Chapter Text
The entire practice rink was silent. At 5:30 am, Jungkook wasn’t sure if he expected anything different – skaters were often up early to practice, but it wasn’t typical on the day of a competition. After all, most skaters kept their practice times to the assigned official practices, and that was usually enough for the more experienced ones.
It was different for Jungkook. This competition was his first as a full senior, even though he wouldn’t be internationally 15 for several months. But for the national championships, his coach had encouraged him to compete as a full senior.
“JK,” Kim Seokjin had huffed, “you’ll have to do it sooner or later. And this season is a great one – it’s right between Olympic seasons, so there’s plenty of time for you to get over your nerves. There’s never a perfect time to debut as senior, but this might be as close to perfect as you can get.”
Jungkook knew his coach was speaking from experience, thinking back to his own senior debut. Kim Seokjin had had an incredible career – one of Korea’s youngest representatives ever at the 2010 Winter Olympics, placing within the top 10 and even medaling at the World Championships after. It was an incredible career, but an unfairly short one – in the offseason after Worlds, Seokjin had suffered a severe knee injury that had made it impossible for him to return to skating. Jungkook had a feeling that some of his insistence might come from a desire to vicariously relive his glory days. But even though Seokjin was a young, eccentric coach, his decisions had always helped Jungkook so far. So why stop now?
Pulling himself back from his thoughts, Jungkook pushed off the wall and did a slow lap of the rink, relishing the stillness in the air and the soft schick sound of his blades against the ice. Off the ice, he was a typical gangly teenager – still unsure of himself, trying to figure out his life and ambitions. But on the ice, that was where all of the anxiety fell away. On the ice, Jungkook felt invincible.
He warmed up with a few single jumps and spins before taking a deep breath, mentally replaying his free skate layout in his head. In his junior competitions so far, he had stuck to triple jumps and the odd quad toe loop – none of his other quads had felt stable enough. But here, at nationals, he was planning to try the full set in his arsenal.
Opening quad lutz. Thump.
Quad salchow. Thump.
Quad loop, triple axel-triple toe, quad toe-triple toe, triple lutz-half loop-triple salchow, triple axel to finish. He was panting heavily at the end of it, his last jump landing wobbling a little, his knees feeling shaky and sweat pouring off his forehead. But his heart was racing with excitement, and he could feel the apples of his cheeks rising in a blinding grin. He’d done it. Maybe not perfectly, but he’d landed everything. Now, all he could hope for was to do the same in competition.
---
Jungkook’s first surprise had been that Jung Hoseok was actually smaller than he’d expected.
When standing next to the other skater, the current Korean champion, Jungkook had idly noticed that he was only a few inches shorter than the older man. With a few more years still left to grow, he wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up being taller than Jung Hoseok. And somehow, that felt alarming.
If Seokjin had been a bright but brief dazzle in the skating world, Jung Hoseok was a brilliant enduring flame. Seokjin often talked about how they’d trained together, their friendly rivalry throughout their junior years, and how it had been a huge disappointment to Hoseok to not be chosen for the 2010 Olympic team. Since then, however, Hoseok had only grown in fame – not just amongst fellow Koreans, but internationally too. Just a month ago, Hoseok had done the entire country proud by medaling at the Grand Prix Final – despite fierce competition from more established skaters from across the world, Jung Hoseok had emerged with a bronze medal and a grin that rivaled the very sun.
Jungkook’s second surprise had been that Jung Hoseok’s smile was much more blinding in person.
When he’d come off the ice after his short program, still mentally kicking himself over the disastrous landing on one of his jumps, Hoseok had intercepted him before the kiss & cry. “Jeon Jungkook, right?” He’d beamed at him, lips spreading into a familiar heart-shaped smile, and Jungkook had promptly forgotten the entire Korean language. Instead, he’d just nodded silently, not even attempting to return the smile and too shocked that Korea’s pride was speaking to him.
“You skated so well! Such a powerful command over the music. I couldn’t tell it was your first senior nationals at all.” Hoseok had smiled again and reached out to ruffle Jungkook’s hair. “I hope to see much more of you in the future. Fighting, Jungkook-ah!”
Hoseok had then moved away to prepare for his own program, and Seokjin had had to physically drag Jungkook to the kiss & cry, muttering under his breath about how he’d almost missed his own score. Jungkook didn’t even care. The entire rest of the day, he kept stroking the top of his own head, cheeks flushing with the memory of Hoseok’s fingers in his hair. He’d been following Hoseok’s career for years, of course – the man was one of the only internationally renowned Korean skaters, and Jungkook looked up to him immensely. But he certainly hadn’t expected to be greeted as a friend rather than a stranger.
Jungkook’s third, and biggest surprise, had been how much he wanted to be Jung Hoseok’s friend.
---
Jungkook clacked his jaws together nervously, wincing as he accidentally bit down on the inside of his lip instead. His stomach felt like there were a million butterflies flitting about in it, his limbs as heavy as lead. He was last in the skating order, last in the entire competition, and each completed program just intensified his apprehension.
Seokjin’s hand shot out to clamp down on his shoulder, and Jungkook didn’t even realize he had been shaking until then. Seokjin sighed and moved closer, his hand dropping down to rub comfortingly at Jungkook’s back.
“JK, just keep taking deep breaths,” Seokjin reminded him quietly. “This is just another competition. You’re going to be fine, okay? This program was made for you. No one can skate it but you.”
Jungkook swallowed and turned to meet his coach’s eyes. Seokjin’s gaze was steady and earnest, no joking or lightheartedness present in his tone. When their eyes met, Seokjin offered him a small smile. Jungkook’s shoulders immediately dropped in relief.
Seokjin was right. He needed to stop psyching himself out. Skating, Jungkook was slowly realizing, was a mental sport just as much as it was a physical one. With another deep breath, he turned back to watch the next competitor take the ice – Jung Hoseok, dressed in a gorgeous bejeweled costume in shades of blue and silver.
The current champion glided out to the center of the rink, posture relaxed. He even turned around to shoot a smile towards the crowd before closing his eyes and assuming his opening stance. Jungkook startled a little as the opening notes to Nino Rota’s Romeo & Juliet began to play on the speakers, snorting under his breath and hoping the audience wouldn’t mind two back-to-back Shakespearean programs.
Hoseok was exquisite. Jungkook forgot his own nervousness entirely as he eagerly drank in the sight of the other man, marveling at how he completed every element with practiced ease. Hoseok smiled as he performed, a rarity among skaters – there was an infectious joy in his skating, a gracefulness that was hard to attain even through meticulous practice. Hoseok was born to be on the ice, Jungkook could tell. Every move he made was purposeful but not strained. Before Jungkook knew it, the entire four-minute program had passed in a flash, and he was on his feet to applaud the other man.
Out in the middle of the ice, Hoseok laughed and bowed repeatedly to the crowds, grinning as he saw little squirrel plushies thrown onto the ice in hoards. He skated back to the boards, pausing only to pick up a few of the gifts, and flashed Jungkook a wink on his way to the kiss & cry. Jungkook felt a smile creep across his face, cheeks heating up slightly and ears burning until –
“Yah, JK! You’re next!”
Jungkook yelped and scampered over to the boards, hurriedly shucking off his skate guards and stepping onto the ice. The familiar sensation of ice under his skates immediately soothed the churning in his stomach, and he let out a small satisfied sound. Performing a few brief warm up exercises, he was only dimly aware of his surroundings as he turned his mind inwards, focusing on his program content, on the thrill he’d felt earlier during his morning practice.
I’ve got this.
He heard a faint roar from the crowds at the announcement of Hoseok’s score but didn’t catch the score itself. He knew it must have been enormous, especially with the man’s incredible program component scores. He flashed Seokjin a smile, took another deep breath, and pushed off the boards to make his way to center ice.
I’ve got this.
Suddenly, he was aware of hundreds of eyes on him. Amongst those, he knew, were a pair belonging to Jung Hoseok. But instead of feeling intimidated, all Jungkook felt was determination.
I’ve got this. I’ll show you.
He licked his lips and shifted minutely before assuming his opening position, facing the judges’ table with a fierce gaze. Gone were the butterflies, the nerves, the leaden limbs. He felt weightless enough to fly.
And as the dramatic opening strains of Craig Armstrong’s Romeo + Juliet filled the rink, Jungkook flew.
The program passed in a complete blur. All Jungkook felt was the glide of ice below him, and the pulse of the music filling his entire body and seeping into his very bones. His body knew exactly how to move to every beat of the music, every crescendo and fall in the intense orchestral track. He stumbled a little on his triple axel-triple toe loop combination, but otherwise completed his jumps, adrenaline surging through him as he launched himself into his choreographic sequence following his final triple axel. His feet moved in quick little rotations as he made his way across the ice, his back arching and head dropping back in a beautiful layback Ina Bauer right on the climax of the music. As the orchestra finally died down, he kicked up his legs in a butterfly position to finish with a flying camel spin, ending in a beseeching pose with one arm stretched out towards the judges’ table, the other hand clutching his chest in dramatic agony. He held the position, counted to thirty in his mind, and finally straightened up with a small grimace.
As if someone had flipped a switch, the roaring of the crowd finally filtered through his ears, and he almost stumbled in his shock. He looked around the rink with wide eyes, taking in the sight of multiple people on their feet and cheering out his name. Unsure of what else to do, he bowed several times in a few different directions before skating back towards the kiss & cry, his entire body trembling as the rush of the performance slowly faded. Seokjin was waiting for him with a big smile, and Jungkook automatically smiled back.
I did it.
Seokjin thumped him energetically on the back as Jungkook slid his skate guards back on. “You were magnificent, JK! Stunning! Gorgeous! Incredible! Unbeli-“
“Hyung, stop,” Jungkook choked out, his face burning. Seokjin was never scant with praise, but he had never been this complimentary before, and Jungkook felt as if he was about to burst. He ducked his head to ignore Seokjin’s pseudo-outraged expression and shuffled towards the kiss & cry, but found himself pausing at the sound of his own name being called.
He turned in the direction of the voice, meeting the eyes of a young girl, likely no older than ten. She beamed once she caught his eye, waving a stuffed rabbit excitedly in the air. Jungkook cocked his head to one side and moved closer, giving her a small smile in return. She extended the rabbit towards him as an older woman (her guardian, presumably) gently wrapped an arm around her middle to ensure her safety.
“It’s for you!”
Jungkook’s eyes widened and he pointed to himself, smiling faintly as the girl giggled in response and nodded. He reached out to take the stuffed animal before bowing deeply to both the girl and her guardian. “Thank you so much,” he spoke. “Your support… thank you.”
The girl’s guardian bowed back to him before ushering her energetic charge back to the stands. Jungkook watched them go, a smile still playing on his lips, before turning to make his way to the kiss & cry.
He plopped down and hugged the rabbit tightly, smiling and waving shyly to the camera as everyone waited for his scores. He would be lying to say he didn’t care about the scores, but the excitement burning inside him was for more than just a medal. He was proud of himself. He knew he’d put everything he had into the skate, and that was what mattered.
Seokjin leaned over and murmured into his ear, “You need over 165 to beat Hoseok for the gold. Not impossible, honestly.” Jungkook snorted out a laugh and shook his head, giving his coach a wry smile. There was absolutely no way. As a new senior, his program component score was bound to be low, and he highly doubted his technical element score would be able to offset that. The total score was simply an addition of the two scores – program component score, or PCS, tended to be higher for more established skaters who had mastered more artistic and nuanced technical aspects of skating. The technical element score, or TES, on the other hand – that was rooted in jump and spin executions mainly. Though Jungkook’s jump layout was by far the hardest – Hoseok himself had only included two quad jumps, not four – there was no way he’d be able to hit a score that high.
Surely not.
“The free skating score for Jeon Jungkook,” boomed a voice around the arena, and the excited chatter died down. Jungkook held his breath.
“167.8. This brings his total to 256.3 and puts him in first place.”
Dead silence.
Surely not.
“What is happening,” Jungkook breathed as the entire arena erupted into screams. Seokjin grabbed his shoulders and shook him furiously in excitement, eyes shining with glee as he yanked Jungkook up and crushed him into a hug.
“You did it, JK! What did I tell you? Didn’t I tell you that you could do it?” Seokjin yelled into his ear as Jungkook blinked and gazed around, arms still hanging limply by his sides. There was a faint white noise sound echoing through his brain, dulling the screams, quietening Seokjin’s delighted yells. Jungkook briefly wondered if he was maybe having a fantastic, very realistic dream – he’d definitely dreamed enough about competing for that to be plausible.
Time passed in strange ebbs and flows after the announcement. Jungkook remained numb with shock as Seokjin fussed over him and the announcers told the crowd that the medal ceremony would be happening shortly. In what felt like only seconds later, Jungkook’s name was being called out again and he skated out to a podium erected on the ice.
This feels impossible.
Jungkook paused in front of the temporary podium, forehead furrowing as he tried to figure out how to clamber up to the top spot in as graceful a manner as possible. Just as he was about to resign himself to looking like a fool on national broadcast, he saw a hand reach out towards him. Jungkook glanced up and his heartbeat accelerated to approximately a million kilometers per hour.
“Don’t worry, I can help you up.” Hoseok gave him a reassuring smile and even wiggled his fingers for extra emphasis. Jungkook’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, intensely aware of the cameras filming as he reached out to take Hoseok’s hand. With the help of the older man, he was able to hop up to the top spot on the podium with relative ease. As Jungkook turned around, he was suddenly aware of how high up he was. Though not technically very elevated, the view from the top of the podium was a new one.
He’d make sure this wasn’t the last time he saw the world from up here.
After the formal medal ceremony and lap of victory, Jungkook breathed a sigh of relief which quickly transformed into a yawn – Kim Minseok, the bronze medalist, shot him an amused look. Jungkook huffed out a surprised laugh at the expression, lifting his free hand (the one not holding his gifted flower bouquet) to rub at his eyes. Even from here, he could hear his bed calling for him.
He turned towards the exit, eager to make his getaway, but instead found himself face to face with Hoseok. The former champion gave him another heart-shaped smile, eyes twinkling with nothing but genuine happiness. It would have been easy, Jungkook reflected, for Hoseok to be upset and bitter. Maybe he was, and was just doing a fantastic job hiding it, but Jungkook somehow didn’t think so. The man in front of him radiated sincerity above all else.
“Jungkook-ah, congratulations!” Hoseok stepped closer and before Jungkook knew it, he was being wrapped up in a tight embrace, Hoseok letting out a small delighted cooing sound. “Wow, on your first senior nationals too! Your free skate was breathtaking, I haven’t seen someone so intense on the ice in – well, in a while.” The older man released him but didn’t step back, his beaming face just inches from Jungkook’s own. Like a complete idiot, Jungkook found his eyes flicking to Hoseok’s lips – until he realized what he was doing, and promptly flushed a dull crimson.
Hoseok’s smile widened, and instead of moving away, he reached forward to lightly skim his fingers over the medal resting on Jungkook’s chest. “Hmmm,” Hoseok hummed, lips pursed thoughtfully. “Gold looks good on you, Jungkook-ah. Hopefully this isn’t the last time you wear it.” And with those parting words, Hoseok patted his cheek and stepped back, throwing Jungkook a wink before turning away to glide towards the exit.
Jungkook gazed after him, one hand rising to clutch the medal around his neck, as if he could transfer the feeling of Hoseok’s touch from the metal to his own skin.