Chapter 3: Youth Camp (1)

In a very spacious basketball court inside a prestigious university's gym, there were numerous kids ranging to at least 70+ huddled and sitting all around the court.

In front of them was a rather obese Caucasian man who wore a cap and had the typical "coach" look from the U.S. Next to him was a middle-aged Korean man who looked to be of his assistant as he whispered something into his ears, "So, coach, when will "he" arrive?" The Korean asked,

"I don't know, though, that bastard rarely has ever asked for favors, I even dropped everything just to come here ASAP." The Coach complained to him.

As they started conversing between themselves, the kids began to gossip about the coach

A kid told a kid next to him

"My father said that the coach in front of us is the head coach from one of the top universities in the U.S.!"

It spiraled from there as every single kid who heard this passed it to the other kid next to him to make small talks and to share information about the event. Some even found it amazing, the basketball court was now filled with kids' noise. But one child was different, as he kept a bored look at his face during the whole thing.

"So what if he's a coach from the U.S., I just want to play already" The child said impatiently since the environment of the court was vastly different from the run-down court he played in.

The court here was properly ventilated, the floor was regularly mopped and the hoops itself were in pristine condition, making the child wanting to play.

On the child's chest area was a name tag that spelled "Yeon-woo". This was something mandatory for the whole event for the hosts to easily identify the kids.

*Kreeeek!*

As Yeon-woo was waiting, the door to the gym opened and all the noises died down. What entered was a handsome middle-aged man holding luggage. Some kids immediately recognized the man as they watched him commit unspeakable acts during the finals of the KBL. Their parents considered the man to be a "Taboo" basketball player in their country

"There you are! Isamu!" The coach immediately walked towards him to greet him. At the same time, in fear of Isamu who, they had a very rotten impression of, many kids wanted to leave the gym immediately.

"It's him!" Yeon-woo almost immediately recognized Isamu as the man he watched on the T.V screen almost 3 years ago.

"Number 47!" He thought, in shock to himself.

Yeon-woo had the opposite reaction to the other kids, as while they had the faces of fear and animosity, he had the look of awe.

The coach, who was done greeting Isamu noticed the peculiar atmosphere and declared

"Look kids, if you don't want to suddenly participate in this event, please see yourself out. You can also say to your parents that we'll be going to refund your money if you leave." After saying that, the coach opened the door for the kids who wanted to leave, to leave.

The kids were refusing to leave until a random kid took the lead and left the gym, this created a snowball as the kids who were not courageous to leave, began to leave as well. All in all, after a few minutes, the 70+ original kids that were here were now a mere 10 kids, including Yeon-woo.

Isamu sighed in defeat as he thought,

'Damn, even my reputation with kids are down'

The coach who noticed Isamu's down mood patted his shoulders to comfort him. The Korean assistant had a speech-less look in his face as he looked at the remaining kids.

This time, Isamu took the lead as he said

"You're the last bunch here, meaning you won't be leaving anymore? Will that be fine for you all?"

The remaining kids nodded, while some said yes.

"Now that's how I like it" He then opened his luggage and began to take out jerseys, he then placed them in a single pile. The kids had confused look in their faces until Isamu explained

"No need for introductions, we'll be playing a 5v5" He then pointed at the first 5 kids as he said, "You will be the first team, while the remaining 5 of you are the second team". The kids then began to take their respective jerseys as they got the memo.

Yeon-woo was selected to be at the second team as he analyzed his teammates while wearing his jersey over his shirt. He had the number "0" while his teammates had the number "1", "2", "3,","4,". The first team had the same number scheme with the numbers "5", "6", ",7", "8," and "9".

In Yeon-woo's team, "1" was the decided leader of the team as he took lead in organizing his teammates "1" then said, "Just pass the ball to me and number 3, we'll get the buckets for you guys" Number 3 was a tall kid who was as tall as Yeon-woo who was standing at 5'5 at age 8.

Isamu and his colleagues then sat on the scoring table as the coach blew his whistle to get the kids' attention.

The coach then said, "We'll be playing a 5v5 of 2 quarters with 5 minutes on the clock each quarter, is that clear?"

"Yes!"

Some kids said yes, even though they didn't know what a quarter is.

Number 3 and Number 8 immediately went for the jump ball position while the other kids looked lost. The coach then organized and explained what the rules and format are to the kids who didn't get it, while helping them get in to position.

5 minutes later...

"Now that's out of the way! Let's play!"

The coach blew his whistle, indicating the start of the game. Number 3 and Number 8 immediately jumped for the ball, with Number 8 winning the jump ball.

Number 5 grabbed the ball as Yeon-woo and the others got ready for defense.