New Beginning and Future

Chapter 59: Rest and Rules

Summary: With exhaustion finally forcing the strongest players to pause, rest becomes its own kind of strategy, one fiercely enforced by love, loyalty, and more than one overprotective relative. As new travel plans unfold and old alliances stir to life, the road to Shanghai promises more than just competition, it promises family, chaos, and the kind of unity that no opponent can prepare for.

Overprotective: ZGDX
Overprotective/Possessive/territorial: Chessman
Chessman is literally his own warning when it concerns his girl

Notes:

⚠️ Author's Note: Pampering and domestic feelings all around!

Disclaimer: The Muse would like to remind everyone we do not own FIYS nor the beloved characters nor any dialogue from either the show nor the book...the Muse is very sad and not pleased with this continued reminder that they do not own them and never will!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Fifty-Nine

By the end of lock down training, exhaustion had set in deep. Even Sicheng, who could run on discipline alone for days, was feeling it. But it was Yao who caught his attention most. She had been quieter in scrims, slower to rise in the mornings, her normally sharp voice softened by fatigue. She still smiled when anyone looked her way, still pushed herself through every round, but he saw the strain, the faint tremor in her hands, the dullness creeping into her usually bright eyes. When Wei stopped by that morning and gently insisted on taking Yao to the doctor, he hadn't argued. He only watched her go, arms crossed, brow furrowed, pretending to review strategy notes while actually counting every minute until she returned.

It was evening when the door finally opened again. He found her in their room, lying on her stomach, curled slightly around a heating pad pressed against her abdomen. Her hair was loose, her face half-hidden in the pillow, her body limp with that unmistakable kind of exhaustion that no amount of sleep could fix. He moved instantly, crossing the room in three long strides. "Kitten?"

She groaned without looking up. "I'm alive."

He sat on the edge of the bed, one hand resting carefully between her shoulder blades. "You've been dragging for days. What did the doctor say?"

Yao let out another sigh, muffled by the pillow. "Relax. It's nothing serious. I just had to get my shot early."

His frown deepened. "What shot?"

She lifted her head enough to glance at him. "The one I get every few months, remember to top the curse? Since we'll be in Shanghai for the Championship by the time I'm due for it, my gyno said it was safe to take it early."

He stared at her for a second, processing, the knot in his chest easing slightly. "That's all?"

"That's all," she said, dropping her head back down with a small groan. "I'm fine, just sore. Now, unless the world's ending, let me die in peace for an hour."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "You're not dying."

"Feels like it," she muttered.

He leaned down, pressed a soft kiss to her temple, and murmured, "You're getting three days off."

Her voice was half a groan, half a laugh. "You can't ground the entire team because I'm tired."

"Watch me."

She turned her head just enough to give him a look, half disbelief, half affection. "You're impossible."

"Completely aware," he said quietly, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. "Rest." Leaving the room, he closed the door behind him and strode down the hall, jaw tight, eyes already sharp. The sound of keyboards and voices drifted from the lounge, where the team was halfway through their evening scrim. He didn't bother with preamble. "Training's canceled for the next three days."