Against the Algorithm

Chapter 43: Off-Script

"I'm not fighting," Sicheng said blandly. "I'm warning."

A soft buzz interrupted them again—this time on Sicheng's phone.

[YQCB_Hierophant]: Relax, Captain Overkill. She's still wearing your jacket. Not trying to steal your girl. Just making sure Hang doesn't screw it up for everyone.

Sicheng didn't reply. But he did pull Yao closer against his side, his arm dropping back around her waist as if to physically reassert what apparently needed no words.

"This is why you don't get any sympathy when people say you're scary." Yao exhaled, long and slow, and leaned in without fighting it.

He didn't deny it.

He didn't have to.

The lounge at the arena was comfortably chilled, the overhead lights dimmed just enough to ease the tension without dulling the edge of anticipation. The stage crew was still prepping, screens running highlights, and they had a good thirty minutes before the call to head backstage. Most of the team had scattered across the space in their usual fashion—Lao K sitting in the corner reviewing footage, Lao Mao quietly stretching with his earbuds in, and Pang perched near the snack table complaining that everything here was too healthy.

Yao sat near the back, cross-legged on the couch with a bottle of water and her tablet in her lap, fingers lazily scrolling. She wore her uniform with the sleeves pushed up, the ZGDX logo bold against her shoulder, her braid draped down her chest. Her hazel eyes flicked up every so often to check on her boys—her team—but mostly to track one man in particular.

Sicheng.

Their fearless, strategic, occasionally terrifying Captain was currently brooding in a chair near the far end of the room, one leg bouncing in irritation, arms folded, his phone clutched in one hand while he glared at the screen like it had personally offended him.

Yue glanced over. "Okay, what the hell did your best friend do this time?"

Sicheng didn't answer.

Yao lifted her eyes. "He's sulking."

"I noticed," Yue replied, "but why?"

Sicheng finally exhaled sharply, clearly trying not to snap. He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and muttered, "Your favorite Hierophant thinks he's funny."

Yao blinked once. "Kun Hyeok?"

Yue perked up. "What'd he say?"

Sicheng gave him a look like he was considering murder as a valid tactic. "He said, and I quote, 'You're lucky I have a professional filter, because I swing both ways and your brother's cute and your Bunny is my type.' "

Pang choked on his protein bar.

Lao K's head whipped up. "What?"

"He—what?!" Yao's face flushed a brilliant red as her mouth fell open slightly.

Yue, however, looked almost smug. "I mean... I am cute."

"Not the point! He's messing with me on purpose. He knows it gets under my skin." Sicheng growled, slumping back in his chair, his tone laced with pure sulking fury.

Yao was still frozen, blinking rapidly. "He called me his type?"

Sicheng's eyes snapped to hers immediately, sharp and lethal. "Yes." Then he turned the glare right back onto Yue. "And you."