"dude, the dragons won again."
"at this rate, we'll be playing them in the finals."
"if we make it to the finals..."
"hey!" every boy's head snapped up at their coach's shout, comments ceasing as their lips instantly sealed shut. the elder dragged his cold orbs across the team before released a low huff, shoulders slumping slightly. "if you guys want to give up? give up. wanna quit? quit. no one is gonna stand in your way."
honestly, everyone (including assistant couch ten) was at a loss of words, not one of them expecting the rather depressing words to ever leave sicheng's mouth. and yet there he was, arms now crossed over his chest and frown apparent beneath his dark gaze.
"wh-what kind of pep talk is that?"
"oh, you want a pep talk? sorry, pep talks are only for boys with potential. you've already seemed to give up."
there he was. the corner of jeno's lip quirked at the rising tone in their coach's voice as he repositioned his hands in his hips.
"you wanna quit? you wanna let those good-for-nothing dragons beat you without putting in any effort? be my guest! or," he cocked a brow, well aware that he had all his students' attention. "you could give it your all. make them suffer. don't let them walk all over you. show them what you're capable of! we've made it this far, have we not?"
by this point, the hockey players were cheering after every pause sicheng took. he was almost yelling as he continued, "so, are you gonna let those fucking dragons run you over?!"
"no, coach!"
"are you gonna give it your all? go down fighting?!"
"yes, coach!" jeno and his teammates shouted each word with a grin, their spirits rising by the second. looking around at the group of boys, sicheng flashed a smirk and straightened.
"good. i'll end practice early for you all to reflect on your reason for being here. now get out of here."
the boys filed out, some heading to the locker rooms while others stripped of their padding and ice skates right in the gymnasium. jeno and his squad of four went to the first option without a second thought, deciding to play on their phones in the empty room after everyone else left.
when it was just the captain, his four closest friends, and a few trusty teammates left, the boy with blue hair turned off his device and leaned forward, signaling to the others that he was about to say something. they followed suit, dropping their phones into their laps or bags to give him their full attention.
the blue-haired boy sighed, running his hands over his nape as he spoke. "some of the players visited me after our game the other day."
"what?!" haechan and yangyang instantly shouted, rising to their feet with eyes so wide jeno thought they'd fall out of their heads. "shh! keep your voice down. i don't want coach to hear."
"why not?" one of their teammates, choi yeonjun, asked, voice wary and sharp. the boy sighed again and cracked his knuckles as he spoke. "we already got a warning cause of these guys. if coach knows they showed up at our school to talk trash, what'd you think he'll do?"
a brief silence of agreeance fell over the group. "then... what did they say to you?"
"just that they'll beat us, blah blah." there was a pause of hesitation in the younger's voice that caused mark's brows to furrow. "you sure that was all they said?"
knowing he couldn't keep dumb secrets from his friends, jeno pulled his intense stare from the canadian and towards the rest of the group. "they said some... not so nice stuff about my soulmate—"
"no."
the boy looked up, eyes wide in disbelief to hear such a serious tone coming from haechan's mouth.
"they can mess with you, but i draw the line when soulmates get involved." both yang and sungchan nodded along with his words, determined expressions plastered over their faces. the looks brought an almost sly grin to the elder's face.
before anyone could suggest something unsportsmanlike, mark stood. "look, i know we're all, like, upset with these dragon dudes, but let's stop and think. shouldn't we try being on our best behavior instead? like, if jeno gets hurt, his girlfriend also gets hurt."
he did a small, awkward spin to make sure everyone was still listening. "i don't know about you guys, but i'd prefer if neither of those things happened."
thankfully for mark and his reddening ears, the other boys agreed. "i like that idea," sungchan shrugged. "i mean, i don't want to fight anyone, so this plan works best in my favor."
tweedledee and tweedledum nodded in unison, arms crossed over their chests as they wore matching scowls. jeno nodded as well, making sure to direct the action at mark to help assure him that it was a good idea.
"let's do that. avoid them at all costs, and don't let them push or provoke you. we're stronger than they are." his words brought prideful smiles to the group around him, which passed on to the speaker rather quickly.
the sound of the bell ringing separated them, and they promised to keep their calm composure if they happen to encounter a member of the dragons before their possible game.
with one last nod to their youngest player, jeno tugged his bag over his shoulder and made his way to class.
── 🩹 ──
hyerim sat at her desk, chin resting on her folded arms as she sighed. soobin and felix shared a look before patting the girl's head. seungmin unfortunately wasn't in their class, but the brunette wasn't upset because he was too smart to be in regular level like them.
"it was... weird? like, they just showed up at our school."
hyerim let her head flop to the side, cheek squishing against her forearm as she faced both her friends. "honestly, kind of scary. i've never seen jeno get angry like that..."
the blond australian pressed a light poke against her puffed out cheek, grabbing the girl's attention. "come on, rimmie. i'm sure it's nothing too serious. you know how opponents can get." his voice was cheery and reassuring, but hyerim still felt uneasy.
soobin reached over and ruffled her hair enough to ruin it. the girl sat up and pouted as she tried to fix it.
"don't worry too much. one of the players told me they have a rivalry, but no one is going to act on it." he flashed a small, comforting smile. "our school and team is better than that."
the brunette smiled this time, waiting a few seconds before wiggling her brows. "one of the players, you say?" felix caught on quick, laughing knowingly as he and hyerim nudged the pale blue haired boy beside them.
"you guys are the wors—"
"shin, lee, choi! don't make me separate you!"
"sorry, ms. keun."
hyerim rolled her eyes and lowered her head to hide her mouth. "i miss mr. hong. this lady doesn't catch our vibes."
apparently she didn't hide enough, cause that comment earned her a private talk after class. soobin and felix made sure to tease her for the rest of the day.
if it isn't obvious, i've never witnessed an actual pep talk :)