Shan was sitting in the second waiting room of the arena, where the ceremony was being held at. Together with his team, they were sitting in their new uniforms, which were really amazing, and all of them couldn't wait to get back to HQ. The continuous talks, fan service, and more, was something. But they had to wait.
As Lili said, they held an event. The fun thing was that Lili forgot to say one thing. There was a fan event that allowed a few lucky winners to choose teammates and play with them in the arena.
And his teammates were probably the most anticipated ones to be chosen. Or so the organizer said.
"We held a survey and asked who is the player they would like to play with the most. Your roster came up. HNYG, KT, SIG,Doom, Moshu… and a few of the younger players. It was no surprise though…" And then laughter followed. Those were the exact words and Shan had no idea why he was up there too. Of course, Huobai and Chao were handsome, Yitian and Yixing were cute, but why him? It was still a mystery to him.
"Now, let's proceed to the lucky draw. The players chosen will come up to the stage and…" Shan couldn't hear the rest because a staff member came in and hurried them all backstage.
"When your team is being called, the six members of your regular roster will go up on the stage, give a little interview, and sit on the chairs in front of the stage, the rest will wait here. There is still a chance you can be called out, but the most favorable ones in the survey were usually the regular roster." Shan looked at Hongjie who was unfortunately for him in the rooster too and they both let out a huge sigh.
"Would you change with me?" Hongjie looked and Yinli and Shan were placing their hopes on Wuchen. But both of them raised their hands at the same time, denying their request.
"There is no chance I'm going to go up on the stage voluntarily and make a clown of myself up there. No, thank you. Enjoy your privilege." Wuchen was so confusing. He was a social butterfly; he had the most friends, outside the gaming community and inside too. Yet, he hated doing fan service as much as the rest of the team.
It wasn't that they didn't like their fans. On the contrary, they wouldn't be up there on the stage without them. They would have no money, no popularity, and no team. But most of the players were introverts. Super shy around people. Playing games with their circle of friends, where they were the most comfortable. And hated being in front of cameras. So this was excruciating.
"Welcome, Zhu long!" Shan took a deep breath and followed Chao. who was leading as the captain should. He bowed when he was in the middle of the stage and then continued to the rest of the team.
They actually rehearsed it. Yesterday. They rehearsed everything except the interview. Those questions were said to be random from the survey comment section.
"Doom, the captain, I have the most asked question that was in the comment section and something to do with the game. Because oh boy, your team made the comments mess. A lot of people were asking about your private lives, your families and money, and your looks…" Shan sighed. Of course, they were. Since the move into the HQ and learning that Huobai and Chao are rich boys, their sns were always filled with those questions. Not that Shan had the same problem because he had only a messaging app and no social network sites at all.
"How are you prepared for the next season? Do you plan on attending the Worlds?" Chao smiled and, with the elegance of an elephant in porcelain, answered.
"Yes. We are prepared." And then passed the mic to Yitian. Huobai, who stood next to Shan, bit his lip and tried to catch the sigh inside his lips, but he wasn't able to.
"If you answer the same way, I will hunt you down," he whispered to Shan's ear after leaning toward him. Shan nodded but panicked inside. He long forgot how to answer in long sentences. He long forgot how to answer interview questions without a hitch, without sounding gruff or being too lengthy, and how to be sociable, likable, and funny.
He used to be like that a long time ago. Really, a long time ago. Shan saw the smiling face standing behind the reporters, smiling at him and sending him finger hearts just to make him smile on the camera.
He felt a nudge from the right side where Yixing stood and Shan confusedly turned his head at him.
"I'm sorry I was too overwhelmed by the amount of fans there are. I couldn't believe my eyes and tried to count. Can you please repeat the question?" Shan said. His mouth suggested a hint of a smile, but that was all they would get out of him. There was no one to make him smile now.
"Oh yes, I can see how overwhelming it might be. There really are a lot of fans. My question, or more like the fans' question for you, is pretty complex. There has been a surge of Korean fans for you, especially because of your streams. And many fans of yours are confused about your streaming hours and schedule. While your other teammates have fixed stream times, yours are rather random and often during the night. Is there a reason for it? And Why Korean fans?" Shan was baffled.
Who cared about those things? He put the mic back close to his mouth and he could see it shaking, but even after grabbing it with both hands, it was still shaky as hell. He would be memed for this, so why not add something else too?
"The answer is quite simple. My teammates are following the schedules we have. But I have insomnia. A lot of times during the night I have nothing to do, so either I watch movies or play SoL. I asked myself why not fulfill my streaming hours when I'm playing and let others use the streaming equipment when they need it." He stopped, took a deep breath, and then continued.
"As for the Korean fans. I really loved to have fans all around the world. It's so fascinating how everyone can come together and have fun while playing or watching games. So I try to speak all the languages I know. So a few times I spoke Korean. I guess they liked it and started watching regularly." He flashed a light raise of his mouth and then gave the mic to Huobai next to him, showing he was done.
The MC was baffled. Most players were a pain in the neck, but those from Zhu long were another type of pain. They either said nothing and made it hard for him, or revealed something everybody was curious about, but did not even let him elaborate on it. He just hoped he wouldn't be chosen because he would have to talk to them more. Now, there were six men and one woman up on the stage wishing the same thing. For none of Zhu long members to be chosen.