Kai didn't want to see Sir Dao after class. Seeing his raisin-looking face would not only ruin his day, but it would also mean he'd be late to his very first basketball practice.
He was already late to the tryouts, so he definitely didn't want to repeat history.
Kai looked around, observing his classmates' faces. Then, he stared right back into Sir Dao's eyes. Thankfully, his bangs occluded his orbs, so it wasn't obvious that he was glaring at the old man.
If he accepted his score, then it would confirm that he, indeed, cheated on the assignment.
If he chose the other option, then he was sure he was going to be late for his first basketball training.
However, in those two options, Kai knew he was going to be doubted either way.
So, he shrugged and sat back down in his seat, accepting his score of zero. His classmates looked at him with judging expressions even though they, themselves, copied other people's homework.
Sir Dao smirked as he walked over to the board. Then, he shook his head, muttering to himself.
"That's what I thought."
Bao looked at Kai with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kai," he whispered. "I think I made it worse with my stuttering."
Kai shrugged. "It's fine. It's just an assignment anyway," he brushed it off.
Besides, he didn't come here to be the same good student that he was before. If they wanted to paint him as a bad student, then so be it. It would save Kai plenty of time studying and doing assignments anyway.
"Why didn't you insist that you didn't copy my work, though? You came late, so there was no plausible way that you could copy my answers—unless you're a psychic," Bao pointed out.
Kai shook his head and leaned back against his seat. In reality, he was fuming inside, wanting to rip the old man's hair (even though he doesn't have that much anymore) out of his scalp.
"He's not worth my time," Kai responded.
"Besides," he smirked. "I have basketball training in the afternoon. I can't miss out on that."
***
Kai must have spoken too soon.
This wasn't the basketball training that he had anticipated.
As soon as he arrived, he was met with curious gazes, most of them marveling at his glorious height and physique that exceeded the normal physics of a first-year student in the country.
Unfamiliar and familiar faces could be seen in the court. Kai saw Jinping and Zeren along with the group that played during the tryout game.
Zeren looked a bit down—probably because Lina wasn't around.
He tried walking to them, but then he felt someone pull on his uniform.
He turned around and saw a guy, about a foot shorter than him, shaking his head. Then, he pulled Kai to the corner, where the unfamiliar guys resided. He also saw the guy who drank sour milk among them, drinking yet another milk carton.
Kai just hoped it wasn't expired this time around.
"Kai Guo?" the guy who dragged him asks.
He nodded.
"Hmm, you're taller than I had imagined. Your body's pretty good, too. Such a shame that your face didn't live up to it, though," he seriously said, causing Kai to frown.
"Well, my name is Dylan, and these are my boys," he introduced himself.
Kai glanced at the four other players behind Dylan. It wasn't obvious that they were players of the team since they all wore different colored jerseys.
However, he still nodded at them in acknowledgment. Some of them evaded his gaze, feeling frightened of the tall, troublesome boy. Alen, on the other hand, threw him a curt nod.
"Dylan…are you from overseas?" Kai couldn't help but ask. He certainly didn't look like it, but his name suggested that he might be.
"Yes," Dylan proudly answered.
One of the guys behind him scoffed. "Not at all. He just wanted to name himself after that new leading man in that show Meteor Shower…or Village or something."
"Idiot," Dylan deadpanned. "It's Meteorite Garden!"
"Yeah, that," the guy said.
Dylan clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's talking about."
"I definitely do!" the guy exclaimed, finally walking over to Kai.
"Hi! My name's Tony. The guys behind me are Sunny…and I'm sure you've met Mingze and Alen during the tryouts."
Kai once again nodded silently.
"You're not much of a speaker, aren't you?" Dylan nudged his shoulder. However, because of their height difference, it was more of a nudge on the elbow. "Makes me think about those stories about you."
Kai didn't respond this time around, either. In reality, he just wasn't good at interacting with new people.
"Well, welcome to the second-string team!" Leo exclaimed. "I can't believe there's six of us now. After some of our seniors graduated, it was only us three for a while."
Kai couldn't believe his ears.
"Six?" he asked. "There's only six of us?"
"Yes!" Sunny exclaimed. "We're such a huge number now, aren't we?"
Kai's eyes twitched as he gazed at the excited trio. How was he supposed to complain that six members for a second-string team were too few when they looked so happy like this?
Just then, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of squeaking shoes and bouncing basketballs. He turned his gaze to the court and saw the current members of the first-string team finally starting their practice.
He saw Zeren and Jinping already wearing their jerseys—numbers 12 and 13, respectively. He felt more determined to get his jersey, too. Not only so he could feel like an official member of the team but also to fulfill his weekly quest.
Then, he turned back to the second-string players in confusion.
"Aren't we playing with them?" he asked.
"Oh, no, no!" Dylan exclaimed, making Kai's heart drop.
"We never ever interrupt the first-string players' practice! It's their only time on the court since the badminton team practices here in the mornings," he explained.
Kai frowned. "What are we going to do then? Do we just watch them?" he sarcastically asked.
"Yup," Dylan said, sitting down on the bench and crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Sometimes, we train after they've finished, but then, we would miss dinner time."
"Yeah," Tony nodded. "We're like background characters in this court."
"Hey, don't call us background characters," Sunny chimed, sounding a bit offended.
"We're more like supporting characters! We even clean their balls, too!" he exclaimed, causing Alen to spatter the milk inside his mouth.
"Their testicles?" Alen bewilderedly asked, milk dripping down his chin.
The three old members of the second-string team burst into laughter.
"The basketballs, of course!"