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[Troubling Rain]: hi hanwen!!! be in your room at 9 tonight ok?
Resting his head upon the desk in his new room, Lu Hanwen frowned at the last message that Huang Shaotian had sent him. His thumb idly swiped at his phone screen, but no, it was really just that one message. Even if he still didn’t know the vice-captain that well on a personal level or anything, he still knew him enough to wonder at how unnaturally short, for him, this message was. Why was he being so cryptic?
The vice-captain. His vice-captain, now. Well, Lu Hanwen had been in the training camp for a while now, and Huang Shaotian had always been the vice-captain, but the relationship was different when he was only a trainee. Trainees didn’t usually have much chance to interact with the main roster. It was like, the pros were distant symbols of what lay in their future if they worked hard enough, rather than real individuals. But now that Lu Hanwen had finally become a full pro player for Team Blue Rain, he would be directly answering to his captain, his vice-captain, and just the thought of it all made his fingertips itch with anticipation.
Lu Hanwen’s thoughts were really all over the place tonight, but he made no effort to set them in order. Instead, his eyes flicked to the time on his screen. 9:08, huh. Was… something supposed to happen at 9, or…
Right on cue, there was a tapping at his door, a jaunty little rhythm. The sound startled Lu Hanwen up from his desk, and he walked over to pull open the door.
“Yo!” It was Li Yuan, the team’s Summoner. Lu Hanwen knew of him because he was one of the youngest on the team, having only debuted the prior season. Even so, his expression was relaxed and open as he greeted the new rookie. “You ready? Let’s go.”
“Where?” But even as he asked, he was already changing into his shoes.
“Just down the hall to the lounge.”
Lu Hanwen, naturally, was brimming with questions, but it was only a short walk, so he didn’t ask anything more.
“How’re you doing?” It was instead Li Yuan who posed a question, just to make small talk. “You just had the meeting with management the other day, right?”
Lu Hanwen nodded. “I’m still feeling that rush,” he said, a bounce in his step despite himself.
“Nervous at all? I remember I definitely was,” Li Yuan said with a laugh.
Lu Hanwen considered for a moment. “No,” he said, honestly. “Just excited.”
A chorus of voices greeted them as they walked into the lounge area. Lu Hanwen was surprised to find what looked like all of the Blue Rain pro players gathered here, about a dozen people crowded into the room, most sitting around on the various couches that surrounded a low center table.
“Great, everyone’s here! We can get started.” Huang Shaotian’s voice rose above the rest, naturally. He casually flipped over the back of his couch and bounded over to clap Lu Hanwen on the shoulder.
“So what is this, exactly?” asked Lu Hanwen, as Huang Shaotian invited him to sit on the longest couch, and the person there scooted over to make room for him.
“Pre-season, noob-welcome party!” said Huang Shaotian, sweeping his hand grandly. “Blue Rain is all about work hard, play hard. Well, I guess for us it’s all play, technically. But anyway, we take our team-bonding traditions very seriously. It’s why Blue Rain is the best team!”
Lu Hanwen scanned the room, and found that the captain was present as well, implicit endorsement of this event. Yu Wenzhou looked to be in conversation with a half-slouched Zheng Xuan, but he caught Lu Hanwen’s eye and smiled kindly.
That was interesting, Lu Hanwen thought, that despite being here, the captain seemed to be taking somewhat of a backseat to all this. Then again, for a social event like this, it probably made more sense to leave it to other team members to organize, rather than try to impose something from above. More comfortable without the pressure of hierarchy.
“Drinks for y’all while I get stuff ready in the kitchen,” someone announced - Song Xiao, Blue Rain’s “clutch player.” From beneath the table, he lifted a large cardboard box in his arms, plopping it on the table with a thunk that shook the surface.
“Drinks…?” Lu Hanwen said.
Song Xiao waved his hand. “No alcohol for you, don’t worry. Or for any of us, really,” he added.
“Yeah, sober Huang Shao is enough for us to deal with.”
“Hey! I resent that!”
Song Xiao’s eyes were glimmering with mirth. “Speaking of our esteemed vice-captain…” He reached into the box, and then tossed a plastic bottle at Huang Shaotian.
Huang Shaotian caught it on instinct, but when he looked at the label, his face suddenly twisted in disgust.
“What the fuck!” he sputtered. “What is this! Where’d this come from! Why couldn’t you get something normal! Literally anything else!”
“Hey, this was free leftover from your sponsorship,” said Song Xiao, as he lifted an identical bottle from the box - seemed like it was full of them. Lu Hanwen finally got a proper look, and saw Huang Shaotian’s large face grinning broadly from the label as he posed with a bottle. It looked like some kind of pear juice?
“Can’t let it go to waste, this is called being economical,” Song Xiao said, sliding a few more bottles around the table. “Thanks for your charming looks.” This earned laughter from the rest of the team.
Personally, Lu Hanwen thought it’d be pretty cool to get your face on a drink. Even if your appearance got a little distorted because of the curvature of the bottle.
“Oh, fuck off,” Huang Shaotian grumbled at the teasing, but he still twisted the bottle open with a crack and brought it to his lips. “At least it tastes good. I’m not about to let them use my name for some shitty drink here.”
“Of course you like the sugar water,” muttered Zheng Xuan. He pointedly passed along the bottle he was offered.
“Anyway,” Song Xiao heaved the remainder of the box back under the table, “enjoy, I’ll be back in a sec, have fun!” He waved and then disappeared into the tiny snack kitchen that was connected into the lounge.
Easily reclaiming the role of host, Huang Shaotian spoke fast enough to stave off any questions. “While we’re waiting, might as well do a round of introductions, hm? Hanwen, you probably haven’t met everyone yet, right? Not to single you out or anything.”
Lu Hanwen just smiled and shook his head. Actually, it didn’t even occur to him to feel awkward at the sudden attention, but he did appreciate the consideration.
Huang Shaotian perched himself on a couch armrest and tilted his head in thought. “And besides, there’s always more that we can learn about each other! Let’s say, just say your name, account, class, debut year, and…” A grin crept on his face. “One thing that you don’t want your parents to know about you! Ah-Xuan, how about you go first!”
Zheng Xuan gave him a sort of “why me” look, but obliged without complaint aside from a heavy sigh. Lu Hanwen guessed that he decided it wouldn’t be worth arguing with the vice-captain, not when he got that look in his eye.
“Zheng Xuan, Bullet Rain, Sharpshooter, S4, and…” He rattled off the easy answers, but took a moment longer to think before the last question - which was fair, considering he’d been forced to go first. Watching him, Lu Hanwen got the impression that he did have an answer on the tip of his tongue, but was searching for something else instead.
“My parents would be upset if they knew just how much school and extra classes I slept through,” he finally said. “I was probably conscious for less than thirty percent of it. What a pain, glad that’s behind me.”
“The school never called in your parents?”
“I was good at going unnoticed,” Zheng Xuan shrugged. “And my grades were fine enough that they didn’t question me.”
“Wow, flex,” someone laughed.
Zheng Xuan grumbled something inaudible, but the person sitting next to him rescued him from further attention by going next. And so, the introductions continued around the circle, with the various players sharing anecdotes that covered a range of moods.
Even Yu Wenzhou introduced himself, even if it was almost laughably redundant for him to do so. His smile was still reassuringly calm, but his tone was serious as he spoke.
“You all know my weakness. My early years in the pro scene were difficult, on many levels, and this was never something I could talk to my parents about, because I knew they were hoping that I’d quit and return to a traditional career path. So, I never told them how bad it got, even when it did get very bad.”
Lu Hanwen glanced at Huang Shaotian, whose face was set in some complex mix of emotions.
“I’m very happy for where I am now, of course,” Yu Wenzhou continued. “But I hope no one else ever feels that they have to struggle alone, and I want to re-emphasize that you can always speak with myself, Shaotian, or the Club’s support staff.” Huang Shaotian nodded in silent agreement.
Despite the serious tone, there was something about Yu Wenzhou’s warmth that kept the atmosphere from sinking, and the next player picked up with ease. Throughout all of this, Lu Hanwen had to spend a good deal of the time thinking, because he didn’t lead a particularly exciting or dangerous life, and he felt very lucky to have supportive parents with whom he could share most anything. But when it was finally time for him to open his mouth, the memory suddenly floated to the surface.
“My mom bought a new sweater one time, but she only wore it once before giving it away because she had an allergic reaction to it,” he said. “But the real reason was because I was secretly taking care of a stray cat at the time, and she’s allergic to cat hair.” As the others laughed, he scratched his head. “I still feel a little bad about that sweater, it was really nice.”
“There’s a cat that lives near the club, too,” Yu Wenzhou said, and Lu Hanwen perked up at that. “Maybe you’ll see her around.”
Huang Shaotian was last, and when they finally circled back around to him, he enthusiastically launched into a long-winded story about visiting a foreign city and almost getting mugged. Lu Hanwen had no idea if any of it was actually true, but it was entertaining enough watching him recount the story, complete with animated gestures and expressions.
“Hey Song Xiao, what’s your name!” someone suddenly called out. The person in question had emerged from the side kitchen, holding a large pot between his two hands.
“Yeah, that’s me, what?” At someone’s prompting, Song Xiao introduced himself as the others had. To the last question, he said easily, “The truth is that I feel more at home here than I do at home with my parents.”
The players laughed, though there was an equal sound of “aww,” and someone heckled a “we love you too!”
“Whatcha got there?” someone else asked.
As an answer, Song Xiao set the pot down on the rubber mat at the center of the table, and everyone craned their necks to take a look. From the reactions, it seemed that the team hadn’t been told beforehand.
“Hell yeah, spicy noodle challenge!” Huang Shaotian cackled at the expressions on everyone’s faces, which ranged from glee to horror. Even though he was sitting some distance away, Lu Hanwen could smell the sharp tang of the spice.
In the silver pot, the noodles shone a glaring red. He’d never tasted them for himself, though he’d certainly heard of this trend before. Lu Hanwen would rate his own spice tolerance at a solid average. But, of course, the prospect of a challenge was nothing but exciting.
“It’s all good, we’re prepared,” said Song Xiao, in response to some of the more apprehensive players. “There’s milk in the kitchen fridge, since you’re not supposed to drink water for spiciness. And we also have,” he whipped something out from his jacket pocket, “a giant mantou for Jingxi, and anyone else who can’t drink milk.”
Song Xiao waved the bag, the flimsy plastic crinkling through the air as the huge steamed bun inside swung around, before unceremoniously tossing it into Jingxi’s lap.
“What!” Xu Jingxi immediately protested. To Lu Hanwen, he had seemed like a relatively calm person up to this point, but apparently this was a sore spot for him. “What do you mean, I can so drink milk! Give it to me.”
“No you can’t.”
“Yes I can!”
“Xu Jingxi is banned from drinking milk because we said so,” Huang Shaotian explained cheerfully. “Hanwen, you make sure to have some, though, you’re still small and we need to get your height up, you know? At least one cup a day, milk is very healthy and very good for you!”
Lu Hanwen didn’t argue, because he did like milk and this wasn’t the first time Huang Shaotian had said something similar. “Just you wait, I’ll grow up to be even taller than you!” he said, with a bold flair.
“Is that a very high bar, though?” Yu Wenzhou commented mildly, earning more laughter.
“By the way, Shaotian, why are we using cups for this?” he added, as he watched Huang Shaotian and Song Xiao begin to fill paper cups with noodles from the pot. “Didn’t I tell you we had bowls in the supply closet?”
“This was all we had!” said Huang Shaotian, pouting a little as he passed noodle-filled cups down the table, along with disposable chopsticks. “I went earlier and took a look around and searched the shelf where you said it’d be, pushed around and opened up all the boxes, but this was all I could find.”
Yu Wenzhou was still smiling calmly as he raised an eyebrow. “So if I went to the closet right now and checked the top shelf on the right side, like I told you, you’re telling me that I would find it empty?”
Huang Shaotian noticeably froze for half a second, but he swiftly plastered a bright smile on his face. “Ah, no need to do that! That was definitely the shelf I checked earlier because I definitely heard you correctly. And this is better anyway!” he said. “Adds to the experience.”
When everyone had gotten a noodle cup, Huang Shaotian lifted his to the air. “Cheers everyone, on the count of three!”
And they all took their first bite together.
Mmm. It was actually pretty good, Lu Hanwen thought, soft, and the flavor was deliciously savory. He could taste the spice, but it was surprisingly not that bad, not as bad as he was expecting, not as bad as the red color seemed to warn. It wasn’t even the most spicy thing he’d had in recent memory.
He lifted another chopstick-ful to his mouth before his thoughts stuttered to a halt. The noodles slipped from his chopsticks.
Oh.
So this was why these noodles were so infamous.
“You fuckin’ killed Little Lu,” mumbled Zheng Xuan, who was keeping an eye on him over the rim of his cup even as he sank down against the back of the couch.
“I did not!” Huang Shaotian objected, peering at Lu Hanwen’s face, before coughing. “Fuck what did they put in this, this tastes nothing like regular spicy what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck…”
“He… did not,” added Lu Hanwen helpfully, and it probably would have been more convincing if not for how the words sounded a bit strangled coming out of his mouth. Damn, where’d they say the milk was?
Xu Jingxi, a similar expression of suffering on his face, helpfully passed him a chunk of mantou.
The thing was, the noodles legitimately tasted really good, especially for the first five seconds before the spice kicked in. After that, his mouth was on fire. He understood that this was a common metaphor when it came to spicy foods, but that was really the only way he could describe this particular flavor of spiciness. Within his whole body, he felt like there was a new flame burning.
But never one to back down, Lu Hanwen gulped the rest of the fire noodles into his mouth. With tears overflowing from his eyes, he sniffled and gave them a big grin and a thumbs up. “Thank you, seniors!”
His enthusiasm was answered with smiles, genuine smiles of warmth and happiness and welcoming, even as the others dealt with the pain to varying degrees of success. And Huang Shaotian reached over and ruffled his hair - for the first time, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
“Welcome to Blue Rain, kid.”