Fire of the present

Shan was standing on the side of the stairs by the audience seats, trying to look only at his team's side. He ignored Jun Jiun and only looked at his avatar. His style hadn't changed at all. It was the same as when he was playing with San. 

In the past, San has often skipped his piano lessons with Jiun, and Woojin, Hwang Woojin. San shook his head and tried to stop recalling the past. It helped. 

He was watching Huobai casting a bleeding spell on the summoner and then jumping behind Yinli to be further away from the summoner and shifting his focus on helping Yixing. 

Shan never noticed how cool they were looking from the audience stands. Their handsome faces probably helped, but the body movements, the characters' movements. The people around Shan were shouting and jumping with excitement as Wuchen killed the opposing healer. 

No arguments and all people were enjoying a nice, interesting game. And surprisingly Shan was calmed down by the shouting. They were supportive, praising their gameplay. 

"See, there he is…" Shan heard it and got scared. He turned in the direction where he heard it. He saw guys poking each other and pointing at him with their heads. Shan slightly smiled at them and surprisingly they came to him. 

"Can we get your autograph and take a picture?" they asked in broken English. Shan nodded and placed himself in between the boys. All three of them shyly smiled at the phone and took a few pics. Then the two of them took out a piece of hard whiteboard and a permanent marker. 

"Only my sign or?" Shan asked, his English flawed too. 

"Only you. Our favorite," they said, almost in sync. Shan smiled and skillfully placed the sign he practiced a while back in Hong Kong. Then he turned to them.

"For?" Now they looked even more excited. He could hear them speak Korean to each other, so Shan shifted his thinking to Korean. Glad that his mom still used Korean at home. 

"Do you want me to sign it for you, in Hangul or English?" he asked, and their mouths fell open. Shan was bemused by them. It lifted his mood. 

"You can speak Korean?" one of them asked, his voice almost swallowed by the crowd's cheers. Shan looked at the screen again and saw a brutal sight. 

Huobai was being pulled into the pit of quicksand, and his character was slowly being swallowed. Shan was shocked to see Yinli's flying monster picking him up from the pit and landing further away from it.

The swordsman was getting out of Huobai's holding spell because of the sand. Both Yinli and Wuchen jumped on him and killed him in a matter of seconds. Soon after, others followed him into the realm of death.

"They won!" the guys shouted and started jumping up and down. Shan knew they would win. If they were shabby, he wouldn't have joined them four years ago. 

He nodded and asked once again for the names. The boys told him and he gave back the boards. Happy and with cheers, they walked away, leaving Shan alone again. He was submerged in the shouting and streaming. 

When a silent person approached him from behind. He knew someone was coming. All the hair on his body stood up, even, as Lili would say, the hair on his ass was standing. 

"Are you okay now?" It was Hyun. His voice was pretty electrifying to Shan. He was strangely pulled towards Hyun. Even though Hyun wasn't his type at all. 

On the other hand, Shan was totally Hyun's type. Even when he saw him for the first time, he was shocked at how attracted he was to this person. He had to mentally remind himself that he had a boyfriend just to stop his mouth from asking for his number. Yet, he couldn't help himself to at least help him. 

When he saw him collapse in the bathroom stall, shaking with anxiety and fear. And then, this person could tell him almost immediately apart from his brother. Hell, even Lucy sometimes had problems with it, especially after working. 

And now, he couldn't help himself approach him when he saw him standing on the stairs. All alone, longingly staring at the stage. But Shan knew nothing about it and thought Hyun was only a kind stranger.

"You are a player here?" Hyun asked in English, and Shan nodded. Obviously, Hyun was Korean, yet he was so kind to use English with Shan. It made Shan even more determined that Hyun was a great person. 

"Yes," he answered in Korean and saw the light smile on Hyun's face widen. There was a quick interview with both sides and Shan was tentatively listening to Huobai explaining what happened. 

"Don't worry, you will be able to stand there too," Hyun said, his tone suggesting that he tried to comfort him. It made him chuckle.

"I actually will, in their next game," he said with a smile plastered on his face. He was ready to face anyone, just to show himself now. 

"Aren't you a bit… Too ambitious? If you were their member, you would be sitting with the rest of the team." Hyun gestured towards the first rows that were getting up. Wuchen was searching with his gaze for Shan in the audience stand. Shan laughed and waved at Wuchen. Then he turned to Hyun. He pointed at his team uniform and then took out the earphones from the pocket of his team jacket and totally out of his character, he inserted them into the back pocket of Hyun's jeans. 

They were both surprised by the gesture. Thankfully, Shan had an awesome excuse to run away. He blushed, turned around, and ran down to his team where he sought cover in the shape of Wuchen's and Hongjie's shoulders.

"Are you okay? Do you still have a fever?" Huobai asked when he saw him, red on his face. 

"I can play. I have to play," he said, out of breath. He wanted to show Hyun he wasn't just talking. He was a member of the team. He was not someone who should be longingly looking at the stage, wanting to play. He should be out there, shining just like others. 

It was a pity that some circumstances just didn't allow him to play in this game. His stupid mental health was the only thing that wouldn't allow him to join. Shan knew that his brain just wouldn't allow him to be in front of so many people, cameras, and focus when his past was beside him.

"Let's slay the next team," he exclaimed, much louder than he usually talked, and surprised himself too, together with the entire team, who turned around and stared confusedly at him. 

"Yeah, let's slay!" Yixing shouted, disturbing the embarrassing moment of silence. And Shan was thankful for that.