, all gathering to eat and drink soju.

Halfway through the meal, the head coach, finding it uninteresting, taught the foreign friends about the culture of Truth or Dare while drinking beer.

They rolled dice to decide actions.

The loser either had to drink or play Truth or Dare.

Xue Wei listened from the side, very interested.

The head coach distributed drinks, giving Xue Wei a bottle of low-alcohol soju.

Wen Man reached out to block it, his brows slightly furrowed: “He’s still young; he can’t drink.”

Xue Wei glanced at him and said: “I’m eighteen.”

“Exactly, exactly! NOW isn’t young anymore; here, eighteen is already considered an older player. Look at God Knife; he started playing professionally at nine. That’s young.”

“Is that called young? That’s called unsupervised,” Wen Man didn’t buy it.

He shook the can of soju and placed it in front of himself.

God Knife, however, smiled cheekily: “He’s not young anymore. He should try alcohol, otherwise he won’t know his limits, and won’t it be more dangerous when he goes out in the future? Here, Nao, these two bottles are for you; have a taste.”

He babbled a whole string of words.

Xue Wei only understood “NOW,” but he roughly grasped his meaning: these two bottles of alcohol were for him.

He pulled open the tab, sniffed, and a rich fruity aroma diffused.

Knife gave a thumbs up: “Fruit wine, fruit wine, no problem, nice.”

He said it while looking at both Xue Wei and Wen Man.

Wen Man reached out and took one can, taking a sip himself first.

Indeed, it was a rich fruity aroma.

He felt relieved.

“Can you drink?” he asked softly.

Xue Wei thought about his medication restrictions: “I… guess so.”

“Mm.” Wen Man’s expression showed no change: “You remember to take care of your own body.”

Xue Wei thought for a moment, then said: “Oh.”

He was obedient.

Xue Wei’s luck was truly not good.

The other three EGT members desperately tried to give him points, but he still managed to lose.

After three rounds, his bottle of “fruit wine” was already bottomed out.

It was already approaching midnight.

“Alright, alright, stop drinking. There’s a closing ceremony tomorrow morning, can’t be in too bad a state. Break up, break up.” The head coach announced, and everyone stood up one after another.

Xue Wei also stood up.

The room was too warm; his ears had been red the entire time.

But with this one movement, his whole body swayed, his steps unsteady.

Wen Man was right beside him.

As if not expecting it, he reached out and caught Xue Wei.

Xue Wei slumped against him, unable to control his strength, colliding heavily.

Before Wen Man could speak, he himself let out a muffled groan, soft and small: “My head… is a bit dizzy.”

Outside the door, Knife was saying triumphantly: “I specifically brought it here, originally wanted to get Wen Man drunk… We never managed to figure out his alcohol tolerance before… And this wine, it’s fruit-flavored, but has a strong kick, so…”

Inside the room, Wen Man stopped, his hand stiffened, then he supported Xue Wei’s shoulder.

He softly called him: “Nao…nao?”

Xue Wei still just rested his head against his chest, feeling incredibly dizzy, probably mistaking him for a wall.

Now the wall spoke.

He looked up in confusion: “Hm?”

His eyes were hazy with moisture, bright and warm, almost capable of making one’s thoughts freeze.