The indoor gymnasium had a total of four basketball courts, but at most three could be used simultaneously.
This was because there was one main court of standard size, and three sub-courts that divided the main court vertically.
So usually, during physical education classes, they used the vertically placed sub-courts.
This was to allow more people to practice basketball, and even Dianté’s usual betting basketball games would use the narrower sub-courts.
But today was an exception. Only six people occupied the main court.
“Today, I’ll make a special exception.”
Coach Selena, who was in charge of physical education, winked.
Actually, it was an unavoidable choice from her perspective too.
All the students attending the class wanted to watch the current game, and even those who didn’t have class yet had gathered on the benches after receiving messages from their friends.
-That’s the perfect scorer. He’s a bit tall for an Asian, isn’t he?
-Don’t you think his face is okay? He looks like ATS.
-Do you want to die? Our Oppas are way cooler. Well, he’s not bad, though.
9:30 AM.
A betting basketball game began in front of no less than 50 spectators.
“Where are you looking during the game…?”
Dianté was surprised as he passed the ball quickly to Hyunsoo.
‘He caught that?’
He had thrown the ball while Hyunsoo was looking at the hoop, but Hyunsoo caught it without even looking his way.
Then he leisurely passed the ball to Charles.
‘Wow, his dynamic vision is good. His reflexes are amazing too.’
Actually, Hyunsoo was even more surprised.
Perhaps because he already had a well-trained body, his body moved exactly as he thought without any need for extra training.
‘This is going to be fun.’
Hyunsoo’s eyes sparkled as he became more immersed in the game.
From then on, Dianté kept passing the ball exclusively to Hyunsoo.
Tap- tap- tap-
But each time, Hyunsoo caught the ball effortlessly as if he had read Dianté’s mind.
Even when Dianté intentionally passed the ball off-beat or bounced it near Hyunsoo’s ankles, Hyunsoo caught it smoothly by slightly parting his legs.
‘Let’s see if he can catch this too.’
Dianté swiftly rushed under the hoop and jumped as if to dunk.
Despite being defended, he smoothly passed the ball behind his back.
Right to the spot where Hyunsoo was standing. He deliberately threw it at a tricky height to hit Hyunsoo’s face…
“Gasp!”
Hyunsoo caught the ball a beat earlier without blinking an eye.
And then…
Bang!
“Ack!”
The ball returned directly to Dianté, who was looking at Hyunsoo with a blank expression.
Dianté, who couldn’t react in time, got hit in the face and fell backward.
-Hahaha! What was that!
-Can’t even catch a basketball? That Asian guy caught much trickier passes easily.
“Damn it.”
Dianté was so embarrassed that he was more angry at himself than at Hyunsoo.
[22 : 7]
What made him even angrier was how easily Hyunsoo received unexpected passes and changed the flow of the game. They were winning much more easily than when playing with regular members.
Dianté exchanged glances with Lloyd from the opposing team.
‘Hey, now’s the time.’
It was time to change tactics.
“Wow, Hyun! You’re good at basketball! Your passes are great, and your vision of the court is outstanding. It’s because you’re smart…”
Charles praised Hyunsoo enthusiastically, even spitting a bit.
Dianté pushed Charles aside and said,
“Vision my ass. It’s because I gave killer passes. And you, what’s with you? Are you a ball boy? You just catch and give the ball. Now that we have some leeway, you should shoot.”
“Hyunsoo has been doing well so far. Why suddenly tell him to shoot?”
“Who plays basketball just to pass? Scoring is what makes it fun.”
“Oh, so that’s why you always whine for the ball whenever someone else has it. Because superstars take the shot?”
They bickered for a while but eventually decided to increase Hyunsoo’s offensive role.
Charles was worried but the person in question accepted it.
“Sure. Shooting is the easiest part anyway…”
“……”
Normally, Dianté would have laughed it off, but for some reason, he felt uneasy and resumed the game without a word.
‘No way?’
Hyunsoo’s relaxed demeanor was now intimidating.
However, when Hyunsoo tried to shoot after receiving a pass, he realized it wasn’t as easy as he thought.
“Oh?”
As soon as he caught the ball, Lloyd, who was ‘distracting,’ pounced on him.
It was a very aggressive physical battle. Given the clear difference in physical size, it looked very dangerous to the spectators.
-Isn’t that too dangerous? Do they need to go that far in a casual game?
-They’re always like that. It’s not just because of the bet; they’re playing with pride on the line. Someone always gets hurt, but today it might be the Asian guy… Or maybe not?
-What? Can that even be considered a physical fight? Isn’t Lloyd just rubbing against him? Feels like he’s joking around.
Initially, Lloyd was roughhousing with his whole body.
It was threatening enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if someone got injured.
But Hyunsoo stood still, accepting Lloyd’s physical combat.
Instead, he observed Lloyd’s actions with interest.
His calm expression was the killing point.
“……”
The most flustered was Lloyd.
‘Why is his body so solid?’
Lloyd sometimes played as a sixth man on the basketball team due to his threatening physicality, even though he wasn’t a regular starter.
Even if his movements weren’t nimble, his physical combat was enough to be threatening.
He played a significant role in changing the game’s atmosphere or intimidating the opponents.
He took pride in his physical combat, but Hyunsoo, who was much smaller than the players he usually faced, didn’t budge at all.
As Hyunsoo didn’t retreat even a single step, Lloyd had to put his full weight into it.
But only Lloyd’s face turned red.
Hyunsoo laughed and said,
“Dianté was right.”
“What?”
“You smell worse, so can you step back? Your sweat makes it feel weird, ugh.”
As Hyunsoo pushed him lightly, Lloyd was flung back several steps.
‘What is this?’
“What are you doing, Lloyd?”
As the game progressed, similar patterns of attack occurred several times.
Lloyd pushed and fought with his body. He even tried various fouls, like tearing clothes when others weren’t looking.
Then Hyunsoo calmly accepted it. It didn’t seem to affect him much, and Lloyd couldn’t steal the ball, but Hyunsoo looked very entertained.
“Oh, can you do this in basketball too? As long as it’s not overt, subtle harassment is allowed?”
That was the beginning of the nightmare.
“Oh?”
For the first time in his life, Lloyd, who was much smaller, faced physical combat from an opponent.
At first, Hyunsoo mimicked Lloyd’s fouls, but later he sealed Lloyd with much more subtle and persistent fouls.
“Damn it!”
In just 5 minutes, Lloyd was a wreck. For some reason, his instep was swollen, and his joints felt strained.
The score was already 45 : 16.
Thanks to Dianté’s nonchalance, the score difference was only this much, but they were already overwhelmingly defeated in performance.
‘Still 10 minutes left?’
The usually short 10 minutes felt exceptionally long now.
Lloyd, who looked like he might collapse any moment, was breathing heavily, but Hyunsoo, who was still fresh-faced, continued to engage in physical combat.
“Indeed, sweating feels good.”
“……”
“Idiot, know that if we lose, it’s all your fault. How can you be mismatched and still get beaten? Such a waste of size, you fool.”
Lloyd snapped out of it at his teammates’ curses.
‘This can’t go on.’
Feeling Dianté’s contemptuous gaze and the audience’s mockery, Lloyd became desperate and decided to go all out in the last 10 minutes.
“Whoa?”
His movements became more exaggerated.
When Hyunsoo closed the distance, he swung his elbows and shoulders menacingly, hoping for a solid hit.
If it connected properly, it wouldn’t be surprising if a bone broke.
“Oh-oh?”
Even his teammates were startled and distanced themselves.
‘This is too much, isn’t it?’
Dianté, realizing Lloyd was agitated, approached to stop him. Having trained with Lloyd for over two years, he knew how dangerous Lloyd’s state was.
“Hey, Lloyd. Are you crazy…?”
But when Dianté saw Hyunsoo’s expression up close, he instinctively backed off.
Hyunsoo, facing the enraged Lloyd, was smiling.
As if he had been waiting for this moment.
‘What is he waiting for?’
“Ah!”
Just then! A truly dangerous moment unfolded.
Lloyd, with Hyunsoo in front of him defending, forced a dunk attempt.
His massive body crashed into Hyunsoo.
It was a situation bound to cause serious injury.
-He lost it!!
-Stop that guy!
The students watching held their breath.
Jesse was already up and running.
“No!”
Lloyd, airborne, smiled wickedly and brought his elbow down on Hyunsoo’s head like a dunk.
Of course, the dunk failed, but the hoop wasn’t his target.
“Idiot!”
Dianté, shocked, tried to intervene.
“Aaaargh!”
But it was too late.
With a scream that filled the gym, ‘he’ clutched his arm and rolled on the floor.
“…What the hell.”
Even Dianté and the approaching coach couldn’t believe their eyes.
Hyunsoo, who had taken the blow to his head, was casually stretching, while Lloyd, who was rolling on the floor screaming in pain, was the one who had attacked.
“Aaaargh!”
-What? Why is that idiot in pain after hitting someone?
-Is this real? So funny.
-That Asian guy’s head must be super hard. Haha, he caught the bear?
The spectators burst into laughter. It was so funny that they took out their phones to film it. For Lloyd, it was the most embarrassing moment ever.
‘This guy…’
While others saw it as a funny accident, Dianté, who watched closely, felt a chill down his spine.
“Take a look, punk.”
Lloyd was clutching his elbow. The inner part, where nerves are concentrated, is unprotected and easily shocked even by a slight touch.
Considering that Hyunsoo took Lloyd’s full-weighted blow to his forehead and targeted that spot…
‘His arm could have been seriously injured.’
Dianté was horrified by Hyunsoo’s calm demeanor.
The game ended with Hyunsoo’s team winning.
-I’m glad I skipped class. This was more entertaining than a fight.
-Amazing. Shouldn’t he try out for the basketball team? Our school’s record isn’t great anyway.
The spectators left satisfied, asking for more entertaining games in the future.
The basketball game was the talk of the day, and by Monday, the whole school knew about it.
Later, Jesse cautiously asked,
“Did you do it on purpose? It looked like you deliberately headbutted him… Did I see it wrong?”
“No way. Someone as soft-hearted as me wouldn’t hurt others.”
“……”
Jesse didn’t seem to believe it, but it was partially true.
‘I didn’t intend for anyone to get seriously hurt.’
Lloyd had brought it upon himself.
With such a big body and threatening movements, it was like saying, ‘I’ll hurt you, so be careful.’
As someone who had studied the human body extensively, Hyunsoo thought of a way to counter in that brief moment and neutralized Lloyd with just enough force.
If he had intended, he could have inflicted a serious injury that would render Lloyd’s arm useless, but having lived with full-body paralysis for a long time, Hyunsoo had no desire to do so.
Everyone’s body is precious. There are other ways to make someone pay.
‘Public humiliation at school should be enough.’
In front of everyone, Hyunsoo gave Lloyd a slight payback through public embarrassment.
For adults, it might seem trivial, but for high schoolers, it carried a different weight.
Lloyd, who returned with a partial cast, went even crazier.
“That jerk did it on purpose! He wanted to cripple my arm. He’s a complete scumbag! Just wait, I’ll make you a cripple too!”
If Dianté hadn’t stopped him, he might have really gone after Hyunsoo.
“Stop it! Do you want to get kicked off the basketball team? Embarrassing…”
Lloyd, seemingly not entirely without sense, calmed down at that point.
“Don’t show up in front of me, Asian. Or you’ll die.”
“……”
Before Hyunsoo could respond, Lloyd left grumbling.
‘Hmm. Was public humiliation not enough?’
While contemplating quietly, Hyunsoo noticed Dianté still standing in front of him.
He was looking down at Hyunsoo with an unreadable expression.
“Do you have something to say too?”
After a moment of hesitation, Dianté sighed and said,
“You need to come with me. Our coach wants to see you.”
