3 USED TO BE PLAYER

"Jung Young Jae."

Young Jae threw his eyes on the door and saw his coach leaning by the wall. The moment they won the game, their coach has been complimenting all of them for the hard work and efforts they dedicated to the game. Being in his prime years, Young Jae is a lot more competitive than all of his teammates. But he isn't really playing for his own prestige; he doesn't really want to steal the limelight because of his personal score. What matters the most to him is the overall performance of the group.

"What is it coach?"

"I'm thinking you lost track of the time. Your girlfriend's waiting for you outside."

"Girlfriend? I told you I don't have one coach."

"You told me you never planned to date Chung Ae but you never said you're not dating anyone. She's actually exhausted waiting for you. She watched your game too."

Young Jae just chuckled and grabbed his phone from his locker. He noticed Dongyul sent him a message. Speaking of his best friend, he wondered why he isn't here. He never missed any game of Young Jae and he is always cheering for him right after the game is done. So where is he anyway?

He opened Dongyul's message and saw him typed a long message for him. As expected from a writer, Dongyul is always writing a lot of stuff for Young Jae. He is in fact the first person to message Young Jae every morning, encouraging him to start his day right and to go to school early. He always sets the mood for him; he always wants to be the first accessible person in his friend's shortcomings. So with him being that close to Heiran, Young Jae didn't actually flinch about it. He is convinced Dongyul really has a good communicating skill.

"Young Jae, it seems like Chung Ae wants to drag me in her issues with Heiran. If I can't show up tonight at the meeting they set along with the other school paper staffs, she'll conclude I am helping Heiran. Please let Heiran cover a feature story of you."

"Coach, did the woman outside introduce herself to you?"

"I know her so there's no introduction needed."

"Do you have at least two minutes coach? Can you tell me something about her?"

"Well she was once an athlete and I coached their team for quite some time "

"Coached their team? She's a basketball player too?"

"Yes. That's why I never hesitated to call her your girlfriend. You both have the same interests so why not?"

Basketball? Then that makes sense. There is something about her writings that made Young Jae loved her entries. Every time she releases a new episode for her series, Young Jae can sense she is shading some sports behind her words. Although she isn't really pinpointing which sport it is, Young Jae concluded by himself that it is about basketball. And with him knowing that she was once a basketball player, every conclusion he had made in the past is now making sense.

"I only know her right now coach. She's waiting for me to let her in."

"Should I call Heiran inside for you?"

"If you please."

Then Young Jae's coach went out of the room and the premise is filled with silence. He is left thinking about why Heiran didn't grab the chance to own a scholarship through playing basketball. Why depend on the organization Chung Ae's father built when she can secure a spot just by playing the sports she likes? And now that her scholarship is in danger, why isn't she trying to register for this year's try out?

"Choi Heiran."

The coach, Zhuo Dungpao caught the attention of this little bean sprout that is initially tired of waiting for Young Jae to let her in. Almost every audience has left, even the players had passed her by. In fact, she is already planning to leave since this man is trying to play hard to get for her.

"Coach Zhuo."

"He is waiting for you inside."

"I honestly have a request for you Coach."

"What is it?"

"Some basketball coaches, especially back in my country are actually chasing me. My family stayed here for some reasons and we aren't interested to live the way we used to before. That being said, no one should know that I am taking college in this country. Could you please hide my secret too?"

Dungpao looked at her and he can see that she is expecting him to hide everything, especially from his co coaches. However, he is already feeling guilty for he already told Young Jae about her previous career. He knows Young Jae can keep the secret too but that doesn't lessen the fact that he already told someone about her secret. Will it make her angry if she finds out?

"Heiran, Young Jae knows you are a player."

"I don't care about him. Since you have a broader set of people to communicate, it is a high risk that we met again."

"You don't care about me?"

Heiran's eyes widened after seeing Young Jae suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It seems like he has been hiding behind his coach the whole time. Heiran knows she needs him this time, but what she said is true. Young Jae knows some minimal details about her so why would she control him anyway?