Lillian followed Jasper into the rundown building. The LED board above the door let her know it was an internet cafe. There were electric wires randomly hanging around, showing signs of potential hazard.
The moment Jasper stepped into the establishment, a man seated on the chair welcomed him.
"You're here, Jasper. The boys are looking for you," said the manager.
Before Jasper could respond, the mention of this name caused three men to rush over. The one standing in front had a wide smile on his face filled with relief.
"Jasper, you are finally here! We almost died waiting for you! Why are you so late today?" expressed the man, placing his hand around Jasper.
Jasper furrowed his brows and shrugged his hand off coldly.
At that, the man raised his hands in surrender and stated, "Look at you being so fussy! Alright, I won't touch you."
Another one noticed Lillian and brought up, "Who is this? This is the first time you brought someone in."
"Right. Isn't that your jacket? Could it be that you found a little beauty?" The last man joked.
"Don't hide your face. Let us see."
As one of them took a step closer to her, Jasper intervened by standing in front of her and covering her. He coldly asked, "Do you want to get beaten up?"
The men wriggled their eyebrows teasingly.
"This is the first time I have seen you being this protective."
"This young lady must be special to you."
"Could it that you're finally blooming?"
Their horrible jokes made Jasper feel disgruntled.
As he was about to scold them, Lillian pulled off the hood from her head. She tilted her head from behind Jasper and introduced herself: "Hello, I am Lillian, Jasper's younger sister."
Lillian's soft, polite voice caught these rough men off guard. They awkwardly stared at her for a second before standing up straight and fixing their expressions.
"I am Andrew, and this is Leon, Tyler. We are your anti-social brother's best buddies."
Lillian dark eyes scrutinized them for a second. The novel didn't describe Jasper's friend circle in depth, but among them, Lillian knew there were rotten apples.
Although she had no idea who the individual was, he had a hand in betraying Jasper and having him get captured.
Leon brought up his confusion, staring at Jasper with questioning eyes. "You had another sister?"
Tyler, on the other hand, stepped forward and grinned at her. "Why don't you call me brother? I will show you around the place. They call me the king of the streets here."
The corner of Lillian's lips twitched. Controlling her emotions, she moved closer to Jasper and said, "He can show me around."
Andrew scoffed and placed his hand around Tyler's neck. "Leave it, Champ. You're not going to get a woman like that."
His words angered Tyler. The man kicked on his leg and grabbed on to his hand, twisting it. Andrew retorted by plunging his knee into Tyler's stomach.
Ignoring the fight between them, Jasper's eyes shifted towards Leon, and he asked, "Where is Kevin?"
Leon sighed and shook his head. "That bastard apparently fell off his bike and is now hospitalized with a fractured arm. He is too ashamed to inform you himself. That's why, we are all anxious here."
Jasper furrowed his brows.
Andrew twisted Tyler's neck with his arm in a chokehold and, gathering his breath, cursed, "Those Red Devil bitches are going to have a field day with it! Especially after how they suffered a loss against us last time!"
"Are there no replacement players for Support?" questioned Jasper.
Leon sighed. "They wouldn't be good enough to beat Red Devil."
"Red Devil?" Lillian uttered, "Are you talking about Alex Chen's team?"
This time around Tyler flipped Jason over his shoulder and stepped on his back. Then, he asked, "What? Are you one of those Alex Chen fangirls?
Shaking his head, he continued, "Listen to me, all he has is that good skin of his. Beneath it, he is pretty rotten. If you want to like a man, like a real man like me!"
Lillian scrunched up her nose in distaste.
"Like him? I wish he was dead." Lillian's voice was cold. Then, she offered, "I can fill in for support."
"Eh? Little Sister, you can play?" asked Tyler.
Jasper frowned, annoyed. "Don't make trouble here. Even if mom told me to bring you here, if you're being too noisy, I will throw you out."
Her sharp eyes fell on Jasper, and she retorted, "Do you think I will foolishly offer to fill in if I wasn't confident?"
However, her words were left ignored by her brother. He said, "Contact anyone who can play."
Leon reached out for his phone, about to call when Lillian moved forward and placed her hand on his screen, preventing him from typing. Her abrupt actions caught them off guard.
"I said I can play." This time her voice held more conviction in it.
"You—"
Before he could carry on, Lillian interrupted him. "If you don't let me play, I am going to make trouble here. Alex will think you forfeited in fear."
Jasper's jaw clenched tightly. He thought Lillian was cold and quiet. Unexpectedly, she turned out to be a troublemaker.
"Aren't you afraid I will beat you?" He clenched his hand tightly.
Lillian raised her chin proudly and stated in a matter of fact tone: "You wouldn't dare to."
"The game will begin in ten minutes," Tyler cut in the rising tension between them. "And if little sister says she can play, you could try to believe her. She shouldn't be bluffing."
Jasper's unfriendly gaze fell on her.
For a second there, she thought he was about to belittle and insult her when he ran his hand through his hair and said, "Come on, since you're making such a fuss."
Lillian blinked her eyes.
This reminded her how everytime she wished to play with Alex in her previous life, he would shake her off with familiar words.
Even when he understood how well she played, to him, it was an amateur's luck, and he believed she had no real skills. He made fun of her, letting her know how playing with her would be a waste of time.
However, Alex seemed to have forgotten when he started out, he didn't dare to play with many afraid his parents would find out and punish him.
Back then, Lillian used to regularly play with him. Although she didn't have professional training like him, Lillian believed it wouldn't be embarrassing for Alex to play with her.
Lillian's lips curled up a little.
"I know Alex's weakness the best; I won't let you lose," Lillian stated.
Jasper scoffed. "Sure."