18 A Wednesday Afternoon

Wednesday finally came. 

Lina, the meticulous team manager, settled herself behind the table that contained the manual scoreboard. The gym echoed with the squeaks of sneakers as the original players of Shizi High warmed up. 

The smell of hardwood and the distant footsteps of students leaving the school filled the air.

Lina, armed with a small stack of applications, couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement in her chest. 

As she flipped through the pages, her eyes wandered across the names and credentials of the sixteen potential athletes. A grin crept on her face; this was more than they had anticipated. 

"What's gotten our pretty manager smiling?" Kun asked, placing his bag on the bench and sitting next to her.

"Look," Lina excitedly showed him the stack of papers. "Fourteen first-years and two second-years want to try out for the team." 

Kun's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wow. It's not much, but it's definitely more than I had expected. I remember when Yuze and I tried out, we only had four other people with us." 

"Right?" Lina beamed. "This year must be different," Lina mused to herself, her fingers tracing the words on the applications.

Kun chuckled as he watched their younger members enthusiastically practice on the court. 

"Well, these guys are fired up," he observed. "They don't even work this hard during our official practices." 

Lina smirked in amusement. "Well, they are going to be playing against the applicants. I told them to work hard if they didn't want the team to be embarrassed." 

"They better do a good job if they don't want Yuze to scold them," Kun remarked. "Speaking of…

"Where is that giant?"

"There he is," Lina smiled, pointing to the tall man who just arrived at the gymnasium. He had to duck to get through the doors but his hair still brushed through the door frame. 

Kun and Lina chuckled as Yuze grumbled under his breath. 

"When are they going to renovate this place? I can't even fit through the door," he complained. 

"That's because you're too tall," Kun said. "I fit perfectly well." 

Yuze shook his head. "And that's exactly why you're the small forward."

"Hey!" Kun said, sounding offended. However, Yuze ignored him and moved on to another topic. 

"Do you think Coach Jin will come and visit us today?" Yuze asked. 

Lina pursed her lips. "I asked him to come, but he says he's busy with other things." 

Yuze sighed deeply. "Well, what more did we expect? He's never even been to half of our games." 

"Yeah," Kun nodded, "and it's not like he's much of a help to our team. He only comes when we win things—which is very rare." 

Lina clapped her hands excitedly. "Let's not talk about Coach Jin anymore! The clock is ticking, and the applicants are going to be pouring in any minute now." 

Yuze nodded, gesturing for their other teammates to come round. The others stopped practicing and went to the table where the three were settled. They fell silent as Yuze stepped forward, their eyes fixed on the charismatic leader who had steered them through victories and defeats during the last two years.

Yuze adjudged his well-worn basketball jersey, the number 4 emblazoned on the back like a badge of honor. 

"Team," he began, "today is a special day for us. We will finally meet our new teammates. Last year, we faced setbacks—dropping out of the Winter Cup in the first round and bowing out of the Interhigh preliminaries not long after. But that was yesterday. Today, we strive to be different."

The team nodded, their eyes reflecting a shared determination. Yuze's gaze lingered on each player, acknowledging the unique strengths they brought to the table. "This is my last year," he confessed, a momentary shadow passing over his face. 

A collective gasp of disappointment swept through the team. Yuze raised a hand, silencing them.

"This is not a farewell; it's an encouragement. We need to make it to the Interhigh nationals," he exclaimed. 

Kun smirked, patting their captain's back. 

"Let's do this."

The others exclaimed in agreement. Lina, too, joined in—her soft and feminine voice standing out amongst a group of testosterone-filled voices.

Just then, the gymnasium's doors opened, revealing the first applicants to arrive. 

Lina's eyes sparkled in excitement as the group of three boys wearing different colored jerseys came in. 

"Welcome!" she exclaimed. 

The three boys shyly bowed as the current members sized them up. Their physique wasn't too impressive, but that wasn't really the sole basis of a good basketball player. 

"Place down your bags on these chairs and line up," Yuze instructed. 

"Quickly," Yuze urged when he saw the hesitation in their movements. That led the three lanky first-years to bolt to the seats before lining up in the middle of the court. 

It didn't take long before the others started arriving. Yuze continued to ask them to line up based on the time they came inside. He glanced at the wall clock, seeing that there were only two minutes left until 4:00, the official start of the tryouts. 

A confident-looking first-year student entered, and Lina's eyes went wide in pleasant surprise. She nudged Kun's shoulder and gestured to the newcomer. 

"What?" Kun asked. "Don't tell me he's your type." 

"No, silly," Lina said. "He's got a good physique for a first-year. It also says here that he was a varsity player during his junior secondary school years."

"Let's see," Kun said, reading the applicant's paper. "Jinping Zhong? His preferred roles are Center and Power Forward. Hmm, let's see what he's got later on." 

Yuze kept his gaze on the clock, waiting for it to hit 4:00. Then, once it did, he shifted his attention to the applicants and started counting them. 

"One…two…five…seven…eleven…twelve...fifteen," he muttered, his eyebrows furrowing. 

"There's only fifteen of you right now," Yuze pointed out. 

Lina frowned, quickly rummaging through the papers to determine who the missing person was. She pulled out the most crumpled piece of paper among the bunch and read the name of the applicant. 

"Kai Guo," she muttered. Attached to the application was his headshot. His eyes were practically non-existent since they were covered by his bangs, and he also had multiple ear piercings. 

"This guy," Kun clicked his tongue, trying to remember where he had seen him. "Isn't he the tall one we saw during the first day?" 

Lina nodded, finally realizing his identity. How could she even forget him? His height and physique were something their team needed! 

"It's 4:01," Yuze sighed. "One thing I hate the most is when teammates are late. Time is a vital element—one that you must respect. If you can't manage your time well, then I have no reason to believe you can manage being in the the team well." 

"Close the doors," he instructed Jet, one of his teammates. 

Jet bit his lip and hesitatingly went to the doors. He was about to close it shut when a tall frame came running, hitting the top of his head on the door frame in the process. 

"Wait!" he exclaimed.