no space ! MINSUNG

the practice

"Listen. You'll be fine. But if it gets really bad, give me a sign and I start a fire."

Jisung laughed, but that didn't ease the knot in his stomach. Every step closer to the Quidditch field was one step closer to shitting himself.

"I'm not sure I want you to do that," he said, though at the moment, the idea was strangely appealing. Hyunjin was wild enough to not be joking, even if it sounded like he was. "How would you even do that?"

"The less you know, the better." Hyunjin smiled innocently.

They finally reached the field, where a group of scattered Gryffindors were already half-heartedly stretching or chatting amongst themselves.

As far as Jisung knew from Chan's constant ranting, the team this year was a mess, which explained the lack of replacements. They could barely function with the current players, who were mediocre at best.

He spotted a red-haired girl and a blonde one who weren't even pretending to stretch, their heads close together as they bickered. Lindsay was pacing nearby, arms crossed, clearly agitated.

Jisung recognized some of them from his classes, especially the two girls—they were always getting scolded for being too loud, at one of his classes. At least they weren't all try-hard jocks.

"Alright, alright!" Lindsay's voice cut through the air as she clapped her hands sharply. "Everyone gather around! We're already behind schedule!"

Jisung trudged forward with the rest of the team, trying to stay in the back, praying to go unnoticed. He could feel Hyunjin's eyes on him from the sidelines, but even that didn't settle the trembling in his legs. His heart felt like it was lodged somewhere in his throat.

"Now, listen up," Lindsay said, planting her hands on her hips as she looked them over, clearly unimpressed. "As you know, Chan is out, and Jisung here—" She pointed at him, and he immediately wanted to sink into the ground. "—is going to be his replacement for Friday's game."

The silence that followed her announcement was broken by a snort. "This twink?" The blonde girl asked, raising an eyebrow and nudging her friend.

The red hair, without missing a beat, deadpanned, "And we're the ones they complain about?" The two exchanged a glance before breaking into laughter.

"I'm not fully sure what that means, but shut it, or I'll hex you both into next week," Lindsay snapped, glaring at them, "Izzie, Lexi, quit fooling around. Jisung, you'll do fine, everyone will help,"

Of course, Lindsay, being a pureblood with no knowledge of Muggle slang, had no idea what they meant. Jisung, very much familiar with Muggle words, knew all too well. His cheeks burned hotter.

As Lindsay moved on with her speech, ranting about focus and discipline, Jisung edged toward Lexi and Izzie, hoping their attitude might dull his panic. He stood awkwardly beside them, trying to stretch, but it was hard when he felt his body numb.

"Don't worry too much," Lexi said, noticing his obvious anxiety. "This team's already shit, so you can't make it worse. I hope."

Apparently, that was meant to be comforting.

"Mate," Izzie scolded, giving her friend a nudge. "That's not helping. Look at him, he's a mess!" She turned to Jisung, offering a warm smile. "Ignore her. You'll be great."

"Uh, thanks," Jisung muttered. At least they were distracting him a bit.

"You can't be worse than Izzie, anyway," Lexi teased, earning a playful slap on the arm. "Seriously, she closes her eyes every time a Bludger comes near her—and she's a Beater."