Chapter 49 Part 3

Yun Qi grew frantic. “I can’t go out with you right now. The manager needs to talk to me—he’s waiting to sort this out…”

“I’m taking you to sort it out right now.”

Yun Qi blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Yu Jin kept his hands light on the wheel. “You’ll see when we get there.”

Half an hour later, the car pulled into familiar territory. Yun Qi glanced around and realized where they were: SK Base. Yu Jin had brought him here, of all places.

Yun Qi froze by the car door after Yu Jin pushed it open. Yu Jin glanced back. “If you don’t want to go in, wait in the car. I’ll be ten minutes.”

Of course Yun Qi could dodge this. He’d thought he’d never set foot here again, that he’d wipe this chapter of his life from memory. Stepping inside meant facing the people he despised. He didn’t want to go in—but he wanted Yu Jin going alone even less.

Yun Qi shut the car door, gritted his teeth, and strode into the base.

The place was deathly quiet as he entered. Then he watched Yu Jin bend down, snatch a water cup from the table, and smash it against the floor. The crash echoed, and shadows stirred immediately. Li Meng emerged from the Training Room—no one knew what he was doing there, but the timing was perfect. Their eyes met.

Li Meng wore the same stunned expression as Yun Qi, both of them jolted by Yu Jin’s move. Only after stepping out did he spot them. His sullen face twisted into a fawning grin. “Well, if it isn’t… Eidis.”

He twisted his head toward Yun Qi, visibly puzzled.

“Sorry,” Yu Jin said. “I thought the place was empty.”

Empty enough to smash a cup? Li Meng, ever the businessman, read between the lines. Yu Jin wasn’t smashing glass—he was smashing their facade.

He kept his composure, though, beaming. “Just a cup. For E God to honor us with a visit, smash as many as you like.”

Li Meng waved them in. “Have a seat.”

“No need,” Yu Jin said. “I’m here to stir things up. Two sentences, and we’re done.”

“First: Twelve hours. Pull the video.”

“Second: After twelve hours, Boss Xu treats your big boss to dinner.”

The message was clear: Take it down, or the backers make a move. Li Meng got it instantly.

But he looked genuinely baffled. “What video?”

Yu Jin said, “Ask your own people.”

Several figures had emerged from the Training Room by now.

They exchanged uneasy glances, no one sure if they knew what Yu Jin was talking about—except the one responsible.

Lang Xian’s face darkened the instant he spotted Yun Qi. “What’s the matter? Can’t handle it when the same trick comes back at you?”

Li Meng caught sight of Yu Jin’s expression and turned back anxiously. “What did you do?”

Lang Xian admitted it bluntly. “I did to him what others did to me.”

It clicked for Li Meng in an instant.

“Are you insane?” he scolded.

Lang Xian straightened his spine without a hint of hesitation. “I’m not insane. I told him to wait, and letting it out just a few days late was already me showing mercy.”

Yun Qi opened his mouth to speak, but then he saw Yu Jin step forward.

Yu Jin brushed past Li Meng and strode right up to Lang Xian. They’d only crossed paths once before, at Esports Night—this was the second time Yu Jin had gotten a good look at his face. Yu Jin had never been one for violence; he believed it solved nothing. But in that moment, with everyone watching, he swung a fist straight into Lang Xian’s face.

The punch stunned the entire room. Blood poured from Lang Xian’s nose on impact. Li Meng, Xue Yan, and the others rushed in to separate them. Yun Qi hurried forward too, his heart hammering in his chest. He grabbed Yu Jin’s arm and glanced down at his hand, where the veins stood out in stark relief. With a shiver of lingering fear, he looked up at Yu Jin.

“From the moment I signed him, anyone who messes with him messes with me. Didn’t I give you a warning at the Challenge Tournament? If Yi Yang wasn’t enough, I can make a call. Starting today, I can have plenty more people pay some special attention to SK. Sound good?”

Hearing this, Yun Qi finally had a concrete answer to the doubts gnawing at him. It really was all because of him. Yi Yang’s brutal thrashing of SK at the Challenge Tournament had been on Yu Jin’s orders…

Lang Xian struggled to his feet with help, glaring at Yu Jin with pure hatred, shaking from head to toe with rage. “I knew it! He suddenly outs me like that and insists on leaving—he must’ve lined up a new team already. Spill it, Yun Qi. When did you hook up with this guy? What’d you use to reel him in, that pretty face of yours…?”

“Shut your mouth!” Li Meng stepped in front of him, blocking any line of sight between Yu Jin and Lang Xian. “I had no idea about this. I’ll sort it out right away and give Liang Xun a proper explanation. You have my word.”

Yun Qi frowned. Why was Li Meng being so accommodating? Who was Liang Xun to him? What connection did Lao Xun have with any of this? Li Meng, who always lorded over them like he was untouchable, was acting downright deferential today.

Yu Jin’s gaze pierced through Li Meng to land on Lang Xian behind him. “Don’t take today’s little drama to heart. SK and KRO aren’t enemies—not yet. But if that’s the relationship you want, I won’t stand in the way. I won’t be retiring for another three years. I can make damn sure your team gets all the care it needs.”

“That was just talk in the heat of the moment,” Li Meng said, steadying Yu Jin by the arm. “E God, we’re not your rivals. SK has no intention of challenging KRO. The team’s still growing, and any bumps in the road can be smoothed over quick. No sense turning rivals into enemies, right?”

With pointed meaning, Li Meng turned to Yun Qi. “Qiluo, talk some sense into your captain. Don’t let him act on impulse. If the old team and new team start feuding, you’ll be caught right in the crossfire. And no matter what, SK still has people there you care about.”

Yun Qi got the message loud and clear. He’d never imagined Yu Jin would throw a punch at Lang Xian—or that it would defuse the situation so neatly. He understood Li Meng’s intent perfectly. With things settled, there was no reason for Yu Jin to stick around. He gave Yu Jin a nudge and murmured, “Let’s go.”

Yu Jin didn’t budge.

Yun Qi glanced back at Li Meng. He didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to Xue Yan before he tugged at Yu Jin’s arm, pleading, “Please, Captain Yu. Let’s just go.”

Yu Jin fixed Lang Xian with a cold, unyielding stare. He clearly had no intention of letting it drop.

Yun Qi did have his share of bad memories at SK, and he felt no real attachment to the place anymore. But Li Meng had hit on a truth: being stuck in the middle made everything messy. Going too hard on his old team would just paint him as a backstabber, someone who’d burned bridges the second he crossed the river. The smart play was distance—no drama, no clashes, no ties. Without Lang Xian stirring up trouble, Yun Qi never would’ve set foot here again.

Maybe picking up on the undercurrent between Yu Jin and Yun Qi, Lang Xian waited until they were almost out the door to twist the knife. “Your new captain’s awfully protective. Did that face of yours pull one over on him? You tell him about Zhang Zan yet?”

Yun Qi froze mid-step.

His grip on Yu Jin’s wrist tightened without thinking.

Then he yanked Yu Jin along and hurried out of the SK Base.

Back in the car, Yun Qi pretended like nothing was wrong. But Yu Jin had noticed the shift in him the moment that name came up. He didn’t press it right away, though—just drove them back.

When they arrived at their own base, Lao Xun came over to check in. Yu Jin brushed it off as handled and told him to keep an eye on the online chatter; the other side would pull back soon. He reminded him to manage the narrative.

“I’ve got it covered,” Lao Xun assured Yun Qi. “Don’t worry—rumors without legs don’t go far. I’ve already looped in the Gateway Department.”

Yun Qi nodded. “Thanks.”

Lao Xun smiled. “Thanks for what? Damage to your reputation isn’t good for the team. We definitely won’t let this slide.”

Yun Qi forced a smile. “…Okay.”

He didn’t go back to the training room with Yu Jin.

Instead, Yu Jin took him back to his room.

Yun Qi pried open Yu Jin’s palm to check it. Fortunately, the wound hadn’t torn open. The knot of worry in his chest loosened, but as he recalled that punch, a shiver of lingering fear ran through him. “You’ve gotten… a lot more hot-tempered lately.”

He cradled Yu Jin’s hand, lowering his head to gaze at the scabbed scar.

“You should say I’ve reined myself in a lot,” Yu Jin replied, his eyes lingering on Yun Qi’s eyelashes. “I know you don’t like violence. In front of you, I’m just putting on a show. Back in high school, I was a real troublemaker—worse than this.”

Yun Qi gave a helpless smile. “Then maybe I never really knew you.”

He was clearly distracted, and Yu Jin knew something was weighing on him. He’d held back from asking the whole way there, but now he did. “Who is Zhang Zan?”

Yun Qi had known the question was coming sooner or later. Lang Xian had gone for the kill, not forgetting to twist the knife one last time before leaving—probably hoping to expose Yun Qi’s “true colors” to Yu Jin, paint him as some kind of flirt, and drive a wedge between them.

What Lang Xian didn’t know was that he and Yu Jin had met long before the rumors ever started.

“My former coach,” Yun Qi said, not hiding it.

Yu Jin didn’t press, simply waiting for him to continue on his own.

Yun Qi drew in a deep breath. “He… did some things to me. Just like Lang Xian.”

He fell silent after that.

But Yu Jin knew it had to be worse than what Lang Xian had done.

“Did he assault you?”

Yun Qi gritted his teeth. “He didn’t succeed, but…”

He couldn’t force the words out.

Yu Jin nodded. “No need to say it. It’s not important.”

Yun Qi looked up at him.

Yu Jin raised his hand, pressing the back of it gently against Yun Qi’s cheek. The gesture felt utterly natural, his expression brimming with tenderness, but a fierce intensity burned in the depths of his eyes as he met Yun Qi’s gaze. “These people won’t ever show up in front of you again. So it’s not important.”

Yun Qi found himself utterly transfixed by Yu Jin’s stare. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, not even for a second.

He yielded completely to Yu Jin’s measured restraint and gentleness. Recalling what he’d just overheard, eagerness flooded his heart as he pressed, “Yi Yang… you really sent him to trash SK?”

“Who else?”

“Why?”

“Why?” Yu Jin’s expression darkened. He eyed Yun Qi’s expectant gaze, his voice turning cold and resolute. “Because I’m petty. I can’t stand someone coming out of nowhere and stealing the spotlight. That reason enough for you?”