New Beginning and Future

Chapter 54: Heat, Ink, and the Quiet Before Everything

Summary: As the final match before the Championship Finale looms just beyond the horizon, pressure and purpose intertwine behind closed doors and beneath shared sheets, where whispered confessions hold more weight than strategy maps. Promises are kept, trust is tested, and quiet victories unfold, not on stage, but in the spaces where loyalty, love, and legacy are forged.

Overprotective: ZGDX
Overprotective/Possessive/territorial: Chessman
Chessman is literally his own warning when it concerns his girl

Notes:

⚠️ Author's Note: Next Chapter has arrived for you lovely people! We are getting close to the ending of this story. The Muse is thinking that there will only be a few chapters left to go on this story before it comes to an end.

Disclaimer: The Muse would like to remind everyone we do not own FIYS nor the beloved characters nor any dialogue from either the show nor the book...the Muse is very sad and not pleased with this continued reminder that they do not own them and never will!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Fifty-Four

The base was electric with energy as the days passed, each one bringing them closer to the match that would decide everything: ZGDX versus CK, the final gate standing between them and the Championship Finale. Practices were relentless, every scrim more intense than the last, every strategy sharpened and dissected until the team was operating like one cohesive organism.

But even amid the laser-sharp focus, Yao noticed something. It wasn't obvious, Sicheng didn't falter, didn't miss a beat in training, didn't show any cracks in scrims or VOD review. But she knew him. Better than anyone. She noticed the moments he went too quiet after practice, the times he lingered on his phone longer than usual, the way his gaze darkened just a little when Jian Yang's name came up during briefings or news cycles. He was planning something. And not something team-related. Something personal. She watched him for several days, silent observation, sharp and calculating, and waited for the right moment.

That moment came one evening when practice had ended early, and the rest of the base had retreated to their rooms or the lounge. Their shared bedroom was dim, warm from the soft glow of the bedside lamp, and quiet save for the faint hum of the city outside their window.

Sicheng was seated on the edge of their bed, phone in hand, still in his black ZGDX hoodie and sweatpants, jaw set in that relaxed yet unreadable way that always meant his mind was somewhere deep.

Yao stepped out from her vanity, arms folded across her chest, wearing one of her sleep shirts, the hem brushing the top of her thighs. Her eyes never left him. "All right," she said finally, voice cool, but edged with fire. "What are you planning for Jian Yang?"

Sicheng looked up at her, slowly lowering his phone. His gaze didn't waver. "You're imagining things."

"Am I?" she snapped, stepping closer. "I've seen that look before, Lu Sicheng. You've got something brewing behind those devil eyes of yours, and it's got his name written all over it."

His silence was answer enough.

Yao exhaled sharply, stepping into his space until she was standing directly in front of him. Her arms stayed crossed, her stance firm. "I want you to tell me what you're doing."

Sicheng's eyes narrowed just a touch, then he leaned back on his hands, completely relaxed on the outside, but the air between them vibrated with tension. "Are you sure?" he asked, voice low, calm, and so damn sharp it made her spine prickle. "Do you really want to know?"