Archive of Our Own

Two points.

Jihoon watches as the score pops up on the small television that was near the Kiss and Cry, hearing the cheers of the crowd fill his ears. He clenches his fist, bringing it to his forehead.

Bae Jinyoung Total Score: 318.05

He swears he sees a smirk from the male directed towards him, which irked him even more. But, Jihoon had to admit it—Jinyoung was always a gold medalist. Because of him, Jihoon has always ended up with a silver medal.

“It’s just the Grand Prix, kid.” Jihoon hears his coach, Daniel, tell him as he’s still seated on the bench. “It’s not Worlds or the Olympics.”

“You know I hate losing.” He groans, directing his attention away from the television. He swears if he looks at the score one more time, he might collapse on the ice the next time his blades step foot on them. “And it was two points. I really thought I got him this time.”

“You always think you’ve got him, that’s your problem.”

“The only problem I have here is him . He thinks he owns the entire rink.”

“He’s Bae Jinyoung, Jihoon. He could own the entire country of South Korea if he asked.”

“How about me?”

“Well, you? You could own the small alleyway beside an Italian diner.”

Watching Jinyoung leave the Kiss and Cry, with a smirk permanent as ever on this face, Jihoon rolled his eyes. The younger male oozed self-confidence and he hated every single drop of it.

“Still silver, Park?” Jinyoung asks him as if he just didn’t win gold a second before.

He thinks Jinyoung teases him way too much.

“Still arrogant, Bae?” Jihoon snaps back, narrowing his eyes.

“Aren’t we all?” Jinyoung lets a sarcastic laugh escape his lips, earning a glare from the shorter male who was standing in front of him.

“It’s just you.”

“Ouch, Park. That hurt.” Jinyoung clutches his chest, feigning hurt feelings. “Next time just ask me for the gold, i’ll even let you touch it.”

“I don’t need your sarcasm, Jinyoung.”

“Oh come on, lighten up. At least you aren’t bronze.”

Jihoon frowns, he knows Jinyoung only tells him that to make him feel even worse.

He hears the hosts call the top three into the rink and leaves Jinyoung standing there alone as he walks towards the rink.

He tells himself that next time—he just doesn’t want gold, he’s going to get it.

“Fuck, you distracted or something? That’s the fifth time you’ve missed the count of your Salchow.” Daniel shouts at him from the edge of the rink. They were back in Great Britain, at their regular rink for practice.

Jihoon groans, feeling the sweat accumulating near his forehead. “You don’t think I know that?”

“And I thought I told you to take an ice bath earlier, your back looks more stiff than usual.”

“I may or may not have fallen asleep when I got back home to my apartment.”

He hears Daniel sigh as he makes his way towards him.

“Do you want Bae Jinyoung to acknowledge you as competition or not?”

Jihoon scoffs. “I already am.”

“Not in his eyes, you aren’t. You may be one of the best figure skaters in Great Britain, but Jinyoung only sees you as a baby.”

“I’m older than him.”

“Not my point, what i’m saying is—start taking this seriously if you want a gold in the next competition. Prelims for Worlds are in less than two months and my sources tell me that Jinyoung is preparing a performance that isn’t even close to what we’ve seen before.”

This has Jihoon’s eyes rolling. “It’s Prelims, not the damn Olympics. He’s stupid if he uses a performance that strong early on in the competition.”

“At least he already has his eyes set on performing in the Olympics. Meanwhile, you only have your eyes set on what you had for dinner when we got back.”

“That fucking outfit was not worth the diet.”

“Tell Sungwoon that next time.”

Out of all places, Jihoon did not expect Jinyoung to be at his rink—in his country. Especially when it was only two weeks before the Prelims. He let the towel drape on his shoulder as he watched the male skim through the ice.

He had to admit that the way Jinyoung skated was the pure definition of elegance. Although he was only twenty years old, he was the epitome of what a figure skater is.

“Is that Bae Jinyoung?” Daniel came up behind Jihoon, eyes wide. From his reaction, Jihoon could tell he didn’t know about the male’s visit. “What is he doing here?”

“Practice.” Seongwoo, Jinyoung’s coach, stands up from the bench and walks over towards the duo.

“There’s about a hundred other rinks in Great Britain and you coincidentally come to the one that we do our regular practices?” Daniel frowns.

“Relax, Kang. We’re not here to look at your routine.”

“Are you sure? Because that’s all that’s indicating right now.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes, leaning down to tie the shoelaces on his skates. This was a normal occurrence, Daniel and Seongwoo were previous rivals before they retired. It wasn’t unusual to see them bickering about the simplest things.

“I’m going on the ice.”

Without looking back, he sets his blades firmly on the ice—skating towards the location opposite of where Jinyoung was.

There’s no music playing in the background, no crowd but Jihoon envisions them. He lets himself take in a deep breath before letting his muscles move by themselves to the routine.

The only thing that mattered to a skater was the technicality and accuracy of their performance. Based on his years of experience, Jihoon noticed that lately judges had their eyes set on skaters who showed their true colors on the ice, no matter what song—Beethoven, Bach, all the way to Yiruma. And that’s exactly what Jihoon has.

Or at least, what he thinks he has.

After landing a double loop as a warm up, he glances over towards Jinyoung’s direction where the male was currently trying to quad a Loop followed by a triple Lutz.

He scoffs, fucking try hard .

Ever since they’ve started out as competitive junior figure skaters, the two have always been rivals. Jinyoung was the South Korea’s joy and Jihoon was Great Britain’s hope.

Competition was always going to be their priority.

The two weeks pass like a blur. To Jihoon’s surprise, Jinyoung didn’t utter a single word to him and stayed in the same location as he was practicing in the rink. He thought it was better like that.

“We need to go over your routine one more time before you hit the ice tomorrow.” Daniel says as he looked down at his phone, reviewing the choreography.

Jihoon hums, eyes still covered with an eye mask. The turbulence on the plane was no longer strong.

“Also, your laybacks are still stiff and you keep missing the beat for your Salchow.”

Jihoon releases a loud sigh. “Calm down, coach.”

“You’re telling me to calm down when you have Prelims in less than twenty-four hours? You need to nail your routine before you can tell me that.”

Jihoon groans. He brings his hand up to remove the eye mask, sclera bloodshot from the lack of sleep.

“You know i’ll land them, I don’t understand why you’re so worried.”

“You never land your routines during practice, but during the performance everything goes well. It’s a fifty-fifty chance.”

“Not this time. I’m getting gold.”

Jihoon lets his eyes close, he could just visualize Daniel rolling his eyes.

“You say that every time. I might as well tell you to get Platinum, since gold is out of your reach.”

“Trust me a little, coach.”

“Not when Bae Jinyoung is on the ice.”

Jihoon disliked the smell of the skating rink. Sure, it may have been cold but the faint aroma of armpit sweat and dirty laundry was still there.

“Now, remember what I told you.” Daniel pats his back before he puts his blades on the ice.

“How could I forget when you’ve been shoving it down my throat for the last few weeks?”

Jihoon leans against the rink, balancing himself to get the feel of the ice.

“This is your only practice time before the competition, use it wisely.”

“It’s Prelims, coach.”

Daniel chuckles. “Tell me that after you get into Worlds.”

He knows he will anyways.

Jihoon disfavored warm-ups. As a figure skater, he wanted the ice all to himself as he was practicing—enough space to land his jumps, enough space to create the perfect rotations in the air. It was difficult to do that when there were other skaters around you, especially when there’s a chance that you may collide with them.

He’s seen it happen before during his second year as a novice skater and it wasn’t pretty.

Somehow he was always put into the same warm-up group as Jinyoung, so he became more cautious on the ice. He knows the crowd acknowledges their rivalry and would take any moment to turn it into the press. There was that and Jinyoung’s jumps were the perfect amount of narrow and precision. It would be horrifying colliding with him during his runs.

The music for each contestant plays for about a minute, letting each one have their time for practice. Jihoon lets himself glide against the ice, practicing his laybacks. He still felt stiff, this wasn’t good.

Suddenly, he feels a quick breeze of air dash past him and something tells him that the music that was currently playing was Jinyoung’s.

The music in his routines had a large distinction with the one’s normal skaters used. If Jihoon remembered correctly, his best friend Daehwi, who was a producer in South Korea made all the songs the male has skated to in both his short and his free skate program. The personalized songs portrayed Jinyoung perfectly in each performance.

He lets himself stand still against the rink, watching as Jinyoung does a double Lutz followed by a single Toe Loop. He snorts. Jihoon knows Jinyoung is holding back to surprise the crowd later on, he was known for surprises after all. He wouldn’t be surprised if he pulled the quad Axel he’s been seeing him practice during his short program.

Jihoon swears he saw Jinyoung wince after landing the Toe Loop but doesn’t mind it as the music fades into his own.

He takes in a deep breath before his blades begin to glide against the ice.

His attire was pink and white, creating the perfect contrast against his fair skin. Jihoon sets a reminder to himself to thank Sungwoon when he gets back to Great Britain because the material wasn’t tight like last time.

“You look great, kid.” Daniel tells him, taking the Jigglypuff tissue box out of a duffle bag. “Nervous?”

“We all are, aren’t we?” Jihoon lets himself scan the crowd, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips when he spots his name on a fan’s banner.

“As long as you land your triple Axel, i’m not nervous. Seeing from your warm-up, I think you’re getting the hang of it. But that Ina Bauer, Jihoon. Don’t be afraid to feel like you’re about to fall back.”

“I know, coach.”

Jihoon’s head snaps towards the entrance way as he hears the cheers of the crowd escalate in volume. There in the entryway, Jinyoung stood in a black blouse, low cut towards the middle of his chest. He smiles widely, waving at the audience—the brat knew he was good looking.

He makes eye contact with Jihoon, shooting him a wink. The male turns away immediately, directing his focus on the ice. He always knew what buttons to push.

“Fuck, are we in an ice skating rink or a zoo?” Daniel cursed, furrowing his eyebrows as he hears girls scream Jinyoung’s name above them.

“Worse, we’re in Bae Jinyoung’s territory.”

“Next time, remind me to bring ear plugs.”

As a contestant, Jihoon liked to watch his competition. Minhyun went first, good rotations and jumps but fell during his third Toe Loop. Shoma Uno, a well-known skater from Japan, did a perfect program up until the end when he over-rotated a jump.

He could tell Jinyoung was next when the yelling from the crowd were different than the two previous performers. He expected nothing less from a two time World gold medalist.

As Jinyoung made his way towards the middle, he points towards Jihoon’s way—his eyes tell Jihoon that he wants him to watch his performance carefully.

The music starts off slow, graceful almost. Jinyoung glides into a double Toe Loop and Jihoon takes a guess that he’s saving his stamina for the second part of the short program.

The first part of the short program was always the most crucial for a skater. The second part depended on how much stamina you use, the techniques you put in—if you put all of your difficult jumps in the beginning it could cost a skater their whole performance.

Nothing was worse than falling on the ice from fatigue.

The contrast in power was obvious when Jinyoung lands from a quad Lutz, immediately going into position for a Biellmann. The crowd applauses from the precise transition and Jihoon thinks he could hear the commentators’ praises.

That was Jinyoung’s speciality—his combinations in compare to the other skaters. He doesn’t out-do them nor does he do too little; the male always ends up doing the perfect amount to make the audience gasp in awe.

The music begins to speed in pace and Jihoon could tell this was the climax of his performance. The way he glided against the ice, a Chasse before creating the perfect rotation for a triple Axel followed by a triple Toe Loop. The crowd was loving it.

He watches as the male smirks towards the crowd, transitioning into his step sequence—hands pointed to the edge as if they were one with the music, feet moving quickly below as if the surface wasn’t slippery.

Short programs were fast, barely reaching three minutes but as Jihoon was watching Jinyoung’s performance—it always felt as if it was hours. They were captivating.

With a sitting spin, transitioning into a half Biellmann—Jinyoung brings himself to a stop, grinning widely towards the camera as sweat drips down his face.

The television shows Seongwoo holding back his tears as a purple-haired boy, who Jihoon thinks was Daehwi, was fist-pumping the air.

The recognition was apparent with the crowd’s applause.

Jinyoung and Jihoon share a look.

Did you see that?

That’s what a gold medal performance looks like.

Bae Jinyoung Total Score: 99.7

As he waits for his turn, Jihoon ties his shoelaces for what he thinks is the hundredth time.

“Calm down, kid.” Daniel taps on his clipboard, arranging the unneeded papers.

“I’m trying.”

Jihoon takes in a deep breath as he steps onto the ice. He glides his blades against the ice as a test. The consistency was perfect, smooth but enough for him to run quickly through.

“Good luck, kid. Just watch out for your back and you’ll have gold in your hands before you know it.”

He nods, a small gesture to Daniel before making his way towards the middle of the ice—he does a small jump, testing the waters before the performance.

The thing about Jihoon’s performances is that they were said to be against the norms of actual figure skating.

While figure skating was known to be graceful, Jihoon skated with power and strong precision. Regardless of whether it was a short program or free skate program, the songs Jihoon chose were always fast paced. He knows that it’ll have an impact on the crowd, it always has.

The last thing Jihoon sees before he tunes out the music is Jinyoung watching him from afar. His hands go into position, letting himself turn backwards to glide against the ice—a Chasse into a triple Toe Loop. The rotation felt perfect in his legs and he thinks he’s off to a good start.

Some skaters think that jumps make the biggest transitional impact during a performance, but Jihoon focuses on his combination spins the most—and the step sequences. As a previous dancer, he has the advantage of being coordinated compared to the other skaters. Especially when it comes to the step sequences.

He feels as if he’s dancing on the ice, as if the slippery platform under him wasn’t even there. Jihoon closes his eyes for a second, envisioning himself in a dance practice room as he lets his arms move with the fast paced music.

The first half of the performance continues in a blur, the climax coming soon. He does a long stride of a Ina Bauer and he swears he hears Daniel yelling in the background “Bring it home, Park!” as he bends his back in the perfect angle, one that has Jinyoung dropping his jaw when Jihoon glances at him.

Next was a triple Salchow followed by a double Toe Loop and the crowd rings in Jihoon’s ears.

Jihoon glides across the rink, letting himself shift into position for a triple Salchow but he thinks he can make it into a quad—and he does. He lands onto the ice, hard enough that he feels as if the ice below has cracked but all that matters was that he made that Salchow.

Before he knows it, the music is fading and he’s standing in the middle with sweat getting into his eyes.

Jihoon knows he did good, great even. But, he won’t think that until he’s on the Kiss and Cry with Daniel sitting next to him.

When he gets out of the rink, his legs collapse on him immediately but he has Daniel to thank because he’s currently getting pulled by his coach into the Kiss and Cry corner.

“Jihoon, that was…” Daniel looked proud. At least to Jihoon he did.

“Great.” Jihoon manages to say in between his heavy breathing.

“Salchow went a little flat, but yes, everything else was perfect. I think that was your best performance yet. Jinyoung might be standing below you tonight.”

Jihoon nods before turning his attention to the front, he closes his eyes but his victory that he was imagined in his mind turned short when he sees the scoreboard.

Park Jihoon Total Score: 98.7

If he thought two points were bad, this is worse.

The free skate routine was Jihoon’s favorite. It was longer than the short program and he was able to show more of his routine than the first part.

For this performance, he was planning do do four quads—which required more stamina than he had last year when his routine only contained three quads. One included a Lutz, which Jihoon felt dubious on but as long as his rotation was good; he believes that he can pull it off.

Different from when Jihoon was back in Great Britain with Jinyoung, the younger male would glide past him occasionally. He thinks the barrier between them is slowly becoming smaller, and not just the one on the skating rink.

He watches as Jinyoung attempts to do a combination jump with a quad Loop followed with a triple Axel—a combination that was easy for someone like the male but instead he falls with a loud groan. Jihoon hears Seongwoo, who was in the middle of a conversation with Daniel, gasp.

Jihoon skates over in a hurry, helping Jinyoung up. He brings him towards Seongwoo who was looking at Jinyoung with a concerned look.

“Did you do something to inflame it?” Seongwoo asks, which results into Jihoon looking down at them with a confused face.

“I may have gone to the practice rink when you were sleeping.” Jinyoung mumbles.

“I thought I told you to rest last night!”

Jinyoung keeps his lips in a straight line, unable to say anything.

“Sorry to interrupt, but if Jinyoung is injured then I think he should—” Daniel begins, but is cut off.

“I’m not injured, my ankle is just swollen.”

Jihoon squats down, motioning for Jinyoung to remove his skates. When he takes it off, he’s met with an angry red shade on the side of the male’s ankle.

“You call that just swollen? How are you able to skate with that?” Jihoon frowns, eyes never leaving the injury.

“I’ll be fine, Park. It doesn’t hurt.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.”

There’s a pause.

Seongwoo sighs loudly, bringing his hand up to rub at his temples. “Can you still skate, Jinyoung?”

“Yes, coach.”

“Seongwoo!” Daniel is now the one yelling.

Though Jinyoung isn’t his student, he knows the consequences of skating on an injury—if the male fell harder than he did during practice then it would cause him months of recovery instead of a few weeks.

“He wants to skate, Daniel—I have to let him.”

“Are you crazy? Do you remember what happened when you skated with an injury?”

Seongwoo paused for a moment but ignored the male, helping Jinyoung up with one of his arms. “We’ll see you in a few hours.”

Jinyoung doesn’t show up for the rest of practice and Jihoon struggles getting all four of his quads.

The next time he sees Jinyoung, he was dressed in a royal blue satin shirt—the same low cut his previous outfit had. Jihoon thinks that he was good at hiding his pain because he was smiling and waving at cameras as if his ankle wasn’t injured.

Half of the males were already done performing and Jinyoung was next.

Jihoon feels his stomach churn, unusual because he wasn’t the one on the rink. He focuses as Jinyoung puts on his skates, making his way towards the ice. He sees that Jinyoung wasn’t limping, though he had a bandage wrapped around the base of his lower leg. It showed slightly above his skates, but it wasn’t obvious to the people in the crowd.

He makes eye contact with the male as he passes by him and he swears that Jinyoung nods at him.

As the music starts, it startles not just Jihoon but the entire audience. The song that was playing was a song that everyone and anyone who watched figure skating knew— Let’s Get Crazy by Prince .

“He’s not using Daehwi’s song this time?” Daniel is crossing his arms, voice genuinely surprised at the choice.

“Apparently not.” Jihoon mumbled, eyes still directed on the male who stood in the middle of the rink.

What’s more of a surprise is that the music wasn’t graceful, it wasn’t swan-like. It was the complete opposite, the music was fast and powerful—it was as if Jinyoung was telling the audience that he was going to get to the Olympics, that he was the one getting the gold even with a swollen ankle.

Jinyoung lets himself skate backwards, a pace so fast that it has Jihoon’s eyes widen. The male also added in movements that blended in perfectly with the transitions of the music. His first jump was coming up and Jihoon feels himself holding his breath, it was a difficult entry even for him.

The crowd cheers loudly as Jinyoung successfully lands his triple Toe Loop, a smile tugging on the corner of the male’s lips for the camera to catch. He lets himself glide towards the middle of the rink again, stepping into a sitting spin before changing his foot into a layback spin that has Daniel glancing down at Jihoon.

“That’s what your laybacks should look like.” He comments as he points at Jinyoung who was currently gliding into another jump.

Jihoon remembers reading some articles on Jinyoung, saying that he was a human machine made for figure skating and he thinks they’re right. The male was injured, but he was skating flawlessly—even with a new genre that he hasn’t tried before.

If Jihoon thought Jinyoung was an amazing skater before, this performance qualified his thoughts.

Jinyoung ends up nailing all five of his quads, even adding in an extra double Toe Loop.

When he’s on the Kiss and Cry, he’s in Seongwoo’s arms crying because when he looked at the score—it read 332.48.

A new world record for the combined score of a short program and free skate.

“Take a deep breath and stop overthinking it. Just get qualified for Worlds, that’s the most important part.” Daniel tells him before his performance. He nods.

Jihoon wants to be happy for Jinyoung, but now he has the weight on his shoulders that comes to a skater after an amazing performance. He only had four quads, he wasn’t like Jinyoung who could do five. Him and Jinyoung were too different from each other; they possessed different styles and different ways in approaching figure skating—and he saw that tonight.

“You got this, kid. Worlds are waiting for you.”

When Jihoon is in the middle of the rink, he takes in a deep breath. He thinks it’s crazy that he’s this nervous for a performance and it’s only Prelims. His eyes dart towards where Daniel was, but there was no sign of Jinyoung and Seongwoo and he thinks that they’re at the infirmary.

The music begins to vibrate in his ears and that was his cue to start.

Phantom of the Opera. He’s skated to this before; he knows the music note by note. The song had the perfect balance of power and grace, it portrayed Jihoon and how he wanted to be seen in the figure skating industry.

Jihoon starts with a choreo sequence, matching the quick pace that the music had. His arms open for the audience as if he was welcoming them to his skate. He turns, getting into the right position for his first jump—a triple Salchow. When he lands, he feels his feet hit the ice perfectly and the sound echoes in his ears. Next was a camel spin, his own personal favorite, with a transition into a Biellmann.

The crowd might be clapping, but Jihoon can only hear the sound of his skates gliding against the ice.

A quad Flip followed by a double Toe Loop towards the part before the climax. And when he goes for his Ina Bauer, his back was still stiff. But Jihoon didn’t care—he knew he could make it up with his quads.

He peeks a glance towards the Kiss and Cry area and sees Jinyoung standing near the rink, eyes all for him. But, it was no time for distractions. This performance needed to be finished perfectly. The end was approaching.

Jihoon does a step sequence to match the transition of the music, the audience clapping to the difficult moves he makes on the ice.

The rest of his performance finished in a blur and all he can remember is that he’s beat his personal best.

Park Jihoon Total Score: 322.08

Jihoon leaves Prelims with a silver medal and Jinyoung with gold. The outcome was obvious to the public eye, the press was able to predict it as well. He holds his breath and tells himself that he’ll surpass him during Worlds.

“Thought I told you to steal it from me, Park?” Jinyoung came up behind him during the after party, a large ceramic plate in his hands.

“Excuse me?” Jihoon furrowed his eyebrows.

Jihoon preferred to stay in his hotel room, but he always ends up going because Daniel tells him that he needs to keep up a good reputation if he wants to continue being in the industry for long. That’s how he always ends up in front of the buffet area, picking at any food that looks appetizing before staying at his table the entire night.

“Gold.” Jinyoung leaned over to grab the tongs, bringing a sandwich onto his plate. “Don’t tell me you forgot? Thought you almost had me there with that quad Flip.”

Jihoon wanted to retort but he bites his tongue. Instead he puts on a smug look, facing the male in front of him. “My performance got you afraid i’m gonna steal your crown?”

He watches as Jinyoung hums for a second before nodding. “Maybe, just a little this time. I’m not giving you the full credit. You need to work on your—”

“On my Ina Bauer, I know.”

It was rare to see Jinyoung laughing in front of him, but somehow Jihoon manages for it to happen. “Daniel’s on your ass about it?”

“Every single day.”

Jihoon looks around before bringing his voice down to a whisper for only Jinyoung to hear.

“How’s your ankle?”

“Hurts like a bitch. But, who can I blame? I was the one who wanted to skate.”

Jinyoung’s laughing for a second time and Jihoon’s spacing out.

There’s a pause before the younger male grins at him. “Want to get out of here?”

After parties were never Jihoon’s thing anyways.

They end up walking in the streets of Taipei because Jinyoung says he wanted to see the Taipei 101 Observatory in person. Jihoon tells him that there’s a possibility that it’s closed but the younger male insisted and he goes along with it. He didn’t want to stay at that after party any longer.

Jihoon ends up thinking this was a bad idea. It was night time, in the middle of Taiwan and both the males didn’t know any Mandarin except for the basics of Hello! and Where is the nearest food market? thanks to their coaches.

“Jinyoung, don’t tell me we’re lost.” He glances down at his phone, the battery was almost dead and he only hoped that the other male actually had his phone on him.

“Why would we be lost? I’m the one leading us.” Jinyoung looks back, a yawn following his sentence immediately.

“Maybe because we’re getting further and further away from the city? I can’t even see the hotel anymore.”

Jihoon contemplates about calling a taxi and just going back to the hotel, but he knows Jinyoung will end up complaining and he’s had enough to deal with today.

“The observatory is real close! I can sense it.”

“Well, I can’t.” Jihoon mumbles, continuing to trail behind the male.

He clutches to his own trench coat as he feels a cold breeze, shivering. He couldn’t understand why Jinyoung was so fond of cold weather; the male didn’t even flinch.

Jihoon thinks they’re coming close to their destination when he hears Jinyoung gasp, running towards a building that was taller than the rest that surrounded it. The duo walked up to the door and he watched Jinyoung pull the glass door open.

“I thought you told me it was closed.” Jinyoung looked back to glare at him.

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “I said it was possibly closed.”

“Possibly. Maybe. Closed. Same thing.”

He’s pulled into the tall building and he thanks the man up above because inside was warm enough to have Jihoon taking off his trench coat—revealing his crisp Armani tailored suit.

“We need to go to the top.” Jinyoung comments. Jihoon leans back to look at where male's eyes were focused, the amount of floors were intimidating. He heard that the building was one of the tallest in Taipei but this went over his expectations.

Jihoon wishes that there was an elevator because he wasn’t about to walk up over one hundred floors and he didn’t want Jinyoung to walk with his injured ankle either. He doesn’t think the younger male was going to ask for an elevator so he does it himself, trying to spit out as much Mandarin as he could manage for the receptionist to show them the elevator.

When they reach the top, Jinyoung runs out of the elevator immediately. Jihoon yells for him to slow down in case he injured his ankle even further.

As he glanced below the tower, the view was breathtaking. Jihoon felt as if he was stargazing. The lights trailed across the highways looked like it was dipped in gold.

Jihoon looks towards his left to see Jinyoung putting in a coin in a slot for the telescope, wanting to see more of the city. He moves quietly before putting his hands on the male’s shoulders, which resulted to him flinching.

“Jihoon! Don’t do that, you scared me.” Jinyoung frowns, looking back.

“World record holder Bae Jinyoung is scared of heights?” Jihoon doesn’t know where it comes from, but he’s teasing the male.

“Just scared of you.”

And somehow Jinyoung was teasing him back.

When they go back down the elevator, Jinyoung complains that he’s hungry and now they were walking through the alleyways of Taipei—looking for a night market to quench the younger’s hunger.

“Didn’t you eat at the after party? How are you still hungry?” Jihoon narrows his eyes as the younger male asks for three orders of Scallion pancakes.

“We left before I even got to bite into my sandwich, remember?” Jinyoung pursed his lips, watching the woman in front of him pour the dough onto the stove. He jumps back as the oil causes bubbles to appear.

“And why did you order three? We still have our free skate in a few days and practice is—”

Jinyoung groans. “You sound like Seongwoo. They’re just pancakes.”

“Which are carbs.”

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t eat them if I shared it with you.”

“I wouldn’t.”

Jihoon ends up stealing one from Jinyoung later on anyways.

As they’re walking home, Jihoon lets himself engulf in the sound of cars passing by while the smell of Taiwanese street food continues to greet them with each alleyway they cross. He trails behind Jinyoung, scared that if he lost sight of the younger male even for a few seconds—he’d disappear into another night market.

“I never get to go outside after competitions.” Jinyoung comments as he kicks the rocks in front of him into the road. “Kinda sucks. We’re travelling the world and I can’t even explore.”

“Well, Worlds are in Italy aren’t they?” Jihoon kicks a stone in front of him.

“They are!” Jinyoung pauses. “I want to try the pizza, wanna see if they’re as good as people say.”

“I think it’s pasta that you’re talking about.”

Jinyoung snorts. “They both start with a ‘P’. What’s the difference?”

As the incline of the road gets steeper, Jinyoung is struggling to walk. Jihoon notices this while he was putting the rest of the Scallion pancakes into his suit pocket. He suddenly kneels down and receives a confused look from Jinyoung.

“What are you doing?” Jinyoung questions.

“Get on my back.”

“Why?”

“Stop being stubborn and get on my back. I don’t want you injured.”

Jinyoung snickers before positioning himself on Jihoon’s back, his arms around the elder’s neck and legs held up by Jihoon’s hands. “You worried about me, Park?”

“As if, Bae.”

It’s three in the morning when there’s a knock on Jihoon’s door, a few minutes after he bid goodbye to Jinyoung as they separated into their own hotel rooms.

That’s why Jihoon thinks he’s dreaming when he sees Jinyoung in front of his door, sporting the Burberry suit he had during the after party.

“Jinyoung? What are you doing here?” Jihoon sends him a questioning look.

“I got exiled.” Jinyoung groans, crossing his arms in irritation.

Jihoon takes the younger male inside of his room, watching him collapse on the bed immediately.

“Okay, explain to me why you’re apparently exiled?”

“Two words. Kang Daniel.”

Jihoon’s face contorts into disgust, a nod coming from Jinyoung as he watches his reaction. “Daniel is in your hotel room?”

“With Seongwoo. They opened the door after I knocked on it for about ten minutes and then Daniel gave me your hotel room. That’s why i’m here now.”

“You think i’m gonna let you stay in my room just like this?”

Jinyoung hums. “I had a feeling you will.”

He makes himself comfortable on the bed, closing his eyes. Jihoon taps his back.

“If you’re going to stay here, at least change out of your clothes. You stench of sweat.”

The younger male sighs loudly before standing up to head to a suitcase. “Is this yours or Daniel’s?”

“It’s mine, we have seperate rooms.”

“I hope you don’t mind me taking a shirt and some sweats.” Jinyoung takes out the pair of clothing, instantly taking off his blazer and un-doing the buttons on his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Jihoon covers his eyes, turning away.

Jinyoung rolls his eyes. “Am I supposed to just put your clothes on top of my suit?”

“No, but you could at least go into the bathroom first.”

He hears Jinyoung chuckle behind him, then he feels fingers poking at his sides. “Is the Park Jihoon being shy?”

Jihoon turns around, but his hand was still covering his eyes along with his flustered face. “G-Go to the bathroom!”

While waiting for Jinyoung to finish washing up, Jihoon makes himself comfortable on the bed—playing games on his phone. It was too bad he couldn’t bring his Play Station with him.

Jinyoung comes out of the bathroom, face wet from the water he splashed onto his face. “I used your face wash—smells like coconuts.”

“You owe me new face wash.” Jihoon deadpans.

“I literally used one pump, Jihoon. It’s not like I ate it.”

Jinyoung walks over, removing the bed covers from the other side.

Before Jihoon could open his mouth to reject, Jinyoung already placed himself to his left and had the covers covering his face. He let out fake snores.

Jihoon sighs and turns off the lights.

Just as he was about to doze off, Jihoon hears Jinyoung talking.

“What was that?” Jihoon asked, the younger male’s words sounding mumbled the first time he heard it.

“Do you want to aim for Worlds or the Olympics?”

“The Olympics. What type of question is that?”

Jihoon hears Jinyoung laugh, the bed sheets moving. “A three in the morning type of question.”

“How about you?”

“What about me?”

Jihoon turns over to look at Jinyoung who was currently looking up at a ceiling, hands intertwined in front of his stomach.

“You want to go to the Olympics, don’t you?”

“Every skater’s dream.”

“You didn’t make the cut last year?”

Silence.

“After that nasty fall, I don’t think the Olympics would’ve taken me even if I begged.”

They both laugh and now Jinyoung was looking at him.

“That’s the first time i’ve ever seen you laugh around me.”

Jihoon scrunches his nose. He lets the faint noise of the cars from below their hotel fill his ears. “Is that weird?”

“No…” Jinyoung begins, turning back to look at the ceiling. “I like it, it’s soothing.”

Jihoon blinks. He wonders if the male in front of him was the same Bae Jinyoung on the ice skating rink, the same Bae Jinyoung who was South Korea’s joy. He doesn’t recognize him, but he thinks he could get used to it.

Jihoon wakes up to Daniel yelling his name, slamming his fists on the door.

“Park Jihoon, wake up! We have a flight in an hour.” He says for the hundredth time and Jihoon groans in response, moving his hands to grab for the pillow. Instead, his hands grab onto skin. Really soft skin.

He opens his eyes, looking to his left—seeing Jinyoung cuddling up next to him. Before he questions anything, he remembered what happened last night and sighs out of relief.

“Jinyoung, wake up.”

The younger stays quiet, snores still intact.

Jihoon rolls his eyes, turning over to pinch the male’s cheeks. “Wake the fuck up, I have a flight and I think Daniel is going to ram down the door any second.”

Jinyoung whines, slapping Jihoon’s hands away from him. “You’re so loud. What time is it?”

He looks towards the alarm clock on the side table, time reading that it was already past noon and it makes him wonder how long Daniel has been standing outside of his hotel room.

When he opens the door, he’s met with a furious Daniel who was crossing his arms.

“Do you understand what time it is?”

“I came back to the hotel late.” He shrugs, only caring about wanting to get more sleep.

Jihoon stands beside the door, inviting Daniel to come in. Surprisingly, the male widens his eyes when he sees Jinyoung still in bed with the covers around his body.

“Jihoon, why is Bae Jinyoung in your bed?” Daniel narrows his eyes to which Jihoon just snorts.

“Do you not remember giving him my hotel room number?”

Daniel ignores him, pointing at his suitcase. “I’m going to be back in ten minutes and if you’re not ready then i’m leaving Taipei without you.”

When Daniel is halfway through the door, Jihoon yells after him.

“At least help me wake Jinyoung up!”

Jihoon loves the time between one competition to another, mostly because he has time to sleep. He also hates it—because Daniel works his ass off to practice every single day. He only has Friday off for a break, practicing his routines and quads during the others.

“Do you remember Woojin?” Daniel asks him during one practice as he’s trying to land a quad Lutz.

“Yeah, he’s my best friend from high school.” Jihoon chugs down a bottle of water, wiping the remainder of the water off his lips afterwards. “Why?”

“He’s going to be choreographing your routines from now.”

If Jihoon was still drinking his water, he would’ve sworn he’d choke. “Since when?”

“I contacted him during Taipei, got his number from Daehwi.”

Jihoon furrows his eyebrows. “What’s Daehwi got to do with this?”

“You didn’t know? They’re dating.”

Jihoon thinks that he needs to catch up with his friends more often, but he’s happy for Woojin. The male was never one for dating, but he guesses that Daehwi’s bubbly personality was able to get him out of his shell.

He hums, shaking his head. “Isn’t that going to cause, I don’t know, more competition? Daehwi is Jinyoung’s producer after all.”

“Honestly kid, if you see how those two flirt—I don’t think that would even come close to breaking them apart.” Daniel shivers, reminiscing the video chat that occured last night when he tried to talk to Woojin over the phone.

Jihoon laughs loudly at his coach’s reaction. “Is Woojin coming today?”

“Whenever he gets off his flight from South Korea, he told me it was going to be this afternoon so you can relax till then.”

“I never thought i’d hear those words from you. Relax. ”

“That’s because Woojin’s going to be putting you to work the moment he comes. Don’t get your hopes up.” Daniel snorts.

“You look like death.” Woojin points out as Jihoon lays on the bench, breathing uneven from the rigorous practice.

“Maybe because I just visited Hell itself, thanks to you. I didn’t even know you choreographed for figure skating.” Jihoon grabs for his who-knows what number water bottle, taking one big gulp.

“Started last year, it was more of a side type of job. Remember Shoma Uno’s performance last year for Worlds? I choreographed that one.”

“Shoma’s?” Jihoon’s eyes widened. “Wow, I might actually get Gold this time.”

Woojin scoffs. “Stop being overdramatic, I heard Jinyoung’s choreographer is no joke too.”

“Who’s the choreographer?”

“It’s Seongwoo, he choreographs it himself for Jinyoung.”

Jihoon wasn’t surprised. Seongwoo was similar to him in background, only he was a world renowned dancer along with being a figure skater. Though Jinyoung wasn’t very skilled in dance, Seongwoo made him do the choreography look like he was just flowing through the ice.

“You’ve gotta be my world renowned choreographer, Woojin.”

“Take down Jinyoung first.”

Jihoon’s then chasing Woojin across the building with his empty water bottle in his hand.

Worlds came quicker than Jihoon thought it would. Italy was cold during January—freezing actually. Jihoon suddenly regrets not bringing his huge bright yellow coat; the only thing to cover him from the snow.

“Are you sure there’s not going to be a blizzard?” Jihoon asks as he looks outside of the hotel dining room.

“Why would there be a blizzard? I don’t even know why you’re acting like this, we’ve seen worse in Great Britain.” Daniel rolls his eyes, cutting into the steak in front of him.

“You never know, Italy is unpredictable.”

“This is the first time you’ve ever been to Italy, Jihoon.”

When they’re finished with dinner, they run into Seongwoo and Jinyoung who were currently near the door of the hotel. Jihoon waves at Jinyoung who gives him a big grin.

“You guys going out?” Daniel questions, to which Jihoon scoffs to. Of course they were going out, they were covered from head to toe and Jinyoung even had a beanie on top of his head.

“We decided to go sightseeing, Jinyoung begged me about a hundred times when we were on the plane.” Seongwoo groans.

“Correction, I wanted to get pizza.” The male interjects, frowning.

“It’s still pasta.” Jihoon says, earning a glare from the younger.

“Okay pasta man, show us where it is.” Jinyoung motions towards the door.

“Jihoon, you have practice tomorrow, you can’t afford to get sick.” Daniel interrupts them, shaking his head. He pulls the Jihoon back by his trench coat.

“Just let him go, Daniel. He has Jinyoung with him. We can just stay back and go to the bar.”

After a few more minutes of trying to convince Daniel, the duo was on their way to the entrance of the hotel.

“I’m guessing this is a promise you’re going to keep this time?” Jinyoung grins as they enter the taxi.

“I’m a man who always keeps his promises.” Jihoon retorts, leaning back into the leather seat. He tells the taxi driver the address of the restaurant, before looking at the younger male who’s currently drawing hearts on the window with his index finger.

“What happened to the gold medal promise?”

“I’m still working on that one.”

When they arrive at the restaurant, Jinyoung asks Jihoon to take a photo of him in front of the joint. Jihoon wonders why because half of the screen was covered in snow and Jinyoung was struggling to keep his beanie on.

“What type of pasta are you ordering?” Jinyoung questions as they’re seated at a table by the windows.

“I don’t know, spaghetti?” Jihoon hears Jinyoung snort in front of him, which led to him snapping his head up. “What’s so funny?”

“I can literally get spaghetti with room service. We didn’t come here in the middle of a blizzard just for spaghetti.”

“Okay, then chicken alfredo?”

“That’s too plain.”

Jihoon groans. It was so hard to work with Jinyoung. “You look at the menu then.”

The younger male shakes his head. “No, I want it to be a surprise.”

“You don’t like anything i’m suggesting.”

“That’s because you keep on telling me. It’s supposed to be a surprise.”

Jihoon would rather stand outside and freeze than listening to Jinyoung.

He ends up ordering Pappardelle for both of them. When it arrives, he gets a look from Jinyoung who was currently pursing his lips from the visuals in front of him.

“This looks like flat spaghetti.”

“Did you want it fried instead?”

Jinyoung laughs to Jihoon’s surprise before swirling the pasta around his fork. He brings it to his mouth and his eyes widen.

“This is so good!” Jinyoung has sauce on the side of his face and Jihoon automatically leans in to wipe it off with his thumb.

Jihoon doesn’t know what to do as he watches Jinyoung’s cheeks turn into a pink hue, the younger male was avoiding eye contact and picking at the dish that was slowly disappearing in front of him. He coughs quietly, bringing another spoonful of pasta into his mouth.

To his surprise, Jinyoung ends up ordering another round of pasta. He offers Jihoon a bite, but he kindly rejects as he’s barely even finished his first order.

“You really are a man of his promise, Jihoon.” Jinyoung grins as he puts down his utensils, his plate empty to the brim. “Well for tonight you are. The pasta was amazing!”

“At least you know it’s pasta now, and not pizza.”

They laugh and there’s a pause before Jinyoung speaks up again.

“Look at us, Koreans. Taking over the world one by one.”

“One dish following another. We’re going to end up being too heavy for our skates to hold us up next time.”

“I’ll hold you up if you fall.” Jinyoung smiles, winking at Jihoon.

Jihoon chokes on his drink this time.

“You know, I think this is becoming a habit.” Jihoon breathes out as he piggybacks Jinyoung. The younger male complained that it was too cold for him to walk when they got out of the taxi—and like the soft-hearted person Jihoon was, he couldn’t say no.

The doorman opens the entrance of the hotel for him, a sigh of relief escaping his lips.

“You act like you hate it.” Jinyoung teases, smiling against the crook of Jihoon’s neck.

There’s puzzled stares watching the duo as they walk through the lobby. Where else could they see Great Britain’s Park Jihoon carrying South Korea’s Bae Jinyoung? It was enough that there was snow melting on Jihoon’s head, but also his ears were the color of tomatoes from all the teasing that Jinyoung’s been doing.

“I can see it now on tomorrow’s newspaper: Park Jihoon becoming figure skating world record holder Bae Jinyoung’s lapdog?”

Jinyoung laughs loudly against Jihoon’s neck, his arms clutching onto the male tighter. “Don’t fuck around.”

“You still laughed though.”

“I’m laughing at you, not your joke.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes, but he’s grinning anyways.

When they reach Jinyoung’s hotel room, the younger male tells him to use his card and tuck him in. Jihoon swears that the male was five years old, forgetting the year difference between them.

He hears snores against his ear, the gentle breathing tickling his neck. “Jinyoung, stop pretending to be asleep and wake up.”

No response. Jihoon tries to look back and all he sees is a head of light brown hair. He takes the card from the male’s back pocket, using it to open the door. He peeks in, scanning around for Seongwoo. The older male wasn’t present and he guesses that he was still at the bar with Daniel.

“Jinyoung.” He repeats but there was still no response. He sighs and brings the male closer to the bed near the windows, moving down to push the bed covers to the side. He guesses this bed was Jinyoung’s due to the overwhelming amount of empty bags of chips on the lamp table. Letting go of the younger male’s legs, he turns around to bring Jinyoung onto his bed.

Jinyoung groans, still asleep as he dives deeper into the bedsheets. “Jihoon…”

Jihoon hums, voice affectionate as the visual in front of him included a drowsy Jinyoung.

“Don’t forget to tuck me in.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes, pulling the sheets roughly on top of Jinyoung. He was still a brat.

Worlds were much more chaotic than Prelims. The scheduling was different and the cheers were louder. Jihoon swore that he couldn’t even hear himself think as he went through the warm-ups.

“Do you have those ear plugs you said you were going to have last time?” Jihoon asks as he puts the skate guards on his blades. He currently had a headache and that’s definitely not what he wanted before a performance.

“You are not wearing earplugs while you perform.” Daniel narrowed his eyes.

Jihoon groans. “At least give me something to get rid of this headache, the crowd is so loud that they’re gonna pop my eardrums.”

“Let’s go to the infirmary, they’ll have meds there.”

Once they arrive at the infirmary, Jihoon spots Jinyoung sitting in the corner with his wrapped up ankle and he approaches him with a frown.

“You’re still injured?” He questions.

Jinyoung nods, not able to say a word. He looked exhausted, the dark circles were apparent even if he had makeup on.

“You should’ve told me, I wouldn’t have let you walk around like that last night.” Jihoon sounded concerned, but kept his voice low just in case someone was eavesdropping on them.

“It was my decision. And you promised me pasta in Italy, didn’t you?” Jinyoung mumbled, but Jihoon caught it.

He sighs, he didn’t want this to add onto his headache but he was genuinely concerned about the male in front of him. “Don’t overwork yourself. After this, we’re going to your hotel room and i’m bringing you soup.”

“But—” Jinyoung begins but is stopped by Jihoon.

“No buts. I’m bringing a heat pack too. Stay healthy until then.”

Jihoon leaves to Daniel who was currently getting his meds from the doctor. He misses the pink tint on Jinyoung’s cheeks as he watched him walk away.

As Jihoon goes back to the skating rink, he sees Woojin having a conversation with Daniel.

“You made it.” He grins, patting his best friend on the back.

“I mean, i’ve got to see how good you can actually execute my choreography.” Woojin teases and Daniel laughs beside him.

“Oh come on, it’s not that hard.” Jihoon lies through his teeth.

The whole two months he spent training was the hardest thay he’s ever encountered. Woojin made him work on a step sequence that was a level higher than his previous and even taught him how to land the quad Lutz without falling on the wrong side of his foot.

“You’re performing third, kid.” Daniel comments as the China finished their performance. Boyang Jin fell once during his performance, and a rotation off during one of his entries for a spin. “You think you can land that quad Lutz today?”

“If my spins are narrow enough today.”

“Don’t sweat it—you were fine during warm-ups. If anything, you can switch it into a triple and make the Flip a quad.” Woojin says, looking up from his phone that holds the routine outline.

Before he knows it, his name is called up and he takes off his pink hoodie—revealing the jade green lace top that he’s wearing underneath.

As he glances behind him, he sees that Jinyoung is walking from the back of the stadium with his arm around Seongwoo’s shoulders. The younger male gives him a thumbs up and Jihoon feels a laugh escape his lips.

“Think about your entries and make sure you get the Ina Bauer this time.” Daniel tells him when he’s on the ice, his name called out any second now.

“You’re never going to let me live that down, will you?”

“Not until you do it correctly. Good luck out there, kid.”

A few seconds after Jihoon gets into position in the middle, the next time he opens his eyes the familiar music rushes into his ears and cues the start of his performance.

He feels as if he’s dancing, that his moves flow easier than they did during Prelims. Jihoon thinks that Woojin’s training may have paid off because when he lands his first jump, a quad Flip, it was flawless. His footsteps felt light as he transitions into a Chasse, changing his weight onto his left foot as he does a combination spin of a Layback and a half Biellmann.

He ends up finishing his entire routine without any mistake, even his Ina Bauer was perfect—Daniel was patting him so hard on the back that he felt like he was going to fall.

Park Jihoon Total Score: 102.4

He yells out, the biggest smile on his face. Somehow he automatically turns to his left to see Jinyoung’s reaction and the male was also celebrating; hitting Daehwi’s arm in excitement.

A few minutes later, the music changed to indicate that the next country was Canada. They end up nailing all of their jumps except the last one, where they ended up landing on two feet because of the slow rotation. And then it was Jinyoung.

Jinyoung looked nervous, his leg was shaking rapidly.

“Don’t look like that.” Jihoon commented, looking up at him from the bench he was sitting on.

“I can’t help it, ankle still hurts.” Jinyoung laughs nonetheless.

“It’s only fair that you’re in your best condition when I beat you.”

“My ankle may be swollen, but today isn’t your day Jihoon.”

There’s that damn wink again before Jinyoung makes his way on the ice, giving his skate guards to Daehwi.

“You sure you two aren’t dating?” Woojin scoffs, his arm around Daehwi’s waist.

“We’re competition.”

Compared to Jinyoung’s other performances, this one was the most rigorous. Daehwi tells Jihoon that he planned to have six quads, three during the first and three during the second.

Jinyoung really was overworking himself and Jihoon can’t help but be worried. He’s never been worried about the male before, so what made this time different?

Every once in awhile when the camera catches Jinyoung’s face, Jihoon could see the pain that was inflicted in his eyes. But to his surprise, the whole routine goes perfectly—except a little mistake in the entry for the quad Axel but a few deductions wouldn’t hurt a routine that Jinyoung pulled.

When Jinyoung reaches the door of the rink, he collapses immediately in Seongwoo’s arms. Jihoon doesn’t move, he doesn’t breathe. The only thing he feels is Daniel shaking him by the shoulders, telling him to move quickly.

His legs feel like jelly when he takes off his skates, running to where Jinyoung was.

“I’ll carry him.” Jihoon doesn’t know where it comes from but his voice is loud and precise, startling the people who crowded around the unconscious male. He carries Jinyoung bridal style, following the paramedics that were going towards the infirmary.

As he walks away from the rink, he hears Jinyoung’s score faintly in the background.

Bae Jinyoung Total Score: 105.07

Jihoon puts the heat pack on Jinyoung’s forehead, letting out a sigh. He really wonders what the male did during the two months that led him to collapse right after a performance. Most injured athletes would take the time to rest, but Jinyoung does the opposite—he works harder.

After he arrived at the infirmary with Jinyoung in his arms, Seongwoo told him to bring Jinyoung to their hotel room and that he was staying with Daniel for the night. His words contained Jinyoung needs you more than he needs me and Jihoon couldn’t wrap his mind around that.

He feels Jinyoung move around under the sheets, groaning. “It’s too hot.”

Jihoon couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. He was still the same old Jinyoung. “You awake?”

Jinyoung opens his eyes, rubbing the sleep away. “Jihoon? What are you doing in my hotel room?” A gasp. “Don’t tell me you sneaked in?”

“No dumbass, Seongwoo gave me the key. You collapsed earlier, remember?”

“Not really, I just remember sweating like a pig right after I performed.” He hums. “Did you win gold?”

Jihoon snorts. “To get gold after you skated like that, I would have to break my back. You’re crazy, doing six quads when your ankle is injured.”

“It’s swollen.”

“That counts as in injury.”

Jinyoung’s stomach rumbles loudly, catching the attention of Jihoon. He purses his lips, eyes directing to the empty bags of chips. “I’m—”

“Hungry, I know. Will you ever stop eating?”

The younger male scoffs. “As if you don’t eat half of the plate of what I order.” A pause. “I want pizza.”

“Pasta again?”

“No, pizza . Just order room service, i’ll pay you back later.” Jinyoung lies on his chest, drowning into the pillows.

Jihoon sighs, but orders it for the male nonetheless. They end up eating greasy hotel pizza on Jinyoung’s white bed sheets, Seongwoo most likely going to yell at them in the morning

“You know, Olympics are in South Korea.” Jinyoung begins, reaching for another napkin to wipe the pizza grease off his hands.

“I’m pretty sure the entire world knows that, Jinyoung.”

“I didn’t mean it like that! I’m saying you’ll be in my country, breathing the same air. Kind of romantic.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes at the word romantic. “Planning to show me around?”

“Maybe. If you want me to. You might be overwhelmed though, i’m pretty popular.” Jinyoung’s tone of voice is playful, leaning over to poke at Jihoon’s sweater.

“If we get run over by a crowd, i’m blaming you.”

“You’re right. Maybe I should have Daehwi as our bodyguard.”

“Then we’ll definitely get run over.”

They continue to talk about the small things, how their routines were going and their plans for the upcoming Olympics. Jinyoung agrees on taking a month’s rest before going back to training after Jihoon’s persuasion. They don’t notice that the sun was slowly coming up to greet them until Jinyoung’s eyes were threatening to close.

Jihoon sits on the chair beside Jinyoung’s bed, the curtains wide open because Jinyoung says that apparently snow is good luck . The younger male was falling asleep next to him and Jihoon stands up quietly, making his way to the door. He’s stopped when a wrist goes around his own.

“Jinyoung? I’m going to my room.” Jihoon whispers.

“Stay.” Jinyoung’s voice is hoarse from sleep, his eyes half-open.

“The bed is too small and—“

Jinyoung whines, pulling at Jihoon to come near the bed. “Shut up and come here, I don’t want to sleep alone.”

That’s how Jihoon ends up next to Jinyoung, the younger male’s head against his chest. He’s reminded of the time when they shared bedsheets back in Jihoon’s hotel room back in Taipei, but this time he believes the barriers between them were gone.

Jihoon’s eyes were always fixated on competition, on gold—but as he hears Jinyoung’s gentle breathing against his own, legs tangled under the heavy sheets; he no longer thinks that he was competing against Bae Jinyoung, South Korea’s joy. But instead he was competing against Bae Jinyoung, the man who wanted to travel the world, the man who had a never ending appetite, the same man who worked harder than anyone else when it comes to figure skating.

He realizes that these past few months he was fixated on Bae Jinyoung and nothing else.

And he thinks he’s in way too deep to climb out.

Jihoon wakes up to the smell of coffee and the sun blinding his eyes. He groans, covering his vision immediately. He realizes that the spot next to the bed was empty and panics immediately.

“Jinyoung?” He calls out as he sees the male coming out of the kitchen area with a pitcher of coffee. The situation in front of him is so domestic that he almost forgets that they have their free skate program in six hours.

“I woke up a few minutes ago and decided to make you coffee.” A pause. “As a thanks.”

Jihoon doesn’t see the red on Jinyoung’s cheeks because the younger was looking down as he walks over to give him the hot drink.

“Will Bae Jinyoung’s coffee taste like gold too? Let’s find out.” Jihoon teases, warming his hands with the styrofoam cup. He gets a soft punch on his arm before Jinyoung lets himself rest on the side of the bed beside him.

“I didn’t do anything special, just some cream and sugar.” Jinyoung mumbles. His hair was still sticking up, messy from a short amount of sleep he got.

Jihoon takes a sips and hums, taking a pause. He feels Jinyoung staring at him intensely. “This is…”

Jinyoung clasps his hands together, waiting in anticipation.

“So bland.”

He’s thankful that he the drink is finished because Jinyoung suddenly pounced on him, yelling harmless threats.

In reality the coffee suited Jihoon’s taste and he wishes he could have it everyday if he was able to.

“Are you sure you’re able to skate today?” Seongwoo asks Jinyoung as the male is putting on his skates, reaching down to tie his shoelaces.

“They didn’t say I had a concussion, i’ll be fine. You know I always am.” Jinyoung tells Seongwoo before flashing a wide grin. He gets a smack on the arm.

“You’re taking a month rest after Worlds, so don’t overwork yourself when you’re on the ice today.”

“No promises.” Jinyoung snickers, walking over to Jihoon afterwards. He hears Seongwoo call after him, but continues to walk anyways.

“He’s worried about you, you know.” Jihoon smiles as Jinyoung sits next to him on the bench, the younger male automatically leaning his head against his shoulder.

“And you aren’t?”

Jihoon snorts. “I’m pretty sure the whole entire stadium is worried right now.”

“ I’m worried about you, Jinyoung. ” The younger male lowers his voice, imitating Jihoon. “You don’t have to be shy!”

The duo bickers for a few minutes before Seongwoo calls Jinyoung’s name up to the ice.

“That’s my cue. Don’t space out this time.” Jinyoung stands up, heading for the rink.

“I never do when you’re up there.”

Jihoon watches as Jinyoung flushes, the pink on his cheeks contrasting with the male’s fair skin. “You can’t say that when i’m about to skate!”

This time, Jihoon winks and Jinyoung’s running even faster to the rink.

Jihoon has watched Jinyoung skate for many years, too many to count. But, somehow lately when the younger male skates on the ice—it’s breathtaking and he can’t take his eyes away. It’s not the music, or the incredible routine that Seongwoo makes; it was Jinyoung himself and how he portrayed himself without any fear.

A quad Flip and the crowd heightens in excitement. Jihoon hears the emcee make a comment on how the younger male can still nail his jumps even if he collapsed yesterday and he snorts because it should’ve been obvious. Jinyoung has always been one of the best, ever since his Junior skating days. A prodigy.

His rotation was perfect and his entry was something that Jihoon wanted to copy and paste for himself. The way that Jinyoung skated was beautiful and maybe —just maybe, Jihoon thought Jinyoung was beautiful too.

The music fades quickly, quicker than Jihoon had imagined. He was probably too caught up in his thoughts to realize it, which is unusual because the free skate was longer than the short program. His eyes dart towards the middle where Jinyoung stands, sweat dripping down his face and breathing heavy.

They make eye contact and Jinyoung smiles. Jihoon finds himself smiling too.

He finds himself fucked in that moment, specifically the moment where the lights are shining down on Jinyoung who’s standing alone in the rink. Jihoon thinks he looks like an angel. An angel who’s sweating his makeup off, hair sticking to his face but it takes his breath away nonetheless.

His nerves were getting to him.

Jinyoung scored a 312.07, a combined score of his short program and his free skate. He was sitting down on the bench, a cold pack on his ankle that was still swollen.

“You’re shaking.” A pause. “More than usual.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You’re supportive aren’t you?”

“It’s my way of telling you good luck.” Jinyoung chuckled, grinning up at Jihoon. “You need to make it to the Olympics if you want to beat me.”

“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten about the promise.”

Daniel calls out Jihoon’s name, motioning to come over to the rink as it was almost his turn on the ice. China was already in the Kiss and Cry, 298.09 was their total score which put them to third.

“I’ll walk you over.” Jinyoung comments, putting on his skate that was currently on the floor before Jihoon could tell him no. He receives a frown from the elder male.

“At least hold onto my arm, I don’t want you collapsing.”

Jinyoung laughs loudly. “Somehow you’re always the one holding me up, huh?” He puts his arm around Jihoon’s, heading for the entry of the rink where Daniel was waiting.

Jihoon couldn’t help but laugh along with Jinyoung’s antics. When they reach the rink, Daniel gives him a pat on the back before taking the skate guards from his blades.

“You know what to do, kid. You just gotta beat this brat next to me.” Daniel points at Jinyoung who juts his bottom lip out as he hears him.

“I’m right here.” Jinyoung rolled his eyes.

Daniel snorts. “I didn’t stutter, did I?”

“Can you guys not argue before I skate?” Jihoon holds back a laugh as he lets his blades go on the ice. He stands across from the two males who were currently bickering.

“We’re not arguing, just cheering you on.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Jinyoung scoffs.

Jihoon counts down the seconds before his name is called onto the middle of the rink and hesitates on what he’s about to do. He recalls the what-if’s and his fears, but then he remembers that Jinyoung was a person who’s always skated without fear.

“Good luck out there!” Jinyoung shoots Jihoon that smile that he adores so much, oh how he loves it.

And somehow in that moment Jihoon’s motioning Jinyoung to move closer and closer . Close enough that Jihoon can feel Jinyoung’s breath against his. He tunes out the sound of crowd’s cheers, his attention only on the male who stood in front of him.

The camera focused on them and he thinks this is the perfect moment to do it—so he does.

Jihoon places his lips on Jinyoung’s chapped ones, his right hand cupping the male’s small face. He knew it was risky, it was on international television after all—but he doesn’t care. And he knows Jinyoung doesn’t either when he feels the male’s lips move immediately against his.

He drowns out the gasps of the audience; some girls in the back yelling so loud that they’re told to settle down by security. But Jihoon doesn’t regret it one bit because when he pulls away, Jinyoung’s face is bright red—almost the same color as the pattern on his silk blouse.

They don’t say a word to each other, just shy smiles connecting their thoughts.

Jihoon doesn’t remember his score that night, but he does remember how Jinyoung’s lips felt against his. Oh, and of course the silver medal around his neck.

“Did you lead us outside the wrong exit?” Daniel groans, looking around at the Hangul signs. He wishes he continued learning the language instead of putting it off.

“I don’t know, just followed my instinct.” Jihoon shrugs, dragging his pink suitcase behind him.

“Even if your instinct is where Bae Jinyoung is, I don’t trust it.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes before looking down at his phone. “He sent me his location, maps are always accurate.”

A total lie. His phone betrayed him when he was back in Taipei with Jinyoung, but Daniel didn’t need to know that.

They’ve been walking around the Incheon Airport for about thirty minutes, trying to figure out where Jinyoung and Seongwoo were. It was almost sundown and their legs were about to give up from how tired they were from their flight from Great Britain. Especially since they had paparazzi follow them the entire time as well.

Jihoon hears his maps app make a sound, indicating that they were getting closer. He’s never felt more relieved in his entire life. He walks faster, seeing an exit that they haven’t tried before and he hears Daniel call out behind him to slow down! but his fatigue was already fading.

As he gets closer to the exit, he sees a familiar head of hair—it was presently shade of dark brown, a contrast to the light brown hair that the male had before but Jihoon could recognize the man even from a mile away. He turns off his app and walks through the doors.

Jinyoung’s running up to him, the biggest smile on his face as he wraps his arms around Jihoon’s neck. He brings the male closer to him, not letting go even if he sees multiple flashes from the press that crowds around them.

“I missed you.” Jinyoung whispers into Jihoon’s neck, before leaning back and pressing his lips on the elder’s for a quick kiss.

Jihoon thinks he’s the luckiest guy in the world when he looks into Jinyoung’s glassy eyes that seemed to twinkle with excitement and happiness that he radiated. And he wishes that Jinyoung could see the same when he looks into his eyes.

The sound of the crowd was ringing in Jihoon’s ears. He stands in the middle of the skating rink, his whole attire the hue of champagne gold and the glitter is almost blinding. He’s sweating so much and he feels like his legs could give out any second. But, he couldn’t—this was the Olympics after all.

When he looks forward, he doesn’t see the standing ovation nor does he see the flowers being thrown onto the ice. He only sees Jinyoung looking at him with flushed cheeks and a smile so wide it makes Jihoon’s heart flutter despite the fatigue he was feeling. And when he’s standing on that podium, it’s not the medal around his neck his thoughts led to—it was Jinyoung who stood next to him with their fingers intertwined, their hearts up in the air for everyone to see.

Competition was the most important aspect for a figure skater to focus on, but in the past few months Jihoon thought the complete opposite. Instead of competition, the most important aspect of his life was a male who loved to tease him constantly, a male who’s pink flushed cheeks looked better than the shade of gold.

After all, Bae Jinyoung was better than any medal that he’s dreamt of.