Archive of Our Own ^beta

Many people thought, in the days of Glory's first server, that the players of Autumn Tree and One Autumn Leaf were soulmates. The players were so in sync that most other gamers shuddered to even go against them.

But then the Glory Pro Alliance was formed and only One Autumn Leaf signed on. Autumn Tree gradually disappeared from most memories other than a select few. And it was commonly accepted that Ye Qiu, in fact, did not have a soulmate.

Dancing Rain joined Excellent Era. Even though, the team did not win another championship, it was acknowledged that One Autumn Leaf and Dancing Rain were the best partners in the league. Many wondered if their partnership was that good because they were, maybe, soulmates. But Su Mucheng had laughed away those rumours.

People decided that Ye Qiu's only soulmate was Glory.

Ye Qiu remained silent, as usual.

"How are you able to effortlessly tune out Huang Shaotian's limitless droning?" An Excellent Era trainee asked Ye Xiu when he was visiting the training camp.

Ye Xiu laughed.

"I've had practice," he said, an oddly affectionate twist to his words.

The trainee wondered if God Ye had known Huang Shaotian before his debut and maybe they were close?

'Ye Xiu! How dare you enjoy yourself while I'm stuck here!?! Father is making me learn the family tree of our allies! Why would we even need that information, huh? No one is going to question me if I know the occupation of the Yang family's great grandfather's uncle's third daughter, are they? What's the point in learning this shit? Ye Xiu, you bastard, come back home and take your place already! Ge! Don't ignore me! Ge!!'

Xiao Shiqin was with Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng, at a McDonald's. Ye Qiu was eating his burger, unconcerned or unaware of Xiao Shiqin sneaking looks at him.

Su Mucheng seemed to be aware of what was going on, judging by the increasingly amused look on her face when Xiao Shiqin's talk about tactics, new Glory updates and the weather (he facepalmed within his mind) took on a hopeless tone.

Ye Xiu looked up from his meal, popped a few french fries into his mouth and chewed leisurely. Then, he stood up.

"I'm going to get another burger," he said, and ambled off.

Su Mucheng had the courtesy to wait till Ye Xiu was out of earshot before she snorted.

Xiao Shiqin looked at her, exhausted.

"I know that he doesn't have a soulmate. Is he just not interested and this is his way of letting me down easily?"

"No," Su Mucheng denied, mirth shining in her eyes. "He really is that oblivious."

He looked at her in disbelief.

"He doesn't really care for all this," she waved a hand around them, indicating the corner seats Xiao Shiqin had gotten, hoping for a date with Ye Xiu, "That's why he brought me along. He actually thought it was just a get together for the three of us."

Xiao Shiqin held back a groan and rubbed his forehead.

"So is there any chance?"

He didn't say 'for me' but it was heavily implied nonetheless.

Su Mucheng gave him a pitying look.

Xiao Shiqin huffed out a laugh, shaking his head.

Ye Xiu joined them in a while.

'He wants to get into your pants,' Ye Qiu's voice sounded in his head, flat with annoyance.

Ye Xiu took care to keep his face blank even as he sent a wave of laughter through their bond to his little brother.

He felt Ye Qiu twitch.

'I'm right and you know it too,' Ye Qiu said, sulkily. He was silent as Ye Xiu ordered a burger and a coke.

'So, you're really not interested in anyone?' Ye Qiu asked, forcefully casual.

Ye Xiu withheld a chuckle but he knew his brother felt the amusement, judging by the bristling from his end.

'No, Qiu-di,' Ye Xiu said, finally. 'I have enough on my hands trying to handle you. Why would I sign up for more, eh ?'

Ye Qiu harrumphed. Ye Xiu knew that he was pleased at the answer.

'Didn't you say you had a dinner party to attend?'

'Shit! Yes! Ugh, when are you coming home? I can't stand these idiots all trying to out-preen one another. My IQ drops lower everytime I see them all.'

'You mean you don't preen along with them?' Ye Xiu teased.

'I don't have to, ge,' Ye Qiu said, haughtily. 'We both know that I'm better than all of them put together.'

Ye Xiu coughed into his fist, trying to hide the laughter that was threatening to bubble out of him.

He thanked the helper, took his food and walked back to their table. He observed Xiao Shiqin for the rest of the meal but he couldn't see any signs that pointed to the other having a crush on him. He shrugged and continued to drink his coke.

Su Mucheng looked up to see Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu standing in front of her. A grin tugged at her lips.

"Sorry," she said, apologetically. "I think there's been a mistake. I asked for one Ye, not two."

The twins grinned mischievously. Su Mucheng felt like she was experiencing double vision.

"We're a package deal, Miss Su," they chorused.

Su Mucheng laughed delighted, as she always was, at their synchronisation.

When she had first come to know that Ye Xiu had a soulmate and that soulmate was his younger twin brother, Su Mucheng had been surprised but had accepted it as a fact of life and moved on. When she had realised that their soulbond was one of the strongest, seeing how they were able to communicate telepathically with utmost ease even when they hadn't been in physical contact with each other for years, she was envious. But it made sense.

She saw Ye Qiu make an irritated sound even though his eyes sparkled, and Ye Xiu hid his smile behind a glass of water. They didn't even realise that they weren't speaking out loud, seamlessly communicating. She suspected that even without a telepathic bond, the twins wouldn't have any problem with understanding each other flawlessly.

She grinned.

It made sense that they were soulmates, really. After all, only an Ye could handle another Ye without facing potential loss of sanity.

Some poor soul had decided to throw a party with all the pros in attendance, in an effort to bring in more sponsors. Ye Xiu, even though he would rather have stayed back in the café to play Glory, was in attendance along with Team Happy.

If anyone asked, he would have said that Chen Guo was scary and should not be crossed. But the real reason he had for attending the party was different. He smiled, small and secretive, at the feeling of his soulbond not as stretched thin as it usually was. He could almost feel his brother nearby. He refused to turn his head and look around, knowing that Ye Qiu would always hold it over his head if he gave into that impulse.

He smirked, knowing that in a game of patience, he would always win. Ye Qiu was too quick, too prone to impatience. He, on the other hand, wasn't. Not for the first time, Ye Xiu remarked to himself that that was why they were the perfect soulmate for each other. They complimented each other perfectly and together, they were complete.

"Ye Xiu," a voice intruded on his thoughts.

Ye Xiu looked up to see Mr Li, one of the younger investors in the Glory Pro Alliance. He was at most six years older than Ye Xiu.

They talked for a while before Mr Li cleared his throat. Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow.

'Oh no, he doesn't,' Ye Qiu said, oddly grim.

"I always meant to tell you," Mr Li coughed nervously. "I have always been a huge fan. And I just wanted to say I love you and if-"

Ye Qiu popped up beside his brother, a champagne glass held lazily in his hand. Ye Xiu didn't bat an eye.

"Love, you say?" Ye Qiu askes, swirling the champagne in the glass, eyes half-lidded. He looked up at Mr Li from under his lashes, a terrifying glint in his eyes.

"To love one of us is to love us both, Mr Lu," Ye Qiu said, staring right at the frozen man. "Can you handle that, I wonder?"

Mr Li stammered. "It's.. Uh, it's Mr Li, actually."

Ye Qiu lifted a hand to Ye Xiu's hair, arranging the hair to resemble an artfully messy style instead of his usual I-can't-be-bothered-to-comb-my-hair look.

"Is it, now?" Ye Qiu said, idly, tilting Ye Xiu's head this way and that. Ye Xiu rolled his eyes but let his brother toy with the other man.

Mr Li blustered for a few more moments before he snapped out an excuse and scampered away.

'That was an investor, you know,' Ye Xiu said, sipping his champagne, as Ye Qiu finally decided that his hair was fine.

"You don't need him, Xiu-ge," Ye Qiu said out loud.

Ye Xiu gave him a look.

Ye Qiu gave a shark-like grin. "You have me."

And that was when the pros finally reacted to the presence of twins.

"There... There are two of them?"

The pros reaction at being faced with not one Ye Xiu but two was hilarious to behold. The chaos that the room descended into was glorious and both Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu reveled in the confusion and mayhem that they had caused.

"Don't you want someone to share your life with?" The speaker was some lady who wanted to become the next Madam Ye. Ye Qiu glanced at her and away, not interested in conversation.

"Wouldn't you want a family, some years down the line? Just because you haven't found your soulmate doesn't mean you have to be a bachelor, you know," she said, sympathy oozing from her voice.

Ye Qiu looked at her, yawned pointedly before walking away, bored.

'Rude, didi,' Ye Xiu chided, a bit distracted with playing Glory.

Ye Qiu scowled.

'You've been ruder,' he pointed out. He reached for a pineapple sorbet.

'Don't eat that, you're allergic,' Ye Xiu said, his concentration which was distracted just a moment before, fully focused on his brother.

Ye Qiu smiled, satisfied that his brother was finally paying him attention.

'And people call me shameless,' Ye Xiu said, fond.

When Ye Xiu lost Su Muqiu, the wave of hurting grief and helpless anger that hit Ye Qiu made him fall to his knees and gasp for breath, his lungs constricting uselessly, unable to get in enough oxygen to calm him. The only reason he didn't run to Ye Xiu then was because underneath all that pain-anger-misery-loss-why-notyou-notfair there was one clear thought.

'I don't want you to see me like this.'

Ye Qiu wanted to contradict him then, say that he was the only one who should see him like in that state. But his brother wanted space, and so Ye Qiu would give it to him. He kept his side of the bond wide open, highly receptive to his brother's moods, giving him the much-needed stability.

They never talked about that time.

They never had to.

When Ye Qiu was surrounded by a group of thugs, intent on capturing the heir to the Ye family to ransom him for money, he froze.

Ye Xiu, miles away, didn't.

Ye Qiu felt his brother's razor sharp intensity then, the cold calculation, the ruthlessness evident in his thoughts. There weren't any words in their thoughts then, only emotions.

As Ye Qiu ducked under one thug's extended hands, punching out the knee of another, kicking a man between his legs and hitting another guy's trachea, they became one. At the end of it, Ye Qiu stood surrounded by the crumpled forms of men who wanted to harm him.

A sudden burst of urgency from Ye Xiu made him break out into a run, desiring to get to a safe place.

As he ran, he thought to Ye Xiu, 'All those games actually had a use, eh?'

'Shut up, you idiot didi' Ye Xiu snapped, for once his unflappable calm in tatters.

Ye Qiu chuckled breathlessly.

'I'll come home,' Ye Xiu said, after a moment of silence.

'What?'

'Obviously, you can't be trusted to take care of yourself. It would be better if I was there to take care of you.'

Ye Qiu couldn't deny the spring of hope that bloomed within him. But-

'No.'

Ye Xiu's surprise was palpable. Ye Qiu couldn't find the words to express his feelings. So he just shoved it all at their bond, knowing that Ye Xiu would understand.

Ye Xiu chuckled and then sighed.

'Alright,' he said, a strange sort of relief carrying over to Ye Qiu. 'I'll stay and win at Glory. And you'll protect yourself. And then, later, when it's time, I'll come home to you.'

Ye Qiu smiled, just a bit smug and just a little heartbroken.

Two days later, he started learning martial arts.

Ye Xiu and Ye Qiu had never really needed anyone else. Many people had come up to them, talking about love, preaching about romance. But it had never appealed to them.

They had each other–a companionship that went beyond words could express, a soul-deep knowledge that they had someone fully on their side, someone who would always stand by them.

Ye Xiu had Glory and his brother. He was whole.

Ye Qiu took delight in running circles round people who underestimated him and he had his brother. What more could he possibly want?

And when Ye Xiu finally retired from the pro scene and joined his brother in the company, well... It was safe to say that the business world did not know what hit them.