"Lei… Lucy is here with someone. She wants to introduce us. Are you going with me?" Lili shouted over the hairdryer she was using.
Of course, Lei didn't hold back and just slept. Lili had to shower and dry her hair too because she was all sweaty and couldn't go out like that. When she was getting ready to go for dinner, Lucy messaged her.
Apparently, she was in the same hotel with the idol group she was providing a translation for. Lili had no idea why they needed a translator when they were in Korea and a Korean group, but whatever. It wasn't her problem to think about.
"Should I go?" Lei asked, thinking of how to get out of this meeting.
"Yes, you need to. Don't you remember that you haven't met Lucy yet? After we got engaged?" she smiled sweetly, but Lei wanted to groan. He snorted and put on the jacket of his suit.
Lili looked at him more like she gawked. He really looked stunning in a full-on suit. Usually, he was walking around in a shirt. She rarely saw him in casual clothes, but at the same time, he was never this neatly clothed. Except for that one time at the reception.
"Let's get over it." he groaned when they walked out of the hotel room, to the hall on the lower floor. It was really well organized that the conference was held at the same place, where all the teams were accommodated.
When they arrived and walked out of the elevator, they were greeted with loud noises and cheering shouts. But it wasn't for none of the teams there, which was painfully apparent.
"Hwa, here! Kangmin, look here!"
"No, look at me, Hyunjun!"
"I love you, Jaemin!"
"Go, go! Sunjin is the best!"
"C-land forever!!!" They both heard once they walked in the hall. Lili assumed that C-land was the name of the boy group Lucy was translating for. And that those shouting girls were fans of them.
Lili saw those five boys whose names she knew from Lucy and wasn't so surprised everyone was shouting for their attention, because wow.
She must have been in a dream about something. It was impossible that since she came to Hong Kong, almost everyone she got acquainted with was incredibly handsome.
"Lili, I'm here!" She heard in the Czech language and knew it was Lucy for sure. She saw her, standing beside a really tall and handsome member of the group, whose posters and pictures were all around them. And even from a distance, Lili could see his huge sparkly eyes. She halted. But then walked to Lucy.
The introduction was extremely funny, in four languages, because Lucy got really confused when speaking. So, she ended up talking Cantonese to Lili, Czech to the Korean guy, and English to Lei.
Lili had to suggest speaking only English and translating into Korean. Because Seonghwa's, that was the name of the man, English skills weren't that good and even though he tried, he could only get like three words from the sentence.
It has been a long time since she saw Lucy in person, so they ended up talking, screaming, and being typical girls.
Soon after, their team arrived, led by Huobai and Yixing. Huobai had his mask on already, and Yixing was actually hiding behind a black cap.
"Are you ready?" Yixing leaned to her, and he was visibly shaking.
"No. But we have to do it for Chao and Yitian," he whispered, and then straightened again. Lili nodded. She understood. There was enormous pressure on the two of them to lead the entire team. When they weren't used to things like that. But it showed the flaws the team had.
Lucy chuckled, together with Hwa, and Lili questioningly raised her eyebrow. Lucy was her friend long enough. She recognized her expression and laughed even more.
"You are getting attention. Some of the girls just whispered that they did not know that gamers could be this handsome. And that they might go see the match," Lucy summarized the part of the conversation she actually caught in the ruckus.
Lili laughed too, happy that they gained some new fans. And even if it was for their faces, maybe they would indulge in the gaming world more.
"Where are your star captain and vice-captain? Did they admit themselves to the hospital, pretending to be sick? They chickened out after our last match?" Lili heard Mandarin and she, together with those who understood, turned around.
From the hall, the team from Shanghai was there, led by their general manager and captain. The captain, Wen Lin, was the one who made the remark. It made Yixing furious, so much that if Huobai hadn't caught him, he would probably be disqualified.
"Calm down, he is provoking you," Huobai said, but his voice was icy cold. It didn't carry the usual warmth. But it calmed Yixing down.
It actually calmed him down so much that he stepped behind Huobai and sighed, holding Huobai's hand back. Lili squinted when she saw their movements and frowned. Something was going on. And she was curious what it was.
"Please refrain from making assumptions. If I were to tell the reporters there, that you made fun of a fellow gamer who was gravely wounded. I don't think it would be overlooked by the public. Maybe even some sponsors would prefer those two missing rather than your team," Huobai said. Lili put her hand over her mouth. That was a fatal blow, stinging the right place. No wonder Yixing hid behind Huobai.
"Let's calm down… all of us. We wish you a nice game." the GM said and led the team away, but the vice-captain wasn't done with them.
"We won't meet again, because you are losers that won't even win the first match." He walked away and Huobai was following them with a killer gaze.
"Let's prove them otherwise," he said, and the nervousness totally disappeared. They all walked as one man towards the conference room.
"Do they know that their first match is tomorrow, right? That today is only the opening ceremony?" Lili raised her eyebrow and shook her head when Lei nodded.