The Game starts
1058 Words
When Oscar finally broke his lies....
Oscar's expression softened into something like pity. "How could I not know when you were being so obvious?"
A broken laugh escaped Yetao's lips before dissolving into fresh tears. His secret—the one he'd guarded so carefully, convinced himself was well-hidden—had been transparent all along.
"If you knew, then why did you act like you didn't know?" he asked, each word a struggle to form.
Oscar sighed, looking suddenly exhausted. "I couldn't reject you, Taotao. I wanted us to be friends, but you kept being into me so much that even the fans started to notice. It was the wisest decision I made for both of us."
"Wisest decision?" Incredulity colored Yetao's voice. "Now what's this bullshit you're spouting? You should've been direct with me from the start."
His voice rose with each word, years of pent-up emotion finally breaking free. "You think it was easy for me to like a MAN for so long? It felt like you were giving me hope each and every day that you might start loving me someday. But I kept myself in check so many times, telling myself I shouldn't cross the line. Do you know how much that hurts?"
Tears flowed freely now, his voice breaking as he continued. "Now that I know you knew all along, I feel like I might vanish into ashes. You know what? It would've been better if you had actually rejected me!"
With that final accusation hanging in the air, Yetao turned and fled toward the door, nearly colliding with Lucas. Their eyes met for a brief, terrible moment—Lucas's wide with shock, Yetao's red with tears—before Yetao pushed past him and raced down the stairs.
Oscar made to follow, only to find Lucas blocking his path.
"I believe you shouldn't meet him now, Oscar," Lucas said quietly, but with an undercurrent of steel that made the older man step back.
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.
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Yetao fled the training center, ignoring calls from other trainees. He returned to the dorm and collapsed onto his bed, emotions overwhelming him. He cried until his throat was raw and his eyes burned, finally falling into an exhausted sleep as afternoon faded into evening.
When Lucas returned, he found Yetao curled on his side, face still puffy from crying. He sat on the edge of the bed, studying his friend's tear-stained face in the dim light.
"I can understand your pain, Yetao," he murmured softly, fingers gently brushing through Yetao's hair.
A conflicted expression crossed his face as he whispered, "If only I could reveal how I feel about you... would you hate me?"
But Yetao slept on, oblivious to the world and the confession hovering unheard in the air between them.
After watching over him for a while longer, Lucas quietly prepared dinner and left a note before heading out for evening practice.
.
.
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Five hours later, Yetao stirred, his body stiff and his head pounding. His stomach growled, reminding him that he'd missed dinner. Beside his bed, he found a note in Lucas's neat handwriting:
"I kept dinner in the fridge. Heat it up and eat before you sleep again."
Reality came crashing back—Oscar, the confrontation, Lucas witnessing everything.
"Ahhhhh... how embarrassing!" Yetao groaned, kicking at his sheets and burrowing deeper into his blankets. Shame washed over him in waves as he recalled Lucas standing there, hearing every word of his humiliating confession.
After several minutes of mortified squirming, hunger finally drove him from the bed.
"He takes care of me all the time. Even now..." Yetao mumbled as he shuffled toward the kitchen. "Of course it's going to be awkward to face him tomorrow. All he knew was that I fought with Oscar because fans ship us, but now that he knows I really had a crush on him, will he hate me?"
Upon opening the refrigerator, Yetao was surprised to find not only his dinner but also a small pink box. His favorite strawberry cake sat beside the covered plate.
"He even bought me cake? What's the occasion?" Yetao blinked in confusion, carefully removing the box and opening it. Inside, nestled atop the pristine whipped cream, was another note:
"Don't think too much about how to face me tomorrow. I'll act like I know nothing if you want. But always remember that I'll be by your side."
Fresh tears—different from those he'd shed earlier—pricked at Yetao's eyes.
"Who does he think he is?" he sniffled, trying and failing to maintain his composure. "Why care so much about me? Should I just call you Mommy? You dream."
He dug into the cake, each sweet bite lifting his spirits a little more. By the time he finished, a semblance of calm had returned.
"Should I play something to elevate my mood further?" he wondered aloud, reaching for his tablet.
A notification immediately caught his attention:
Update complete.
"Huh? It's been 24 hours?" He tried to swipe the notification away, but it remained stubbornly on screen. "This game got my precious tablet hanged?"
He tapped at the screen in frustration. "Isn't today a black day in my calendar? Anyway, I'll see what's so great about you to make my tablet go into shock."
With one final, decisive tap, the game launched.
"Welcome to the Immortal Realm. Your setting in the world is complete. Preparing the Immortal Realm..."
The loading bar inched forward maddeningly slowly.
"I'll just see what's so great about this stupid game," Yetao muttered, determined to at least satisfy his curiosity after all the drama of the day.
The screen suddenly changed, displaying text in blood-red characters:
"Remember that only one ending is possible." "Mission: Acquire the demon's heart." "Time remaining: 90 days." "Penalty: Death."
Yetao scoffed. "OMG, so scary. What's with this childish setting?"
His laughter died in his throat as the tablet's screen began to glow with unnatural brightness. The light intensified, becoming almost blinding as it seemed to expand beyond the confines of the screen.
"What the—" Yetao began, but his words were cut short as the light enveloped him, pulling him inexorably toward the screen.
In a flash of brilliant white, Hu Yetao disappeared, leaving behind only his tablet, its screen now dark and silent, in an empty room.
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- Writer
