LOGINThe apartment stayed quiet after that. The email was still open on Nikola's phone, its bright screen illuminating the kitchen table while his cereal sat abandoned beside it. The milk had completely ruined it now and one piece had somehow attached itself to the side of the bowl.Nikola stared at the email anyway, totally ignoring everything else.Eight months in another country, very far away.The words looked exactly the same as they had ten minutes ago but somehow they felt heavier now and the kitchen suddenly seemed too small. The walls felt closer and the familiar apartment he'd lived in for months looked strange somehow. Different.Elias quietly put the groceries away one by one, leaving Nikola to enjoy his silence. From bread, to the juice he loved and the vegetables Nikola insisted he got.Neither of them spoke as the refrigerator door closed with a soft sound. Elias turned around and Nikola still hadn't moved.He was sitting in the same position, phone in one hand and spoon in
The problem started at exactly ten thirty-seven in the morning. Nikola knew the exact time because his entire life changed at ten thirty-seven in the morning.He was eating cereal and it was not even good cereal, the cheap kind for poor people, then his phone buzzed.He looked down lazily, expecting another team group message because Joshua had discovered reaction stickers and unfortunately wouldn't stop using them but instead—An email sat there and Nikola frowned then blinked and nearly dropped the spoon."...what?" The email remained there and he read it again, then again and then one more time because surely he was reading wrong.Invitation.Elite Development Program.International Training.Duration: Eight months.Location—Nikola stopped, then squinted and then looked closer."...where the hell is even that?" As he looked at it again, then rushed to open his maps. He waited, the maps loaded, Nikola typed, the maps loaded and then—"Oh." Silence stretched, then— "Oh."It was far,
By the time the meeting with the scouts finally ended, everybody looked emotionally exhausted because the National team discussions apparently involved far too many words, too many explanations and entirely too many forms.There were requirements, evaluations, training schedules, selection camps and nothing was guaranteed. Absolutely nothing.Nobody was promised a spot, everything would be earned.Again.Nikola had called it "championship part two" and spent ten straight minutes lying face-down on the floor afterward then eventually everybody went home.Well…Stumbled home.The apartment door had barely closed behind them when Lukas dropped his bag and turned around so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet."We have scouts." Viktor blinked confused at the start."We do.""No." Lukas pointed dramatically. "We have damn scouts.""We still do.""And… they fought over me.""They did.""They were arguing.""They were.""They knew my name." At that point Viktor smiled because for once
The silence lasted exactly three seconds before Nikola lost it again and it was louder this time."YOU DID WHAT?" Nikola's voice echoed through the entire rink. Coach pointed immediately."Lower your voice brat.""I WILL NOT BE DOING THAT.""Lower it.""I REFUSE." Coach looked exhausted as he sighed and regretted existing totally."Of course you do." The scout blinked several times before looking back at his tablet."So… you never received anything from us?" Lukas slowly shook his head."No sir." The scout frowned."We sent five emails from our end." The entire room froze and they slowly turned to him."FIVE?" Joshua looked personally offended as he repeated again, “FIVE?" And Lukas stared."...five?" The scout nodded."Yes. Three development programs." He scrolled, "One sponsorship inquiry." He scrolled even lower again."And a junior national recommendation." Nobody breathed.Nobody. Absolutely nobody.Then Nikola grabbed both sides of his hair and was visibly tweaking."HE GOT MORE
The scouts arrived like sharks. Not loud and not even dramatic. Just calm people in expensive suits carrying clipboards that contained lives and somehow looked more terrifying than hockey sticks.They felt the entire room change around them immediately.Nikola looked a slight moment from launching himself off the bench and Joshua kept fixing his hair. Twice, then three more times. Even Coach straightened slightly only Lukas didn't.He kept untying his skates slowly and carefully. Like none of this had anything to do with him because honestly?It probably didn't. Not after the emails, not after the empty inbox and not after refreshing the same page over and over until he hated himself for hoping.Across the room, Viktor watched him and something still felt wrong…really wrong but before he could say anything—One of the scouts approached Coach. The man extended a hand."Coach." Coach shook it and the scout smiled. "I've heard a lot about your team." But Coach snorted."My condolences."
Three days after becoming champions, the team discovered a very terrible truth. Winning did not make them better at hockey or on the ice.If anything, it made them much worse. The first intensive international training session started at eight in the morning and by eight fifteen Coach already looked ready to resign because,"WHAT WAS THAT?" But nobody answered, mostly because nobody knew who he was yelling at anymore because there had been too many things.Joshua missed a pass, Sam lost possession and Nikola somehow skated directly into another player despite the fact the player had been standing completely still.Coach pointed aggressively at him in disbelief."HOW?" Nikola screamed back even louder."I DON'T KNOW.""HE WASN'T EVEN MOVING.""I THOUGHT HE WOULD.""WHY?""I BELIEVED IN HIM." And Coach closed his eyes in utmost shame. The international training center the school provided was enormous. Bigger than any arena they'd practiced in before…bigger than college rink and bigger
The room went completely silent after the message. Not quiet…not calm. It was silent in the worst possible way…like the air itself had stopped moving.Viktor stared at the phone with wide eyes, his breathing turning uneven almost immediately. Lukas could physically feel the panic settling into him
The table remained dead silent for exactly three seconds before Lydia burst into laughter so hard she nearly folded in half.“I KNEW IT IMMEDIATELY!” she yelled, slapping the table aggressively.Sam pointed at her immediately. “See? THIS is why I never tell you anything first.” He sighed, “You know
Lukas couldn’t stop fidgeting. His fingers kept twitching against his knees while the silence in the office stretched longer than he could handle. The coach still hadn’t said anything after the “I see” and somehow that was worse than yelling. He just kept staring like he was disappointed or irritat
The cafeteria suddenly felt too loud and too full. Worst of all, it felt too hot and cramped. Lukas couldn’t stop staring at the door the coach had disappeared through, his mind couldn't come to believe it. His hand was still tangled with Viktor’s beneath the table but now it felt like everyone cou





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