Someone Who Will Peel Off The Fish Bones (2022)

CHAPTER 2: A fateful and tearful encounter

PRIMO KNEW LUCA WOULD CATCH UP to him sooner or later. He also knew that his friend won't let him quit the basketball team. But Primo had already made up his mind. Sure, he loved basketball since he was a kid because his dad taught him how to play it. Sure, it was through basketball that he had spent a lot of happy moments with his parents. Sure, it was also the sport that helped him get through hard times.

But Primo realized that he had to go find other things to make his life worth living. Because, when the thought of quitting the basketball team occurred to him earlier which was initially out of rage, he was shocked as to how terrified he felt. He didn't just quit the team to prove a point—it was mainly because he realized how much he depended on the sport... and he was afraid of the time when he'd be crushed because he relied on it for so long.

Primo wanted to change that. He didn't want to follow the footsteps of his dad. He wasn't about to let history repeat itself.

"Primo, are you serious?" Luca asked when he caught up with him. Primo continued to walk as Luca kept up with his pace.

"I am. It's fine. Besides, this way, you could finally get the recognition you deserve." Primo glanced at his friend and smiled. "I know they only made me captain because of my dad. I might have been good at basketball, but I know I'll always be in his shadow, getting recognized just because I'm someone's son and not because I actually achieved something."

Luca grabbed his arm to stop him from walking. His eyebrows furrowed. "Is that what you really think? You know that's not how we see it."

Primo might not be blessed much when it comes to his family, but he could say with conviction that he was very much blessed when it comes to his friends. However, it's time to stop hiding in his friends' wings. Primo wanted to laugh when the thought of growing up occurred to him. It seemed so unlike him. He never wanted to take anything seriously, and he didn't feel the need to, since he had no difficulty acing his studies and his shoots. Like basketball, he loved studying. His mom had said he was naturally curious, so he had no trouble with wanting to learn. The only trouble he kept getting into were school fights that he always tried stopping, but instead ended up getting caught in the middle of it and being blamed by the people who witnessed it. He never wanted to always see the student council president that way, but he ended up frequently meeting her because of it. Primo guessed having frequent meetings with Narra finally rubbed off on him.

Narra, he thought. All of this happened because she got hurt like that. Primo wanted to chuckle at the thought.

"You're really not going to change your mind, are you?" Luca's words interrupted Primo's thoughts. He smiled at his friend and let out a laugh.

When he realized Luca wouldn't join him, Primo composed himself and shook his head. "I think it's time for me to take the taekwondo club seriously. Sage must be mad at me for always using basketball practice as an excuse to stay out of the club's activities."

Sage was Luca and Primo's childhood friend and the president of the school's taekwondo club. Although they weren't in the same class for their second year of high school, the three were able to spend time with each other and still be good friends, especially Primo who had joined the basketball team where Luca was in, and the taekwondo club where Sage was in. However, since Primo loved basketball more than taekwondo, he mostly spent his time on the other. Now that he quit the team, he could finally focus on the taekwondo club.

"You know you're going to have to talk to Coach about this, right?"

Primo smirked. "Don't worry about it. I got it. You just go do your thing as the captain now."

After sighing, Luca glared at him. "You know there's a chance I won't be chosen as the captain, right?"

"Well, the team's going to fail if you're not the captain, anyway. Don't think too much about it." Primo placed his hand on Luca's shoulder, squeezing it. "You'll do fine, Luca."