"…" Chen Qiang stared at the message in absolute silence for a moment before he kicked his sheets off, jumped out of bed, and began running through the new team complex.
"Mu Yichen!"
"Downstairs!" Mu Yichen yelled and Chen Qiang ran down the stairs with phone in hand.
Mu Yichen, Li Hao, and Tang An were all circled around the counter eating a simple breakfast with a video playing in front of them, a game replay from the last world championship.
Xiao Qiu's stream.
Li Hao smiled as he turned in his seat. "We were about to call you, we found him!"
Chen Qiang slowed as he approached the counter. In the corner of the video was Xiao Qiu with a bundle of a human with his head on his shoulder.
Xiao Yi.
Although they'd called up Xiao Qiu, Xiao Yi wasn't exactly close to his older brother in those years so they didn't think to investigate him further. Perhaps, it was a good thing that they hadn't, or they may have done something they'd regret for the rest of their lives.
Chen Qiang pushed his hair back and handed his phone to the unsuspecting Mu Yichen. "He was sending us all his prize money, he wasn't stealing from us."
He'd never wanted to believe that the kid he accepted as a brother would cheat them out of money, but the words had come out of Xiao Yi's own mouth so there was no choice but to take it.
Tang An paused the livestream and leaned over Mu Yichen's shoulder with a skeptical expression. "We owe him?"
Chen Qiang nodded and took a seat at the counter, next to Mu Yichen and said. "Look I'm not saying that he had nothing to do with what happened but we also have to think - if he lied about this so what else did he lie about? Isn't it also weird that in all these years, he hasn't found a team to take him in?"
Li Hao waved his hand. "No one would want to take him in."
Mu Yichen pushed up his glasses and shook his head as he placed the phone on the counter. "You're wrong. Maybe mainland teams would think twice about it, but abroad? They'd scoop him up in a heartbeat whether it's to take assassin, captain, or coach positions."
Tang An nodded. "You're thinking…"
Chen Qiang cut him off. "He wasn't released from his contract like us."
Li Hao crossed his arms and leaned back. "Why do you think he wasn't released?"
Chen Qiang hummed. "If he was, do you think he would have stayed with Xiao Qiu and mooch off him for so long? What about reaching out to others to get free accommodation? Even if he wanted to retire… He's not the type to take handouts, he could have gotten both money and accommodation from any team just for being a coach let alone stepping on the stage. He has too much pride."
He continued, his finger tapping against the table. "Look, maybe we jumped the gun. We only know rumors from the staff and what Xiao Yi told us. It still doesn't make sense why we were released from contracts when the company could have auctioned them to other teams."
Mu Yichen's eyes turned cold. "You're thinking that he's still locked into a contract and took the blame for the company's mistakes?"
Chen Qiang nodded. "We believed it because of Xiao Yi, but obviously we can't believe his words or actions from back then."
Li Hao sat in contemplation for a moment before he burst out of his seat. "Fuck, what did we do?"He disappeared up the stairs while ranting. "Our fans have blasted him for years over something that we had no proof over, all because of himself. Is he looking to drive himself to death? Why would he sit back and let the rumors slide? That Xiao Yi, was he ever evil?"
Was he ever evil?
The words hung in the air as the door slammed shut.
Xiao Yi, evil? All of the boys knew that Xiao Yi could have done anything in life other than join an esports team and take it over, but he chose to pursue esports because of their love for it.
He didn't take the college entrance, but if he did he would likely be among the top five spots.
He didn't talk back to anyone, he didn't want revenge against his family who neglected him for his entire childhood.
He sent money back to Chen Qiang's family despite not being blood-related just because they took him in for a few years.
Xiao Yi was lazy, he didn't talk much, he liked to sleep, but evil?
They knew the answer to that.
Mu Yichen looked down at his hands with a defeated expression. "Were we wrong?"
Chen Qiang was the only person among the four of them who had trouble believing Xiao Yi was a part of the schemes. He had always been the closest to the other, and while they were all friends with Xiao Yi, it was undoubtedly hard to become as close to him as he was with Chen Qiang. Despite this, they were best friends for over a decade.
Why didn't they look into it further a few years ago? Was it their own ego, Xiao Yi's words, the stress? Wanting to pin the blame on someone and place it on Xiao Yi, who was the captain?
It made sense at the time. Xiao Yi was the captain, he undoubtedly would have known about the company's decisions, right?
Mu Yichen stepped away from the counter and called someone. "I need you to look into something from four years ago…"
Because of this one lie being uncovered, the other lies began to unravel.