Could You Teach Me?

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Xu Zhuyi has recently been trying to learn how to play video games.

But he's hopeless at them. He can't learn, and after getting fed up, he goes downstairs for a walk and finds a boy on the roadside, barely clinging to life.

The boy's name is Tang Wanzong. He looks genuinely pitiful, with dirty clothes, a fresh wound on his forehead, and nowhere to go. It's unclear who beat him up.

But he seems pretty good at video games.

Xu Zhuyi makes up his mind on the spot. "I'll take you in. You teach me how to play, okay?"

Tang Wanzong looks at him in silence for a long moment, then nods. "...Okay."

They move in together. Tang Wanzong is obedient and a little dazed, waiting at home every day like a puppy for Xu Zhuyi to come back. He teaches him to play games and even calls him "big brother."

Xu Zhuyi's heart melts. He likes Tang Wanzong a lot and takes him on as his little brother.

A few days later, Xu Zhuyi gets a strange phone call.

"Hand over Zone! If you don't, we'll call the police!!"

Zone? Who's that?

He's completely baffled.

Then that night, his little brother is taken away.

Xu Zhuyi watches as his little brother keeps looking back while climbing into a van.

After watching it drive off, he takes out his phone and searches for "Zone."

First result: Zone, Tang Wanzong, professional League of Legends player, starting mid laner for Woof, age 19.

Second result: His little brother's handsome official photo, displayed right in the middle of the screen.

*

The little brother he picked up by the roadside turns out to be an LPL star player. Rumor has it that he's not sweet and obedient at all, but eccentric and scheming, often wrecking his opponents' mental game during matches. His play style is feared by all.

Xu Zhuyi feels they belong to two different worlds, so he stops reaching out to Tang Wanzong and tells him not to contact him either.

He only occasionally checks whether Woof won or lost that day.

One day, he comes home from work as usual, only to spot a familiar figure beneath his apartment building.

Xu Zhuyi frowns, sounding somewhat helpless. "Didn't I tell you not to come looking for me?"

Tang Wanzong isn't dirty this time. His nose and ears are just red from the cold. Standing a short distance away, he looks at Xu Zhuyi longingly, not daring to come closer.

He says timidly and pitifully, "We won today, so the team's on break."

"...Big brother, please don't send me away, okay?"

*

One-on-one, both are each other's only partner, happy ending, five-year age gap, younger top

Cool, beautiful older bottom x scheming, adorable younger top

Fashion model x esports player

1. Height difference, build difference, cat bottom and dog top, beautiful bottom and cute top.

2. There's a reveal-the-identity plot. The bottom initially learns to play games to pursue his crush, but this isn't a love triangle. The only person he truly falls for is the top.

3. This isn't a traditional esports novel, and gaming won't take up much of the story. The author is a gaming novice too. The main focus is romance, so please read it as a sweet love story and don't overanalyze it.

4. There are no real-life models for the characters. No real-life models. No real-life models. Please don't associate them with real people. Please don't associate them with real people. Please don't associate them with real people.

*

My next book will be Don't You Want to Give It a Try?, an older-top secret identity story. Here's the blurb:

Chen Xingnuo has a bright, adorable baby face.

But his voice is a raspy, smoky baritone that completely contradicts his looks. The kind of voice that makes even street thugs call him "boss" the moment he speaks.

He has a great voice, and he often roleplays while livestreaming, so it turns out he's surprisingly good at acting, too.

Someone asks if he'd like to become a voice actor.

Chen Xingnuo is a practical person.

He hesitates for a few seconds, then asks just one question: "Does it pay well?"

The other person says, "At first, you might earn a little less than you do now, but I'll teach you, so it won't take long to pick up."

*

At their in-person meeting, the person who shows up is a long-haired older man who carries a game console and plays wherever he happens to be. He doesn't look like a professional.

Could he be a scammer?

But since Chen Xingnuo has already come, he follows the man and practices with him for a few days.

He auditions at an agency and passes.

When the acceptance comes through, Chen Xingnuo looks suspiciously at the man beside him. "Did you bribe the interviewer?"

The man is busy running a Chinese restaurant in Hyrule. Without even looking up, he shrugs, his tone lazy. "I told you already, you've got talent."

*

At work one day, Chen Xingnuo overhears someone say Black Cat has taken on a new student.

He rushes over. "No way. Didn't that person retire?"

Everyone looks at him, then at each other, and disperses on the spot.

After he gets home, Chen Xingnuo rummages through his old things late into the night and finds a phone number.

He calls and immediately demands, "You're coming back? Why didn't you tell me? Didn't we agree you'd tell me right away if you ever came back?"

There is a brief silence.

Then the answer from the phone rings out at the same time as the man's low voice behind him.

The man says, "If I'd told you back then, you would've called me a scammer and refused to come with me. What was I supposed to do?"

*

Later.

One day, backstage at a voice actor fan event, in an empty dressing room.

Chen Xingnuo is blushing from head to toe, cornered by Fu Zhenyi.

The man has had his hair cut and no longer has his usual gloomy air. His handsome face is identical to Black Cat's in the event program.

Chen Xingnuo says, "I-I haven't forgiven you yet!"

Fu Zhenyi looks at him and smiles softly, lowering his eyes.

He bends down slightly and unhurriedly pulls away the hand the young man is using to cover his mouth. His deep, captivating voice is so gentle it sounds almost coaxing.

"But at least let me see if it's still swollen. Then I'll know how to make it up to you.

"Okay, Nuonuo?"

*

One-on-one, both are each other's only partner, happy ending, older top by seven years

Baby-faced, smoky-voiced, naturally dazed bottom x gentle, scheming shut-in top

1. There are no real-life models. The voice acting material may mix knowledge from Chinese and Japanese fandoms, and I've made up some details, so please treat this as a fictional setting and don't associate it with real life.

2. Romance is the main focus, with the plot in a supporting role.

Theme: Good people get good things in return