SHEESH

“okay, so lets workshop it now. tell me– what would you have done to make it work better?” dongwoo challenged.

“wait until you have portal,” keean said bluntly. “from what i saw, you were maybe 10 seconds away from having it. mingi has his q, you all get to the position you want without taking damage and don’t waste heals.”

“oh, please. i’m waiting out my contract. i’ll be out of your little blonde pansy hair in no time. just don’t come calling on me when ruiqi has a mental breakdown and can’t play because she’s pms-ing and revenant sounds too mean.”

“homophobic and mysoginistic in the same sentence-- i wish i were surprised,” keean commented, rolling his eyes. “this conversation is over. i can’t keep you from talking to woo or mingi because they are your friends, but stay away from ruiqi. don’t talk to her anymore, or i’ll get hr and management involved-- do you understand me?”

“i guess i didn’t think of it like that,” he admitted. “i mean, we’re going to have to change characters as the metas shift though aren’t we? algs doesn’t start up for a couple months– we have time to practice….”

“yeah, i know. but its easier to make those shifts one by one. or have someone default to a secondary character they’re already comfortable with, like woo on caustic or crypto. too many changes just opens up so many opportunities for disaster.”

“isn’t he just going to be a dick to you instead? i don’t want to put you through that,” ruiqi answered, chewing her bottom lip. “the less people he bothers, the better.”

“he’s a dick to me anyway-- he doesn’t like the concept of coaches, even if i’m not technically his coach,” keean assured her with a shrug. “it doesn’t bother me. he’s just insecure and taking it out on the world. and i rather he take it out on me than  you. you’re the one who needs to keep your mental strong for tourneys, right?”

“i’m down! i definitely need the practice. and i need to work on having the confidence to call them and talk over woo, too….” he paused. “i have been thinking, though. like if woo doesn’t want to play wraith that’s cool but…most teams have their igl on wraith. and i’m good as other characters. i wonder if it’s worth our time to shift our comp.”

“i think shifting an entire comp is risky and not necessarily worth the little gain,” keean explained. “one of you changing characters means that you have one third of your team having to learn the intricacies of a new legend, and that on its own has enough growing pains. with the entire team switching, it just opens up more room for silly mistakes.”

“what do you know? have you ever been in an algs final? i sure haven’t seen you there,” taek answered, rolling his eyes. “i worked hard to be signed. the fact that i was replaced after is bullshit. anyone with eyes can see that. they signed us as a unit so why replace a piece of that unit?”

“i’m a world ranked overwatch pro, and a top 50 pred. i went to poland invitational. i don’t need to prove myself to you,” keean said firmly. “they own the team, and they can do what they want with it. if you don’t like it, leave. woo and mingi seem to be fine with it, or they’d already be gone.”

“no, but i need a playtest to see how other teams will react to that,” dongwoo answered bluntly. “i’ll keep first runs of risky plays for scrims from now on, but when we’ve already qual’d, i’m not going to phone anything in. i want to practice so we’re set for finals.”

“i just... wish you would have talked to me about this before the game and we could have workshopped a better way to run it,” keean admitted. “because it worked, but barely. there were so many better ways you could have done it.”

“that actually sounds really fun,” she admitted sheepishly, letting out a little giggle. “thanks, keean. i need this.”

“you’re welcome,” he replied with a smile. “you’re good on this team. i’ll deal with taek, okay? i know it’s hard not to focus on him but he can’t do shit.”

she was torn between wanting to roll her eyes, and getting all flustered at the compliments. truly, keean was a saving grace. mingi was really kind to her and she loved being his teammate, but the rest of being with knifepoint had been hard for her. having the coach– the man sort of in charge– embrace her so fully was important to her. “are you sure? i don’t know what kind of meta has crypto and lifeline in it…” she began. “but i mean… of course i’m down! i’m tired of ranked anyway.”

“a pubs meta, obviously. less heals in my inventory means more room for ammo and nades,” keean replied with a laugh. “plus, i’ll get mingi to play loba. the perfect team.” well, it was an ass meta. but it was pubs. who cared?

“we’d have qualified on algs points alone even if we hadn’t gotten second in that tournament. it’s not a big deal,” woo answered, shrugging. “we all know scrims are shit– things like this are our only real chance to get real practice for playoffs. now we know how that sort of move plays out. it’s a net positive.”

“doesn’t matter-- you’re still playing for money. millenium wants to see high placement. if you place high, you stay in their good books and keep all the benefits,” keean insisted. “seriously-- i could tell a mile away it was risky. you really needed to playtest to know that?”

“if people ask questions, i’m going to answer them. and i’m not going to lie or sugar coat. i’m no punk bitch, and the engagement is good,” taek retorted. “maybe your team should get over it.”

“choosing not to speak on it at all isn’t lying or sugarcoating, nor is it blatantly attacking another player,” keean answered. “you’re lucky you’re signed to knifepoint at all, even as a content creator. don’t push your luck.”