Falling Into Your Smile

An Eventful Day

At the start of the game, Chen stuck to the towers. She hadn't gotten over her fear much, she was just motivated to play. She willed herself to stop the slight tremors of her hand, staying far behind the others. As she dealt damage to Tai, she immediately went back for regen. "The line will breach the tower soon. K already launched an attack for you. Why are you still afraid? You don't leave because Tai is here?
It's been five minutes and we have zero death. But, we are still behind them by 300 points. Lee, are you disconnected?" Cheng asked, hitting a nerve in Chen. "You seem really arrogant today. And please, dakchyeo*." Chen whined. "Orochi is almost dead. Now, both of you have similar economy. You can surpass them if you kill Orochi. K, give them a view." Ming instructed, and K made his move. Yao followed him.

"Why are they waiting here, instead of attacking Orochi? Are they trying to scare someone?" Yao questioned, puzzled. Chen momentarily closed her eyes. Yes, she expected this. But was was she so scared? It made no sense. She had already reached the location, when she finally saw the people waiting to ambush her. "Ah Tai is heading there." Chubby said, making Chen anxious. She knew she was his target. She left the scene almost instantly. 

Cheng gave her a short side glance. "Have you even seen him? Why did you leave? You ran faster than lightning." Cheng remarked, a slightly annoyed tone evident. "I'll die, if I don't." Chen replied, exasperated. The stress was getting to her. "Die? Fine. Once we kill Orochi, we'll fight him. It's okay if you can't win. I'll kill him for you." He stated, giving her a side-look. Chen muttered some curses under her breath, and followed Cheng. They managed to bring down Orochi, as Chen spotted Tai. "Xiao Pang!" 

Chubby deflected the attack, effectively saving Chen from the latter. "Is he my Support or yours? If you continue to be like this, should Tong Yao protect you too?" Cheng asked, making it clear that it was a rhetorical question. Chen died mere seconds later, respawning back at the platform with a trusfrated expression. "You really play like Lu Yue, now that you're using Ibaraki Doji." Cheng added, Yue sending him a dark look. "Fine." Chen sighed, dissatisfied. She followed them back into battle, but retreated in seconds.

"Why are you hiding?! Even the Jungler is attacking. What are you doing?"
"Come back. What are you scared of? I'm here."

Chen relented, but stayed a good distance away from Ah Tai. Just then, Chubby died. "Chubby is dead. We aren't in good form. We should retreat." Chen blurted out, a hint of fear in her eyes. She didn't want to be dead-weight for her members. She already was, for certain people. Chen didn't want her team to lose because of her. "Tong Yao will assist you. Don't be afraid. Hide at the back and give us output (damage)." Cheng instructed. "Go! If we win this round, we win the game!" Yao yelled, with Chen hesitantly following. "Don't hide when you see him." Cheng said, before Yao respawned after being killed. 

"Lee Chen, come and harvest, now!" Cheng called. Chen finally left her safe zone to help the captain. And then, Cheng also died. Chen was left vulnerable, so she went on offense, killing three. 
[SEAL, TRIPLE KILL]
"Ah Tai has to go back to the farm." Ming informed, as Chen killed their bottom-laners. She then went after their Mid and Jungler, killing them quite hastily. She was the last one standing, and Tai was the only one remaining. "I'll wait back at the fort for you to respawn." She insisted, diverting the topic from the last-player dilemma. "Push on. One-to-one. Give me a good performance." Cheng added, Yue looking at Chen with a pitiful wince. Chen's expression said what she didn't, a very clear 'are-you-serious' on her face. She was about to protest, but one sharp look from the rest of her team stopped her. Chen sighed, mustered up all her courage, and went ahead.

+---×---+

I was contemplating my decisions, at this point. The reason I had this fear of Tai, is from one of my previous experiences. The reason I was always his backup, and never got any farther. I lost to him, always, only to him. I could win against Gunhyeok, as impossible as that sounds, but the smirk and smug victorious look on Tai's face was always too much for me to bear. He made it his goal to make me feel like an outsider to myself, and he actually succeeded. Tai was always a frenemy, or in simple terms, a rival on your side. The only time I was almost able to beat him, was a mistake on his part. If he made one, he could make another. That is my new motivation. All I have to do, is get him to make a mistake.