Xiao Qiu hung up and leaned against the staircase briefly, staring at the wall across from him with distant eyes.

On the staircase, right below him, there was a tall young man with short black hair who had stopped walking when he heard Xiao Qiu's voice. He heard everything and felt it was rude to come up now. He stood in a shadow, held a take-out container in one hand and a coffee in the other, and looked up meaningfully with deep brown eyes.

He was wearing a black sweater and sweatpants. He had also just gotten back to China after participating in a few talk shows abroad to promote his team whose logo was neatly printed on the left of his chest - EDGE. He couldn't sleep, unlike the rest of his team, and ventured out to get food and heard secrets that he really didn't need to hear.

Xiao Qiu returned to his apartment after he calmed down. However, he didn't see the other person in the stairwell who walked up and quietly entered his apartment after hearing the door shut.

The two siblings had a long, stressful night after deciding to move out temporarily.

Xiao Yi sat next to his brother on the larger couch in the living room, his laptop on his lap with his back leaning against the arm and his feet across Xiao Qiu’s lap.

He had been trying to keep his mind off the past for the previous day, but it was hard to push them away as if they’d met nothing, especially as Xiao Qiu was silently scrolling through Weibo on the phone and wasn’t chatty.

Seeing Mu Yichen shining on the stage so brightly reminded him of the good times he’d spent growing up with the four boys. Nostalgia reigned over his mind as he found himself pulled back and forth.

The time he met each of his friends, growing up together, moving in with Chen Qiang’s family, being reached out to by the company behind Team X, and the painful separation.

He wasn’t sure what his feelings toward the group were anymore, but he knew that he didn’t want to see them again. Moreover, he didn’t want to explain that they’d been wrong in hating him all these years… He didn’t want them to know his sacrifices or regrets.

Let them hate him with all their might, let them shine on stage once more without him. That was his original goal.

Xiao Qiu broke his gaze away from his phone and wearily smiled at Xiao Yi, who was also scrolling on Weibo on his computer. “No one’s connected the dots between you, Frost, and Sleeping God.”

Xiao Yi blinked and broke away from his thoughts, meeting Xiao Qiu’s concerned eyes while nodding. He’d noticed it as well.

“You always wore a mask to the games so I think you’re fine. Plus, you’ve grown up a lot since then, and even your hairstyle’s changed.”

Xiao Yi nodded once again. He’d be fine anyway, Frost was never known as a boy who slept all the time. Back then he was an insomniac who would stay up half the night working on game notes or playing Valley of Light.

If someone really did put the dots together they should be given a trophy!

Xiao Qiu was about to get up to go to sleep when he suddenly froze while staring at his phone. “Those idiots… They bought a hot spot, you’re trending!”

Xiao Yi blinked with a thought. ‘That’s a touch overkill. I’m not missing.’

He looked down at his computer and scrolled through the trending page and saw posts from all the top players in China including some directly from companies.

‘Why can’t they keep my name out of their mouth?’ He could already feel a headache coming on.

His fingers swiftly danced around the keyboard and for the first time in four years, Team X’s previous captain Frost logged on to his discarded Weibo.

‘Will this be enough to drive it into their brains?’

Xiao Yi typed up a post, glanced over it for a few seconds, and contently smirked as he posted it.

[@X-Frost]: “I’m retired and I will stay retired. Stop bothering me.”

He swiftly logged out of the account and logged back into his alt account that he’d been using to browse and closed his laptop.

“Going to pack."

I ended up creating a website while I was still sick if you're interested. Finally back on schedule!

https://wanderingphoenixx.wordpress.com/