Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"That was fun," Kai said as they arrived at the housing facility after their outdoor gym training.

Zeren groaned as he plopped onto the floor.

"Fun? That wasn't fun at all! I feel like my legs are on fire," he complained.

Lina crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Is that so?" she asked in a menacing tone.

"Wait, no," Zeren exclaimed, acting as if he wasn't tired at all. "I'm just—hot, that's all. That's why I'm always on fire," he said, clicking his tongue and pointing his fingers at Lina while smoldering.

Lina shook her head. "It's alright," she said, patting his back and suddenly acting kind. "I'm just doing what I think is best for you, guys. However, tell me when it gets too tough, okay?" she said in a soft tone, surprising the members.

Zeren felt his heart skip a beat.

Maybe...

Maybe he had a chance after all.

"Umm, Lina," he said just as Lina walked to the kitchen.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around.

"Can I tell you something?" Zeren said.

Lina frowned in confusion but nodded nonetheless.

"Sure," she said, completely facing him. "Just tell me right now."

Zeren shook his head with red cheeks. "Later," Zeren said. "I'll go to you later."

Despite Lina's confusion, she nodded in agreement. "Alright, let me just prepare some light snacks before dinner comes."

Zeren nodded once more, feeling more bashful than usual.

Meanwhile, Kai couldn't help but frown at their exchange. Why was Zeren acting like he was going to say something revolutionary to Lina?

Then, he shook his head and stood from the floor before grabbing the ball at the corner of the room.

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Jet, Kun, and Shang, who were already playing with cards, turned to Kai with confused looks.

"Where are you going?" Shang asked.

"Training," Kai briefly said, making their eyes widen in horror.

"You're still going to train—after everything that Lina made us do?" Kun exclaimed.

Kai shrugged. "I need to practice my speed," he said, opening the door and leaving the three of them confused to the core.

"I swear," Jet muttered. "He's not human."

"Be home before dark!" Kun called after him.

Meanwhile, Kai went to the outdoor basketball court to practice his speed in dribbling and passing.

When he was observing Zeke a while ago, it was evident that he was faster than everybody else in the room. However, none of his teammates could match his pace, which also contributed to their loss.

Although the high school players had won, Kai also couldn't deny that he made a lot of mistakes—especially with his passing.

It was only because Calvin was his counterpart in executing their duo plays that he was able to pull some of the plays off.

With that, Kai looked around the court, seeing the snowflakes fall to the ground.

Then, he suddenly had a great idea to aim at specific snowflakes like he was aiming to pass the ball.

Kai knew that it was ridiculous—especially with the size of snowflakes. However, he felt that it would truly hone his skills in passing.

With that, he accomplished the drill that he made himself.

Meanwhile, Coach Hope was once again looking out of the window, seeing what Kai was doing.

"He's the guy you were talking about?" she couldn't help but ask Calvin, who was about to go to the kitchen for some water.

Calvin frowned and looked outside of the frosty window.

His eyebrows shot in surprise as soon as he saw Kai there.

"He's still training after hours?" he muttered, feeling a fire ignite in his heart.

Somehow, seeing Kai so passionate also pushed him to do even better.

"The real question is—what is he doing?" Coach Hope asked. "It appears like he's passing the ball to a non-existent person. It seems like he's having a hard time catching the ball multiple times, too."

Calvin chuckled while scratching the back of his head.

"Well, he is pretty unexpected," he said. "It's hard to gauge what he's thinking about."

Coach Hope's expression became serious.

"Is he someone to look out for?" she asked.

Calvin stayed silent for a moment, looking outside the window to continue watching Kai's stupid-looking antics.

Then, he nodded.

"Yes," he said.

"In fact, he's a threat to my title right now."

***

[Congratulations! You have earned a new skill: Passing Prince.]

[You can pass the ball with more speed and precision!]

Kai smiled as he sat on the bench.

Although his XP didn't increase, he was happy to have earned a new skill.

As his user interface faded, he realized that the skies had gotten darker, making him curse under his breath.

Then, he quickly stood before jogging to their housing facility.

"Did I really take too long?" he muttered.

He placed his hand over the knob and was about to twist it open when he heard familiar voices coming from the back of the house.

"Umm, so yeah, thank you for coming here."

"No worries. What did you want to tell me? Make it quick because the other boys are waiting."

Kai couldn't help but frown when he realized who the two were.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Zeren and Lina.

Just then, the conversation they had before Kai went to practice echoed in his mind.

He stepped forward and hesitated for a moment. However, in the end, his curiosity got the best of him.

So, with that, he moved closer to them and leaned against the cold, hard wall, making sure he wasn't seen by the two of them.

Kai anticipated what Zeren was going to say. However, he quickly frowned when he realized that Zeren was just breathing heavily.

Lina sighed impatiently.

"Come on," Lina said. "We've known each other for a long time now. We weren't friends, but I practically know you since we were in diapers," she continued.

Kai's eyebrows raised in surprise. Now, that was news for him. However, thinking about it, the situation was very plausible since their dads were already close.

Zeren let out another deep breath before finally dropping the bomb.

"Lina, I know that I make it obvious, but you might still think it's a joke."

"However, I'm going to be genuine...utterly genuine."

With one last deep breath, Zeren finally said the words in his heart.

"I like you."