To Be Needed or Not to Be Needed

Chapter 2

Shi Guang and "his entourage" arrived at their hotel room at exactly 9:36 pm. Yu Liang was sure of that fact because he never stops checking his watch constantly, wondering about Shi Guang, since the briefing for the Hokuto Cup Tournament ended up until now.

It only took a moment for Yu Liang to notice that there was something different from his Go partner. He is wearing a different T-Shirt than the one he wore this morning under his yellow jacket. Shi Guang at the moment was wearing a white T-Shirt adorned with the words 'I Love Go', the exact same one that was worn by Soo-Yeon and Miss Kim. Well, looks like everyone changed styles today.

"Yu Lia~ng!" Shi Guang practically shouted his name as he placed a pile of shopping bags on the table. "Today was really fun, especially because I, Shi Guang, once again beat Soo-Yeon at Go! Hehehehe..."

The room that had been quiet was immediately filled with Shi Huang's distinctive laughter. Soo-Yeon tilted his head at Miss Kim and whispered something to her, to which she replied immediately.

"You only won by one point!" screamed Soo-Yeon as he raised his index finger towards Shi Guang.

"A win is a win." A level 10 arrogant smile graced Shi Guang's face, who was laughing happily yet again.

Yu Liang knew that Shi Guang wouldn't suddenly understand Korean just because he spent a day with two Korean, but he couldn't help but feel a little impressed that Shi Guang was able to correctly guess Soo-Yeon's response to his jest.

"Congrats," said Yu Liang coldly, finally breaking his silence.

"Ah, Yu Liang, it's good you already set the Go board. Let's review the game right now and you'll see for yourself my improvement!"

Soo-Yeon's words reminded Yu Liang about what he was doing earlier to kill time, waiting for Shi Guang to return. Setting up the Go board, alone. Pathetic. Suddenly, his emotions were flared again.

"No, thank you. I need to inform my Go partner about the briefing from the Hokuto Cup Committee this morning."

Yu Liang realized that he was not behaving like who he really was. Since when did he, Yu Liang, refuse to review a Go match? Particularly, one that involves Shi Guang. However, at the time he just wanted everyone to leave him and Shi Guang alone.

Soo-Yeon looked at Yu Liang like he had grown a second head. If he wasn't surprised by Yu Liang's refusal, he would at least be flabbergasted by his cold tone. He had never been that rude to Soo-Yeon before.

Fortunately, Miss Kim saved the day.

"Soo-Yeon, it's late. We better go."

Soo-Yeon, who was still in shock, just nodded slightly and then left with Miss Kim.

"Um... Yu Liang, what did you just say to them? Why are they leaving so sudden?"

"Nothing important. Instead, the most urgent thing right now is to inform you about the rules, the schedule, and everything related to the Hokuto Cup."

"Yeah, you're right," said Shi Guang in a low voice.

Oh, wow, where's the excitement go?

"Look, I know that I got back way too late. But, it's not their fault, it's all mine. On the way back to the hotel, I saw this small restaurant selling rice cakes and noodles with this super red sauce that looked so scary, to be honest, but still, I wanted to taste it. So, we decided to get out of the cab and eat there."

"Hn."

"I'm sorry you have to wait long for me."

"I'm not waiting, really," denied Yu Liang, no way in hell he admitted to such a thing. "Besides, there are so many things to do."

Yu Liang could feel that his tone was no longer as cold as before, and as a result, Shi Guang's voice also started to get louder, infused with enthusiasm, "I bought some of the food from that restaurant for you! These Korean authentic foods are so spicy. I thought for a moment my tongue was burning and it's getting numb!"

Yu Liang chuckled.

"Oh, did he just smile?"

"Shut up!"

Once again, their hotel room filled with Shi Guang's boisterous laughs. "I better take a shower before I fall asleep. But, um, the briefing? Shouldn't we talk about it?"

"I have compiled a summary in Chinese for you. Everything is completely written there. I put it on your bedside table."

"Wow, thank you, Yu Liang! You're the best Captain!"

Shi Guang started to take off his yellow jacket and Yu Liang finally could see clearly the white tee underneath. The design is very simple, apart from the words "I love Go" on the front, on the back of the T-shirt there is only an illustration of aGo board set with a couple of black and white stones.

"So, what do you think about my new T-shirt? It's cool, right?"

Shi Guang's question made Yu Liang realize that his Go partner had caught him staring at the tee he was wearing. A T-shirt that everyone seemed to have but him. He felt slightly hurt, to be honest.

"Not really," replied Yu Liang as he looked away.

"Ah, Yu Liang, stop lying! You know you like it... Hehehe..." hollered Shi Guang, again, with the laugh. "Wait! You didn't really think I forgot about you, right?"

Yu Liang refused to respond.

"Gasp! He did!" Shi Guang put his palm on his chest and put on a face of feigning offense. "Well, mister, you are mistaken. I, Shi Guang, will never ever forget about my Captain!"

Shi Guang then ran toward the pile of shopping bags that he put on the table earlier and took out from one of the bags, a medium-sized box. "Here you go!"

Yu Liang received the gift with, he's pretty sure, a big smile on his face. "Thank you."

"Why don't you try it on while I'm taking a shower, and then you think about yourself who shamelessly have bad thoughts about me. I would like an apology, please. Hehehe..."

Yu Liang waited until Shi Guang was in the bathroom before opening the box. When he saw the image of Go board on the T-shirt, Yu Liang grinned for a moment as he imagines the two of them wearing that same T-shirt at the same time.

However, when he unfolded the T-shirt, the writing on it made him choke. Instead of the words 'I love Go' as on the others, on the front of Yu Liang's shirt it says "The Captain".

WTF!?

The anger that had been buried appeared with a vengeance and Yu Liang couldn't trust himself to be calm enough to face Shi Guang when he came out of the bathroom. He had to remember that their main purpose in coming to Seoul was to win the Hokuto Cup, so he wouldn't let whatever was raging in his chest right now destroy their chances. Yu Liang had to be able to control his emotions. So, he chose the easy way out.

"Yu Lia~ng, I'm ready to bestow you with my forgiveness."

Yu Liang kept his eyes shut and tried to keep his breathing steady, pretending to be asleep.

"Yu Liang!"

"Yu Liang? You slept already?" whispered Shi Guang.

"Ah, you must be very tired. Thank you for your hard work today, Captain!"

Captain. That word again. Considering that their first match after nearly 9 years was to determine who would be the main player, the leader... the captain, for this tournament, it was very strange that Yu Liang felt so annoyed that Shi Guang called him that. Nevertheless, he really really loathes that word right now.

TBC