PAPER CUTS .. ljn（✓）

→ four

"you're a freaking monster," hyerim scolded in her headset, which filled with the satisfied laughter of the murderer.

yes, it was only minecraft, but the girl had grown instantly attached to her pixilated dog. and now it was dead. the brunette was pretty sure she would have shed a tear if there weren't two seven-year-olds downstairs.

"soobinnn," she cried into the little mic. a short gasp was heard from felix's side. "omg, rip wolf. 2017-2017." hyerim raised a fist into the air out of respect for the fallen soldier.

"choi soobin, i'm burning your house to the ground."

"wait—" the group of three continued screeching into their headsets as they wreaked havoc on the poor server.

after a little over an hour of repeated murder and burning things, hyerim sighed. "i wonder if seungminnie plays minecraft..."

"does he even know what video games are? that boy is always either reading or studying."

felix clicked his tongue at the younger's comment. "he knows what video games are. why don't we invite him to play with us?"

a smile formed on the girl's lips at the thought of all four horsemen finally playing together. "yes! let's do it!"

"um, or we could not?"

"two is greater than one, therefore soobin's opinion is invalid."

the said boy huffed into his mic as he accepted defeat. "fine. but i get to kill him first."

── 🩹 ──

the blue-haired boy took a deep breath through his hockey mask. he held the stick tight in his hands, hunched into a guard position with eyes trained intensely on the little black puck.

jeno followed as the puck darted between players he could only recognize from the numbers on their jerseys. it was now with haechan, who eyed the goalie with brows lowered in a teasing manner.

time slowed around the two as the golden-haired boy pulled his arm back. a slow smirk appeared on the elder's face when the shooter swung at the puck. jeno watched the boy carry through his shot, just as he was taught.

without a hint of hesitation, the blue-haired goalie shifted his heavily padded leg to the left with his own hockey stick. a loud clonking sound radiated off of the plastic stick, and the deflected puck skid back out onto the ice.

a cheer was heard from the bench and jeno turned his head momentarily to see mark and sungchan jumping and cheering as if that was the coolest block they'd ever seen.

a whistle was blown and the boys on the ice slid to stops while the ones in the stands shut up. their coach pulled the whistle from between his lips and tossed his clipboard at the assistant coach.

arms crossed over his chest with his usual stoic expression, coach sicheng dragged his icy gaze over all the players in view. the tense silence was quickly broken when the golden-haired boy cooed as loudly as possible.

"aww, cutie!"

"number 2! please replace 66." mark hurried onto his feet and haechan skated back to the benches, clearly unbothered to be replaced.

coach sicheng rubbed his eyes with one hand, the other one still tucked beneath his crossed arm. "boys, the semi-finals is right around the corner. we've had a great season, rising to the top of everyone's expectations. i have parents calling me to bet money on your victory."

the younger boys glanced amongst each other, not quite sure where the coach was going with this pep talk. noticing the numerous confused stares, sicheng groaned.

"that! that play! we need more of that. i want you all to line up and try to get a shot past 23." he blew his whistle again and turned, grabbing the clipboard from assistant coach ten's arms.

jeno took a deep, quick breath and repositioned his hockey armor, as some of the other players called it. the boys on the benches quickly joined the ones on the ice as they formed a very spaced-out line in front of the goal.

one by one, they attempted to get a shot past the blue-haired goalie, and one by one, they failed. sungchan came the closest to scoring, but it bounced off the side of the goal last minute.

after every player had gone more than once, the coach blew his whistle again. "okay, gather up, boys!" the group did as told and formed a little huddle.

"yangyang, your shots are too high. if you keep it up, you'll surely break something behind the goal. haechan," the said boy perked up, making kissy faces towards the young coach.

"ugh. if i get another call from your mom that i need to be nicer, i'll bench you."

haechan pouted, earning him a quick head pat from number 2. "mark." sicheng called, and the boy straightened, pulling his hand from the younger's golden hair. "... you're actually doing pretty good. keep up the good work. oh, and remember to take breaks when you need them. we can't have you passing out in the middle of a game."

the canadian beamed silently at the positive feedback. sighing quietly, the coach turned towards their newest recruit.

"sungchan, i can see that you're still struggling a bit with the skating factor, but you have good shooting form. once you perfect the whole walking on ice thing, i think you'll be a real ace." ten sent the youngest boy a thumbs-up, which made sungchan grin shyly.

"and our current ace, jeno." the said boy snapped up at the sound of his name, clearly dazed, which caused the other players to silently laugh at him. "don't get hurt this season. if you're out, we're screwed. no offense, boys."

"none taken."

sicheng nodded and gave his team reassuring pats on the back. "you've got this. we're taking home the victory this season, i can feel it."

i'm in love with coach sicheng.