Take a Chance

Chapter 6

Today was the day.

After long weeks of practicing their butts off, it was finally time for the championships.

After weeks of sweating and gruelling training, The Ravens were finally, finally going to spread their wings and take the court. They were going to claim what was theirs all along; the trophy.

Their first game was on Thursday (today) at 5PM in  an unfamiliar school, against the Lions whom they've already beaten.

Even so, every game mattered. One loss and they'd miss the chance of ever running their fingers over the smooth planes of the trophy's gold plated stainless steel. One loss and they'd have to relive last year, walking through the halls with their head down after having lost.

These games were of great importance to Chanyeol, to their team—to their hearts.

This game was like a promise to everyone. To Chanyeol, it was a promise to rise to the top, to show everyone that he's here for a reason; to bring his team where they were truly supposed to stand.

To Baekhyun, it was a promise to himself. It was a promise to push past all the barrels of difficulty and prove to himself that he is someone who's capable of fulfilling his dreams.

With these thoughts in mind, the team of eight stepped inside of the brick school, unfamiliarity draping over them.

They were led to the gym where they set their stuff down and examined their surroundings. Kangbuk High School's gym was slightly smaller than theirs, and their basketball nets seemed clean and shiny unlike the nets back at their school that were wrecked due to overworking.

The boys had already changed beforehand so all they did was peel off their shirt, revealing their dark uniforms underneath with their name and number plastered on the back.

Baekhyun's had just recently arrived, and so wearing it was still an excitement to him.

He played with the fabric between his fingers as he watched Chanyeol stretch, all long limbs and pale skin. Now that Baekhyun thought about it, he admired the giant much more than he realized.

Baekhyun began stretching too, settling onto the ground as he reached for his toes with his hands.

Baekhyun gazed at the other team, seeing their somewhat familiar faces from the first time he was at Pyojun High. He remembered how his own team had almost lost, winning by a mere point and he wondered if they were going to be hard to play against.

This was one of the only times the actual coach arrived and he was sitting on the bench, an annoyed look on his face. He only came because they needed a coach to actually join the tournaments.

The other team passed them some basketballs to warm up with and they did, shooting basketballs into the nets.

Baekhyun still wasn't that amazing at shooting from afar but at least he could.

A few minutes more of warming up and Chanyeol reassembled everyone so that they were standing in a circle by the benches.

"Alright guys. Here's the plan. For the first rotation it'll be Mingyu, Sehun, and Junmyeon who are sitting on the bench... When we're on the court," Chanyeol directed this talk to the members playing for the first rotation, "we have to take initiative. We have to take the first point and break the ice, alright? Don't be afraid because although this is championships, it's not different than a normal game."