Minsung | Rule Number Five

twenty-two

He thought about it. "But it makes sense, I guess. They want to finish all preliminary rounds by today, so that all elimination rounds are moved to tomorrow. So if you don't advance, you don't have to come tomorrow."

The masked boy sighed. "I'm gonna have to find something less incriminating to wear tomorrow."

"Don't you have dance class tomorrow?"

"In the morning, yes. I'll be here by the time finals roll around."

"Maybe you won't be. Felix might not make it. He's still relatively new, you know."

"Who said I was coming for Felix?"

The next hour or so was spent in total silence.

Jisung kept mentally running through his case files. He had used all of Friday to go through them with Chan, making sure he didn't leave out a single thing. 

More than anything, he needed to make sure that there were absolutely zero holes that people could poke through. As a maverick, it would come down even harder on him; the debate world's prejudice against mavericks extended into the judging pools too, and one single slip up would hurt him way more than his partnered teammates. 

It was biased and it was unfair, but when even the higher-ups of the GDB shared the same sentiment, battling it was fruitless.

He trusted Minho's research and writing. He didn't even have to bat an eye to know it was prestigiously, ridiculously good, and that everyone else would recognize that too. But that didn't stop him from thinking about all the ways he could get fucked by the system.

This was going to be a long, long weekend.

After an excruciatingly long eternity of having to pay half-attention (it reminded them all painfully of Chan's welcome day lecture), the assembly seemed to be coming to a close.

"As I'm sure most of you are aware, or have been taught by your teams, your match assignments will be sent to you through automated text message." The man from earlier was back. 

"It will be on the phone number you used to register an official debater profile under the GDB Portal, and the same one that we received on your digital registration through that same official profile, like every other tournament."

He checked his phone. "You should be getting your text messages right about...now."

Sounds of notifications, vibrations, and quick whispers filled the air, and the lighting in the room was also instantly brightened by the amount of people pulling out their phones.

Minho nudged his friend. "Who did you get?"

"Uh. From Western Secondary School...partners. Lily and Irene."

"Never heard of them before. No-namers. You'll be fine."

"Don't jinx it for me."

"I'm being completely serious. If you lose, after everything we did, I will laugh at you."

"Not just that. This is only the first match. I still have five others to get through and at least four of them to win."

Minho pinched Jisung's cheeks affectionately. "And I can't wait to see you demolish all of them, you hot little number."

"Oh, so now I'm the hot one?"

"You're wearing my clothes. Anyone in my clothes just automatically looks good. It shouldn't even be a question."

The younger boy looked down at his getup. "You said this was free for me to keep."

Minho leaned in until he was a breath away from his ear. "Free for me," he muttered. "But not free for you. Somebody's gotta pay."

Jisung opened his mouth to talk, but Minho simply shushed him and turned his attention back to the stage.

"As we begin to release you to the first debates of the year, we'd like to say some final words, directly from the GDB," the tournament director spoke over the talking, quieting them down once more.

"All of you are here to learn. You, and your partner, are about to embark on another year of learning, discovering, and exploring. Us, as tournament hosts, directors, staff members and judges, know all too well the feelings you must be sharing with your partner right now. However, more than anything, we also know just how much you both will flourish in this world together, and that starts today, in this school, in this tournament."

For a second, Jisung thought he was looking straight at him.

"Welcome to the new debate season. Let us make it a good one."

2/12/21

Song of the Day: THAT MASHUP VIDEO ABOVE IT'S SO GOOD WTF WTF WTF HOW AM I JUST LISTENING TO THIS NOW GO TRY RN RN RN RNJSHDFJDHF (caramelly.exe has stopped working. rn5 is now left unfinished, sorry y'all.)

Movie/Show of the Day: The School for Good and Evil (please. i can't be the only one who loved this book. it was my SHIT.)

Question of the Day: You have the option to punch one person without getting in trouble. Oli London or No Pants Saesang Girl. Take your pick.

Thoughts of the Day:

Not so many flirty moments here but you can't get them every time can you :') there's still a plot to follow, after all huhuhu

Agh I love Bella she's like an older sister tbh. Is it weird to get attached to my own characters???? because uHHHhhHh

Why does this place also feel like a diary for me LOL i'm ranting to all of y'all every day about something arbitrary or whatever...hey we might be a (really) small family but i love each and every one of u guys <3 <3 <3

this is the first story i've ever written in my life. let's hope it goes well sdhfjhfjsdhf

Honestly, I love writing these chapters. Now that we're into the actual tournament, it's gonna be so much fun AGAJGHJFHDJFHDJH...and this is only the first one too...hooo

A quick explanation as to how the "profiles" work:

when you first start out, you register an account under the GDB Portal. It's like Facebook for debaters. You'll have your own profile with your name, your partner (if applicable), school, and a record of tournaments you've been to and things you've won.

When it comes to registering for tournaments, you do it through the Portal by submitting your profile to them. It's kinda simple.