บท 36: So, We Suck
Yuze told Kai to find a league that would accept the second-string team.
He didn't specify that it had to be the official league for second-string players.
Kai smirked as he made his way out of the classroom. Their classes had just ended and Kai was on his way to the court for his first official training in his new body.
Sure, Mr. Dao described him as the epitome of a bad student just moments ago, but it didn't dampen his mood.
Instead, he happily skipped to the open court without any care in the world. He felt the folded piece of paper from his back pocket and smiled.
Kai was determined for their six-member team to join a league and finally earn their jersey before his weekly mission deadline.
Fortunately, they were going to have their weekly training today, so Kai had some time to talk to them about it.
As he arrived at the court, which was scorching hot because of the afternoon sun, Kai quickly stopped when he saw the attires of his fellow teammates.
They were all wearing jerseys of various colors, looking like they were from different teams.
Dylan definitely had the most extravagant outfit, with a jersey that contained all the colors of the rainbow and a matching rainbow headband to go along with it.
The two other 'veteran' second-string players wore jerseys that were representative of their names. Sunny wore a bright yellow jersey, while Tony wore a red and gold one, almost similar to Iron Man.
Meanwhile, Alen had a green and white one, reminiscent of this favorite milk drink that came in its signature carton. Mingze was definitely the most normal-looking among the bunch.
However, as he turned around, revealing the backside of his black jersey, which had a face drawn onto it, Kai quickly took back his words.
Kai pursed his lips before trudging toward where they were.
"You're wearing white," Dylan deadpanned.
Kai nodded at the obvious statement.
"You can't wear white!"
Kai frowned in confusion. "Why not?"
"Because the first-string players have white uniforms. We'll get mistaken for first-string players if we all start wearing the colors they wear."
Kai sighed. "All teams have white uniforms," he deadpanned. "Besides, should you really be talking when you're the one clad in a rainbow jersey?"
Dylan clicked his tongue and decided to ignore Kai for now. He was already the most rebellious and proactive second-string player he had to interact with! Almost all the players he had, which honestly weren't that many, were compliant with everything he said!
"And I only have this jersey," Kai confessed.
Dylan nodded his head in defeat.
"Fine. You can wear it," he said. "This is our only practice slash training for the week, so we might as well not waste any time."
Kai smirked, already getting the singular basketball stored on the side of the ring and tossing it to Alen.
Alen clumsily caught it with his hands, turning to Kai, still with a little bit of fear.
"Are we going to play?" he asked.
Kai turned to Dylan. "Are we? Or are you going to make us do some drills?"
Dylan pursed his lips and collected himself before responding. The short question stumped the third-year student.
What did they usually do during these practices?
"We usually have fun playing," he said. "So, let's play a game."
Kai shrugged, liking the idea of a game.
"Let's do this then," he said.
"How do we split the teams?" Kai proactively asked.
"Um, veterans vs. newbies?" Sunny suggested.
The others nodded in agreement. With that, they went to the middle of the open court and started the game. Kai felt pretty excited since this would be the first time he was going to play a team game after the tryouts.
Dylan started dribbling the ball, and Kai couldn't help but notice that something was…off. It seemed like he knew how to handle the ball—just not that well.
Mingze tried to take it from him, but he missed it by a very slight margin. With his failed attempt, Dylan passed the ball to Tony.
Tony caught the ball. However, Kai still couldn't shake off the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Alen guarded Tony while Kai focused on Sunny, determined to steal the ball on the next pass.
Tony passed the ball to Sunny this time. However, he didn't really take into consideration that Kai was literally behind Tony.
In the end, Kai's objectives were successful as he reached for the ball with his long arms and intercepted their play.
He smirked and passed it to Mingze since he was the nearest to the hoop and wasn't being guarded by any of the veteran players.
However, Mingze's eyes widened when he caught the ball, and he stood under the ring like a deer caught in the headlights as Dylan ran to where he was.
"Shoot!" Kai exclaimed from a distance.
Fortunately, that seemed to do the trick as Mingze finally snapped out of his daze and aimed the ball toward the hoop.
However, Dylan had finally arrived at Mingze's place.
And before Mingze could shoot it, Dylan had already pushed the ball away from his hand, a resounding slap being heard in the court. The ball fell from Mingze's hand and rolled to the open garden next to the court—where the cheerleaders were currently practicing a routine.
Kai paused for a moment as he tried to comprehend what had happened.
"That was a foul," he deadpanned, breaking the silence in the court.
Dylan pursed his lips. "I…miscalculated."
"Don't worry," Mingze smiled. "I miscalculated, too. I wouldn't have been able to shoot the ball anyway, so thanks for saving me from the embarrassment."
Dylan smiled widely and patted the younger student on the back.
Kai sighed deeply when he finally comprehended what the strange feeling was.
So, this was why they were second-string players.
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