double, double, toil and trouble

Chapter 36

But Yuna just furrows her eyebrows, casting her own gaze to their captain as well, "Our next game is only days away..."

"Yuna is right", Rocky adds, to which Jaemin shoots his roommate a wide-eyed glance, clearly wanting him to help smooth out the situation, but all Rocky does is shrug as he can't help but side with Yeri and Yuna, "This is a big change."

"The Seeker doesn't interact with the rest of the team in the same way the other players do", Jaemin reasons, trying to get them to listen, but he can tell who is having trouble with his decision.

Perhaps he and Donghyuck should've spoken to them in private first and told them what was going on before introducing them properly to Chenle.

"This is still a big risk", Yuna murmurs, only now looking over to Chenle. She feels apologetic towards him at such a welcome, but the worries of her teammates were valid. They had a strong play that has been working for them. Why would they need to change anything, especially so close to a game?

"I'm overseeing his training", Donghyuck pipes up, folding his arms across his chest, to which Jaemin then nods along.

"And if I deem he's not ready by our next game, then Donghyuck has agreed to play until he is"

But Yeri still doesn't look convinced.

"And why aren't you playing?" She questions, poking a finger towards Donghyuck. Just yesterday, she had been happy to have him back, they'd joked around, but now that flame of warmth and fondness in her deep brown eyes had extinguished, "It's your last year- as well as the majority of ours too. I thought our plan was to win the Quidditch Cup, to graduate on a high."

"And that's still the plan", Donghyuck tries to reassure her, but again, she doesn't seem to accept his words.

The Quidditch Cup is what they've been working towards for many years. Last year they had placed second, only a handful of points behind Gryffindor- victory was almost theirs. And this year, this year was their year. They had been so sure of it. They had their strongest ever team, they had solid plays, they had a good rhythm going...

Donghyuck wanted to be on that pitch when they won because they will win. They've all worked so hard to get this far- all the dawn and dusk practices, all the aching bones and trips to the hospital wing, all the stress and strong will it has taken to become one on that pitch.

They have all given so much to this team over the years and Donghyuck is so proud of them and of himself. He may have tried out for this team because of his parents, but he stayed year after year because he loved the sport and the people.

But he also knew that for him, there were other things that he yearned to do, and Quidditch was a lifestyle. Quidditch was late nights and early mornings. It was time and thought consuming and it was tiring. Now that Donghyuck was free to pursue his own ambitions and free of his parents, he wanted his choices in his last year to be entirely his.

He wanted more time to go over potions with Johnny, and he wanted to do more in the Hospital Wing than just shadow Nurse Moon for half an hour. He wanted to be put to work. He wanted to make the most of the resources that this castle has... and if by living out his own ambitions, he could give Chenle that same opportunity, then trading in his Quidditch cloak would be worth it.

"Hyuck has been with us for several years. Even if he's not on the pitch, he's still a member of this team," Jaemin cuts in, his tone firm, and yet it eased Donghyuck's heart to know that he'd always have a place here.

"And I think Chenle will surprise you", Donghyuck adds, clapping the younger boy on the shoulder, "I have complete faith in him."

To which Chenle whispers under his breath, teeth clamped together, "No pressure there, then"