The court beca silent as they watched the ball enter the hoop, just as the buzzer ended.
The players all turned to the referee, awaiting his verdict.
The referee pursed his lips and turned to the professional scorer's table.
At this point, it felt like everything was moving in slow motion.
Kai held his breath as the referee raised his arm and showed two points to the scorer's table.
Then, two points were added to their score, making him finally release his breath.
56-58.
Afterward, they heard a loud roar coming from their side of the bench.
Kai quickly turned to the bleachers and saw around 50 people cheering for them. Their number definitely couldn't compare to that of the Xing Stars, but they were cheering so loudly that it could be mistaken that there were more than 50 of them on the bleachers.
anwhile, the fans at Xing Academy's bleachers remained silent, looking at the devastated team on the court.
So of them let go of their banners, while so even left with disappointed sighs.
On the other hand, so of the players at Xing Stars' bench started crying, acting as if this was their last ga in the league when, in reality, they were just going to be moved to the loser bracket.
Nonetheless, they couldn't help but feel emotional since they fully expected their team to proceed through the league in the winner's bracket. They were also looking forward to playing with the Feng Foxes next.
Now, that seed to be an impossible feat.
Those at the court started walking back to their bench, the sound of Shizi High's students echoing in their minds.
It was true that the worst sound in the world was the sound of your opponent's cheers.
anwhile, the Shizi Dogs still couldn't believe everything that was happening.
Most of them were still frozen, looking at the scoreboard as the students around them continued to cheer.
Then, before Kai could fully internalize what was happening. He felt soone hug him from behind.
His eyes widened in surprise as he was twirled around. However, the person behind him was only able to twirl him once because he was too heavy.
Kai turned around and saw Zeren looking at him with bright eyes.
"Goodness," he muttered. "What do you eat? Why are you so heavy?"
Kai still couldn't believe that Zeren deliberately hugged him.
Zeren recognized the look in Kai's eyes, so he quickly pointed at him.
"Don't be so surprised. I was just caught up in the mont," he said. "I thought you were Yuze for a second, so I did that."
Kai clicked his tongue. "Don't do that again."
"Gladly," Zeren said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking to the side.
"...but you did a great job out there," he muttered. Discover more stories at empire
Kai tilted his head to the side. "What did you say?"
"Nothing!" Zeren exclaid. "You almost cost us the ga. Why would you do an underhand shot all of a sudden?"
With that, Zeren walked away from him, causing Kai to shake his head.
anwhile, Eva's eyes were practically shooting hearts as she looked at June.
"He beca even more handso," she muttered, making Cece even more weirded-out.
"This is why they say that love is blind."
Eva turned to her friend and started shaking her shoulders.
"Didn't you find him handso, too? Who else could pull off an underhand shot like that?"
Cece scratched the back of her head.
"Well, he definitely didn't look handso. It was a little bit ridiculous, to be honest."
"However," she quietly added. "It was pretty cool."
Eva bead and continued ranting about Kai, causing Cece to shake her head in amusent.
anwhile, the Yin Yang Knights began leaving the bleachers. However, Max couldn't help but glance one more ti at the players on the court. His eyes focused on Zedong for a mont, finding the talented and systematic player in an absent state of mind.
On the other hand, Kai looked bashful as his teammates complinted him for the last shot he made.
"Hey, Max!" Fabin exclaid. "Co on. Let's get ready in the holding room."
"Hmm," Max said, following after them.
Then, a small smile appeared on his lips.
"It seems like this year's league would be even more fun," he muttered.
At the Xing Stars' bench, their coach and the players remained quiet, none of them daring to break the silence.
Zedong finally joined them after dazing off for a while, his eyes still unfocused since he couldn't believe everything that had happened.
Coach Yixing noticed this and sighed before placing his hand on Zedong's shoulder.
"It's alright," he said. "You did your best."
With those four words, Zedong's eyes began brimming with tears, surprising his coach and his teammates.
Before they knew it, their bench was already filled with tears, making them look ridiculous from an outsider's point of view. However, Zedong couldn't contain his emotions any longer.
It had been the first ti he felt this way, and now that everything was over, he felt like his hard work for the past two years had just gone down the drain.
"I'm sorry," he began.
"I realized it too late. I shouldn't have stuck to the system when it clearly wasn't working. If only I realized it earlier, then we would have won," he said with teary eyes.
His teammates started shaking their heads.
"It was my fault," one of them said. "I couldn't suppress Yuze."
"No, it was mine. I already knew their plays, but I didn't know how to stop it."
"Boys, stop," Coach Yixing finally said. "All of us had our lapses in the ga—with mine being the biggest one. I took too much pride in our system, and I underestimated the Shizi Dogs. That led to our defeat, and for that, I want to apologize too."
"Now, you have to proceed to the loser's bracket and play with the Daxue Dolphins."
The team cast their heads to the ground.
"However," Yixing quickly added.
"This doesn't an that we've already reached the end. We're only starting out. Being in the loser's bracket is not a disgrace—it's another chance."
Zedong clenched his jaw as he listened intently to their coach.
"Now, we know so of our flaws," he continued. "And we can improve them for our next gas."
Then, Yixing looked at Shizi High's bench, which was still celebrating.
"Then, on our next ga, we'll be able to beat them."
"We won't let them beat our team once again."
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