After Ming You had relayed all the information about his players—namely their addresses, their parents, and similar details that he had read in the teachers' lounge—the "Yoshido" team just ceased their arguments.
The guys, tired but full of enthusiasm, were about to head home when they were stopped by two gangsters. One of them, with a dragon tattoo on his forearm, stepped closer, his voice low and threatening.
"Hey, guys, you aware of what debts you owe?" he said, looking over the team with contempt.
The team exchanged glances. They had no idea what was going on, but the tension in the air was palpable.
"What the hell debts? The game was supposed to be without consequences!" Lu Shen exclaimed in surprise, his face showing bewilderment, yet his voice carried a note of uncertainty.
Haru Lin took a small step forward, but his voice wasn't confident either:
"We don't owe anything."
The gangsters smirked. The second one, with a short haircut, added:
"You don't understand who you're talking to. You have debts, and we've come to collect."
"Let us pass, or we'll call the police!" Jung Ho threatened.
But this only made one of the gangsters laugh.
"Hey, Jung Ho, you can call them, but then I think you'll be saying goodbye to your parents, and we'll have to make them pay your debts for you. No one wants your families to know about your business here, right?"
"How do you know my..." Jung Ho, in shock, didn't even get to finish his question when at that moment, Ming You emerged from the shadows. He looked as confident as ever, and his presence immediately changed the atmosphere.
"Guys," he said, addressing the team, "don't worry, I will help you with the debts."
"How are you going to manage that?" asked Lu Shen, still not believing what was happening.
Ming You turned to the gangsters.
"How much do they owe?" he asked, as if it were an ordinary transaction.
The gangsters exchanged glances, and one of them answered:
"The total is thirty thousand. This is no joke, kid."
"Thirty thousand won? That's not a problem." Ming You smirked.
"Haha, thirty thousand dollars, kid." The tattooed thug's reply shocked the entire team; Ming You also pretended perfectly to be shocked.
"And what if I help them pay off the debts? What do you want in return?" Ming You asked with feigned naivety.
The gangsters glanced at each other, and their leader, Taek Jung, who had been observing everything from a distance, stepped closer.
"We want them to be completely subordinate to you, but you must be subordinate to us," he declared, his voice full of confidence, but he was finding it quite hard to hide his laughter at Ming You's shamelessness. "It's a profitable deal for everyone."
Ming You nodded, understanding that this game was only just beginning.
"O-okay," he said, feigning hesitation, "then we have a deal. But first, I need to talk with the team."
The team, gathered around Ming You, began to listen to his plan.
"Look," he began, "we will use our debts as a means of control. If we win in streetball, they won't be able to do anything to us. We will play for stakes and earn money."
"But what if we lose?" asked Lu Shen, his voice full of anxiety.
"We won't lose," Ming You answered confidently. "We have a strategy. We will manipulate the opponents, make them think we stand no chance, and then beat them."
The team looked at him with disbelief, but at the same time, they were filled with excitement. Ming You continued:
"We will play here, on the court. The organizers will monitor our games, and if we win, they will settle our debts, and maybe we'll even earn some extra. If we lose—it's not the end of the world, we can still play our way back as long as we're alive."
After the discussion, the team nodded and agreed to the plan. Ming You, feeling confident, headed with his team towards the gangsters.
"Agreed," he announced. "I submit to you, my team submits to me, but only if you allow us to play for stakes."
Taek Jung, to whom Ming You had shaken hands, nodded, and the deal was sealed.
...
The next day, the "Yoshido" team gathered on the court to discuss their next steps. Ming You stood in the center, his empty eyes seeming to burn with excitement.
"So, guys," he began, "we will prepare for the next game. I assume our opponents might be quite strong. We need to try and exploit their weaknesses."
"And how do we do that?" asked Jung Ho, who was beginning to doubt his plans.
"We will play in their style," Ming You answered. "They, like most teams here, are used to a physical game, but we will use speed and maneuverability. I will develop a few strategies that will help us deceive them."
The team listened attentively, and Ming You continued:
"We will pretend to be weak, and then suddenly attack. This will confuse them, and they won't be able to predict our actions."
"And what if they figure out our plan?" asked Haru Lin.
"They won't," Ming You answered confidently. "I will monitor their actions and adapt to them. The main thing is confidence."
The team nodded resolutely, preparing for practice.
...
Meanwhile, in a spacious room. The gangsters returned to their boss, a muscular man around forty years old, with black hair graying at the temples. A golden cross hung around his neck. He was sitting on a sofa, opposite which was a table with bottles of alcoholic drinks and a glass ashtray.
Adjusting his black leather jacket, he began to speak in a mocking tone:
"This Ming You... he reminds me of someone, ha."
"I wonder who?" Taek Jung asked, slightly surprised. His boss widened his smile, answering mockingly:
"My nephew. He was just as cunning and slippery..."
"I think I remember him, though I never had direct dealings with him, but they say he's quite a sly one."
"Well noted, Taek Jung."
"They say he'll be getting out of prison soon, so you could say Ming You will be put in his place shortly."
"Excellent news. But for now, let's talk specifically about your business with the bets... this Ming You deceived you like children, and now we have a dependency on him."
"But it's not so bad, Tae Hwan," replied Taek Jung. "He's bringing us money."
Tae Hwan smirked.
"Yes, but we must be careful. If he becomes too powerful, he could take everything from us."
"What do you order us to do then?" asked another thug.
"We will watch and study his game," said Tae Hwan. "But as long as he brings us profit, we will pretend to support him. Let him play, for as long as he can."