THIS STORY IS ALSO FEATURED IN THIRD TABISAN FAN FEST: ROMANCE CLICHE

“How are those two doing?” Dong Yongbae approached his captain, whose eyes had been watching two of their best forwards trying to break each other’s record for the last five minutes on the rink during their two miles skating relay.

“We are fortunate they haven’t tried to kill each other yet,” Kwon Jiyong heaved a sigh and glanced at his running stopwatch, “Five thirty three!”

He called out the time after their first mile because Choi Seunghyun had been keeping pace with Park Dara the entire time. He coudn’t quiet work out if Seunghyun was trying not to show off when it was evident he could go faster.

“Don’t hold back on my account,” she told him.

The tallest member of their team let out a loop-sided grin, “Why, Park? Your weak legs are failing you?”

She gritted her teeth, “You’re getting in my way, Choi.”

It was a challenge through and through and if he thinks she was not going to rise to it he was dead wrong. Dara fixed him with a glare and increased her pace. Seunghyun was by far one of the best hockey players in the varsity, his conditioning was legendary. He was known for his sharp criticisms toward her, but that just made her more determined to beat him. He has a strategic mind that was responsible for some of the most breathtaking plays she had ever seen and she really, really would like to just talk hockey with him if he didn’t have a foul mouth to begin with.

Somewhere behind them, Lee Seungri whooped and shouted, "That's it, Park! Beat his sorry !" The rest of the team perked up from the sidelines and, well, there just might be enough of a showboat in Dara to respond to it. She didn't finish the test at a sprint, but it was a close thing, and she certainly came ahead of Seunghyun, who increased his pace but not enough to beat her.

"Ten forty-eight, eleven flat!" Jiyong called out over cheers and applause while Seunghyun was less than amused.

Everyone was hyped up and Coach Yang gathered the whole team by the side of the rink for their final meeting. It appeared that they were playing against Dankook Titans (in which Kang Daesung, the goaltender, jokingly referred them as ‘those anabolic-stimulated giants’) tomorrow.

“Kids, listen up,” Coach Yang cleared his throat and showed them a hand-written chart, “Jiyong and I have been reviewing your performances during this training camp and we agreed to make some changes for this season’s starting lineup players.”

He stopped to find confused glances exchanged in between the team.

“That means some of you might sit on the bleachers longer than others. But rest assured, this composition is not necessarily permanent.”

“Dara, you made it to the list!” Lee Seungri, who had just found his name on defencemen line, hooked an arm around her shoulder and exclaimed gleefully.

“Ugh, yeah... easy there, boy, you almost choked me,” Dara grunted after a successful escape attempt.

“Aww... poor little Park,” a deep voice reverberated from behind, mocking her, “She’s going against guys thrice her size for her first game... princess better be careful or she might break a leg.”

“Not when I’m much faster than you, Choi,” Dara coolly replied.

There was a period of time when she received more than a few strange looks and harsh comments from some of the team members, especially the ever-misogynistic right winger Choi Seunghyun, but she already expected it. And she wasn’t entirely surprised when the nickname ‘Knights’ Princess’ is born not long afterwards. But then she has other things to worry about. Dara knew not to expect any concessions for her , not that she would ask for any. She knew full well what she had to prove and how hard she had to work.

Still, it was surprising to see things like coed shower stalls in the facilities at the Knights’ practice rink. She used to play for women team back then in Busan and they have separate locker rooms for females while Yonsei only had one large locker room for their all-male members and another one on the opposite wing for their visitors. It took her a long detour to the girls’ restroom, so she opted to occupy the visitors’ locker room for her own use during trainings.

“Would you like a curtained-off area in the locker room?” Kwon Jiyong, her team captain, thoughtfully asked her in person the next day of their big match. He was aware that she couldn’t possibly use the visitors’ locker room, not when Ok Taecyeon and his team were using it,