The cafeteria buzzed with its usual midday chaos, but there was an edge to it that Surya didn’t understand.

“What’s happening?” Leon asked, twisting around in his seat to look.

“It’s the basketball team again.” Harper scowled, her jaw clenching as she stood. “They’ve been at it all day.”

She cut through the cafeteria, striding towards the small crowd gathered by the doors. Surya glimpsed one of the taller players shove the head of a smaller student, who had a wild mop of curly black hair. Harper batted the offending arm away, lifting a finger and warning him to stop.

“Oh, I heard about this. People aren’t happy about some seniors being benched in favour of that first-year there,” Leon said, watching the dark-haired boy. “He’s kind of short for a basketball player, isn’t he?”

“All this college does is rave about the Little Bears,” Surya groaned, bored by the scuffle already. “What about our swimmers? Our volleyball team?”

“Not as sexy or as troublesome.” Leon held up a thoughtful finger. “The Little Bears might be at the bottom of the barrel, but they’re still the most interesting to watch.”

“Interesting, you say? I’m pretty sure you’ve only ever watched one of their games, and it was the women’s team, and they’re still at the top of their league.”

Not even the least bit offended, Leon chirped, “That’s because I needed a break from the Little Bears. They cause me too much anxiety sometimes, when their plays are literally held together with duct tape and a dream. Don’t get me wrong; I love that for them, but they’re about to be finessed by some first-year because they can’t keep it together for longer than an hour.”

Mild curiosity struck Surya, and he tilted his head faintly. “Oh, so does this mean you also don’t remember a Mallow?”

“Malay? You mean Akira Malay?”

Surya was genuinely shocked. “What, you remember him?”

“Have you been living under a rock?” Leon stared at him, equally as shocked. “There was that huge scandal about him a year or two after we left. He got the coach and half the team expelled from Hanseol. I definitely told you about it. It was on the news and everything.”

“I know they had some trouble, but I never knew he was the cause.” He lazily twirled his fork in the air. “Now they’ve let him into the Little Bears?”

“Their first match with him is tomorrow, and Cass and I are going.” Leon’s entire expression brightened, lovestruck and sappy. Then he blinked, and a wry grin curved his mouth. “Malay’s style of play is just hilarious, you know. He’s just a boy fully committed to the bit. Will it succeed? Who knows. But will it be seriously funny either way? Hell yes.”

Surya zoned out, not invested at all in the drama, but Leon continued talking for what must have been twenty minutes. He made half-hearted sounds, watching as Harper dragged some players out of the cafeteria.

“Let’s join the mentor program,” Leon suggested, breaking Surya out of his daze. “We’re pretty much free outside of classes, and it might be really fun going on all their camps.”

“You’re just doing it for the money,” Surya laughed. “There’s no way I’m that desperate.”

“Even if I convince Daichi to do it?”

“What does he have to do with anything?”

“Oh, please, you two are as thick as thieves.”

“You’d have better luck getting him to respond to your messages.”

Daichi was largely indifferent to everyone and everything, except when he was chasing some fleeting thrill. He moved through life almost recklessly, and his unpredictability kept most people at arm’s length.

“He told me that he was put on this earth to do one thing and one thing only, and that was to have fun,” Leon mumbled under his breath. “Unleashing him on the first-years will be enough to convince him. His competitive streak will do the rest.” He stood to clear his tray but glanced down at Harper, who was glowering at the table. “You recruited the right PE assistant, Harper-tov. I won’t disappoint you.”

She gave him a thumbs-up without looking at him. He shot her a concerned glance before pointing at Surya, mouthing, Cheer her up.

Surya sympathetically slid her his strawberry milk. “Here,” he said, “cheer up.”

She accepted his offering and took it as an invitation to vent. “They’re such assholes,” she hissed. “If I watched Keisuke’s piece on Malay, I know for certain they did, too, but they’re acting just like his old team. When we were touring the art studio, Marx and I had to stop one of them from pouring yellow paint down Malay’s throat. How messed up is that?”

That stunned him. “Seriously? What did they say when you reported it?”

“That they’d handle it, but they never do. They’ll turn a blind eye to anything that might mar the image of their star team.” She squeezed her empty carton of milk. “Marx lost his temper, yelling and everything, but you should’ve seen the kid.”

“Malay?” He was careful to get the name right this time.

“Yeah, he just went to one of the basins and coughed it all out like it was just another Monday. I had no idea what to say to him.” She looked up at Surya beseechingly. “What could I have said to him?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“I’m going to make sure he’s assigned to my mentor group. There are good people here; he just needs to find them.” Harper abruptly cracked a grin at him. “I don’t know whether I should cry or laugh about this, but when I told him that he could come find me any time, I think he thought I was just asking him to return Erik’s shirt. You should really talk to him, Surya. He’s so sweet.”

“Yeah?” Not interested.

“He was also pulling a push door when I met him.” 

“It happens to the best of us.”

“Yeah, but,” she said, “there was a sign.”

“You’re not exactly selling him as a good friend to me.” 

“Correction: I’m selling you as a good friend to him. He was at Hanseol like you, and when I brought up your name, you should’ve seen his face. It just lit up. It was the cutest thing.” She burst with laughter. “You’ve definitely got a little junior who looks up to you!”

“He should be making friends his own age,” Surya tried. “If he gets too close to us, it’ll cause its own problems.”

“You just don’t want it to be your problem. And how will you stop me? I’m going to pack him into my suitcase and bring him with me wherever I go.”

“Marx won’t be a fan of that.”

“He’ll have to learn to accept it.” She caught Surya’s eyes and insisted, “I hate that it was through that documentary, but because of it, everybody knows how cute and funny he is.”

“People who don’t watch basketball don’t know.” 

“Exactly, everyone knows.” 

“Not me. Who’s one of the 1.5 million people who don’t watch basketball.” 

“Who?” 

It was a little absurd that in the span of one day, all everyone was talking about was Malay and the Little Bears. Surya didn’t want to be reminded about Hanseol or the past version of himself, but it felt like it was creeping up on him.

There were always rumours about the old Hanseol coach and his players, who turned up to class with dark circles, scratches, and various bruises colouring them. Since it was a rough sport, it never gave anyone much pause, least of all Surya.

He hoped the hype around Malay died out in the next few days, when everyone realised he was just another boy. Then people would stop mentioning him to Surya, fishing for a reaction, and he wouldn’t become Surya’s responsibility.

The last thing Surya wanted was a burden on his hands.