After their mini competition that Jian ultimately won (although it did feel like Kai won in general), they went to the cool water spring. The cold water felt like salvation.
Max dunked his head under the surface and erged with a gasp. "This...this is it. This is life. Why didn't we co here first?"
"Because soone thought boiling ourselves alive was a good idea," Jimmy muttered, leaning back against the edge, his arms outstretched like he was auditioning for a spa comrcial.
Zheng smirked, resting his chin on his folded arms. "Hey, it wasn't all bad. We learned an important lesson about endurance."
Kai shot him a flat look. "Endurance? You were the first to tap out after ."
"Details, Captain Serious, details," Zheng said, waving a hand dismissively.
Jian, sitting cross-legged on a shallow ledge, exhaled deeply. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad to finally cool off. My brain felt like it was lting back there."
Max laughed. "That's assuming you had a brain to lt in the first place."
Jian threw a handful of water at him, and Max ducked with a yelp. "Keep talking, Max. See what happens."
"Guys," Jimmy said, rubbing his temples, "can we just have one mont of peace? Just one? Is that too much to ask?"
Kai raised a hand to calm them. "Alright, settle down. Let's not waste this. We've got stuff to talk about anyway."
Max groaned. "Please don't say it's basketball."
"Of course, it's basketball," Kai said, leaning back against the pool's edge. "What else would it be?"
Max sighed. "Great. Can't even relax without turning it into a strategy session. Now, I get why even Yuze is afraid of you."
Zheng's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Yuze's afraid of this guy?" he turned to Kai.
Kai rely shrugged.
Zheng pursed his lips and shook his head. "Then you must be a different breed of monster. I've only seen Yuze a handful of tis, but I'm the one scared of that guy."
After a while, despite their hesitance to talk about basketball, the boys went on a complete rant. It wasn't the basketball talk that Kai was expecting, but hey, it was a start.
"So what if we're young?" Max said, crossing his arms. "We've played in national tournants, for crying out loud. We're not necessarily amateurs!"
"Exactly," Zheng added. "We've been playing for years. It's not like we just picked up a basketball yesterday."
Jian nodded, his brow furrowed. "And they act like we don't deserve to be here. Respect's one thing, but they're treating us like we're not even in the sa league."
"But you're treated well," Max muttered. "Jaw-Long even patted you on the back."
"We've trained together before," Jian nonchalantly said.
"Dang," Max muttered. "I'm not jealous at all."
Jimmy sighed. "They're veterans," he continued. "It's their job to think they're better than us. It doesn't an they're right, though."
Kai listened silently, his gaze fixed on the surface of the water. The others continued to rant, filling the onsen with curse words and petty complaints. It was a good thing they were the only ones there.
"I get it," Max said, throwing up his hands. "They've been playing for years. Decades, even. But co on, give us so credit. We didn't get here by accident."
"They don't see it that way," Kai said suddenly, cutting through the noise.
The group fell silent, all eyes turning to him. "To them, we're just kids. Talented, maybe, but inexperienced. And experience matters. Imagine us in their shoes."
Zheng raised an eyebrow. "What do you an?"
Kai leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "Imagine we're ten years older. We've been through championships, injuries, highs, and lows. We've seen players co and go. And then, out of nowhere, a bunch of high school kids shows up, saying they're ready to compete at our level. How would we feel?"
The others still looked confused, making Kai sigh.
"Let put it in simpler terms. How would you feel if a bunch of middle schoolers suddenly joined your team just because they won a league at their level?"
Jian frowned. "I'd probably be annoyed."
"Exactly," Kai said. "It's not just about skill. It's about respect. They've worked hard to get where they are, just like we have. The difference is they've been doing it longer. They've earned their confidence, even if it cos across as arrogance."
"However," he muttered. "I feel like there's sothing bigger here. They're far from the feeling of just being 'annoyed.' Especially Marcus."
Max crossed his arms, his expression thoughtful. "So what are you saying? We just take their attitude and smile?"
Kai shook his head. "No. I'm saying we don't fight it. Words aren't going to change their minds. Actions will. We stay quiet, we train hard, and when it's ti to play, we let our skills speak for themselves."
Jian leaned back, his grin returning. "I hate how much sense you make sotis."
The mood changed once again as the group fell into a more serious discussion about their ga plan. They talked about their strengths and weaknesses, analyzing their performance from earlier.
Max ran a hand through his wet hair, frowning. "We were all over the place today. No teamwork, no communication. It was a ss."
"We've never played together before," Jian pointed out. "It's not like we could've expected much."
"Still," Max said, "we need to get it together. If we're going to prove ourselves, we can't afford to play like that again."
Kai nodded. "Training starts tomorrow. We need to hit the ground running. Figure out how to work as a team. No egos, no solo plays. Just basketball."
Zheng raised a hand. "I propose we call ourselves the Boiling Dumplings. To commorate our first bonding experience. Kai could be the biggest dumpling!"
Max groaned. "Please stop talking."
"So, that's it?" Jimmy said, joining the conversation after a while. "We show them that we're all as talented as them, and they'd shut up about it?"
Kai turned to him with furrowed eyebrows. "You're making it sound so easy."
Jimmy scoffed. "It is easy."
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