nothing new

“are you kidding me? knifepoint killed you in points. if it weren’t for the fucking poland format, you would have been like fourth,” taek scoffed. he hated the poland format. sunok’s team didn’t deserve shit. “funny. the only bitch here is you, and we all know it.”

“yeah, yeah, okay. i’ll leave that content for my youtube channel,” she giggled. she shrugged. “kyungtaek is the only one whos really an asshole. and i’m not a fan of dongwoo. but ruiqi is super sweet, and mingi seems like a nice kid too….”

“yeah, well, i shouldn’t be the person you’re playing with for youtube content anyway. i don’t have the right energy,” she retorted. “i know ruiqi, i guess. she’s not half bad. kind of feel bad for her because of the shit she has to put up with. but i guess i’ll take your word on mingi too..... for now.... he has a lot to prove.”

“with the meta shift and you not getting to play your precious revanant? i was a little nervous,” she joked, wrapping her arms around one of sunok’s. “i believe in us! and can you believe champs is going to be a LAN? we have to make it– we have so much practice to put in…”

“um, whore, i’m a top level flex player who can play anyone you put me on. how dare you doubt me,” she scoffed, looking at narae, disgusted. “oh, i know. if those knifepoint weasels make it and we don’t, i’m slashing someone’s tires.”

“god, you really are as big of a bitch as everyone says you are,” taek laughed, shaking his head. “i’m fine. you have a lot to work on– movement, aim…maybe  you just oughta switch to controller. even get a strike pack for gods sake. i won’t tell– it’ll make your gameplay bearable.”

“you say that as if i consider it an insult,” sunok answered. “run your mouth, taek. but you got kicked off your team to make the team better, and even the better team without you got their asses handed to them in grand finals by me and my girls. you’re not the big dog in the yard. you’re the bitch chihuahua in the corner who yips away but has nothing to him.”

“i mean, i am joking, but rampart’s fun!” hyeja insisted. “they need to buff her passive and give her a different ulti. her q is such a good idea and i think it’s brought down by the rest of her kit. but honestly, sheila is so much fun, so i’m not even mad at that either,” she giggled. “we’ll get narae to play with us! or suri! maybe mingi! nice people and good vibes only.”

“she just doesn’t suit the game. and if we’re playing, i’m not about to get annoyed for you being useless because you have no abilities,” sunok warned with a tiny smile. “mingi?  you mean that punk from the knives? you buddy buddy with all of them?” she scoffed.

“of course i want to play with you,” hyeja replied with a smile, cocking her head to the side. “i love playing with you! and i think we should play more in general– our chemistry as a team will only improve the more we play with each other casually, you know? play whoever you want! play rampart for all i care! honestly, that’d make great content…”

“i know you’re joking, but if you play rampart, i’m turning the game off,” sunok warned. “but yeah.... fine. if i can play rev, and if our third isn’t an asshole, i’ll play. but just because you want to play with me. i don’t give a shit about pred.”

“alright, true. i stand corrected. any time you get loud, i know there’s something wrong,” narae agreed with a tiny chuckle. “i want us to work too. there are so few women in e-sports, and in apex especially. i want us to go the distance.”

“so do i. it’s going to be so fresh when we come out of nowhere and get top ten in the winter circuit,” sunok said with a wry smile.

“i don’t doubt it. you kind of remind me of him, you know– all grumpy and loud,” narae teased. “no octane…maybe rampart…..kidding, kidding. i really appreciate you being so open to try new things, though. it makes finding something that really works for all of us so much easier.”

“please-- i’m grumpy and quiet,” sunok corrected with an eyeroll and a smile. “i’ve been on a lot of teams where i was discounted. i have great gunskill and great ideas-- i want this to work, and it will because you take me seriously. that’s all i care about.”

“taek doesn’t play scrims, and he’s the worst of them all! we have to stick it to him!” hyeja pointed out. “i mean…you can if you triple stack, which you totally should for pred anyway. you can play anyone just about if you really want to!”

she sighed, rolling her eyes. “listen, if you really want to play with me, i’ll play. but only because of you-- i don’t give a fuck what knifepoint has to say about me. but i’m playing revanant.”