One week passed by with not only more drills but also more practice games. On the last day of try-out or hell training as the freshmen like to call it, the main members of the basketball team meet in advance to discuss the progress and any potential players. It has been known that they would only pick three players max to join the team. Now the hard part is who will those three be?    

“So who are you guys leaning toward?” Yul asks the members of the team

“Kang Seul and Park Joy are probably the best players out of the lot. Kang lacks stamina but his dribbles and footwork are solid. He’s also light on his feet. I mean, the guy practically disappears from one side of the court to the other almost right after his feet touch the ground. And have you seen his three-pointers!?” Yoong whistles. “Nothing but nets! It almost rivals our Moonstar here!” Yoong nudges the person next to him, who happens to be none other than Moon Byul.

“I hear he’s going for your position Byul.” Soo adds with a tease.

“As for Park, he’s versatile. His dribbles and footwork are also very solid. The way he drives the ball and fakes his opponent out is very impressive. Definitely a candidate as a small forward. His long shots are less impressive than Kang but his lay-ups and hook shots make him a good candidate as a power forward” Yoong continues and the rest of the members nod in agreement.

As expected from one of the all-star players. Yoong is not just incredibly quick on his feet with a basketball but also with his strategies. He has already come up with game plans and pair offs that utilize each member’s potential to the fullest just after observing the newbies for a few days. The members have no doubt that he’ll be captain after Yul graduates.

Yul nods in agreement. He has already noted these skill sets but hearing it again from Yoong just confirmed it.  

“Anyone else?” Yul asks

“Hwang SinB and Song Victor are probably our next best. They both handles the ball really well and have good foundations. Too bad we can only pick one of them.” Soo points out.

“Hwang is quick on his feet and he makes some sick passes that totally fakes the opponents out” Byul adds

“But Song is taller though. Soo and him can be our new wall! With them on defense, we only need to score 2 points to win!” Amber jokes.

That garners laughter from the whole team. Trust the jokester to lighten up the mood.

It was a clear cut with Kang and Park but the team is more divided between Hwang and Song. Half of the team thought that Song is more skilled but the other half thought that Hwang has more potential.

Yul sighs. Just like his teammates, he’s divided between those two too. He was hoping his teammates can help him make a decision but it seems like they are just as divided.

“Okay. We’ll play a 3-on-3 game today up to 20 points. Kang, Hwang, and Le will be on team 1. Park, Song, and Min will be one team 2. Let’s keep a close eye on those four and we’ll make our decision at the end of practice.”  Yul decides.

All the freshmen are sitting around stretching and joking with one another when the basketball team walks in. After being through hell together, they are pretty comfortable and friendly with one another even with the rivalry from passing the cutoffs.

Yul announces the agenda for the day and the team split off. The teams quickly hurdle together and assign positions.

Seul starts the game off for team 1. She quickly passes the ball to SinB, who drives the ball forward with quick dribbles and passes Victor with a fake. He passes the ball back to Seul when Joy approaches with quick steps. Seul gambles with a three-point shot and scores! Team 1 takes the first basket.

Joy brings the ball in for team 2. He hands the ball to Victor who passes to Min who passes it back to Joy. Team 2 passes the ball back and forth quickly and precisely until they are near the basket. Joy catches the ball and drives it toward the basket. Seul tries to block him off and follows closely not giving Joy any opportunity to shoot. Victor sweeps in and screens for Joy. Joy fakes left but goes right, leaving Seul behind, being blocked by Victor. Joy leaps for a beautiful lay-up and scores 2 points for team 2.

The game continues for another 30 minutes with Seul making most of the points for team 1 and SinB aiding the play beautifully. Score is 18-14, with team 1 leading. The ball is in Seul’s hand and he goes for the shot but misses. Victor jumps and snags the ball from rebound and passes to Joy almost instantly. The tall center has snagged almost 80% of all the rebounds in this game like he can predict where the ball will land.

SinB comes out of nowhere and intercepts the pass. He dribbles the ball back to the other team’s basket, sweeping left and right, passing through their last defense, and slams the ball thru the hoop with a powerful jump. 20 to 14. Team 1 wins!!

The freshmen are taking a break and catching their breath after the game while the team members hurdle to discuss the final observations.

The team walks out 15 minutes later and approaches the group that is chatting on the bench. Everyone’s attention is on the captain now.

“I want to thank you all for sticking out till the end of this hellish training.” Yul claps for them and the other members join in. After the clapping dies down, he continues, “We will announce the team placement now, starting with first string.”

All the members are solemn now. This is it.

“The three freshmen who will be joining S.M basketball team are Kang Seul” Yul announces. Seul leaps off the bench and throws his hand in the air in excitement. Everyone laughs at the silliness and congratulates the bear.

“Park Joy” Yul continues.

Joy stands up and just gives a polite bow to everyone. Seul lifts his hand up for a fist bump and Joy returns the gesture. After a few days of living and practicing together, the two have gotten a lot closer. 

“And finally, Hwang SinB”

SinB’s first reaction is shock when his name was called. Then happiness consumes him when he realizes that he had made the made team! He glances around to see his teammates and friends clapping for him before landing his gaze on Victor. He can’t help but feel a little guilty toward him. He knows that Victor is just as talented if not better than him at basketball.

With that, the team roster is finalized. Those that did not make the first string were placed in second and third string. Everyone congratulates the three and starts to pack up their belongings. They take their leave when SinB stops Victor on his way out.   

“Hey..” SinB starts but does not know how to continue. He darts his eyes around, not able look at Victor in the eyes.

“Hey. Don’t worry about it. You did good.” Victor pats SinB on the shoulder to reassures him that there’s no hard feeling. “I’ll be cheering you guys on. Don’t let me catch you guys slacking off though ‘cause I’ll sweep in and take your spot!” He half jokes half being serious.

You better win the championship for the both of us. SinB hears the hidden message. “Hah! I won’t give you the chance.” He brushes Victors’ hand off and pushes him playfully. The two smile at each other before SinB runs back to the rest of the team.

Victor let all the disappointments, regrets, frustrations fall in the form of tears as he walks away from the gym.

"Now that our team is finalized" Yul starts off once SinB returned. "We'll officially start training to strengthen our basic foundations and more importantly our teamwork. Yoong and I will come up with a personalized training for you three" Yul points at Seul, Joy, and SinB. "and help you guys integrate into the team"

Byul swings her arms around the three rookies and whispers "If you think tryout was hell…wait till you experience the real training!”

Cold sweats run through the three's back and they gulp. Just how much more intense could the real training be. All three thought.

"We have a scrimmage with FNC University three weeks from now. I'm planning to have you three start us off along with Yoong and Soo. Even though this is only a practice game, treat it as an official game and learn how to work together. Get some rest this weekend because we will be in full throttle starting Monday" Yul finishes.

Upon dismissal, everyone starts to pack up their stuff and leave as they say bye to one another. With some heading toward the direction of the dorms and others toward their car to drive back to their apartment.

Seulgi is still in daze as she packs away her stuff with a silly grin on her face. She was confident that she would make the team but that doesn't make her less happy to have it officially confirmed. She is humming happily to herself when someone throws an arm around her.

"Man. I'm tired! Let's go home!" Byul calls out.

"Eh?" Seulgi turns around with a confuse look on her face. She notices Byul's other arm on Joy's should and Joy looking just as confused.

"Oh yea! You guys don't know that I'm in Velvet suite too. We're suitemates!" Byul points out.

"Eeeeeh? Sunbae, you are our 4th suitemate? Where have you been? We were sure that room was haunted or something."

"Hehe. I was at my girlfriend's place for the past few days." Byul scratches his cheek and explains shyly as the three walk back to their dorm.

"You have a girlfriend?" Seulgi is surprised

"You? How?" Joy jabs

"Hey! Just so you know, I'm quite popular among the ladies" Byul punches their arm slightly. "My current girlfriend was fangirling over the new rising all-star shooting guard Moonstar for months before I agreed to go out with her!" Byul puffs up his chest and brags to his juniors.

Seulgi laughs at the exaggeration while Joy just roll his eyes.

"Who was fangirling who, babe?" A female voice asks in a stern teasing tone as an arm wraps around Byul's waist.

Byul turns his head slightly to look for the owner of the arm.

"Ha..Babe...W-what a coincidence. You're heading back to the dorm too?" Byul asks nervously trying to change the topic.

Yongsun entwines her hand with Byul's and walk side by side with him. "uh huh. So what's this fangirling I hear." She asks again.

"Ha..ha" Byul laughs nervously. "You heard wrong babe. I said fanboying. How I fell so hard for you after I saw your first recital" Byul corrects.

Seul and Joy can't help but laugh inwardly at the change in their sunbae's behavior.

"You're so whipped Byul" The girl walking next to Yongsun laughs.

"Shut up Tiff! Shouldn't you be cuddling next to a certain grumpy captain instead of third-wheeling Yongsun and I? I heard you have been blowing him off ever since we came back from break and he's been taking it out on us with these intense workouts!"

Tiffany just shrugs at Byul's comeback. She has no intention of meeting with Yul at this moment. She's still mad that he made up all these excuses to not visit her during break just because he was afraid to meet her parents!! Well.. if he didn't want to see her then she's not going to see him either!

"Moon Byul!" Yongsun says sternly after noticing her friend's dropping mood. "Anyway. Want to introduce us to your cute friends here so I can fangirl over them also?" Yongsun teases.

"Baaabee" Byul whines cutely. Yongsun can't help but give the cutie a peck on the cheek.

"Anyway, these are the new additions to the basketball team. Kang Seul and Park Joy" Byul introduces. The two bows respectfully at their sunbaes' girlfriends

"And this is my incredibly beautiful and talented girlfriend, Kim Yongsun, 2nd year, music major" Byul gives Yongsun a big squeeze causing the said girl to let out a giggle. "And that is our capt's girlfriend, Hwang Tiffany, 4th year, design major." Byul points to the girl next to Yongsun who greeted the two with a crescent eye smile.

"FYI. She controls our fate on the team. If she's happy, then our capt is happy, and we will be happy too. But if she's mad...oh hohoho... She is probably the reason why you guys went through hell during tryout." Byul whispers to the two young ones.

Seul and Joy nod in acknowledgement. Scary. They thought.

"Come over tonight?" Byul asks his girlfriend when the group reaches front of the dormitory.

"Can't. Irene and I are meeting up to practice for our next performance" Yongsun gives Byul a puppy dog pout hoping to soothe Byul's disappointment.

"Maybe breakfast together on Sunday?" Yongsun offers as compensation. "Seul and Joy, you guys come along too!"

When the two groups finally parted way, Seul let out a big laugh "Hahaha! Sunbae you are so whipped!"

"Whipped" Joy smirked

"Shut up!" Byul knocks the two on the head and they walk back to their suite. So much for being a cool sunbae. Byul sighs.