Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ye Xiu knew that he wasn’t the healthiest person in the world, but that’s just the way he was. Nothing else really mattered much to him besides Glory, so it followed that he didn’t really pay attention to smaller things like what he ate, hydration, or how his chain-smoking was affecting his body. And really, he was fine with the way things were! It’s not like he’s particularly concerned about living out a long life as long as he is able to keep playing Glory for the rest of it.

But for some reason, everyone in his life seemed to be on his case about his health. First it was Mucheng trying to get him to quit smoking and start eating proper meals. Then it was Xuefeng trying to get him to stop smoking and get on a proper sleep schedule. Then Tao Xuan started worrying about the amount of money he spent on his smoking habit (as well as the destructive side effects said habit had on his body). But it wasn’t until Han Wenqing commented on it after the 3^rd Season’s Glory Championship final that Ye Xiu snapped.

“Why is everyone suddenly so concerned about me smoking?” Ye Xiu asked, his usual pleasant smile absent.

Han Wenqing just scowled, “Because it’s unhealthy. Maybe if you smoked in moderation we wouldn’t be so on your case about it, but you smoke enough that if the Glory servers were real places, half of it would be inaccessible as it would be filled with your cigarette butts. Besides, I’ve always been on your case about it; this is not a sudden thing.”

“So? It’s not like you can stop me at this point. I get headaches whenever I don’t smoke now,” Ye Xiu responded evenly.

“It’s called weaning off of it, you idiot. You could start taking better care of your body too.” [1]

“Why do you care?”

“Can’t have my rival dying on me.”

“You know, Lao Han, not all of us can be built like bricks like you.” Ye Xiu’s tone had gone back to his usual playful lilt.

“Maybe you’re right, you probably couldn’t keep up even if you came to the gym with me,” Han Wenqing switched tactics. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, or in this case, fight Ye Xiu’s antagonism with some trash talking of your own.

“What, who do you think you are! Lead the way, Lao Han! I’m gonna beat you at whatever you’re thinking of.”

And this was how Ye Xiu ended up following Han Wenqing into the nearest gym and doing his first workout in years.

It was a little embarrassing how out of shape he was, Ye Xiu realized. It couldn’t have been very cool the way he had to huff his way through the cardio portion of Lao Han’s workout or the way he started sweating before they even finished the warm up stretches. He didn’t even really know how he got here in the first place, but at the end of the entire thing, Ye Xiu somehow felt quite invigorated. He wasn’t sure why when the entire exercise was so exhausting and difficult, but he felt proud of himself for getting through it, for surviving it. Not that he would tell Lao Han this.

But, surprisingly, there was a certain rush to finishing a hard workout, some sort of feeling that got very close to what it felt like to play Glory.

After that, at least once a week, when Ye Xiu felt like going out for a smoke, Lao Han would appear out of the blue and drag him over to the gym a block away from the Excellent Era building to exercise. It got to the point where Ye Xiu kind of missed it when Lao Han wasn’t there to bring him to the gym, and since working out was not something related to Glory, Ye Xiu had not payed attention on how to get to the gym and was unsure on how to get there by himself.

Whatever, Ye Xiu thought, I’ll just wait for Lao Han to finish his match with Thunderclap in two days and come over to drag me to the gym afterwards. After all, he had mad a habit of stopping by whenever he was remotely close to City B.

“What does Xiao Zhang think of your think of your little excursions? Don’t they deviate too much from your schedule?” Ye Xiu asked casually, “I wouldn’t want you to break him on my behalf, although it would be interesting to see the headlines…Tyrrany self-destructs and hands victory over to Excellent Era without them having to do anything!” Ye Xiu announces the last part with mocking grandeur, gesturing with his hands as if he were a shocked e-sports reporter.

“If you have enough breath to be your normal, annoying self, then you should be able to run faster,” Han Wenqing growls in response.

“Yes, yes, whatever you say, Captain Han! As long as it doesn’t take more than seven minutes and fifteen seconds more than our usual time, then I can adjust my schedule accordingly, Captain Han!”

“You shut your mouth or I’ll double it.”

“Aww, Lao Han, you do care about your cute little vice-captain! Don’t worry, I don’t want to lose the only cleric I would want to have as an opponent.”

Wenqing pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes for a fraction of a second. He sighs, “Ye Xiu, you’ve campaigned to ban clerics from competition for the last five years.”

Ye Xiu smirks, “And Xiao Zhang is the reason why I stopped! He’s just too cute by your side!”

“Ye Xiu, you haven’t stopped.”

“I definitely have!”

“I don’t believe it. You’ll stop when you stop chain-smoking.”

“Lao Han, how little faith you have in me.”

The first time Ye Xiu exercises without Han Wenqing dragging him out to do so was not as much of a disaster as it could have been. He had been restless after Excellent Era’s recent defeat and the team’s inability to become a cohesive whole due to Tao Xuan’s schemes. Unable to sleep, Ye Xiu had originally slipped out of the Excellent Era building for a smoke around 2 AM, but when he reached for his lighter, he realized he had left it in his other jacket’s pocket. Shrugging, he wondered if he should go back up for it or just buy a new one. But then, a new thought occurred to him, what if he went to the gym instead? Then he wouldn’t have to spend money and didn’t have to go through the hassle of trying to sneak up to his room without anyone noticing him and then sneak down again just as carefully.

It wasn’t really a hard decision. As much as Ye Xiu valued his privacy, he was tired of sneaking around, so he turned left and ambled his way towards gym Lao Han had showed him a little over a year ago.

When he arrived at the small twenty-four hour gym two blocks away, Ye Xiu didn’t hesitate to walk in. He was about to head to the ellipticals that Lao Han usually had him on when the receptionist stopped him.

“Stop! You have to sign in before you can use the facilities. Do you have your membership card or identification card on you?” [2]

“Membership card? Uh, I’m not sure what that is, but I have my ID right here.” Ye Xiu handed over his government issued ID (the correct one, not Ye Qiu’s).

“Oh you,” the receptionist reacted immediately upon seeing the card. “Alright, you’re all set, your friend Han-XianSheng took care of things for you. However, who should we contact in the future?” [3]

“Hm?” Ye Xiu hummed, distracted with wondering what exercises he should try out today. “I work at Excellent Era. You can send any correspondence there, and it will get to me.” And with that, Ye Xiu ambled his way into the gym, seeking a thrill he had thought only belonged to Glory.

Two years into exercising with Ye Qiu, Han Wenqing started to enact the second stage of his plan. In this year, on Ye Qiu’s birthday, he sent him a month’s worth of nicotine patches, along with a receipt that confirmed monthly shippings for the next year. Along with this, he added a note which, in his typically blunt manner, read:

Ye Qiu,

Make your resolution for this year of your life to stop killing your lungs so much. If you don’t, I’ll have to find a new rival.

Han Wenqing

Han Wenqing was unsure how Ye Qiu took it, but all he knew was that at their next match, when Ye Qiu rolled up his sleeves, Han Wenqing spotted a plain looking patch on his arm.

Tao Xuan was confused as to why he, or rather Excellent Era, was being billed for a gym membership at the gym a couple blocks away when they had a perfectly functioning gym for all EE members on the 4^th floor.

“If this is someone’s way of passive aggressively telling me that my gym isn’t good enough, they can think again. How dare they! If anything, EE’s gym would be better than some ratty, local gym. Fine!” Tao Xuan slams the bill on his desk, “If you think this will get me to spend more money on our gym, you’re wrong. Staying anonymous? Complaining without words? Come talk to me like a man, otherwise I won’t change anything! I won’t play your games; you don’t control me!”

Tao Xuan ended up signing and mailing the check for the membership so that whoever this passive aggressive bastard was wouldn’t know how annoyed he was by such a simple thing.

By the time it was the eighth season of Glory’s professional league, Ye Xiu realized, he was smoking less than a pack a month.

“Huh, I guess Lao Han was influenced by Xiao Zhang more than I thought if he learned to be this sneaky.”

Maybe he’ll actually have to stop harassing clerics as much as he has. Ye Xiu just shrugs at this revelation and goes on with his life. He had always been good at going with the flow.

The next year, Ye Xiu opens his birthday gift from Han Wenqing and finds six packs of cigarettes.

This is your allotted amount for the year. Xinjie conveys his thanks.

Han Wenqing

Ye Xiu just laughs.

When Ye Xiu gets kicked out of Excellent Era, his heart hurts in ways that he hadn’t realized it could hurt anymore. He had thought his heart was already in pieces since Muqiu and couldn’t break anymore. He was wrong. Between getting his new start in the Tenth Server and acclimating to Happy Café, Ye Xiu smokes an entire pack that night.

“Why are you so sad? Even Ye Qiu isn’t that sad,” Ye Xiu questions his current boss.

“What would you understand?” responds Chen Guo, “I’m never going to see my Battle God again.”

“Aren’t I right by your side?” murmurs Ye Xiu. Chen Guo gives him an annoyed look in response, but Ye Xiu’s heart feels a little like recovery might be possible with this. To have such loyal fans that are hurt by his retirement this much…maybe Mucheng was right in saying Excellent Era was treating him incorrectly. He’ll have to think on this a bit more before he’ll truly believe he wasn’t at fault, but it’s a start.

“Boss, I’m heading out for a bit, I’ll be back in time for my shift.” Maybe exercising will clear his head a little.

For his retirement gift, Lao Han sends him a workout plan, telling him that he has no excuse not to stay in shape now. Ye Xiu doesn’t know whether to cry or laugh. How typical of Lao Han.

When Happy wins the Challenger’s League, Ye Xiu realizes that he’s only smoked two of the six packs Lao Han limited him to this year. (Although he has seven packs on his person due to accidentally buying some packs out of habit.) Huh, he thinks, I guess Lao Han finally played the long game on this one.

---

Tao Xuan is furious that he is still being billed for a gym membership. Does he not provide enough amenities to these players? Does he not provide enough luxuries? He finally decides to call the gym to figure out who’s been taunting him all these years.

His heart only twinges with absent-minded guilt a little when he finds out it’s Ye Xiu. He’s overcome by anger immediately after and cancels the membership on the spot.

The new members of Excellent Era are confused about why their contracts say they aren’t allowed to sign up for gym memberships. Oh well, they had a perfectly serviceable gym on the 4^th floor.

A few days after Happy’s entrance into the PGA, Ye Xiu tries to go to the gym to exercise. He’s been on a pretty regular exercising schedule for the past few months, curtesy of Lao Han’s birthday gift this year.

When he tries to enter the gym as usual, the receptionist (a different one this time) stops him. “Ah, sorry, Ye-XianSheng, it seems your membership was canceled yesterday.”

“Huh?” Ye Xiu is confused.

“Would you like to pay for a new membership?”          

Ye Xiu’s eyes widen. “Wait, memberships have to be paid for? How much do I owe for these past years?”

“Owe?” it’s the receptionist’s turn to be confused. “You don’t owe anything. Your first year was paid for by a Han Wenqing-XianSheng, and all following years were paid for by Excellent Era Corp.”

“Oh,” Ye Xiu deflates a little confused by the situation. “How much do memberships cost? It’s probably time I start paying for it myself.” Ye Xiu laughs a little awkwardly, completely thrown off. He just wanted to get his daily work out in today, now this?

“Uh, here’s the costs for the different types of memberships you could get.” The receptionist hands him a sheet of paper detailing each membership.

“Hmm, you know what, actually, could you just bill it to the Ye Group, care of Ye Qiu?” Ye Xiu can’t believe he hadn’t realized what a good opportunity this is to mess with Ye Qiu earlier. He must be getting a bit slow with his old age. “Make it a family plan.” Ye Xiu smiles.

“Why are you always smoking?” asks Chen Guo one day, a couple months into Ye Xiu’s court battle with Excellent Era – a battle which took the combined efforts of Mucheng, Han Wenqing, and Ye Qiu to convince him to engage. “I don’t remember you smoking this much when you first started working for Happy. You should make sure to take care of your health, Ye-Captain. Don’t let your smoking get out of hand."

“Ah, don’t worry, I’m many steps ahead of you on that,” Ye Xiu smiles. It always feels nice to have people care for him. “I only smoke when I’m stressed now.”

Chen Guo is a little confused but lets it go. As long as Ye Xiu knows what he’s doing, the whole of Happy will always support him.

“Thanks for caring,” Ye Xiu murmurs with uncharacteristic seriousness and sincerity. “I’m happy my life led me here.”

Han Wenqing doesn’t really think much about his plan to get Ye Qiu – actually Ye Xiu – to quit smoking and start exercising much anymore. It took a lot of planning and help from Yu Wenzhou, Su Mucheng, Wang Jiexi, and Xiao Shiqing, but it all worked out well in the end. He’s pretty much forgotten about it with the amount of new tactics that need to be created to beat Ye Xiu’s Unspecialized character, Lord Grim. That is, he forgets about it until partway through the 12^th GPA season, on his birthday, Han Wenqing receives two packs of cigarettes and a note.

I don’t need them, but thanks. – Ye Xiu