Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"I've already come to accept that," Renren said. "I'm used to it now."

Kai pursed his lips and thought for a moment.

If his financial situation was holding him back, then Kai would truly have a hard time bringing him back to the team.

"Can't you talk to your dad about it?" Kai asked.

Renren chuckled. "He's already having a hard enough time as it is. He's working two jobs just to keep us afloat. I don't want to burden him by going to school and lessening my work hours."

Kai sighed and looked down at his lap.

Although Kai couldn't do anything about their financial situation, he felt like he could change Renren's perception of the basketball team.

"How about this then," Kai said. "Do you have some time tomorrow?"

Renren frowned. "No," he said. "I'm working all day."

"Oh, come on," Kai said. "The restaurant closes early. Why don't the two of us play basketball, huh?"

Renren stayed silent as Kai mentioned the sport that he loved.

Kai smirked. "I know that you're tempted," he teased. "It'll just be the two of us. Then, I'll treat you to dinner. How does that sound?"

"I'm sure you missed playing," Kai continued. "Or maybe you don't want to go because you're afraid I'm going to beat you?"

Renren clicked his tongue and faced Kai.

"It needs to be quick. I have to be home before my dad does."

"That's fine with me," Kai said, pursing his lips to suppress the smirk that threatened to appear.

"Fine," Renren finally agreed. "Where are we going to meet?"

"Near Richgate," Kai responded. "We can play there. I'll go right after training."

Renren nodded. "Alright," he said. "I'll meet you there by 6:30 PM."

"Perfect," Kai chimed. "Our training ends by six."

Just then, they heard the sound of the door opening, so they quickly stood.

The door opened, revealing a tall Chinese man with an exhausted smile. His eyes appeared red, and his hair was already graying. Nonetheless, he still appeared distinguished.

"Dad," Renren greeted. "What took you so long?"

The middle-aged man scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry," he said. "I had to take the key from the owner."

Renren sighed and grabbed his bag from the chair before placing it on.

"Let's go then. I want to sleep," he said.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged man looked at Kai curiously.

Kai pursed his lips and bowed deeply.

"And who is this?" he asked. "You're from Shizi High. Are you a friend of Renren?"

Kai was about to respond, but Renren beat him to it.

"He's just a customer," he said. "He's also leaving."

Kai shook his head in amusement.

"Thank you for fetching us this late in the night," he said before bowing his head once more.

"It's alright," the man kindly said. "I needed to take my son home, after all."

Renren's cheeks reddened with his dad's kind words.

Kai smiled. It really did seem like they had a good relationship.

"Well, I shall get going now," Kai said.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Renren," he greeted, waving his hands before making his way home.

He decided to walk since there weren't any buses available at that time.

Then, he checked his phone, halting when he saw over 50 missed calls.

Grandma Bingbing.

"Crap," he muttered. "She's going to kill me."

***

Kun leaned his hands against his knees as their practice game ended. They had decided to conduct a 5v4 game, with the latter team consisting of Kai, Yuze, Andy, and Jinping.

Although they had fewer players, the team with four players annihilated their opponents.

"It's not fair," Kun said, downing his sports drink before collapsing to the ground.

"You guys are monsters!" he exclaimed.

Kai smirked as he looked at his teammates.

A formidable all-rounder.

A sharpshooter.

A great defender.

And him? He still didn't know what to call himself.

With their combination, they would be a force to be reckoned with.

If Zhou Renren, an aggressive playmaker, were to join their team, then they would be nearly perfect!

"You guys didn't even stand a chance!" Andy said with a smug smirk, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Jet and Kun turned to each other before shaking their heads.

"You! I knew you were annoying the first time I saw you," Jet said with narrowed eyes.

"Annoyingly good," Andy smirked. "You can't even block my shots."

Jet pursed his lips to prevent himself from screaming in frustration.

Then, he knelt on the ground, appearing like he had aged more than ten years.

"I thought I had escaped the likes of Zeren when he left. It looks like we have another menace in the team."

Andy smiled. "Just say that you're jealous of me."

Jet went to Andy and squeezed his neck.

"You may be taller, but I can still choke you to death!" Jet exclaimed.

With that, the two of them started wrestling on the floor.

The players looked at them before shaking their heads.

"Goodness," Kun muttered. "What kind of team are we?"

"That's enough," Yuze said, causing the two of them to stop.

Well, at least they still feared Yuze to some extent.

"Let's go," Yuze muttered. "We won't have any training tomorrow because Lina and I are going to register our team at the city's basketball committee office."

"Right, Lina?" he said.

Lina, who appeared deep in thought, snapped out of it and enthusiastically nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "It's official. We're going to be joining the Interhigh Preliminaries."

The players turned to each other with excitement. However, even then, they couldn't shake away their nervousness.

"Are we going to keep this set of current members?" Jinping asked.

"We don't have any other choice," Yuze said. "We have six starting players in rotation. When the tension on the court eases, we can have you play too," he said, pertaining to the benchwarmers of the team.

Kai pursed his lips. That was right. He only had around a day to get Zhou Renren to come back to the team.

With that, he cleared his throat, capturing their attention.

"Do you want to go somewhere today?" June asked, making the members surprised.

"O-ho, what's this?" Jet asked. "Where are you inviting us to?"

"I'm treating you guys to dinner," Kai responded.

"Then, I'm in!" Jet exclaimed. "I'm not passing up on the free food."

"I can go too," Lina chimed. "My dad is working overtime again."

Jinping clicked his tongue. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Oh, you can go home if you want to," Kai said, causing Jinping to purse his lips.

"I'm going," he whispered.

"Me too," Andy chimed. "But, is there going to be potatoes?"

Kai turned to Yuze and Kun.

Yuze pursed his lips, appearing deep in thought.

"Come on," Kun said. "This is the first time Kai is going to treat us."

Yuze sighed before nodding.

"Fine."