Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

The first day back after winter break.

Somehow, it seemed more exciting than the first day of school.

It may be due to the fact that they already had a feel for the school, and some have even developed crushes.

All in all, the month-long vacation refreshed their minds and allowed them to become better versions of themselves, which consisted of staying at home and desperately trying to improve themselves.

However, this was not applicable to everybody.

Not every student came back.

Feng Arts High celebrated the opening of a self-owned cafe on campus, and young kids who were definitely not old enough to drink caffeine drank the sweet coffees that were too strong for them.

In their hands were the free sandwiches that the cafe had generously provided.

As they walked to their classrooms, however, they couldn't help but notice the new faces in their school.

Once face was particularly familiar as he entered through the school gates.

The students of Feng Arts High turned around, whispering among themselves about the newcomer.

"Hey, isn't he new?"

"I think I've seen him before!"

"Oh, he played during the Winter Cup."

"He was pretty impressive then."

"Why is he here, though?"

"Isn't it obvious? The Feng Foxes recruited him."

"Woah, our team is going to get stronger again."

"Wait...isn't he from Shizi High?"

Meanwhile, the principal of Yin Yang High decided to give out free refreshments to the students to represent the fresh new year.

"Max!" Ailun exclaimed as soon as he saw their star player.

Max, who was already surrounded by a crowd, excused himself to go to his friends.

Fabin and Ailun teased him as soon as he arrived at where they were.

"Well, Mr. Popular is surely busy in the morning," Fabin smiled.

Max shook his head as they started walking to their classroom.

"They're just asking about the basketball team," he said.

"Those people are definitely not interested in basketball. They're interested in you," Fabin deadpanned.

"Well, Max is our most popular member," Ailun teased. "He even has the most merch sales! It's comparable to the local professional athletes. It must be because of his good looks."

"Eyy," Fabin said. "Max isn't that handsome. Yuze is more handsome than him. It's more attributed to his skills."

Max rolled his eyes. "Whatever. You're right, though. Yuze is more handsome. Even the Onion Boy is more handsome," he said, recalling how Kai looked when he brushed his hair up for a second.

Fabin and Ailun stopped walking as soon as they heard such words.

"What?" Max asked, confused as to why they suddenly stopped.

"What...did you just say?" Fabin asked in disbelief.

"I said—what," Max deadpanned.

"No, before that," Ailun said. "I think I just heard you say that Kai was handsome."

Max shrugged. "Well, his face doesn't really show because of his long hair, but he is pretty handsome. Haven't you guys noticed?"

The two were silent for a few seconds before bursting into full-blown laughter.

Max frowned as he the two of them clowned his statements.

"Whatever, man," Ailun said. "I'm starting to think that you're really infatuated with Onion Boy."

"Exactly," Fabin smirked, squaring his shoulders and holding his chin up high. "I'm way more handsome than that guy!"

Max shook his head and was about to say something when he felt his phone vibrate. It seemed like he wasn't the only one since Ailun and Fabin also checked their phones.

They read the text that Coach Guanyu had sent in their group chat before lifting their heads.

"Coach wants us to go to the court this early in the morning?" Fabin asked.

Max shrugged and placed his phone back in his pocket.

"Let's go," he said.

"It says here that he wants us to meet someone new."

"Must be a new player."

***

On the other hand, Shizi High didn't have a newly opened cafe or free refreshments.

Instead, one of the painted letters on their school gate had faded dramatically, which made it look like they were a new school.

"Shiz High," Kun read. "I didn't notice it had faded so fast."

"Honestly, it sounds pretty cool—sheesh," Jet said, biting his lip and narrowing his eyes like a cool boy.

Kun pursed his lips before sighing in disappointment.

"Don't do that again," he warned before heading inside the school gates.

Jet clicked his tongue and followed after him.

As soon as they entered through the school gates, they saw a familiar face from far away.

It was none other than Lina handing out fliers to the boys in the school.

Kun and Jet turned to each other with knowing smirks before heading to their manager.

Then, when they were near, Kun changed his voice and tapped his shoulder.

"I'm interested," he said in a deeper voice.

Lina turned around with a bright smile, about to hand him a flier. However, as soon as she saw it was Kun, her smile dropped, and she hit him on the shoulder.

Kun's eyes widened as he held onto his sore shoulder.

"What the heck?" he exclaimed. "Do you think other boys would like to join our team if they knew that our manager is mistreating us as such?"
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Lina rolled her eyes. "So dramatic," she muttered.

Jet chuckled and stood next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulder.

"You're working hard this morning," he chimed. "Are there any interested applicants?"

Lina smiled once more.

"Well, some have taken it out of courtesy, but I think more people are interested because of our results in the Winter Cup!"

"That's great," Kun said. "We need more substitutes for the Interhigh Preliminaries if we want our chances of winning to increase."

"And that's exactly why I'm doing this," Lina smirked.

"Let's talk about it later after training," she continued.

Then, she looked around, frowning, when she realized that there was someone missing.

"Where's Yuze, by the way?" she asked.

Kun paused before scratching the back of his neck.

"Isn't he with you? He usually checks the court in the morning."

"He's not," Lina said. "Isn't he supposed to be with you? The two of you go to class together, right?"

"Well, yeah," Kun said. "But he didn't reply to my texts this morning."

Jet brushed them off. "Let him be. He might be taking Xiaobo to school again."

"Ah, right," Kun smiled.

"That must be it."