Her Captain, The Gamemaster

Stranger In The Family

*Soo-ah's POV*

I step out of the taxi, reaching the gate leading to the stretch of land that belongs to the Tang family. I wave to the security guards who opened the gates for me, after making some small talk.

I stroll down the long road, humming to myself. 'Oh my god. Last chapter didn't have a song recommendation. Author is so stupid,'

The chorus to 'Anti-Romantic' by TXT began and I danced to it, making my way to the Tang estate slowly.

About half an hour later, I finally made it to the house where I saw Grandma cooking through the window. I run up to the front door, my jacket slipping off my shoulders and knock on the large oak door. 

The door opened and immediately, I jumped onto Li. 

Only thing is, it wasn't Li.

'Grandma?!?' I yell.

'Soo-ah, you almost gave me a heart attack, you crazy girl!' she scolded in English, laughing at me.

I rub the back of my head sheepishly and hug her again.

'So good to see you. You've grown bigger. Unlike a certain someone,' she mutters. 'Get in the house,'

I stroll into the house, spinning. 

'Feels like yesterday where me and Li were packing to go to Okinawa,' I smile at the memories as I look at all the moving boxes and suitcases waiting to be unpacked.

'Maybe for you,' I hear Grandma from the kitchen. 'For me, it was the most peaceful time of my life without you,'

I fake gasp and I walk into the kitchen, leaving my luggage on a couch. I could smell longhu and cheungfun and immediately sat down at the dinner table.

'Grandma, how are you?' I ask.

'Well, aren't you oddly polite? Ah Li barely greeted me,'

'Speaking of which, where is she?'

'She went out to the convenience store on the new road,' she answered.

'Lianchang?' I ask.

'No, the other road. The one on the north west side behind the lake. Near the main city,'

'Hmm, haven't been there yet,' I ponder.

'It's ends at a large mall,' she comments, placing two plates of food in front of me.

'Eat up, Soo-ah,'

I nod and immediately start stuffing my face and the two of us continue conversing. After I finish eating, I pull my neck with my left hand, dragging the muscles on my back before hearing a satisfying crack.

'Tired, Soo-ah?' Grandma asks.

'Hmm, kinda but more sore than anything else. I should stretch and condition my body a bit better. I have no idea how Li-ah does it,'

She chuckles. I picked up basic Taishanese, Chinese Mandarin plus Cantonese after living here despite Li and her grandma speaking in several languages at once. I've learnt Japanese in Okinawa as well. I love linguistics.

'Go upstairs and relax for a bit. Unpack a bit while you're at it and take a damm shower,'

I laugh and I move to take off my jacket in the now slightly hotter room but I pause, remembering the bandages on my shoulder and arms. I take my stuff from the couch and begin my journey up the 6 flights of stairs. 

I reach the second level and stare at the only large oak door on the entire floor in curiosity, like I do every time I walk up. 

'I know every corner of this house but I've never gone through that door,'

Li doesn't tell me either. I pout as I walk the next flights of stairs before finally making it onto the top floor, where Li and I always sleep. I have an apartment that those people bought for me while I was studying here as a kid. 

I scoff at the thought. They don't even know that I don't even go there anymore. I enter the room that I share with Li and oh boy. The room was basically filled with bags and boxes as well as several large suitcases. 

I grimace at the thought of the future back pain and flop onto my bed which was opposing Li's bed. 

(imagine it like that, except bigger, different aesthetic and there's two of them feet-to-feet)

The room was built like a bedroom/studio/living room/kitchen so there was alot of room to relax as well as desks for us to study at. There are also lots of windows, which I personally like a lot. We also have a large balcony made of marble and polished stone and it has a great view of the lake and fireworks if there were any.

The whole level was open and didn't have entry doors so it was all empty space. There was a door and walls for the bathroom though and the kitchen cabinets. We only use the kitchen to store snacks and heat up food. It's built like an apartment basically.

Although, this room is perfectly designed, me and Li spent most of our time down by the lake and especially on the court. The two of us also spend a lot of time in town and occasionally in the city.

I smile as I reminisced on all our memories, smiling like an idiot as I dragged myself to the bathroom, where I began to take a shower, being careful of my injuries.

I winced every time the hot water hit my flesh and almost cried out loud when the soap got into the cuts. After I showered, I pulled out the first aid kit and started stitching up the cuts.

'Li taught me how when we would both get injuries but most of the time she did it for me,'

It was calm as I poked the hot needle through my skin as I sit there in the misty and hot bathroom staring into the large mirror, at my scarred body.

'There is no way Li won't notice,'

I groaned, slapping my forehead and after a while of hating myself, I get dressed into some clean clothes; sweatpants and a thin long-sleeve covering my stitches and bandages. I trot down the stairs when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

'Li's home!' was the first thing that came to mind but the voices I heard were completely foreign. They were speaking in English and there were several footsteps. I sneak down the stairs and peek from behind a wall. The words were muffled but the small words I heard, scared me the most.

'Why can't I see my daughter?'

Author's Note:

sry for not putting a song rec in the last one and probably a few other chapters

btw none of the photo credits belong to me

the whole estate and land is based off my home in china

thxx.