“Hey, you bastard, dodge!”

“Do you not know fucking Chinese, should I switch to English?”

“Let Daddy give you a tutorial!”

There was a bit of a commotion as something flew through the air before hitting what sounded like a wall and someone screamed. “Li Hao, shut up! He’s not awake yet!”

Well, that wasn’t entirely true.

Xiao Yi rolled across the bed, nearly falling off it as he peeled his eyes open. His first image was the unfamiliar light blue walls to his side, and he almost had a heart attack before he remembered that he’d been pseudo-kidnapped last night.

Li Hao bantered from the living room. “Shit! It’s not my fault this kid doesn’t know how to play the game, did he buy his account?”

Xiao Yi closed his eyes with a slight smile, curling further into the soft blankets.

This room was not as big as his own, the blankets were not as soft of heavy as his own, and the pillows were not as fluffy as his own. In all aspects, he should have had a horrible sleep and he would normally be itching to find an excuse to go home.

However, for some reason, he’d had the best sleep in his life despite not getting a full eight hours.

He lay in bed for a while longer, allowing himself to bask in nostalgia as he listened to the voices outside.

Could he find an excuse to stay with them longer?

The smile faded from his face.

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He couldn’t.

He finally rolled out of bed and headed to the door, prepared for an awkward atmosphere.

When the door opened, he felt like he’d walked into a portal that led him back to the time before they had joined Team X.

Everyone was in silky black pajamas that matched his own, likely a bulk order placed by the management team, wearing different colored slippers.

Mu Yichen was the closest to him, sitting on the couch with a coffee in one hand, his legs crossed with a laptop balancing on his thigh, mindlessly scrolling while the local news was up on the TV.

On the other side, Li Hao was sitting on a loveseat facing the window. From this position, he could only see the back of his head and half of the laptop screen. Xiao Yi could tell that he was in the waiting area for a new match to start on Valley of Light.

Chen Qiang and Tang An were together, standing in the kitchen with their backs turned to each other as they focused on their own tasks. Chen Qiang was manning the stove, the sweet smell of maple-coated bacon waffling through the air. Tang An stood in front of a plate with a stack of pancakes, cutting fruit and throwing the pieces into a bowl next to him to create an impromptu fruit bowl.

A tang of pain pricked Xiao Yi’s being as he observed the group.

Back in the day, he would have been the first one awake, lording over the TV as he watched both their and other teams' game plays over-and-over again with a notebook on his lap. Even before they’d joined the Team, he would be the first to wake up at the Chen house.

Despite Mu Yichen being right next to him and Tang An facing him, Chen Qiang was the first to notice him. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he turned with a blinding smile. “Good morning!”

Xiao Yi blinked two times. “Good morning…”

The three other men turned to him, greeted him, and then went back to what they were doing as Xiao Yi stood in the door frame, unsure what to do.

Should he stay?

Should he leave?

Wasn’t this awkward enough?

Chen Qiang turned back around and waved his spatula. “Sit down, food will be ready in a few minutes. How did you sleep?”

“It was okay. Yours?” Xiao Yi pulled out a stool from the island and sat directly in front of Tang An.

Chen Qiang hummed. “It was alright! Do you have any plans today?”

Plans? Xiao Yi nearly laughed, but he just shook his head. Then, he realized that Chen Qiang couldn’t see him so he muttered. “No.”

Tang An glanced up with a soft smile, one that seemed to calm the soul. “That’s good, we’re kidnapping you for the day.”