Xiao Qiu wanted to leave him out of the serious conversations in the adult world, while V wanted to thrust him into the adult world. Xiao Yi came to this realization a long time ago, but something in his mind fought against the notion that he needed to grow up.

After his turbulent upbringing, he found himself latched onto the love and affection that Xiao Qiu gave him, he allowed himself to fall further and further into laziness and let himself impact his brother's career. He took advantage of the rope that Xiao Qiu gave him, and the elder didn’t put his foot down. He enabled him, happy to be family again.

Xiao Yi didn’t unpack his belongings, instead aiming to sit at the edge of the bed while he came to the realization that he had not only put his life on pause for three years, but his brother and his brother's teammates were on pause due to his selfishness.

He needed to distance himself and learn to be human again and Lee’s words only fueled his flames.

Was he depressed?

Did he have some mental condition?

How did he turn from the child who took care of himself in every way, took care of his teammates, and was a competent captain into such a person who did nothing all day for three years straight?

Where did his life go?

Why?

The thoughts ran through his mind for the rest of the afternoon until Xiao Qiu pulled him back into the training room and he passed out on Xiao Qiu’s shoulder, like always. Just, this time… He felt guilty.

Why couldn’t he sleep on his own? When did this change?

He came to another realization this day. ‘Fuck, I’m pathetic.’

Meanwhile, four men sat in a spacious condo living room as they scrolled through their respective phones.

Mu Yichen, the person who inadvertently caused Xiao Yi to question his existence, sat on the floor with his legs nearly tucked to his stomach as he complained. “He’s so heartless, retired, and don’t bother him? He didn’t even reach out!”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Chen Qiang frowned as he glanced over Mu Yichen to see the response on his phone. “He’s running away. I told you we should have kept looking for him silently, do you think he’s dumb enough to stay in one place?”

They hadn’t had time to look over social media since Mu Yichen’s bold statement. That bastard didn’t even consult them before asking the world to track down Xiao Yi so they weren’t prepared.

Chen Qiang, Li Hao, and Tang An had just flown back to their hometown to spend some time with their families before their plan was supposed to be set in motion when they received a text.

[The-Best-Moon]: We’ll find him soon.

Afterward, he linked the live stream and the three men decided to hasten their plans while cursing him to the ends of the earth as they hopped on yet another plane.

Mu Yichen worked on moving his belongings into the condo and finished building the five beds on his own, acknowledging his hastiness and wrongdoing. Then, he had to go pick them up from the airport and they completely crashed as soon as they returned to the condo.

Thankfully they’d bought the condo in advance so they didn’t have to stay in a hotel or mooch off other teams.

Li Hao sighed. “If they aren’t posting his pictures, they’re scolding him.”

Tang An began laughing and sent a link in their group chat titled ‘Frost exposed for being a leech - LSY-Minho’. “What, did he want to mooch off someone to preserve his money or something?”

The video played in the background, Minho telling an exaggerated version of his conversation with Xiao Yi with a few text messages and a phone log as proof. Underneath the post, a few esports players from the same generation mentioned that they too had been contacted.

Chen Qiang scrolled through the comments and leaned back with a complicated expression on his face.

Just what in the world was Xiao Yi thinking back then?

He probably felt the most betrayal from the youngest. He was the person to approach him first, he was the person with the dream to stand on stage and pursue this career, and he was the one who asked his family to take in Xiao Yi. They shared a room and he’d comfort the younger boy night after night, take care of him when he was sick… He treated him like his own blood-related brother.

Mu Yichen sneered. “He’s probably spent all that money by now at least. It should be easy to get him to sign the contract.”

Chen Qiang didn’t agree with this method, but he understood the other's anger. They planned to get Xiao Yi to sign a contract to become their assassin because he’d never been surpassed. Of course, his benefits and pay would be much worse than their cut since he betrayed them once.

They planned to use his guilt as a method to sign it, but they never planned to become friends with him again.

Alas, he felt like he missed something back then, especially with the information that he was mooching off others. The Xiao Yi he knew was too prideful to look to others for help, especially when he already had the money.

What was he playing at?

They were only right about one thing - Xiao Yi wasn't going to stay put, though it wasn't because he had a target on his back. He had only just opened his eyes when he received a text.

[V]: I booked you for tomorrow night, then. Why so soon? Did you miss this brother already? I'm flattered.