My Secret Lover

Chapter 31

Pov. Jake Sim*

Today was the day. The most important game of the year, and we had to win it. It was about moving up a league.

Or to just miss the target again, like last year.

Taking a deep breath, I left the locker room with Hee by my side. My gaze was on the packed crowd in the stands. They were loud.

Very loud.

Somewhere in the throng, I saw my and Hee's family. Namra was there, too, of course. Next to her Hoon, whom I had invited yesterday. He noticed me as well and swayed down, Nam did the same. In return, a grin flitted across his lips.

I was happy that Hoon was there. He took the pressure and fear away from the game.

"I'm so nervous," Heeseung muttered. I looked at him questioningly, but he was talking to Jay, who had just joined in, adjusting his helmet. "Yeah... The nervousness before games like this always gets to me. But we've trained so much, we can do it!", Jay tried to reassure Heeseung. "You're right, but still."
"You are Team Captain. Just believe in a gut feeling and lead us, it will be fine."
"But my stomach is just teeming with nervousness right now..."

It was strange. Hee was never nervous.

But maybe it was because he had lied to the trainer. Heeseung's ankle still hasn't fully recovered since the accident with Riki. From the arena, all the way to warm-ups, and even in the locker room, the others were trying to keep him from playing because the injury could get worse, and he might end up never being able to play again. But he took the risk, and I knew exactly why.

He wanted to prove to his parents that he too had passion in him just like Sunghoon. To show that he could be better than him. That he can also be successful in what he does. This was his chance to jump out of Hoon's shadow and he didn't want to miss it. To show that he also has value. Blood, sweat, and tears had to pay off. And this fact worried me.

We gathered in front of the ice field. Our coach walked past us and opened the ice door. First, the names of the opponents were called, then ours, before we entered the ice and sang the national anthem. One last time, our coach brought us together, gave us a sermon, and assured us that he would kick everyone's ass if we didn't win the fucking game.
With even more pressure on our shoulders now, we lined up in position.
"Damn, the whole team looks like thirty with their full beards. Plus they are all super tall ugh, I don't want to play! Did they all dope up or why do the opponents look like that," Riki muttered worriedly. His brown eyes stared through his helmet cage. "Don't worry. As the saying goes. Don't judge a book by its cover," I tried to cheer him up.

Well, I understood his fear. After all, he was the youngest and just as much a sub on the ice. He would be an easy target for them. What a crap.

I silently examined the opponents; they were indeed tall. And if Riki said that there was something to it. He was almost a double meter.

But well, luckily we didn't play basketball but ice hockey.

I looked again at each of our players.

Jay is the goalkeeper and Heeseung is in front as a center. One in front of me was Riki a right winger, and next to him was his best friend Sunoo a left winger. Jungwon was the left defender and I took the job on the right side. It was a good lineup. I felt ready.

For the last time, I looked up at Sunghoon, who raised his thumbs in the air and formed "Fighting" with his mouth. Silently, I muttered "thank you" and grinned.

Here we go.

A loud beep sounded, and the minutes on the scoreboard dwindled. The first few seconds passed, the ref let go of the puck and the face-off began, which our scorer Heeseung surprisingly won easily.
Hee shot the puck into the generic zone. Sunoo came sliding across the ice, took it, and shot on goal. But he missed.