The smiling k

Oh no i did it this time

Lao k smile and thought,' This is going to be interesting. Wonder why mama is here?' while Lao Yue cringed, ' Oh no! Mama is here. Sister in law has already yelled at me, now mama will too'.

Tang Yao cleared her throat and said " Hello"

Madam Lao smiled at Tang Yao and said, " Hello dear." She glared at her sons and said, " You two, follow me to your room. And you as well my dear"asking Tang Yao to follow them as well.

By now, Tang Yao had realized that the elegantly dressed woman was her captain's mother. She dreaded, ' Oh no. I have now yelled at both her sons. I hope she doesn't think I am some shrew' as they walked upstairs. Madam Lao stopped suddenly and said to Tang Yao- " Actually dear, mind if we all talk in your room instead? Not sure I want to go inside the boys' room. I don't particularly enjoy the smell of dirty socks"

Lao K- " My socks are clean"

Tang Yao- " No problem auntie. Please come in". Tang Yao's room was the best room in the house. Lao K had made sure of that. It had a view of the mountains, it was bright airy and large. She ushered them inside to the little seating area. Tang Yao hoped she didn't have any clothes lying around. Madam Lao sat on the armchair leaving the loveseat open. Tang Yao stood near her bed while the boys sat on the loveseat.

Madam Lao- " This is such a nice room , so fresh too. Best room of the house, if I am not mistaken" smiling at Lao K. Tang Yao looked up in surprise. She had no idea! She hadn't set foot inside any of the boys' room. "
And you my dear, remarkable. Congratulations on your graduation. Your parents must be so proud of you" staring at the diploma on that was still on the coffee table.

Tang Yao colored lightly- " Thank you . I haven't had a chance to put that away. It was late when I got back last night..."

Madam Lao- " Nonsense. You should frame it and hang it up on the wall. I will send you a good frame for it. Now, you two", turning her face towards the boys, " are complete idiots. Lao K , I keep telling you not to bottle everything up. See what just happened? Your teammates and little brother followed your example and tried to handle everything by themselves. If not for Tang Yao, you boys would still be brawling. And you, Lao Yue , when will you stop creating trouble for me? And where the hell have you been ? You can't keep running away! I have half my gray hairs because of you! Now what do you two have to say for yourselves?"

Lao K got up, kissed his mother's cheek and said " I'm sorry mama. I will try to be more open with my feelings and I will take care of Lao Yue better" with his best smile.

'What a charmer', thought Tang Yao.Mama Lao was indeed placated a little. Lao Yue just grumbled from his seat, " Sorry. I will behave. I won't run away like this" like a disgruntled toddler. Mama Lao leaned over and whacked him on the head, " See that you do" Now go, I want to talk to your brother for a bit. He left and Tang Yao made to leave as well when Madam Lao said, " You can stay dear. I don't mind...It is your room after all"

Tang Yao- " It's no problem auntie. I will give you both some privacy. Would you like some tea? I'll go downstairs and bring you some" madam Lao smiled at her- " Tea would be lovely dear. Thank you".Tang Yao left.

Madam Lao sat held her son's hand and his gaze- " You like her" He didn't say anything, just gave his mother a small smile. She continued, " She doesn't realize it yet. She is strong, beautiful and smart but also young. A word of advice my son, you should open your heart and use your words if you want to win a woman over. If you like her, tell her with words, emotions and most importantly actions. Pay attention to her likes and dislikes. You picked a good one" Lao K didn't say anything but pondered over his mothers words. They heard a knock.
Tang Yao came in brought two cups of tea and made to leave. Madam Lao grabbed her wrist, " Thank you for taking care of my boys and reading them the riot act. Nice to know that they have a well wisher, a friend who cares enough to call them out on their , what was the word you used, bullshit"

Tang Yao blushed, " Auntie I ...I did what I thought was best to diffuse the situation"

Madam Lao-" You did more than that.Anyway, I'll be sure to tell the club to stock some good coffee for you here. After all, a girl needs a strong cup of coffee to deal with this childishness" and winked at her. Madam Lao left soon after. Needless to say, the team roster photo session was cancelled that day. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts for the rest of the day. Little Fatty made a big meal for everyone to convey his apologies and even Lao Yue was nice to everyone. Tang Yao crashed peacefully that night and nearly overslept.The next morning, when she walked downstairs in her uniform.

Xiao Rui exclaimed -" You're up. I was worried, we were going to have to wake you. Of all days, today is the day you sleep in. Let's go" and rushed everyone into the bus. She ended up next to the captain who was soundly asleep in the bus. She nibbled on the pastry she had grabbed while browsing Weibo drowsily .She sucked her breath in suddenly . " What" said the voice next to her. " Nothing" she said. It was a photo from Jinyang with the caption - [ Still want to tell me there's nothing going on between you and K-ge? ] It was a beautiful photo of the man next to her and herself at the graduation ceremony probably taken when they were joking about graduating from kindergarden. It was a beautiful photo of them leaning into each other slightly, looking at each other in delight. They looked good, and like they were together mused Tang Yao uneasily.[ Where did you get this photo?] she responded to Jinyang.Jinyang [ Your American friend Paul sent this to me asking me if I knew your boyfriend who spoke highly of you with the dean in the audience and went all the way to the florist 3 kms away, to buy the most expensive flowers for you.]Tang Yao [....] She was worried. She didn't want any scandal before she started her e-sports career and the last thing she wanted was to tarnish K's spotless reputation.Lao K saw her furrowed brow, sneaked a peak at the picture she started disbelievingly at and guessed how she felt accurately. ' We look so good together', he thought but said instead, " Shortie, graduation is over. Focus on the upcoming tournament. I hope you have been practicing different Champions" The uniform they had chosen was a white and blue one to match their logo. They had tried the uniform on the previous night to make sure it fit. Today, they were taking photos. As soon as they reached the studio, they were all shepherded into their respective makeup chairs. The boys had all already put on their uniforms . She was also in her uniform as she sat in the make up chair and tried to relax.She'd already had a brief moment of panic that the uniform seemed a bit transparent under bright light before they left. Tang Yao had called Jinyang who only teased her incessantly and asked her to put on some of the lacy VS lingerie she had made Tang Yao buy [ A woman must be prepared at all times] ,she had said. In the end Tang Yao had modestly chosen to wear a skin colored VS bra with small bunny prints on it with a matching panty. It was the only non-lacy light colored bra she had. The boys makeup was done in a jiffy and they all headed to take photos. They were almost done taking photos when Xiao Rui remarked, " Ay..where is our Smiling? We're almost done here. We should take a photo of the mids. Go see if she's ready Lao K."

Lao K - " Why should I go? Can't you go?". He was lounging comfortably on the sofa and was feeling lazy. Xiao Rui- " Come on. Everyone's a bit scared of her after yesterday. She's most likely to heed your words. Go see" and pushed him towards the door. He walked to the dressing room and pushed open the door saying, " Shortie, are you going to transform into some Ming dynasty empress? ..." when he stopped and gulped.Tang Yao's makeup artist and left . As she was shy about changing her shirt in front of strangers, even if they were women, she had waited till she left. As a result, when Lao K opened the door, he found her standing only in her bra. She was rooted to her spot and didn't even think to cover up. He blushed and averted his eyes finally and said, " Come soon" and walked out closing the door behind him. He sat down on the floor outside. His brain had only one thought- 'Wow'. Meanwhile Tang Yao was cycling through shock, embarrassment and anger. By the time she came out, he had stood up. He looked into her eyes and said sincerely, " I'm very sorry. I should have knocked. It appears I need to learn better habits"Smiling deflated with his sincere apology. She said, blushing slightly, " I keep telling you to knock, but I should also ensure the door is locked from the inside. It was an honest mistake. Umm..what did you see?"What she hadn't anticipated was his honest response, " Everything. and if I may add, you have nothing to bee embarrassed about" and winked at her. The innuendo in his statement shocked her further as she moved on auto pilot. She finally reached where they were taking photos, came to her senses and threw the comb in her hand at him. He didn't duck fast enough and it hit his shoulder. Neither party said a word but proceeded to finish the photoshoot professionally. Neither Smiling nor K would answer any questions or clarify why she threw the comb at him despite Lao Yue 's repeated questioning