Chapter Text
Sunghoon POV
Sunghoon had been in this club for far longer than he desired to be and was sick and tired of it. Jake had dragged him along with some other industry friends saying it was good for his image to be seen at such a high profile party, but Sunghoon didn’t think so. So far, all he had managed to do was make his way through most of his drink and find a shady spot on the walk to lurk after the fifth person tried to convince him to dance with them. Park Sunghoon did not dance, well, not in a club at least. He had almost decided to stalk off and find Jake and demand that he take him home when a handsome stranger stops to lean against the wall beside him.
The man looks vaguely familiar, deep red hair and a smile too perfect to be real, but Sunghoon cannot for the life of him remember where he’d seen him.
“You seem to be having a wonderful time.” The man remarks with a teasing smile.
“Of course, who wouldn’t want to be crammed in a room with tons of sweaty people you barely know?”
The man cutely giggles and Sunghoon might just be in love because ‘what the hell’ this guy is beyond real.
“Fair point.” He agrees. The stranger gives him a slow once over from head to toe. “I can help you pass the time if you want.”
Sunghoon had never agreed to something so quickly before.
Worldwide heartthrob idol Lee Heeseung caught in a passionate embrace with Olympic figure skater Park Sunghoon at an industry party held at Club NYX.
Sources at the party confirm that the two men are definitely the ones identified in the pictures and have even informed us that the two were cozying up to each other for the better part of the night.
While neither Lee nor Park’s agency has commented on the overwhelming response to the scandal, Park Sunghoon seems to have thrown himself into practice for his next big competition and it seems Lee Heeseung has holed away in his studio to work on more music.
While many fans are skeptical and betrayed by this reveal, there have been numerous supporters of the relationship blooming between the boys. Neither of the men have been seen together since the party three nights ago, but fans are eagerly awaiting their next encounter.
Sunghoon hit the ice hard, barely managing to land in a way that would only result in a bad bruise rather than something career ending. He had been making mistakes all morning, but he refused to give up, because giving up meant dealing with the world outside his ice rink and he was most definitely not ready for that.
After the pictures had gone public, Sunghoon had gone to ground. There was nothing to be done, not when plenty of people could identify him by his pale skin and sharp jawline. Heeseung was less recognizable, but the red hair had been the ultimate giveaway along with his earring that fans were quick to notice in the low quality pictures. Sunghoon was almost glad that he wasn’t the only one who was caught up in this, at least this way Heeseung could take some of the heat off of him. He feels a bit guilty that he’s so grateful, but if he was alone in this it would be almost unbearable.
He picks himself up off the ice, rubbing at the already forming bruise and pushing himself back into his routine. Distantly he recognizes the music playing over the loudspeakers and nearly snorts. Jake really thinks he’s so funny. Heeseung’s voice is flowing around him and Sunghoon has to force himself not to smile when he remembers how the other man had sounded that night at the club.
There was something about Heeseung that was both unbearably shy and overwhelmingly confident and it left Sunghoon’s head spinning. Heeseung was an enigma and Sunghoon should not want to solve this puzzle as much as he did. It was a one night stand, nothing more. He shouldn’t be thinking about how husky Heeseung’s voice had been or how gently he had taken Sunghoon into his arms.
Another jump and he barely sticks the landing. This was becoming dangerous territory, but he couldn’t make himself stop. He had to do this right, because if he didn’t then that would be like proving he was bothered by the rumors and the reporters outside the rink, just waiting for the inside scoop.
The music shuts off suddenly enough that he turns towards the side and sees Jake standing with Coach Doobu, neither looking pleased and it makes Sunghoon even more nervous than he already is.
Coach Doobu points at him with a deceiving calm before pointing to the ice just in front of him. Sunghoon makes his way over as slowly as he thinks he can get away with, already thinking up reasons for his terrible performance that had nothing to do with Lee Heeseung. He faces his coach, trying not to seem guilty and dutifully ignoring Jake’s serious eyes on him.
“Get off the ice, Park. I won’t have you injuring yourself just because you’re too stubborn to know when to give up.”
Sunghoon fights down the waves of panic that are threatening to pull him under.
“I’m fine. I just need to practice more and I’ll start landing them.”
Coach Doobu shakes his head. “You just fumbled a jump that you could do in your sleep. I know what you are capable of and this has nothing to do with your skills. Take the day, get your head on straight and come back tomorrow.”
Sunghoon is fully prepared to argue, he can’t afford a day off so close to his next competition, but one glance at Jake has him biting his tongue. His best friend looks worried and stressed and Sunghoon can only think about how this is all his fault. If he had just told Heeseung no that night then none of this would be happening and Jake could be focusing on his own career instead of hovering around Sunghoon.
Sunghoon forces himself to nod and make his way off the ice. He hesitates on the threshold, but Jake is already passing him his guards and moving for him to go through. When he settles onto the bench, he can feel the results of the tiresome and mildly painful practice. His whole body is sore and he’s breathing harder than he normally would after this much training. He all but drains the bottle of water that Jake hands over.
“I got a call from Lee Heeseung’s manager.” Coach Doobu says casually. If Sunghoon had still been drinking water he would have choked on it. As it was, he nearly choked on air as he whirled on his coach.
“And?” Jake asks when Sunghoon continues to stare at his coach.
Coach Doobu gives him a hard glare to silence him.
“And they want to discuss a possible solution to our problems.”
“What kind of solution?” Sunghoon asks quietly.
Coach Doobu shrugs. “They said we could discuss it in person. I set the meeting for tonight at the Big Hit building.”
Tonight. He would be discussing this tonight. He might see Heeseung tonight as well. There was absolutely no excuse for his heart to be beating as fast as it was right now. He blames the fact that he had an intense training session, definitely not anything to do with Heeseung or how beautiful he is.
“I want you to go home and think hard about just how much you are willing to give for this whole thing to blow over.”
Well, that didn’t sound very promising. Would he be asked to do something he didn’t want to do or was this just some way for Coach Doobu to try to prepare him for what was likely to be an unpleasant encounter?
“I understand.” He responds even though he most certainly did not understand.
“Your driver will be around for you at five. Try to be on your best behavior tonight.”
Sunghoon nods his agreement and Coach Doobu leaves to call his driver and security guards. He would love to say that the reporters had given up by now, but in fact it was the opposite, they had only added to their numbers since the news went public and didn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.
He went and began collecting his things, already mentally preparing for a long night ahead. Jake stops him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t stress too much about tonight. Everything will be fine.”
Sunghoon does his best to smile at his friend. “Of course, you just worry too much.”
He does his best to believe those words as he makes his way out to the car among the blinding flash of cameras.