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"What are you doing, Daniel? Why won't you pass Kongpob the ball???" Michael asked Daniel with a very displeased expression on his face. It was the first time I had ever seen him so angry and it didn't look good.

Not good at all.

Cause Kongpob was looking absolutely pissed as well.

Ohoh...

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It wasn't just Michael who was angry at the moment. In fact, everyone in the team was crowding around Daniel with an angered expression on their faces. It was just like what had happened during the first game, except it was Daniel instead of Michael who was being pressured by everyone.

...I really didn't like where this was going...

"What's wrong with you, Daniel?" Michael continued to ask him angrily, still not changing his tone. "I know you're mad at Kongpob, but this is a game. We've all agreed as a team to set aside personal issues when we're inside the court. If you can't control your emotions, then I can't let you go back to the court."

While Michael was reprimanding him, Daniel was just looking at the ground and being quiet. But when Michael finished, Daniel finally looked up and faced him. "Set aside personal issues? Was that what you did in our first game? When you refused to let Kongpob play?" He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's not what you did. You were overcome with your desire to be with May that you agreed to a stupid deal not to let Kongpob play, even if it would bring us to our first loss."

Everyone who heard was surprised by Daniel's revelation, staring at Daniel and then Michael in utmost shock, while trying to digest the information they'd just heard. But Michael became even more angered by it, probably because he never thought that his best friend would rat him out like that.

Luckily, May was sitting on the front row. She instantly stood up and hurried beside Michael before he could do something irrational like attacking Daniel.

"Yah, Daniel, don't bring up the past! The incident that happened in the first game was already resolved. Why don't you just sit quietly if you can't control your emotions?" May remarked angrily, defending Michael and placing a hand soothingly on his shoulder to calm him down.

Daniel scoffed angrily, gave Michael and Kongpob one last angry glare, before pushing past the crowd from his left and started walking towards the exit. As he did, everyone was murmuring among themselves, wondering why Daniel was leaving the court. Most of the people were seated further away and couldn't possibly hear what Michael and Daniel were saying. The others who had heard were reacting to the fight between the two with shock, knowing how close those two were and worried about how the team was going to win after losing one of the best players.

I turned to see how Kongpob was taking this, since he seemed to be the cause of all this. But typical Kongpob, he didn't seem even a bit upset. Instead, he had a sly smile on his face as he looked at me. He cocked his eyebrow, tilted his head and his smirk widened as if he was reminding me of something. Then I remembered. He wanted me to use my banner now.

Nam's focus also turned to Kongpob, "Why is he looking at you like that?" she asked with a confused expression. I didn't answer her, but in turn, I moved my eyes towards the banner on my lap for her to notice. "What's that?"

"Promise me you won't laugh." I said as I slowly started unrolling it. She didn't answer, but stared at the banner as I opened it. When she finally saw the words written, she burst out laughing super loud until tears formed in her eyes. It was a good thing the time-out was over so everyone was back to cheering for the team that they weren't paying attention to Nam laughing at me. "Yah, I told you not to laugh!" I blushed dark red again.

She didn't stop. "Come on, use it now! Maybe it'll encourage Kongpob to win this game for us." She responded as she tried to raise my hands that gripped the ends of the banner.

"N-no, no let's wait for later." I spoke nervously, not wanting to embarrass myself just yet.

"Are you crazy? Don't you want the team to win?" She asked me as she continued to force my hands up in the air.

Seeing how I had to do it anyway, I lifted my banner for everyone to see. And for a few seconds, no one seemed to notice it. But then Kongpob shot the ball. And after he did, he turned to me, smiled really wide half-surprised, half-proud, and signaled a thumbs-up sign with his right hand, causing everyone to look towards me with curiosity. I knew that he did that in purpose.

As all eyes darted towards me, the people were reacting very differently. Some were cheering excitedly, convinced that I was serious when I had agreed to be Kongpob's boyfriend. Some were looking at Nam, probably expecting her to feel bad or something along those lines. But what really caught my attention was Jessica. She was glaring at me so angry that I felt cold chills run down my spine as she sat in front of me across the court.

"Don't worry, she can't do anything to you. Glaring at you is all she can do." Nam assured me upon seeing me look at Jessica nervously.

Turning away from Jessica, I focused back on the game. Kongpob managed to shoot another ball. Suddenly I felt kinda nervous about it. "Hey, how many shots has Kongpob managed to do?" I asked Nam.

"I think it's only three, since Daniel wouldn't pass him the ball in the beginning. But it's just the first quarter. There's thirty more minutes to go." She replied, surprised that I was interested in knowing something about Kongpob.

When the first quarter ended, Kongpob already had four shots. Suddenly, I regretted saying he had to shoot 20 shots. I should've made it 30, no, 35. But then, no one ever managed to shoot 20 shots before, not even Kongpob. His highest record was only 15, so I calmed down again. He probably wouldn't be able to do it...

While all the other players were busy drinking water and encouraging each other during half-time, Kongpob took out his cell phone and started fidgeting with it. I kept my eyes on him as if knowing what he was doing, and soon enough, my cell phone started vibrating. I took it out, knowing exactly that it was him.

"Yah, what kind of support are you giving? I want you to shout a cheer too as you hold that banner, got it?" His message said. I turned to him. He was looking at me with his famous mischievous smile. I shook my head and mouthed a 'no'. He sent another message. "It's your choice. But just remember, it's my choice too whether I want to follow your rule or not."

I gave him an angry glare, my lips forming into a defeated pout. But I had no choice but to agree if I wanted to avoid being punished by him. So when the next quarter started, with a heavy heart and extremely red cheeks, I began shouting and cheering for Kongpob loudly. "Goooo Kongpob! Shoot that ball!"

As I expected, Nam was once again surprised. "Are you alright? First, you're making a banner for Kongpob, then you're asking about how he's doing and now, you're cheering for him too? Tell me the truth, you like him now, don't you?" She spoke with an excited grin, clapping her hands together.

I was going to remind her about rule #3 when I remembered that I didn't get the chance to tell her about that yesterday. "Are you crazy? Didn't I tell you before? I won't fall for someone like him. I'm just doing this because he asked me to. And I have no choice but to follow him." I explained defensively. Then I got back to cheering.

I knew that Nam wasn't convinced with my answer, but luckily, she didn't attempt to ask me more. She instead joined me and the majority of the crowd in cheering for Kongpob. After the second quarter, Kongpob had already made nine shots. That was why as he drank water, his teammates were all over him, asking him why he was playing extra hard today. "What's up with you, Kongpob, did you eat something good or what? Why don't you share your secret with us?" They teased him as they pushed him lightly.

I knew exactly how Kongpob was going to reply to them. He smiled mischievously and played along, "You really want me to share my secret energy source with you?" He asked them as he pretended to be pondering about it. "Hmmm, I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why not??? Oh come on, tell us!" They urged him to reveal the truth.

Suddenly, Kongpob looked at me with a smirk and my heart stopped.

"My wifey." He replied simply, looking at me with that handsome smirk as he did.

I stared at him in shock, but then snapped out of it and glared back at him, annoyed by the fact that he was acting so damn mushy towards me in front of so many people. His teammates started yelling and patting him on his shoulders, congratulating him as if he had won the lottery. "Great job, Kongpob!"

Hmph...that arrogant asshole.

Nam nudged me. "Yah, stop glaring at him. Remember our plan?" She reminded me as I continued to glare at Kongpob.

"But look at how he's acting. He's..." I started to say but I couldn't find the right term to describe how annoying Kongpob's ways were. It was so obvious that he was just trying to get on my nerves.

"He's just acting the way normal boyfriends so. Have you forgotten that you're his boyfriend right now? So act like one." She hissed at me.

I huffed with a pout and stopped glaring at Kongpob. "Fine." I said, raising my banner again as the third quarter was starting. And in my loudest ever voice, I once again started cheering for Kongpob. "Go Kongpob! Fighting!"

Unfortunately, the other team had finally learned that Kongpob was our school's MVP (they were really slow, not noticing how everyone had been screaming Kongpob's name from the start) and started to have two players guarding Kongpob at all times. In fact, they were so focused on him that Michael was able to shoot five shots while Kongpob only managed to do two shots after the third quarter. But it didn't matter since our team was still leading by six points.

I was actually happy. Since Kongpob was only able to do two shots in the third quarter, that meant he still needed nine more to make 20 in one quarter (or should I say, ten minutes). And seeing how he could only shoot a maximum of five per quarter, and also considering the fact that he was being heavily guarded by the players of the other team, I was certain he wouldn't be able to do it.

And in an attempt to rub it in on him, I sent him a message as he and his teammates were having their water break in between quarters. "I told you you can't shoot 20 shots in a game. It's too bad though, if you were able to, I would've gone somewhere with you after the game as a reward. But I don't think that'll happen. Too bad!" I wrote proudly.

Upon reading my message, I expected him to reply or at least look towards me. But he didn't. Instead, he gathered his teammates around him and started talking to them in lowered voices, so I couldn't overhear them. Then they went back to the court and started playing the last quarter.

Since in the previous quarter Michael was the one who shot the most hoops, he was now the one being heavily guarded. Kongpob was left with only one man guarding him, but he was a tough one. And so, for the first two minutes, the other team was able to catch up with them. Because of this, the cheers started to die down and most people had a worried look on their faces. It really seemed like we were going to be defeated for the first time this year.

But then something...surprising happened.

Suddenly, the player guarding Kongpob was penalized with a technical foul and was fouled out. Having the freedom he did during the first quarter, Kongpob was back on a roll. He was able to shoot six shots for the next five minutes, returning the lead to our team.

Once again, the crowd erupted in louder cheers. And somehow, this encouraged Kongpob to play even harder. He was able to shoot two more shots in the next two minutes.

My anxiety grew and I looked at him play more anxiously as before, my heart racing as he kept playing furiously. And when there were only three seconds left in the game, just when I thought he wouldn't be able to make his 20th shot, Kongpob threw the ball and managed to succeed in a three-point shot. Scoring exactly 33 points in the game...

The crowd went wild, my ears went deaf, and I couldn't focus on anyone else but Kongpob.

As his teammates toppled him to the ground, cheering and hugging him with absolute excitement, I watched as if in slow-motion as Kongpob turned towards me, his tanned skin glistening with sweat, wiping away a droplet from his forehead until his dark eyes found me and that handsomely mischievous and oh so smug smile was back on his face.

I knew exactly what that devil was thinking.

"I won, Arthit."

...

Oh damnit...

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