Summary: When Chen Yao storms into ZGDX's base seeking refuge from a shopping-fueled ambush, she finds herself tangled in chaos, laughter—and a team that might just be more dangerous to her heart than any threat of frills or pink bows.
Chapter Three
Three days passed in a blink.
The ZGDX base, which had finally settled back into a fragile rhythm of training scrims, takeout-fueled late nights, and the occasional good-natured brawl between Lu Yue and Pang, was—for the briefest of moments—quiet.
Until the front door slammed open with a bang loud enough to make Lao Mao nearly drop his protein shake.
The entire team, scattered across the lounge, whipped their heads around at once.
There, standing in the doorway like the herald of incoming war, was Chen Yao, hoodie half-zipped, sneakers untied, backpack slung haphazardly over one shoulder, breathing slightly hard like she had sprinted all the way here from the next city. And her face…. Her face was pure, undiluted mutiny.
"You're hiding me," Yao announced without preamble, glaring at them like they were the ones who had committed the crime.
Pang blinked. "Uh... from what exactly?"
"My sister," Yao snapped, dropping her bag on the floor with a heavy thunk and marching deeper into the room like she owned the place. "She's on a rampage. She's trying to make me wear pink."
Yue's mouth dropped open. "Pink?"
"Pink," Yao said grimly. "And skirts. And dresses. And—" she shuddered visibly, "—frills."
Pang gagged dramatically in sympathy. "Frills?!"
"And bows," Yao added darkly, flopping down onto the nearest couch and burying her face in the pillow like it could shield her from her fate. "She has bows, Pang. Bows."
Across the room, Sicheng, who had been perched lazily on the armrest of the couch, sipped his coffee with the air of a man deeply amused but too intelligent to show it outright. His dark eyes flicked to Jinyang's frantic form briefly visible down the drive, a bright flash of white and pink shopping bags waving in the air like warning flags.
Lao K leaned forward, frowning seriously. "Is it... a coordinated attack?"
"It's an ambush," Yao mumbled into the pillow, voice muffled. "She's got backup. A whole damn shopping battalion. I escaped through the back."
Pang crossed himself dramatically. "Brave, brave soldier."
"You live with honor," Lao Mao said solemnly, while Rui, from his desk nearby, just shook his head and muttered something about liability clauses.
Yue, grinning wide, practically vibrated with excitement. "What do we do if she finds you?"
"I'm not here!" Yao declared fiercely, lifting her head enough to glare at all of them. "You saw nothing. You heard nothing. You definitely didn't see me wearing anything pink."
"And if Jinyang threatens to murder us?" Pang asked cheerfully.
Yao didn't even blink. "Take it like men."
Laughter exploded around the room, the sound loud enough to shake the rafters. Outside, a sharp voice called Yao's name, Jinyang, relentless and terrifying in her shopping-fueled fury.
Yao froze. "Hide me," she hissed, diving off the couch so fast it was like watching a training montage in real time.
Without hesitation, Pang and Lao Yue grabbed couch cushions, stacking them haphazardly into a lumpy wall while Lao Mao motioned frantically toward the hallway.
Sicheng, as calm as ever, simply nudged his coffee mug aside and crooked a lazy finger at her. Yao hesitated for only a heartbeat before launching herself across the room. He caught her easily by the wrist, yanked her forward, and spun her around so she landed behind the couch, shielded completely by his lounging frame.
A heartbeat later, Jinyang stormed through the front door, bags swinging dangerously in both hands. She narrowed her eyes at the assembled team, who were trying very, very hard to look innocent and failing spectacularly. "Where is she?" Jinyang demanded.
"Who?" Pang asked with a blink so wide-eyed and fake it could have won awards.
"You know who," Jinyang snapped, tapping one foot impatiently on the floor.
Lao K cleared his throat. "No idea."
"Never seen her in my life," Lao Mao added helpfully.
Yue even went so far as to squint theatrically at Jinyang. "Did you check the YQCB base? I hear they harbor criminals."
Jinyang's eyes narrowed suspiciously, sweeping the room.
Behind the couch, Yao crouched low, her knees tucked under her hoodie, barely daring to breathe as she pressed herself closer against the back cushions, shielded by Lu Sicheng's long frame, his coffee mug lazily balanced on one knee like he had not a care in the world.
For a long, tense moment, it seemed like Jinyang might push deeper into the base and find her. Then her phone buzzed in her pocket. She yanked it out, glared at the screen, cursed under her breath, and with one last pointed glare at all of them, spun on her heel and stormed back outside, muttering about Ai Jia being useless and how she was going to make him model the damn pink if she had to. The moment she disappeared through the door, a collective exhale swept through the room.
From behind the couch, Yao's head popped up slowly, her blue eyes wide and wild. "You," she said fiercely, pointing at Sicheng, "are my new favorite."
Sicheng smirked lazily. "Told you," he said, voice low and amused, "you're stuck with us now."
Pang collapsed backward onto the floor, howling with laughter.
Yue flopped onto the couch and thumped his head against the armrest, muttering, "Best day ever."
Yao, still half-wild with adrenaline, grinned wide and victorious before flopping face-first onto the carpet in dramatic exhaustion. "God help me," she muttered into the floor. "I'm gonna have to live here until Jinyang forgets."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Yue said cheerfully.
Sicheng, sipping from his coffee like he had orchestrated the entire thing, just smirked again.
And somewhere in the back of her mind, as she lay there surrounded by idiots and laughter, Chen Yao realized she did not mind the idea of staying nearly as much as she should have. Not nearly as much at all.
Still half-flattened against the carpet, Yao groaned into the floor once more for dramatic effect before finally pushing herself upright, her hair a wild, tousled mess around her face.
Pang offered her a high-five without even sitting up properly. She ignored him. Instead, she reached into the pocket of her hoodie, pulled out her phone, and with grim determination punched a number into the screen.
The room fell immediately silent, every pair of eyes locking onto her as she lifted the phone to her ear.
It rang once.
Twice.
And then Chen Tao's deep voice crackled through the speaker. "Where the hell are you?"
Yao smiled sweetly at absolutely nothing. "Tao-ge," she said, syrup dripping from her tone, "you might want to consider reigning in your holy shopping spawn before I make good on my current threat."
There was a beat of silence on the other end. Then a slow, dangerous exhale.
"What threat?" Chen Tao asked, voice low and wary, like a man who already knew he was not going to like the answer.
Yao rose smoothly to her feet, casually brushing herself off, her free hand gesturing lazily around the base. "I'm currently at ZGDX's base," she said brightly, ignoring the way Pang nearly swallowed his tongue in excitement and Yue grinned like a kid on Christmas morning. "The all-male, all-single, professional E-Sports team base. You know—the one with no adult supervision besides a perpetually exhausted manager and coach that is always seconds away from committing homicide."
There was a slow, dangerous silence from Chen Tao's end.
Yao smiled wider. "And if your little shopping terrorist isn't leashed by tonight," she said sweetly, almost singing it, "I'm just going to stay here for the rest of my break." Dead silence. "With the boys," she added helpfully, twisting the knife just a little.
Sicheng, still lounging on the couch with his coffee mug, smirked faintly, clearly amused by her weaponization of logic.
Pang was trying desperately not to cheer out loud.
Yue was already making plans in his head, no doubt involving some celebratory snacks.
"You wouldn't." Chen Tao finally growled.
Yao tilted her head, pacing a slow circle around the coffee table like a predator playing with its food. "I'm single," she said innocently. "They're single. We're all just... living our best lives."
Across the room, Pang gave two enthusiastic thumbs-up while Lao Mao buried his face in his hands, already seeing the storm coming.
"If you even think about—" Chen Tao began, but Yao cut him off sweetly.
"Better call off your demon shopping spawn," she said, glancing meaningfully toward the front door where Jinyang was still visible loading what looked like an entire boutique's worth of pink horrors into her trunk. "Or you're going to have a whole new set of problems to deal with."
There was another long, slow inhale from Chen Tao's end and then, clipped and furious, he said, "Stay put."
Yao grinned victoriously. "Pleasure doing business with you, Tao-ge," she said cheerfully and hung up before he could respond. She turned around to face the wide-eyed, barely-contained disaster that was the ZGDX team, spreading her arms dramatically like a magician revealing her grand finale. "I live here now," she declared.
Pang whooped loudly, lunging off the couch to spin her around once before Lao Mao caught him by the collar and yanked him back like an unruly puppy.
Yue pretended to wipe a fake tear from his eye. "Our little family's growing so fast."
Lao K smirked. "Hope you like noise."
"I grew up with Jinyang," Yao deadpanned. "Noise is nothing."
Sicheng, who had not moved through the entire exchange except to sip his coffee and watch her with faint, unmistakable amusement, finally spoke, his voice low and deliberate. "You sure you can survive us, Shorty?" he asked.
Yao met his gaze squarely, crossing her arms over her chest. "The real question," she said, tilting her chin up in challenge, "is whether you can survive me."
For a long moment, they just stared at each other, the air between them charged with something that none of the others dared interrupt.
Then, with a slow, lazy smile that made her want to throw something at him, Lu Sicheng lifted his coffee cup in mock salute. "Challenge accepted."
Behind them, the boys cheered like the idiots they were, already throwing out wild plans for bunk assignments and house rules, Pang yelling about building her a fort out of couch cushions, Yue offering to teach her how to properly dodge Rui's lectures, and Lao Mao warning that if she touched his protein stash, it would be war.
And as the madness exploded back into full force, Chen Yao, standing right in the heart of it, arms crossed, lips twitching against her will, realized something deep in her chest: For the first time in a long time, she was exactly where she was meant to be.
The last few days had been a whirlwind—laughter, chaos, ridiculous bets that Pang always lost, late-night strategy debates that dissolved into yelling matches over pizza toppings, and quiet moments curled up on the couches when the energy finally ran out.
Yao, who had stormed into ZGDX's life like a hurricane, found herself swept right back up into the madness without ever meaning to—and worse, without ever really wanting to leave it. But time was cruel, and so was responsibility. And when the morning of her flight finally arrived, the base was strangely quiet.
Not because they had forgotten. Because they had a match scheduled, an important one they could not skip, no matter how badly Pang and Yue had whined about staging a protest. So instead, it was Jinyang and Chen Tao who had taken her to the private hangar, their faces tight with carefully hidden worry as they hugged her goodbye.
Yao kept it together until the jet's engines started rumbling to life, until she was seated by the window with her backpack tucked against her side and her forehead resting lightly against the cool glass. It hit her then, that hollow, aching emptiness that came from leaving something behind that had, somewhere between laughter and late-night ramen raids, started to feel dangerously close to home. She pulled her hoodie up over her head and closed her eyes, telling herself she would survive it. She always did. It had been about two hours into the flight when her phone, tucked under her thigh, buzzed violently.
Frowning, she pulled it out.
And froze.
One by one, notifications exploded across her screen like fireworks.
First a string of texts.
Then Messenger IDs popping up.
Over.
And over.
And over.
She stared at it, wide-eyed, as the names flashed into existence:
ZGDX_Chessman.
ZGDX_Ming.
ZGDX_Pang.
ZGDX_K.
ZGDX_Mao.
ZGDX_Rui.
ZGDX_Lv.
Every single one of them. They had slipped their numbers into her phone without her even noticing. Saved themselves under their in-game IDs like the damn gremlins they were. And at the very bottom of the list, shining obnoxiously bright, was one more: ZGDX_SaltMaiden.
Her own name. They had made her one of them. A choked laugh escaped her before she could stop it, raw and bright and a little broken around the edges. Her Messenger app lit up with new messages almost immediately, like a dam breaking all at once.
ZGDX_Pang: You're ours now, Salt Maiden. No take backs!
ZGDX_Lv: Don't think you can ghost us, we have international reach.
ZGDX_Mao: Remember: snacks are life. Protein is sacred. Rui's rules are suggestions.
ZGDX_K: Also, if you need a lawyer to sue the League, we believe in you.
ZGDX_Rui: Ignore them. Study hard. Make us proud. I already drafted your honorary membership agreement.
ZGDX_Ming: Stay out of trouble. Or at least don't get caught.
ZGDX_Chessman: Text me when you land.
Yao pressed a hand lightly against her mouth, blinking hard against the sudden sting behind her eyes. She had not realized until that exact moment just how deeply they had carved themselves under her skin. It wasn't just chaos. It wasn't just noise. It was family. The kind she had never thought she would find outside the lines of blood and obligation. Fingers trembling slightly, she opened a group chat that someone—probably Pang—had already made and named Salt and Chaos.
And with a fierce little grin, she fired off her first message:
ZGDX_SaltMaiden: Survived takeoff. Studying en route. Miss you idiots already. Don't lose your match or I'm disowning you.
A chorus of responses exploded back instantly, filling the plane's quiet cabin with the sharp, silent echo of belonging. Somewhere high above the clouds, with the ground far behind her and the future looming vast and uncertain ahead, Chen Yao smiled and for once, she did not feel alone at all.
The wheels touched down with a soft jolt, the familiar gray drizzle of London misting against the windows as the jet taxied toward the private hangar. By the time Yao stepped through the doors of her small Cambridge apartment hours later, her backpack slung over one shoulder and exhaustion pressing heavy against her spine, the sky had faded into a deep, bruised violet outside. The place was quiet—too quiet after days filled with ZGDX's constant noise and chaos—and for a moment, standing in the narrow entryway, she simply breathed it all in. The soft hum of the radiator, the faint scent of old books and lavender from the candle she had forgotten to blow out before she left.
Home.
But it didn't feel like it used to. Not quite. Still gripping her phone, she kicked off her sneakers, padded barefoot into the living room, and collapsed onto the small, worn couch she had claimed as her own the day she moved in. She unlocked her phone, thumb hovering over the group chat Salt and Chaos, before she took a steadying breath and typed quickly.
ZGDX_SaltMaiden: Landed. Made it back to my apartment. Still in one piece. Try not to cry too much without me.
It took all of five seconds for the floodgates to open.
ZGDX_Pang: There goes our chaos coordinator. Now who's gonna stop Yue from gluing my shoes to the floor?!
ZGDX_Lv: That wasn't me. Allegedly.
ZGDX_Mao: Stay alive, eat real food.
ZGDX_K: If you get kidnapped, blink twice in Morse code.
ZGDX_Ming: Focus. No distractions. We'll hold down the fort.
ZGDX_Rui: Do not engage in any lawsuits unless absolutely necessary.
Yao laughed softly, heart easing in her chest, the familiar buzz of their ridiculousness chasing away the silence. She had just started to set the phone down when it buzzed again—not the group chat this time. A private message.
ZGDX_Chessman.
She blinked once, thumb hesitating before she tapped it open.
ZGDX_Chessman: Good. Knew you'd land on your feet.
She smiled, already hearing the lazy drawl in his voice. But then, after a few seconds, another message popped up, shorter. Quieter.
ZGDX_Chessman: Doesn't mean we're letting you disappear.
She sat there for a moment, the phone warm in her hand, the weight of those words sinking deeper than it should have.
Because he didn't say don't forget us.
He didn't say visit soon.
He said we're not letting you disappear.
A promise.
Not a plea.
Yao bit her lip, blinking once, feeling the sudden burn behind her eyes. Then, fingers moving faster than her brain, she typed back.
ZGDX_SaltMaiden: Wasn't planning on it.
The typing bubble popped up instantly.
ZGDX_Chessman: Good. Because once you're ours, you don't get to leave.
The corners of her mouth tugged upward in a smile she could not have stopped if she tried. No teasing. No sarcasm. Just that quiet, steady pull between them, like a tether that stretched across oceans and miles, stubborn and unbreakable. Curling deeper into the couch, Yao tucked the phone against her chest, closed her eyes, and for the first time since stepping off the jet, allowed herself to believe it. She wasn't alone. Not anymore. And no matter where she went…. They would find her. Always.
Morning crept slowly through the thin curtains of her Cambridge apartment, soft and gray with mist, the early light brushing pale fingers across the worn floorboards.
Yao stirred under the tangle of her comforter, groaning softly into the pillow as the first faint buzz of her phone vibrated against the nightstand. Another buzz. Then another. And another. Grumbling under her breath, she reached out blindly, groping until her fingers found her phone. She cracked one eye open and immediately regretted it.
Her screen was lit up like a Christmas tree. Thirty-two new notifications. She groaned again, dragging herself upright against the headboard, her hair sticking up in every direction, and unlocked her phone.
At the very top, her group chat with the ZGDX boys—Salt and Chaos—was exploding.
ZGDX_Pang: GOOD MORNING SALT MAIDEN! WAKE UP AND CONQUER THE DAY!!!
ZGDX_Lv: Already made breakfast for Mao. Considering charging him a toll tax for entry to the kitchen.
ZGDX_K: Update: Pang mistook salt for sugar. Again.
ZGDX_Mao: We are starting a Salt Maiden cult in your honor. Pang is our first sacrifice.
ZGDX_Ming: Focus. Prioritize. Dominate your classes. Ignore them unless bodily harm occurs.
ZGDX_Rui: If you require an official team-issued cease-and-desist letter against Pang's idiocy, I have drafts ready.
Yao laughed out loud, the sound raw and messy and real. Scrolling down, she spotted another separate group chat lighting up under the simple name Chen Family Mayhem, created sometime between her flight and now, courtesy of Jinyang, judging by the sheer chaos of it.
Jinyang: Morning, little monster. Hope you're ready. I sent you a care package. Should arrive by tomorrow.
Chen Tao: Behave. Check in after your classes.
Ai Jia: Please tell Tao-ge to stop threatening to track my phone for not answering fast enough. I'm innocent this time.
Yao snorted, shaking her head as she buried deeper into her blankets, the heavy ache that had been sitting in her chest since she left slowly unraveling thread by thread. She was just about to set her phone down when she noticed it—one more notification. Private. Not from the group chats. From him.
ZGDX_Chessman.
Her thumb hovered a second longer before she tapped it open. And there it was. Simple. Quiet. A message that hit deeper than anything else.
ZGDX_Chessman: Hope you slept alright. It's not the same without you here.
Yao's breath caught, a tight, startled little ache blooming behind her ribs. He hadn't sent it as a joke. He hadn't buried it under teasing or sarcasm. He had just said it. Plain. Undeniable. Real. Fingers trembling a little despite herself, she typed back before she could think too hard about it:
ZGDX_SaltMaiden: Miss you guys too. It's too quiet without you.
Almost immediately, another typing bubble popped up.
ZGDX_Chessman: Not just them.
Her heart skipped a beat so hard she thought it might have physically hurt. She stared at the screen, feeling something unfamiliar and dangerous curl low and warm in her chest, a weight that wasn't heavy, but grounding, steady in a way she had not realized she had been starving for until now. Curling tighter under her blankets, Yao tucked the phone close against her heart, the smallest, softest smile curving her mouth. Maybe London was where she studied. Maybe Cambridge was where she fought for her future. But somewhere across the ocean, in a chaotic base full of loud boys and dangerous quiet, was something she hadn't even realized she had been searching for until she found it.
A place that felt like hers. A person who saw her not as obligation, not as chaos, but simply—as her. And no amount of distance could take that away. Not anymore.