Chapter 90: Fatty, It's Me
“Yes, it’s really me. Now open that door. What are you waiting for? Come on, open it up already,” Tian Tian’s mentor said.
“O-oh, right! S-sorry,” Tian Tian replied, flustered. He pushed open the toilet stall door just enough that he could stick his head out. Then he wiped his face clean again with his sleeve before peeking through the opening. A familiar figure leaned against the wall on the other side. It really is him! His eyes went wide as he pushed the door wide open and stepped out. “Uhm.” He started playing with his fingers while looking down at the floor. “W-why are you here?”
“Because a little bird told me you had another nervous breakdown. They had a pretty compelling story. Got me curious. So, Worlds hasn’t gone your way, huh?” The man pushed himself off against the wall and looked right at Fatty. He started smiling and mocked, “Crying in bathroom stalls has become your thing, huh? Do you come and decorate the place before you move in?”
Tian Tian stepped back, his back touching the bathroom stall. He scratched his forehead and lowered his head as far as he could to hide the tears.
The man stopped smiling. He’d tried to lighten the mood with a little joke, but it hadn’t worked. How many times have I been here… He started to feel frustrated. “I keep trying to hammer this into your thick skull, but it just doesn’t seem to register. Alright, let’s try this again. Tian Tian, what is the most important quality a professional player absolutely must have?”
“M-mental fortitude.”
“Exactly! Mental fortitude, confidence, whatever you want to call it. You’ve always been a worrywort, I know that. Remember, I’m the one who helped you deal with it all the way up until the end of Season 3… But I don’t know what to say. The you I see right now? You look like a pathetic fat sack of tears. I’ve never seen you look this bad. What happened? How did it get this bad? Where is the best Toplaner in China? Where’d he go? Show me him.”
Tian Tian shook his head. He kept shaking it as he started tearing up again. “N-no. I’ve n-never asked for any of this! T-there is only m-me here! I-i don’t want any of this.”
“If you wanted none of this, you could’ve retired. Just walked away. But did you? No. You’re still here. So you do want to play. And when you play? You’re really good. Fans are going to cheer for you. It’s that simple. Instead of trying to get them to stop cheering for you, why don’t you try and live up to their expectations? China only has one King and no Emperors. You could easily become the second King from our region. It’s a shame you can’t see that. You could be the hero of the LPL. Have you never thought of making your fans proud? And don’t come with that bullshit excuse of not wanting this or not having asked for it or whatever it is you keep saying. You’ve had 5 years to walk away. You’re still here.”