Basketball System: Rebound of the Underdog

"Lina, do you have—"

Lina's cheeks reddened as soon as Kai said her name.

She didn't even bother looking at him before she ran to her room.

Kai pursed his lips and focused his gaze on the ground.

Well, it seemed like everything went south after the accidental kiss. Kai still couldn't take his mind away from it, and to make matters worse, he couldn't gauge Lina's reaction!

He did have a little bit of stubble growing in, so it must have been prickly.

No way...

Did she hate it?

Meanwhile, Yuze stretched his body, and his joints clicked in four different places.

"Damn," Jet said. "That's worse than an old man's body."

Yuze yawned and shook his head. "I'm tired. I'm getting some shut-eye."

"Sure!" Jet and Shang excitedly said...maybe too excitedly.

Yuze narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but his sleepiness got the best of him. With that, he left the team all alone.

Kai, on the other hand, was still standing in front of Lina's room.

Shang placed his arm over his shoulders and dragged him to the living room.

"Come on! Forget about those two. This is our perfect opportunity now that they're gone."

Kai clicked his tongue and decided to join them.

"Are we finally going to open it?" Kun excitedly asked. "This is my second time, if ever."

Jinping smirked. "This will be my third time."

"Woah, cool," Jet exclaimed. "However, this will be my fifth time," he boasted.

"I'm the same as Jet," Shang smirked.

Zeren, who still appeared a little bit down, shrugged.

"I taste some of it whenever my dad brings some home," he said.

"Ooh!" Jet exclaimed. "You cheeky, little bad boy!"

Then, they all turned to Kai before collectively shaking their heads.

"Nah, we're not going to ask you anymore," Shang said. "I bet you've done this plenty of times."

Kai shook his head. In fact, this would technically be the first time he would be doing such an act.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, though," Kai said, earning teases from his teammates.

"Come on now. Don't act so innocent," Shang said before looking around. Once the coast was clear, he brought out a big, black bottle from his bag.

The boys looked at it in amazement.

"It's so...pretty," Kun muttered.

Kai clicked his tongue. "It looks like poison," he said, making the others shake their heads.

"This is premium," Shang smirked. "Jet used up all his allowance just to buy this. The lady said that it was premium banana wine from the vineyards of Morroco!"

Kai frowned in confusion. "Banana wine? Do bananas even grow on vineyards?"

"Shh!" Jet said. "She said it tasted sweet but contains 70% alcohol."

Kai's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "70% alcohol? What the heck is that? A disinfectant in the hospital?"

Jet proudly smirked, ignoring Kai's logical statements. "A bottle is enough for the five of us."

"Goodness," Kai said, massaging his nose bridge. "This is illegal."

"We'll only have a sip," Jet smiled. "I'll take this back home as a gift for my dad."

The other boys eagerly nodded, already having their cups ready.

Knowing that his situation with Lina still hasn't been resolved, Kai also took a cup and held it out to Jet, causing the latter to smirk.

"I knew you'd cave in," he said, pouring some of the milky-yellow 'wine' into Kai's cup before proceeding to give some to himself and the others.

Kai looked at it in confusion.

It smelled strangely sweet, and it certainly didn't appear like wine.

When he took a taste, he also couldn't help but frown.

"This tastes like...banana milk," he deadpanned.

Jet shook his head. "You won't even know what hits you."

*** Your journey continues with empire

"And so, I grew up crippled," Kai said in a slurred voice.

"Really?" Shang exclaimed in an equally slurred voice. "How did you recover?"

"I don't know!" Kai comically told the story of his life as the others listened with intrigue.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Some debt collectors visited my aunt's house for the money they owed, and they shot me with a gun! A real gun! The next thing I knew, I was in Jilin and in this guy's body! Isn't it crazy?" he exclaimed.

"Truck-kun?" Zeren muttered.

"Exactly," Kai said, taking another sip of the precious banana wine.

There was a moment of silence before chuckles bubbled in the room.

"Truck-kun," Jinping chuckled. "That's bullcrap! You expect us to believe that? We might be drunk, but we're not stupid."

Kai shook his head, his head nearly dropping to his lap.

"I'm just telling the truth."

Kai felt like he was about to fall asleep when he suddenly remembered something.

"You like Lina!" Kai exclaimed, pointing at Zeren with an accusing finger.

Zeren's eyebrows furrowed.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Idiot," Shang chuckled. "Everybody knows!"

"I heard your confession," Kai smirked, causing Zeren's frown to deepen further.

"Eavesdropper!" Zeren said in a loud voice, waking Lina from her slumber.

"What the heck are they doing?" she whispered as her sleep was interrupted.

She went out of her room and was greeted with the scent of something sweet and familiar.

"Banana milk?" she muttered.

She was about to interrupt their conversation when she heard her name once more.

"I hate you for taking Lina away from me," Zeren said with a profound glare.

"I didn't take away anything!" Kai defended himself. "I didn't even tell her that I like her."

Lina's breath got caught in the back of her throat.

"I knew it," Zeren said. "You like her too! Traitor!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kai muttered.

"Just wait and see!" Zeren said in a loud voice. "I'll make you regret all of this. I'm going to beat you!"

Jinping shushed Zeren.

"You can't beat him. Trust me. I tried. He has a very sturdy body," he said in a slurred voice.

Zeren suddenly cried, making Lina even more surprised.

"I know! I can't even beat you at school! Just tell me that you're lying and that you don't like Lina so that I won't have to fight you."

Lina held her breath as she waited for Kai's answer.

She waited...and waited...yet none of it came.

Getting impatient, she decided to see what was truly going on.

Lina halted when she saw the messy scene before her.

There were crumbs everywhere, and the boys were lying on the floor in different positions—all asleep.

Then, next to Shang was a familiar black bottle.

Lina frowned and picked it up. She saw skeletons adorning the packaging along with the phrase 70% alcohol written in bold writing, but it seemed fake.

"I've definitely seen this before," she muttered.

Then, Lina saw that the top part of the label was peeling off, so she did the honors of peeling it off.

There, she saw why the black bottle seemed familiar.

'Banana Milkies for Babies! Ages 2 and up.'