Frost [BL]

Chapter 14

Xiao Qiu sat with one leg up on the couch, his arms wrapped around it as he sat forward. He wasn't paying attention to the live broadcast or his viewers, instead, he paid attention to his little brother on the camera preview.

He wasn't going back to sleep?

He wasn't leaving?

Why?

He riddled his brain for the answer but he couldn't come up with anything, let alone find anything on his brother's expressionless face.

Should he just end the stream? Obviously, Solar won and there wasn't anything else he could commentate on. His viewers could just switch to the official broadcast...

He couldn't at this point. If he ended his stream now his Weibo would be bombarded with fans asking if he had beef with Solar, and his team might get into heat because of him.

Ah, he shouldn't have chosen today to stream.

In fact, he had beef with the previous members of Team X, not Solar! Alas, he couldn't vocalize this or it'd be worse.

What's wrong with having private beef with other teams? Why did they have to go around passing the championship trophy to each other like a hot potato?

Xiao Qiu had two points of private beef with his old friends.

Firstly, they abandoned him!

He had nothing to do with Xiao Yi's 'betrayal' but they completely disregarded their years of friendship and cut off contact with him, blocking him on all platforms the moment they left the company.

They didn't even dare to explain the reason or say goodbye!

Of course, Xiao Qiu knew the reason was that his little brother was being cut off by them, but isn't it just too ridiculous? He had a separate friendship with those assholes, he could have been neutral.

They met because they followed Xiao Yi to the hospital where he was receiving cancer treatment but afterward, they talked and hung out on their own through the game, and phone, and when he went back to school they were even in the same classes.

He even handed his cute little brother over to Chen Qiang when he found his parents neglecting him.

The other reason...

Xiao Yi and V were blissfully unaware of the fact that Xiao Qiu heard everything in the hospital that day.

He couldn't find Xiao Yi's doctor after he led V to the room, so he just went back and leaned on the wall outside the cracked open door to see if she'd come to him herself.

Perhaps he could have been neutral before hearing everything, but he certainly couldn't have been afterward. Those idiots were the reason his little brother was receiving death threats, being turned away from old friends, and laying half-dead on a hospital bed - how could he not have beef with them?

Don't even get him started on his parents. He saw red every time he thought of that couple.

Hei Lu continued rambling on, going over the best moments of the season and mentioning facts such as 'These teams are retiring, but their legendary plays will forever remain...' and 'We've seen a lot of new teams this year, here's to hoping they prosper...'.

Neither brother was present in the moment, but the switch of the camera panning to the side of the stage brought them back to earth.

"Introducing this year's champions, Solar!"

Five men in matching black uniforms with yellow outlines made their way on stage amidst the blaring cheers of the audience.

It was quite a sight, four frail men with varying levels of joy on their faces followed after Mu Yichen's athlete-like figure as if they were little ducklings following their mother. Mu Yichen was the one who looked out of place in this lineup.

Xiao Yi's eyes flickered as he glanced at his old friend for the first time in years. He seemed to have grown taller and his hair was no longer the short black hair it'd been when he last saw him, instead styled like he'd just returned from military service.

The screen switched and showed a team with black uniforms and white lettering approaching the middle of the stage from the opposite side. Xue looked like he was just taking a stroll in his neighborhood with a lazy expression gracing his face, but the rest of the FFS teammates looked as if they'd just lost the war.

Both teams met in the middle and greeted each other with words left to the imagination of the audience, likely along the lines of 'good game', 'congrats', and 'thank you for the game', while FFS walked down the line shaking hands with each member of Solar.

Then, FFS left the stage and went behind the stage to do their interviews with the program that would be uploaded after being edited later on, while Solar turned toward the trophy and walked towards it, and Hei Lu who stood next to the towering silver trophy with a beaming smile.

Seeing the men approaching the trophy he stood back and motioned for them to grab it while commentating. "Congratulations on becoming this year's champions!"

The five men nodded to be polite before turning to the trophy and placing their hands around the five handles and lifting it while the crowd in the arena, and at home, went wild. Then, they took turns lifting it one by one before placing it back on the stand.

Mu Yichen lifted the trophy last and held it up triumphantly toward the camera, and then the audience in the stadium before he brought it to his lips and kissed it with a sparkling face.

Xiao Yi's eyebrow twitched as he thought.

'Why does it seem like that was provocative?'

'Gross, do you know how many hands have touched that?'

Solar basked in the glory in front of the audience for a few more moments before turning to Hei Lu.

Hei Lu was prepared with questions, leaving the captain of the team for last as was standard for these playoffs. Otherwise, the audience may leave before hearing what the other players have to say as captains are usually the most popular on their team.

When he finally got to Mu Yichen, he reached his arms out for a hug and said. "Welcome back to China!"

Mu Yichen leaned in for a hug with a large smile on his face and his voice could be heard faintly through the mic held behind his back. "Thanks."

The two men straightened out and Hei Lu passed the second mic to Mu Yichen and asked the questions that had been prepared by the program.

"Congratulations on winning today's game and bringing home the trophy once more. The question on everyone's mind is... Why did you choose Solar?"

"I just wanted to come back to China and Solar was looking for a captain and a coach."

"How does it feel to win the championship?"

"Not much different than the first time, though this trophy... Isn't it larger?"

"We use the same mold, are you getting rusty?"

"I haven't seen our old trophy for a few years..."

"Is there anything else you'd like to say today?"

Usually, it would be a thank you to the fans or family, but Mu Yichen just looked at the camera and tilted his head with a small smirk.

"My kid went missing a few years ago... Can someone find Frost for me? He usually wears a mask, has blue eyes, and is quite cold like his name. Thank you."

Xiao Yi, the kid: ... What the hell?

A/N: Check Patreon for a little update, plans for the upcoming years, and project previews.