Against the Algorithm

Chapter 31: Orbit

Summary: It starts with a schedule and ends in soft chaos. Between carefully placed magnets and casually dropped names, one truth becomes impossible to ignore—she's not on the outside anymore. She's at the center, whether she means to be or not. And as everyone adjusts to the gravity she quietly exerts, one thing is clear: no one's leaving her side when it matters.

Notes:

⚠️Author's Note: Alert Territorial Chessman!

Chapter Thirty-One

Yao stood in front of the fridge, her fingers fidgeting with the edges of the color-coded schedule she had carefully laminated and double-checked twice—just to be sure it accounted for both the spring half of the OPL season and the natural chaos that came with living among professional e-sports players.

Behind her, Ai Jia and Jinyang lingered a few steps back, watching with identical expressions—curiosity giving way to something warmer, deeper, something undeniably amused.

She pressed the magnet into place on the upper left corner, smoothing the laminated schedule carefully against the stainless steel surface, and then stepped back with a small, quiet inhale. Her cheeks were already pink, her lashes lowered, and she didn't need to say a word for the truth to be written all over her face.

She had put thought into this.

Care.

Time.

This wasn't about control, and it wasn't about making demands—it was about balance. About making space for everyone in her life, because she loved them all in different ways and didn't want anyone to feel less important. Not her team. Not her best friend. Not the man whose voice alone could ground her on her worst days.

Monday nights: Reserved for her and Cheng.

Wednesday nights: Reserved for Jinyang and Ai Jia, unless YQCB had an urgent matter to deal with.

Thursday nights: Team night, as long as training didn't run overtime—pizza, movies, game reviews, casual chaos.

Saturday nights: Group night, if no one had matches. Dinners out or at home. A rotating cast of ZGDX, YQCB.

It was a small thing.

But it mattered.

And when Yao turned around, biting her lip nervously, her fingers twitching in the sleeves of her hoodie, Ai Jia blinked, because right then, it hit him again just how much she had grown. This wasn't the girl who used to hover at the edge of every group photo or nervously rehearse her sentences before offering input on a strat sheet. This was the girl who had fought her way into the middle of a world not designed for her and carved out a space where everyone wanted to stay.

Jinyang let out a low whistle, tilting her head as her eyes skimmed over the schedule. "Wow, she really has every single one of you wrapped around her finger." she muttered, arms crossing lightly.

"It's actually worse than I thought." Ai Jia exhaled, the corner of his mouth twitching.

And when they looked toward the living room—

They saw it.

Sicheng standing at the edge of the hallway, one arm crossed lazily over his chest, the other holding a half-empty water bottle, his gaze locked on Yao with that quiet, unreadable softness that only appeared when she wasn't looking. Pang leaned over the couch arm with a grin, already reading the schedule out loud like it was gospel, while Yue blinked, muttering something about how he needed to rearrange his snack schedule accordingly. Lao Mao and Lao K nodded silently like it had been obvious she'd end up organizing them all eventually.