Author's Note: Happy New Year's!  I've been pleasantly surprised to find I actually have readers for stories related to this drama.  I know "Gank Your Heart" wasn't very popular or well-known, but it's a drama that stole my heart (one might even say "ganked" my heart ;)) so any amount of attention from others always makes me happy to see.  I hope some of you will also take the time to drop me a note to let me know what you think.  Particularly since I know these next two stories (Stories #10 & #11) involve an unexpected pairing.  What can I say?  It's a pairing that never occurred to me either, until the drama aired its epilogues and then two of them gave me an idea.  Enjoy!

Story #10 – Chance Meetings

After the 2019 iConquer world championships concluded, Summer returned to Dream Journey and took a look around.  It was empty now, as the hour was late and the doors had closed for business, but once morning arrived he knew it would be a bustling place again. 

Summer was proud of what he’d accomplished since retiring as a competitive esports player.  After he quit the competitive circuit, he had a dream of building a place where players of all levels could not only congregate to play, but also learn from each other.  That dream had resulted in his Internet café, appropriately named Dream Journey. 

Dream Journey could be considered a success among Internet cafés.  It had started out small, but over time, Summer had expanded it until it now included a VIP room for professional players to come and hang out.  He also had large viewing room where customers visiting Dream Journey could also watch competitive games as they were being played.  This past year, he’d even instituted a program where his best friend, Luo Tian, a live commentator, would come to do game replays for the Dream Journey crowd.  It was a popular program and had served to bring in even more business than usual, but for Summer, it wasn’t just about the bottom line.  Like all members of his former team, the Pioneers, he remained active in the sport because he wanted to create a space for players to grow and develop so that they could go on to do bigger and better things in the iConquer community. 

Still, while most days Summer felt pretty good about his life, today, as he wended his way around the empty tables and entered his darkened office, he couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. 

He suspected that much of it had to do with coming down from the high of the world championships.  For the past several days, he’d sat nervously next to his friend, Shu Wen, in the audience watching his cousin and his cousin’s teammates compete.  And then, for the past day, he’d been celebrating their win.  Summer was proud of the Phoenix team and watching them win had been an exhilarating experience, almost as exciting as when his own team had won the world championships, and one he would never forget.  But, as with all moments in life, eventually they had to end and Summer returned to Dream Journey by himself. 

As he took a seat behind his desk and the desk lamp, Summer couldn’t help but reflect on his friends and how they all seemed to have somebody.  Even his own little cousin had abandoned him, preferring to stay with the team.  It wasn’t that Summer didn’t understand; he did.  And it wasn’t that he was bitter; he wasn’t.  He was just… wistful, was perhaps the best way to describe it.

What would it be like, he wondered, to have your heart owned so completely that even if you didn’t see each other for five years, like his friends Sun Ze Yi and Shu Wen had, you would still be dedicated to one another.  There was something really beautiful about that, and Summer wondered if he’d ever be able to experience such a romance. 

Even Ji Xiang Kong, that little rascal, was in a relationship with Qiu Ying. 

But Summer, who was several years older, was all alone. 

In the past, he hadn’t noticed the lack, as there were always fans waiting with their poster board signs and gifts to greet him as he walked past.  But those days were long past and now, the most recognition he received was when someone stopped him for an autograph or photo.  Summer had watched with both amusement and nostalgia as his cousin and the other Phoenix members received a flood of adoration from their female fans after the world championships, and it triggered something inside him.

He needed a change.

Flipping open his laptop, Summer started browsing the Internet and decided that what he needed was a vacation, a change of scenery, and time to recharge.

=//=

The bells over the doorway jingled as Miya pushed through the heavy door to enter the café.  Since the weather outside had turned cool already she paused just inside the door shaking in her jacket a little while looking over the small, but comfortable café for an empty table.  A waitress behind the counter caught her eye and pointed her to a hidden table in the back corner.  Miya smiled, tilted her head in acknowledgment, and waved her hand in gratitude before carefully picking her way through the crowded tables.  As she carried her guitar on her back, she took extra care to not bang it against the customers she walked past. 

When Miya finally reached her table, she relieved herself of the heavy burden with a sigh and propped the guitar in the corner.  She also set her large bag on the inside chair and took the seat next to it just as the waitress arrived with a menu. 

“Latte?” the waitress asked. 

“Mm, thank you.” 

Since Miya had been coming here every afternoon for a week now, the waitress was already familiar with her habits.  She left the menu behind so Miya could take her time to look over it and headed back to the counter to start working on her drink.

When the waitress returned with Miya’s coffee she found her with a notebook already open in front of her.  The waitress wasn’t a musician, so she couldn’t read what was written there, but she recognized the pages as being filled with musical notes. 

“I’ll have the smoked salmon sandwich today,” Miya told the waitress, both of them barely muddling through in English, and then returned to her notebook.

For the past several months, Miya had