The fourth quarter comnced, and it seed like the gap between the Shizi Dogs and the Xing Stars remained the sa.
If the ga continued like this, then Yuze would be afraid that the Shizi Dogs would walk away from the court and the entire Winter Cup.
The audience was also confused, with even the students from Xing Academy finding it strange that one of their highly-anticipated players hadn't played until this mont.
"What is the coach doing?"
"Why isn't Kai Guo playing? I ca here just for him!"
Suzy turned around when she heard a girl say that. She unconsciously narrowed her eyes at her, making the girl look away in embarrassnt.
However, when Suzy caught herself glaring, she quickly snapped back to reality and focused her gaze on her lap.
"What the heck?" she muttered.
Bao, Mingze, and Alen also found it strange. However, the older mbers of the second-string team weren't too surprised.
"As expected," Dylan said. "Coach Jin is doing this all over again."
Alen heard this and patted his shoulder.
"Again? What do you an?"
Dylan shook his head. "As I said before, Coach Jin doesn't have a good reputation with the older mbers of the basketball team."
"Not only is he absent most of the ti, but in the three years that he had been a coach, he had never helped the team succeed."
"Sohow, he just wants to make himself look better—although, he's shitty at that too," Dylan chuckled.
"I rembered when we were first-year students—when Coach Jin was still more active with the team. There was a promising third-year athlete. He wasn't the best player of the team, but he was still an integral part of it."
"However, he had a similar personality to Kai," he continued.
"He's sweet?" Bao asked.
"He's kind?" Mingze added.
Alen turned to them with wide eyes. "What are you guys on about?"
"But Kai is sweet and kind," Bao muttered.
Dylan shook his head. "He was defiant," he clarified.
"He didn't like how Coach Jin managed their training, and he wasn't afraid to say it."
"He played quite well during the Winter Cup, but Coach Jin didn't make him play in the Interhigh Preliminaries," he said. "Although people say that the Shizi Dogs are all noob players, it seems to that they were just stuck in a lot of unfortunate circumstances."
Bao gasped loudly. "Is he doing the sa thing to Kai?"
Dylan turned to the court and leaned against his seat.
"I think so," Dylan muttered.
Kai bounced his leg on the bench, causing Coach Jin to click his tongue.
"Stop that," Coach Jin said.
Kai sighed loudly and shook his head. "I want to go in, coach. There's still five minutes left yet we're still down by eight points."
Coach Jin pursed his lips. "You've played plenty of tis in the Winter Cup. We need to invest in your other teammates too so that they will be able to play in the next gas," he said.
Kai clicked his tongue in frustration. "How are they going to play in the next gas if we don't have any?"
"Watch your tone, young man," Coach Jin said. "I shall report the matters to the principal if you don't stay compliant. I hid your issue from him because I know you value being part of the team."
"You don't want to lose that, don't you?"
Kai pursed his lips and turned to Lina for help. However, it seed like she was just as helpless as he was.
Yuze also turned to the side, feeling exhaustion consuming him.
Jinping and Zeren were already overwheld, while Gowon and Gongwen seed like complete beginners.
Coach Yixing frowned as he continued watching the ga.
"I thought they had improved a lot," he muttered. "However, it seems like we prepared too hard."
Zedong, too, still found the situation strange. As much as he wanted to win the ga, he couldn't help but feel empathetic for the Shizi Dogs.
They all seed to be in a desperate yet dejected mood.
"Is this it?" Kai asked, feeling sweat forming on his temples despite him only staying on the bench for the whole ga.
Just as he had beco proficient, too.
"Is it going to end like this?" he asked himself.
At that point, it seed like everything turned to slow motion.
Yuze's forceful commands...
Jinping's sweat dripping on the floor...
Zeren's desperate look.
Kun's and Jet's constant yet worried cheering...
And Lina's grip on his arm...
The past three months flashed in his mind, and he wondered if he had truly done his best.
Coach Jin was still by his side, appearing as if he was expecting the team to lose.
Then, Kai gazed at the audience—most of them still rooting for the team.
During their first ga, there were only a handful of students.
However, as ti passed by, they increased—from filling one box of the bleachers to now two.
Yet, Kai couldn't help but feel that they were going to be disappointed today.
People started cheering louder as only a minute was left in the ga.
Everybody did their best, but it seed like the finish line was so far.
Six points.
So near...yet so far.
"This is it," he concluded, the buzzer resounding in the entire venue. Along with that were the cheers of the supporters of the Xing Stars.
The players from the bench joined the players on the court, hugging and even lifting so of their teammates high into the air.
Coach Yixing watched them fondly, clapping to himself since he felt like they had finally redeed themselves.
The noise rang in Kai's ears, reminding him of the loss that he felt like he had no choice but to be a part of.
Then, the sound drowned out, and only the vision of their loss remained.
Disappointed faces.
Tears welling up in the players' eyes.
Zeren collapsing to the floor.
Coach Jin stood and shook his head, leaving the team and not even giving them an ounce of comfort.
Lina tried to be strong, but it was evident in her expression that she was slowly crumbling on the inside.
She really thought that they had the chance—even if it was only a sliver.
This was the farthest they had co in any league, and with Kai's constant improvent, she had so high hopes.
However, it was over.
The Winter Cup was over for the Shizi Dogs.
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