Shen Shibai · Chat

Shen Shibai stared at the screen, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "Shibai-ge, it's midnight." Wen Qian'an yawned. "Almost there, almost there—just let me finish this round—" "You said 'almost there' three minutes ago." Jiang Che's voice came from the doorway. "Shut it down. Go to sleep." Shen Shibai didn't turn around: "Che-ge, give me one more game! I'm in the zone—" "If you can't get up for tomorrow's practice match, that's on you." The door closed. Shen Shibai pouted but kept his hands moving. The character on screen solo-killed the enemy mid laner. "Nice!" He leaned back, then turned to find Wen Qian'an already asleep, face down on the desk. He froze for a moment, then quietly stood up and draped his jacket over Wen Qian'an. Then he pulled out his phone and opened a chat window that would never get a reply. "Grandma, we won today. Qian'an fell asleep, just like a little kid. Che-ge was nagging me to sleep again, so annoying. Yan-ge didn't talk to me today, but I'm used to it." After sending it, he stared at the screen for a few seconds. The city outside the window was bright with lights, and the only sound in the training room was Wen Qian'an's steady breathing. Shen Shibai stood up, tucked his phone into his pocket, walked to the door, and glanced back. "I'm off. Time to sleep," he said softly, and turned off the light. Moonlight slipped through the gap in the curtains and fell on the empty back of the chair. Tomorrow, the sun will rise just the same.