Lili was embarrassed a lot. She heard Lei's steady heartbeat and blushed. His actions were like in the dramas she watched.
'Were all Asians brought up like this? So gentlemanly-like? And was that about fate? This was no fate. This was because of their crazy fans,' she thought.
Lili stood there, on the side of the doors to the CGA eSports stadium, and when they arrived, she was absorbed and pulled along with the crowd.
They pushed her, and she ended up falling right where it was the only free space to fall. And that was on Lei. Desperately grabbing something, which meant his ass. And wow, it was the ass. And now she was hugging his body. Oh god, he had firm muscles underneath the white shirt he was wearing. He lowered his head again and spoke to her in a quiet, low voice.
"Stay close to me. I will protect you," he whispered in her ear. Lili was speechless, having goosebumps.
'Oh, my god. This guy has been watching some rom-com for sure. He was one hell of a cliché,' she was freaking out inside, but still, he made her heart pound even when she knew he was just teasing her. Luckily, the door was huge. So, they all could go through without a problem.
Lili was looking around. She felt like in paradise. High-tech computers, big screens, blue or red neon lights. They passed the shop with accessories; Omen PCs, MSI, PS and so much more that she almost dislocated her head as she was looking around. It all looked so cool.
"Cool." She couldn't help herself but say that word aloud. Lei chuckled and led her away, more inside. They rode down an escalator and all of them could see it was her first time in such a place. Because she was looking around, like a little kid, with so much happiness in her eyes.
Then, they arrived at a stage part. Some of them handed in their equipment to staff and then we went further in.
Rows of chairs were standing there with a crown cheering for two teams. Lei released her a bit but still held her hand. His palm was warm and a little sweaty, but yeah, he had reason to be nervous, the game.
He took her to the front row on the right and sat right in the first chair. She just stood there, not knowing where to sit, but he still held her hand, so she had no other possibility than to sit right beside him.
"I got that you like it here," he whispered in her ear and she turned her head, startled. She was staring into his eyes.
Lili wanted to kiss him, but this was too public and too early. Maybe. She said to herself to enjoy whatever they had together. That 'fate' of his. And just go with the flow. Even if it was a one-night-stand. Or more like 'holiday love'.
But it was still a bit early for a kiss. Probably. She swallowed and bit her lip. This movement hypnotized Lei. He stared at her lips and was immersed so much in his thoughts that when the announcement called out to his team; he jerked a bit.
"Yeah, I love it. What a pity I can't understand," she said with a shadow of sadness in her voice. Lei immediately cheered up, feeling useful.
"I can teach you Mandarin and Cantonese. I can speak both." She looked at him.
That smile of his was lethal for her. Lili was melting inside. That little dimple on his left cheek. She couldn't help but want to poke it. And to her horror, she did it. She poked his dimple. He smiled even more, and she did too.
"Lei, we don't want to disturb your first date, but who is going to go up?" Yitian said that in English. Well, she wanted them to speak English, but… well… she was slowly getting used to their teasing. She still felt embarrassed, but Lili liked that idea. First date, huh? Wasn't it ideal?
"You know who… You discussed it yesterday. You just wanted to interrupt because you are jealous..." Lei chuckled and turned forward, facing the stage. Five of the Zhu long players stood up, including Doom and SIG. And went towards the stage. They looked so cool.
"They are cool. They look like celebrities," Lil said because she heard the cheers for them. It was overwhelming. She had never seen an official game before. Not even in Europe. So, it was something new for her. And that was why Lili felt like Alice in Wonderland.
"Sure. But I'm way cooler. Because without me. They wouldn't stand on the stage." Lei smiled at her when the cam focused on him and then the team.
Oh, god. When he said it like this, he looked cooler. Way cooler in a white shirt and a dark black-blue suit. It was an ink-black-blue, as dark as his hair. He looked so handsome.
Lili just nodded and tried to focus on the stage. Soon the other team took their seats too, and big screens above them were showing inside the game arena. They had the New world battleground, a futuristic fantasy town, looking really epic.
Doom was leading the team. They hid and waited to ambush the other team. It surprised her a lot when the other team fell for it.
"Oh, my god. It's the oldest technique ever. How come they fell for it?" she whispered Lei in his ear. And he grimaced.
"Because it's a trap. They are faking it. But Chao won't fall for this. I hope so." He squinted his eyes.
'When he said Chao he meant Doom,' she was making a mental note when she heard Doom shouting.
Soon, she found herself immersed in the game so much that she had to be held down by Lei when Zhanshi, their brawler, was killed. She wanted to go up on a stage and help them.
Lili grabbed Lei's hand because she heard her game name being shouted by Doom and SIG at the same time.
"What's with me?" she exclaimed because she got scared. Lei smiled at her and squeezed her hand that he was still holding.
"New tactic. You will see," he said and gestured towards the big screen. Lili turned around to see such a bizarre moment. Doom ran forward alone and left all the teammates behind. She squeezed Lei's hand.
"That's suicide!" she yelled out, her heart playing with them, wanting to get up and join them.
"Don't worry." Lili heard Lei faintly say. She saw SIG and MoSHU using their longest-range skills, protecting Doom.
They had four people with half HP left. And the other team had three members with almost full HP alive. And one of them was a healer who was constantly doing his work. Our last attempt to kill that healer ended up with the loss of Zhanshi.
Doom ran into their defensive zone and stopped. She saw little sparks from him when he was attacked. The attacks bounced from a bubble around him and hit back their masters. The sparks stopped and formed a fire bubble around him.
"What the actual fuck?" she mumbled and jumped up, then she blushed and sat down again, because of how embarrassed she was. He was a swordmaster. Not a magician. He was not supposed to use magic.
The fire bubble just expanded, and then it popped together with Chao's protective bubble. It hit all the remaining players of the opposite team and the Dragons' assassin, HNYG.
They were all dead. Even Doom. And the only players left were SIG and MoSHU, who were far enough from Doom. That meant they won.
Lili looked at Lei in disbelief. At that moment, the spectators burst into loud cheers and stood up. She jumped up too, taking Lei with her, and hugged him.
"We won!!!" she shouted and released him from the hug.
"Yes, we won," Lei answered calmly, smiling at her. They were both full of excitement and soothed tension. And Lili just said one thing.
"Eh, screw it." She put her hands around Lei's neck and gave him the most passionate kiss she had ever given to someone.
They tasted each other's lips. A few moments later, they even used tongues to explore. And if certain someone hadn't tapped their shoulders; they would probably jump on each other right there. Because they both forgot that they are in public. And forgot the camera that was shooting the audience.
"In America, there would be a big heart around you on-screen with KISS CAM written on the side. Here, it was only you two perverts," Doom said and left, walking towards Yitian. They both stole his moments of fame.
'Brother Lei will be sorry he did that…' he thought, pissed.