Chapter 43 - Flirtatious Glances

"The man sitting on the adjacent booth, he is throwing flirtatious glances over our direction. Does he like me?" Stephen uttered loudly. Somehow, he could sense that the man was familiar but he could not remember where he saw him. He made sure to speak in a loud voice as he intended to make the other players overhear his remarks.

"Which booth?" Joey asked. His attention was initially on his phone when he heard the complaint of his friends. The man looked up and glanced at the different booths.

Claire and Clark also looked up. Meanwhile, Sofia was just typing something on her phone and was engrossed by it. Her fingers were so busy tapping the device that she did not pay much attention to their subject of interest.

"I think you are referring to the founder of the Lee Gaming Squad in the 5th booth? Dude! That man is straight! Why would you assume that he is staring at you?" Clark chuckled as he noticed that there was only one both with a player that was looking in their direction.

"Just look at him and you'll see! He is throwing flirty glances on me!" Stephen replied. He glared at the man once more and carefully crossed his legs as he comfortably leaned his back on the sofa.

Truth be told, Brent was indeed looking at the Chronos group. When Clark met his gaze, the man also smiled and winked!

Clark was horrified and quickly looked away! It was the first time in his life that a man winked at him while giving him a seductive look.

"Damn! I know that man. He is Brent Lee and is one of the richest people in the district! He actually winked at me!" Clark shivered. While he felt the goosebumps on his skin. Just now, he was defending the man but, he was no longer sure of his emotion after he saw him winked!

Suddenly, Clark heard a loud sigh from Claire. He looked at her and saw the playful smile on her lips.

Joey's hands instantly flew in the air and gently hit on Clark and Stephen. It landed perfectly at the back of their heads. The faint 'pak' sounded at the same time.

The two immediately glared at him.

"Why did you do that?! That hurts bro!" Stephen sneered while Clark remained silent as his fingers pressed the area that was hit. He kept rubbing the back of his head.

"The two of you are really thick-faced! That man is not looking at you. He is looking at Sofia!" Joey said with a smirk on his lips. He knew that he did not place any force on his hands when he smacked them. So, he just laughed at their reactions.

Claire giggled and nodded her head to support Joey's claim. She was amused that the two have thought that Brent was seducing them! "Guys, he is really looking at Sofia and not the two of you!"

"EHHH? Is it?" Stephen glanced at Sofia. The lady was still busy looking at her phone. Out of a sudden, her head tilted towards the direction of Brent and she waved a hand at him. The man also waved back at her.

The two had been exchanging chat messages! While Sofia's attention was on her phone, Brent had been looking in her direction which Stephen misunderstood!

But as soon as realization dawned upon Stephen, his face turned sour. He felt a sudden tug in his chest. "You know him, Sof?" he quickly asked.

Sofia nodded his head and replied, "We met on a different game before. It was a long time ago. He is a good friend. I taught him how to play."

When she first received the message from Brent, Sofia was hesitant to send a response. She had no idea about the man and the first message was just, "It's me, Brent."

The text was so vague that she just ignored it. But after he proceeded to introduced himself further, she also found out in the memory of the original Sofia that the man was her online friend. And that they were somehow close to each other before.

"Are you sure that he is just an acquaintance? He winked at you!" Stephen quickly emphasized what the man just did. In his mind, such action is not just from someone that Sofia had acquainted.

"We are good acquaintances. A close friend in the game but we have never met in real life before." Sofia explained and finally placed her phone down. Such a relationship was not strange for them who met strangers in the game daily. Some strangers would eventually become a close friends.

Brent's last message was informing Sofia that he was one of the participants. He also recounted some of the good times where they played together. To which Sofia replied, "good luck to us, may the best squad win!"

~

"Clark, our next match will be against your brother." Claire suddenly inserted after Stephen went silent.

"Yes, my brother said good luck." Clark simply responded.

"Your brother is a marksman user, you would be the first target every time he gets the opportunity to deal damage against us," Claire said in a confident tone. She had been observing the gameplay of James and could not help appreciating his skills. The man was too good with locking a target to kill! Such ability was definitely worthy to be respected.

They have planned their next play. Joey would switch from the support user to a fighter. The rest would maintain their role.

"AHHH, your brother would be troublesome when he gets the upper hand and the items in the early game. Their gold earnings and exp earnings in the jungle must be restrained and steal." Joey also muttered.

"The jungle, I can harass them. Clark, we will steal the jungle while Claire gets ours." Sofia said.

"It's too dangerous, Sof!" Clark suddenly became alert. On his first match, he had just remained on the base. There was no pressure on his safety. But now, Sofia actually asked him to join in jungle stealing!

"It is dangerous. But, just enjoy the game. Don't worry about the risk of dying, our characters can resurrect. It's no longer like the initial match. As long as the base is not destroyed, you will have the opportunity to play! The riskier you play, the more you'll enjoy the game." Sofia spoke lightly as she encouraged Clark not to think too much and enjoy the risks.

"Alright. Hehe, Then, I will join you. We will steal their jungle!" Clark finally agreed even though he was not sure about the outcome. He could only rely on Sofia's arrangement as he trusted her decision on their next match.