[X]: Yes to drink.
[V]: No to accompanying another player?
[X]: En.
[V]: I'm already at the coffee shop down your street, what a coincidence.
[X]: … En.
Xiao Yi pushed himself off the wall with a smile flickering on his lips underneath his mask and continued his journey down the stairs.
He of all people knew it wasn't a coincidence. If he hadn't woken up and left, would V have stayed at the coffee shop all day? His company wasn't even in the same city!
Xiao Yi quickly reached the main floor of the building and pushed the doors open, only to be nearly blinded by the soaring sun. He glanced down and blinked a few times before continuing his journey.
For a period in his life, V helped him make money to invest by accompanying players. He had accompanied too many for him to count.
Some players were esports pros who wanted to improve their skills, he would enter the arena in a private 1v1 match with them and guide them patiently through text.
Some were newer players who wanted help leveling, he would walk them through the main story and then help them find guilds and run dungeons with them.
Others simply wanted someone to accompany them through their dailies, or professions.
There was a mirage of reasons why someone would ask for an accompanying player, but one thing that Xiao Yi had over the others was that he was a jack of all trades, master of all. No matter the class, he could play it well.
Assassin, however, was one of the rarer classes to have as a main build. It was also the most popular class he was asked to play, as newer pro players needed to train themselves against the assassin class. Even the normal players had to train against it, with some being guild leaders who specifically asked him to play hide and seek in the real world and put up assassin hits for themselves to see if they could win against him.
They never could.
Many people, including his previous friends, assumed that Xiao Yi had made it rich because of esports but no one but him and V knew that he made the least of the five, despite being the captain. He had worked out a deal when he first joined the company, and split most of his salary and prize winnings into four to give his friends more money.
Hence, although he had savings, he had to accompany players for a while to accumulate enough money to support his investments. Two and a half years later, he was rich and bored beyond belief.
Xiao Yi was met with the calming aroma of coffee as soon as he pushed the cafe doors open.
V was sitting near the window, his legs crossed lazily as he typed on the laptop before him. He had a serious look on his face that didn't match his demeanor or style.
He was hard to miss, bringing attention to himself with vibrant recently dyed true red hair and a contrasting black suit. The sides of his hair were styled shorter, while the top of his hair was slicked back with gel which showcased the black earrings adorning his ears.
All in all, because of his youthful appearance, he looked like a teenage delinquent masquerading as a businessman.
He glanced up at the sound of a bell and smiled brightly. "Brother!"
The other customers glanced toward the door to see a tall man with black hair and a lazy posture glare at V.
He rolled his eyes and gracefully walked over, pulling the chair in front of him and sitting down as V closed his laptop and put it to the side. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Who's your brother?"
V only laughed and leaned forward with his hands propping up his head. "How've you been?"
Xiao Yi nodded with a hum.
"That's good, I've been good. Sister-in-law couldn't make it today but she told me to tell you she says hi and that you need to come over soon so she can spoil you with food."
Xiao Yi nodded obediently. "En."
V leaned back and looked at the younger boy seriously. "I was watching your brother stream… So you know that they're back now?"
Xiao Yi frowned with his eyebrow raised. They? They're all back?
V, seeing this sighed and shook his head. "I'll give you the inside information. All three of their contracts end four days after the championships. It seems like it was planned, but Mu Yichen had the shortest term and signed it a year and a half ago. He hasn't been with Solar long, it's like he's taken a vacation to help out a small team."
V paused for a moment, searching Xiao Yi's masked face before adding, "They're all in China now. There was no point in staying in their countries since they didn't make it to finals. I'm just wondering if it was intentional to not make it to finals and let Mu Yichen win."
"Also, although Flame hasn't joined a team, he was also abroad and just returned, he just messaged me this morning asking to catch up."
Xiao Yi raised his eyebrow and asked quietly, "Abroad?"
"Right? He didn't tell me anything either, but I think he knows that we were pretty close back then so he probably didn't want to speak with me much. Actually, I don't know why he'd message me to catch up."
Xiao Yi quickly evaluated the newfound information and tilted his head. "They're going to create a new team."
In actuality, Xiao Yi didn't know why they hadn't created a new team all those years ago. They were already set free from their contracts, and if they had been smart with their money then they would have easily been able to afford a small building of their own and start their own team.
Any random person on the street would have gladly filled up the fifth spot.
He quickly shook his head. It wasn't his business what they did anymore.