From Something To Everything (Bounprem)

46. Basketball Match

Ohm was taking long strides to the audition hall. Someone had leaked the news that he will be judging the audition causing an influx of candidates to attend the audition.

“How many candidates are here already?” Ohm turned to his manager cum secretary Yacht.

“Already seventy-plus candidates have registered. There are more than thirty candidates that had applied but are yet to turn in.” Yacht replied looking at the data in.

“How many candidates applied for the audition in total?” Ohm felt a headache coming his way.

“There were about two hundred and forty-six applications. Out of them, we only selected hundred and three candidates.” Bosston replied.

“Only hundred and three? You must be joking with me.” Ohm tried his best to not yell at the other two.

“No, Khun Ohm. There are a lot of NRI candidates who are auditioning today. Especially from South Korea, China and Taiwan.” Yacht looked at logistics and reported.

“When are we going to audition all of them?” Ohm took a deep breath to calm himself. “Tell Foei to do an initial filtration before the original audition starts. Make the audition a two-step process. Select the top twenty candidates and I and the director will audition them. Or else it is going to take a lot of time”

“Khrab.” Yacht left to carry out Ohm’s orders.

Bang

A loud sound attracted Ohm’s attention. He looked over and saw a guy who was in a casual t-shirt and denims kicking the venting machine causing the machine to drop a can.

“What’s the use of being such a big agency, your venting machine still needs to be kicked to get the stuff.” Ohm heard the guy say while picking up the can.

The guy walked to the recreational area of the agency and sat on a bench there.

“Is he one of the candidates who is here to attend the audition?” Ohm looked at the guy who was eating the canned pastry from head to toe.

“Khrab, Khun Ohm,” Bosston said with an embarrassed smile as he looked at the guy who was smiling at the can as he opened it and started eating the content with a disposable fork.

“Get me the basketball,” Ohm said eyeing the guy in front of him.
“Eh?”

“Get me a basketball and stay here, I have something to do,” Ohm said. Bosston brought the basketball to Ohm.

Ohm dabbled the ball and headed to the basketball court in the recreational area. Wearing a black hoodie over his head along with a cap and mask, Ohm was sure that the other party would not recognise him.

The dibbling voice had managed to gain the attention of the guy who was eating the canned pastry. Ohm threw a three-pointer before continuing to dribble the ball. He acted as if it was an accident and threw the ball in the guy’s direction.

The guy successfully caught the ball. Ohm asked him to throw the ball back. The guy threw the ball right into the basket from where he was standing.

Ohm gestured for the guy to join him. The other part seemed happy to comply. The guy threw away the can into the trash can and joined Ohm on the basketball court.

Ohm and the guy seemed to be equally matched. Both of them were having a difficult time making a score. Both of them were competitive and were unwilling to give in.

Every time one of them would try to score, the other party would block and get the ball. This process went on for a long time. It took them great efforts to make a score.

The ball was with the guy. He did a crossover dribble, successfully avoiding Ohm’s hands to do a slam dunk. This left Ohm amazed. He was thoroughly impressed by his opponent’s skills. Ohm got serious.

The game ended in a tie with both parties sweating all over, panting hard. Ohm brought over two bottles of water and passed one to the guy who was sitting on the basketball court, before taking a seat next to him on the floor. The guy had his legs spread in a v shape with his two hands at the back supporting his torso as he was catching his breath. His face had turned red from the blood rushing to his face after the exercise. 

Ohm removed his hood and mask but still kept his cap on. The guy didn’t seem to notice him.

“That was a nice game.” The guy said taking a huge gulp of water in one go.

“You were good,” Ohm commented observing the guy’s actions.

“You weren’t half as bad.” The guy chuckled and complimented Ohm. He looked at his wristwatch and said “Oh my god. I need to go. See you around.” The guy smiled and patted Ohm’s shoulders. He then got up and ran to the exit of the recreational area.

Ohm looked in the direction the guy disappeared into and smirked.

Bosston who was standing behind the pillars, hiding came forward and handed Ohm a towel.

“Do you know what his name is?” Ohm asked wiping his sweat with the towel after removing his cap, exposing his face.
“Khrab,” Bosston responded.

“Tell Foei to send him to the second round directly. He doesn’t have to go through the filtration process.” Ohm instructed looking at Bosston.

“Khrab, Khun Ohm.” Bosston bowed his head.

Ohm smiled satisfactorily and said “I will go take a shower and head to the audition venue in half an hour. Send in the selected candidates for the second round of auditions to the other room.” Ohm walked away.

He had to take a shower and change before he could appear in front of people. He was sweating all over. Even his hair was dripping with sweat. He had to change his clothes too.

Heading to his office, he met with Yacht on the way. The latter started explaining the filter process that was implemented by Foei.

“I don’t think there is a problem with the process. But you must make sure that the candidates have a clean background. I don’t want more trouble like the last time.” Ohm stated clearly to Yacht.

“Please don’t worry about that. I have personally checked the background of all eighty-three candidates that were selected for today’s audition.” Yacht replied.

“Good. Could you arrange for a change of clothes for me? Something that would look formal yet not too formal?” Ohm asked.

Yacht nodded and headed to Ohm’s private room in the agency.

Ohm got in the bathroom to freshen up while Yacht picked out an outfit for his artist.

Ohm was satisfied with the choice of clothes made by Yacht. He picked up his phone and saw Boun’s message asking for updates. He replied that the audition was yet to start before putting the phone away in his pocket.

He headed to the audition room without much delay.