Chapter 2

Backstage, Yunjin complains, "Ugh, I'm so tired. Why are video games so exhausting?"

"I know, right? But it was fun," Chaewon chimes in.

"Eunchae-ya, you were amazing!" Sakura compliments.

"Yeah, I know. I'm literally the best. You guys are honestly slowing me down. Maybe I should play for a team," Eunchae teases, prompting sighs from the others as they watched their youngest member daydream.

"Hey girls, let's head out to the suite since the Finals are about to start. There's food there, so just bring your personal items," announces Amanda as she enters the room.

They nod their heads, gather their things, and leave for the suite. Upon arrival, they found a spacious area with numerous couches and a balcony separating them from the fans, providing a perfect view of the stage. Seeing this, Eunchae as usual walks towards the couch and curls up wrapping herself with a blanket. Meanwhile, the others gravitated towards a table laden with food. Sakura, in her ever-thoughtful manner, even fetched an extra plate for Eunchae. They move towards the balcony with their food to watch IVE perform their collaboration song with riot. As usual the crowd was loud cheering for the girls performing as if it was a concert instead of a gaming event.

“ Yujin Gaeul Rei Wonyoung Liz LeeSeo IVE” screams the crowd

The crowd continued to cheer to the end yelling their bias’s name, the girls were ferocious yet gracefully dancing to the music of the song. They are then surrounded by tens of backup dancers as flares shoot up in the air making their performance mesmerizing. In the end the girls pose right at the front with their backup dancers surrounding them. The crowd turns dark signaling the end of the performance for IVE before another performance begins. The Le Sserafim girls clap their hands at the performances before heading back inside to continue feasting.

After a while the door opens, and the members of IVE enter the room with casual clothing exhausted and tired, they exchange greetings before joining them at the table to grab some food. After picking up some food they all sat down on the couches and started munching on their food while chatting.

“Uh Why did I decide to become an idol?” Whines Leeseo as she lies back onto the couch munching on the food on her plate.

“It’s so tiring; I can’t imagine having Yujin and Wonyoung unnie’s schedule.” Joins Liz munching on her full plate of food.

“It’s hard to be an idol sometimes but it has its benefits.” Explains Chaewon as she scroll through her phone.

“It is so we must take care of ourselves which means, Wonnie here some more food. You need to eat a bit especially when our managers aren’t here.” Says Sakura as she piles more food onto Wonyoung’s plate knowing that the girl has always been on a strict diet.

“Hmm Thank you Unnie! I miss you so much.” Says Wonyoung as tears formulate in her eyes giving Sakura a tight hug rocking her side by side.

“Ah be careful, you’ll make me drop the food.” Say Sakura as she tries to balance the food on her plate, so it doesn’t fall.

“Unnie, where's my food? I’ve also been on a strict diet recently you know! What is this favoritism.” Complains Yujin shaking her body like a child.

“Ah you big baby, here take the rest of my plate.” Says Sakura, handing her plate to Yujin which she shamelessly takes even though there was still a bunch of food on the table.

The girls continue to eat their food, Leeseo and Eunchae are sitting together on the couch watching drama on their phones. Yunjin, Chaewon, and Gaeul were talking about different make up brands, while Kazuha, Rei, Liz, Yujin and Wonyoung were just watching the performances on the TV.

Soon, they all hear the crowd cheer loudly causing them to all walk out onto the balcony and turn their attention towards the stage. It seems like they were about to announce the teams. Standing in front of the stage, the MC stands still and behind him were three large led screens with the middle one behind the other two, displaying the VCT Pacific Logo in the middle screen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the King of the Pacific, Paper Rex!!!" The crowd erupted into cheers as the announcer introduced each member of PRX, each player walked confidently onto the stage, acknowledging their fans with waves before taking their positions in the middle of the stage.

"Now, please welcome the three-time Masters winner, aiming to clench the golden road and the greatest team from the West, SENTINELS!!!" The announcer's voice boomed through the arena as Sentinels' logo appeared on the large screens.

The crowd erupts in a deafening roar as music fills the arena, accompanying each team member's entrance onto the stage.

“SENTINELS! SENTINELS! SENTINELS!”

"Known for his split-second decisions and mechanical skill, the Duelist of Sentinels, Zekken!"

The audience cheers as Zekken confidently walks out onto the stage, acknowledging the crowd with a nod while an image of Zekken appears on the right screen with his name along with his role on the left screen.

“Known for his versatile champion pool and being the vibe merchant, The Flex player for Sentinels, Zellsis!”

Zellsis grins widely and waves to the cheering fans, adding to the electric atmosphere.

“Renowned for his leadership in both strategy and clutch plays, the IGL of Sentinels, JohnQT!”

JohnQT raises a fist in acknowledgment, soaking in the crowd's energy.

As the fourth player took the stage, the crowd's anticipation grew to a fever pitch, welcoming their glorious king, emerging from the road of redemption, and after years away from Champions since 2021.

“The face of Valorant, known for his flashy and risky plays with unparalleled mechanics, Now Controller of Sentinels, TenZ!”

TenZ walks onto the stage with a wide smile holding his signature blob fish, he waves to the sea of fans filling every seat in the massive arena. The girls in the suite watched in awe, taken aback by the intensity of the crowd's cheers for a single player.

“ Wow! He is very popular.” Said Leeseo in awe at the volume of the crowd chanting his name.

"Yeah, the crowd is cheering like it’s a concert," remarked Wonyoung, impressed by the fervor of the crowd.

“I guess that’s why he is the face of Valorant.” Comments Chaewon leaning against the railing head on her palms.

“Yea and he is engaged too. He is just winning in life.” Comments Sakura causing the younger ones to snicker at her.

"Hmm, where’s their final player?" wonder Kazuha aloud.

Suddenly, the stage plunged into darkness and silence, causing the cheers to abruptly halt as all eyes turned toward the stage. From the speakers around the arena, loud, deliberate footsteps echo throughout the stadium causing people to shudder.

Step.

Step.

Step.

The sound stops. A spotlight illuminates a figure with black hair and snow-white tips, standing on the stage. Staring down at the ground before slowly lifting his gaze forward, revealing a strikingly handsome face framed by the brightest blue eyes.

The crowd erupted tenfold, their cheers reverberating through the arena as they chanted his name, "JIN-WOO!"

“EH Yujin isn’t that guy from the Aquarium.” Says Wonyoung in confusion pointing at the figure below.

Yujin stares at the captivating handsome figure in absolute shock, someone who annoyed the hell out of her to no end with his cocky attitude, was standing right there on the stage being cheered by thousands of fans.

“EHH OPPAAA!” Screams Eunchae leaning way far forward, almost falling over the railing causing the blanket to fall on the ground.

“HUH OPPA???” yell the girls staring at Eunchae in confusion.

On the stage stood the Sentinels' superstar, renowned for consistently rescuing the team in crucial rounds, clutching victories when they are most needed, his mechanics and ability to set up both his teammates and himself for insane plays. He is the player who everyone deems as the best player of Valorant. The Honored One, Hong Jin-woo.

Waving coolly at the fans, Jin-woo walks to his teammates who were laughing their ass off as they didn’t actually think he would actually make this kind of entrance. They slap him on the shoulders playfully before making their way to their designated side of the stage to huddle. As Jin-woo walks with his teammates, he glances up at the suite and notices the bewildered expressions on the girls' faces, especially Eunchae and Yujin.

Locking eyes with Eunchae, he blows her a flying kiss, eliciting a cute pout in return. Chuckling softly, he then turns his attention to Yujin and gives her a playful wink combined with a smirk. However, instead of amusement, Yujin appears thunderstruck, her eyes turning red and her ears practically emitting steam as she simmers with irritation. The girls instinctively took a step back, visibly unnerved by the sight of an angry Yujin, whose wrath was known to be fearsome