"Been a Long Time"

Chapter 16: The Aftermath

Cheng stands up to leave, but hesitates for a moment because Yao Tong had started another game. "Pretty girl," he said, "It's time to sleep."

"I'll go to bed after this round," she replied, glancing at him. Cheng says nothing, but, instead, heads for the stairs and ultimately, his bedroom. I follow him, not before pausing to lay a hand on Yao Tong's shoulder.

"Don't stay up too long," I whispered before resuming to follow my younger brother.

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A few hours later I hear Cheng get up ad leave the room. I decide not to follow him and just let them have their moment.

Well, since I'm up, I might as well play a bit so that I can keep my ranks up. I pull out my laptop, log in, and start setting up the game before playing. Again, Hierophant is playing at this time of night. I decide to message him through the in-game chat.

Me: 'Dude, why are you always up at this time?!'

Hierophant: 'Well, you can't say too much either, ma'am.'

Me: 'I have insomnia. As far as I know, you don't.'

Hierophant: 'How would you know?'

Me: 'You are famous. A fact like that is always an incredibly kept secret, a leaked secret, or an openly known fact. The latter two are more plausible than the first.'

Hierophant: 'Fair point. The reason why I'm up at this hour is because it's the quietest. That way I can focus better.'

Me: 'True! I guess I've never thought of it that way.'

Hierophant: 'Not many would.'

Me: 'Ok, let's get back to the game.'

Hierophant: 'I agree.'

We played for a few hours until the sun rose.

Hierophant: 'Will you be playing tomorrow night?'

Me: 'Idk. Depends on if I can sleep or not.'

Hierophant: 'Fair enough.'

Me: 'See you next time then?'

Hierophant: 'Sure!'

We both logged out. That was fun! He seems like he really hasn't changed much since I met him, which is good.

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The next morning I was still awake so I had gone downstairs to watch some stuff on YouTube without bothering my roommates. I was still there when everybody started filtering downstairs for breakfast. The thing is, Yao Tong was still there when I got up this morning. Cheng was here too, talking to her. He glanced at me before turning back to Yao Tong. I quickly picked up what was going on so I made my way to the kitchen as silently as I could. Thankfully, I didn't disturb the two.

I started making myself a bowl of (favorite cereal) as quietly as I could because I was starving. Thankfully, there was no unwanted noise from the cereal bag and bowl as the cereal was pouring out. I grabbed the milk out of the fridge, pouring some into my bowl before returning it to the fridge. I quietly took a spoon from the drawer and placed it in my bowl before taking it over to the island to eat.

I could hear murmurs of their conversation, the desperation in Yao Tong's voice, and her quiet cries. It broke my heart, to say the least, but Cheng's got it covered and she doesn't need extra attention right now. I'll take her shopping or something later to get everything off her mind. I hope Cheng gives her a hug for me.

I checked the internet to see what was up in the world and saw that TAT had released footage of the games. I slammed my spoon into my bowl and quickly started to regulate the comments section on ZGDX's side. This is going to be fun! Note the sarcasm. I hope the other admins will get on this immediately. I don't know why anyone else is up right now, considering that it is not too far past 5:30 in the morning right now, but man is this causing a storm!

A couple hours later Ming, Fatty, Lao Mao, K, and I were all at the gaming table watching the chaos. Yao Tong had gone to bed, and Cheng followed her to make sure she got some sleep. I have no idea where he went after that, though. Rui was sitting on one of the couches in the little alcove feeding Bing.

"My word! This TAT is such a dog!" Fatty exclaims, watching the comments flood in. "Why did the practice match get uploaded?!"

"They stirred the pot first," Ming said. "And forced the club to respond. When they targeted Yao Tong and uploaded the video without permission, they influenced the netizens to cyberbully our new mid."

"They are shameless!"Fatty yelled.

"Trust me, I know," I muttered, still furiously working on calming the netizens, my bowl of cereal uneaten on the counter.

"Despicable and shameless!" Lao Mao agreed, vehemently.

Rui suddenly spoke up, startling us, "It's my fault. I didn't stand up against the club and left her being bullied."

Fatty sighed, "How long has Missy been here? And she just got tortured by Ah Tai. Will she despair and never play again?"

"Is she getting depressed?" Lao Mao asked, sounding sad. "She has been in her room for a whole day."

"If she is so weak, she shouldn't be a professional e-sports player," K said coldly.

"She is a Rookie after all," Ming said, trying to placate everybody before an argument started. "This is probably her first time encountering something like this. As her teammates, we should try to understand her more from now on."

"Yes," Lao Mao agreed. 

"After all, as a girl in her early twenties, we have to protect her and care for her," Fatty said, sad but determined.

"K, did you hear us?" Lao Mao asked, twisting to see the man staring at his gaming screen. "Protect and care for her."

"Is she a third class protected animal?" K said, sick of it already. "A panda? Why does she need to be protected and cared for? E-sports has nothing to do with gender."

I sighed, suppressing the urge to punch him. I almost asked him what he would do if I were in the same position. His answer would definitely be different. But! I have to work on this.

"That's not right," Lao Mao whispered, clearly disgruntled with K's answer. "Third-class?! I thought Pandas were first class?" 

Nobody answered.