Archive of Our Own

“I’m so sorry Hyuck, but I have to quit. We can’t practice when I’m an 18 hour plane ride from you. I feel like the biggest asshole to do this to you right before Olympic bids but I also can’t exactly put off moving any longer.” 

Donghyuck felt his heart sink lower and lower at every word, not stopping its descent until the poor thing was at his feet. He felt his hand constantly tensing and relaxing as he held the phone to his ear. This is probably the worst news he could’ve ever gotten.

“Jaemin, you don’t understand. We are so close to making the Olympics this year. Does Yale need you that bad? What if we both get American citizenship and just go representing America? South Korea doesn’t need their first gold medal anyway.” 

He hears Jaemin snort loudly over the other line, somehow feeling the sympathy ooze out of him through the phone alongside his exasperation at Donghyuck’s, seemingly real, proposal.

“You and I both know America does not need another ice dance team when their lineup is already so stacked. We would be delusional for even trying out.”

Donghyuck wants to cry. He knows there isn’t anything he could say or do to make Jaemin stay, but the crushing realization that he may never skate on Olympic ice feels suffocating. Donghyuck hears Jaemin sigh heavily into the phone, expecting one last apology for abandoning him at the height of their careers and consequently ending their Olympic bid before it even started.

“Listen, I have a friend who just lost his partner to similar circumstances. He used to skate in men’s singles, but switched over to ice dancing. He’s good and I think you guys would work well together. I know you’re upset with me, but I’ll text you his number and I promise we’ll be partners again as soon as I’m done in the states. Please look into teaming up with him, you deserve to be on Olympic ice. I love you Hyuckie, try not to skip my farewell dinner because you’re mad at me. I’ll see you later.”

Without another word, Jaemin hangs up. Before Donghyuck could even pull the phone away from his ear, it buzzes with, what he assumes, is the mystery man’s number. He stares down at his phone, blankly looking at the message, “Damn right I deserve to be on Olympic ice, you should’ve been right there with me. But fine. I don’t need you anyway. 15 years of partnership is so easily replaceable nowadays why would I-” Donghyuck cuts himself off as he realizes he’s ranting to no one but the stuffed bear he sleeps with every night.

“I guess I don’t really have more to lose than I’ve already lost. Na Jaemin, I hope you see me on the top step of the podium so I can rub it in your face for the rest of our lives.”

With that, he clicks on the phone number and hits call, anxiously waiting for the stranger to pick up. It rings for what feels like decades when in reality it’s probably less than 10 seconds before he hears a curious, “hello?” on the other end of the line.

“Hi, I’m Lee Donghyuck, I got your number from Na Jaemin. You must be…actually I have no clue who you are.” Donghyuck feels his cheeks heat briefly at the embarrassment of not even knowing who he was calling.

Lee Donghyuck you cannot be this desperate.

“Oh! Lee Donghyuck! Jaemin told me you would call, I just didn't expect it to be so soon. I’m Mark. Mark Lee. I heard you were looking for a new ice dance partner. I am as well and am hoping that you’d be on board to test run a season together to see if it’s a good fit!”

Donghyuck quickly realizes this feels like a job interview and he’s never had to do anything like this because he and Jaemin had been skating together since they were kids.

“Listen, I’m sure you’re the sweetest person ever, but I don’t have time to test drive this partnership. I need to be in this year’s Olympics which means you and I will be skating a gold medal worthy program even if we absolutely cannot stand each other. I’ll see you at 8am at the national training center. Just look for the guy with sky blue skates, that’s me. Thank you Mark Lee. I hope we get along swimmingly, otherwise I’ll probably off myself. Thanks again and see you tomorrow!” 

Before Mark could say anything more, Donghyuck hangs up on him, taking in a deep breath. He grabs his stuffed bear, staring into its, seemingly innocent, button eyes

“He probably thinks I’m fucking insane. I really hope he shows. Maybe I should've pitched myself a little better.” He realizes once again he’s talking to his bear and decides to, instead, get ready for bed. An early wake up called for an early bedtime.

Mark Lee please show up tomorrow, I wasn’t kidding about offing myself.

❄️

Donghyuck woke before his alarm, more nervous about his Olympic fate resting in the hands of a complete stranger than anything else. He got ready fairly quickly, making sure he had his skate bag, his house keys, and a Red Bull fresh from the fridge. He walked to the training center since it wasn’t that far, and he needed to work out these nerves somehow.

When he entered, the usual suspects were there. Kids waiting for their coaches and a few lone adults probably waiting for their kids. Donghyuck scanned the area for anyone that may look like a Mark, only seeing a fairly young guy lacing up vibrant navy blue skates. He decided the man looked too Korean to be named Mark and went to sit on a secluded bench close to the rink to lace up his skates.

Donghyuck relished in how pretty his skates were, the shiny surface of the shoes bouncing off the overhead lights, almost making the blue glow. Once he wrapped the lace around the last button he looked up to see navy blue skates man staring at him intently. He gives the man a slight quirk of his head in question and gets a sneaking suspicion that this might be a very Korean looking Mark.

The man fully stops in front of him, cheeks slightly flushed with an emotion Donghyuck can’t quite discern.

“Hi, are you Lee Donghyuck?” The man asks shyly.

“You’re really Korean looking for a man named Mark.” Donghyuck blurts, finally voicing the thought.

Immediately, Mark bursts out laughing as Donghyuck prays to whoever is listening that a giant sinkhole opens up below him and takes him out of this ridiculously embarrassing situation.

“I spent the first 13 years of my life in Canada, but moved here at 14 and have been here ever since. Plus, both of my parents are very Korean so that’s probably why I look so Korean for a Mark.” The wide smile Mark had as he spoke helped reassure Donghyuck that he didn’t ruin this partnership before it began.

“Well, I’m glad you chose to compete here, because I would be partnerless otherwise.”

Mark gives Donghyuck an even wider smile and offers a hand.

“You’re a little bit insane but I'm glad you lived to see another day and I think we’ll get along great. Want to hit the ice and test our chemistry?”

Donghyuck gives him an over exaggerated nod of his head, taking the outstretched hand and not letting go until they hit the entrance to the ice rink.

“We got so lucky, the zamboni is just now leaving. The figure skating gods are smiling down on us right now.” All Donghyuck gets is a laugh as they finally step onto the ice. Immediately, Mark takes his hand again and skates out into the middle. From there, he forces Donghyuck into a spin which he very quickly turns into an i-spin, giving himself the chance to give his legs a better stretch and show off his flexibility to Mark.

“Oh you’re definitely gonna be the flyer, I can’t get anymore flexible than a shotgun spin.”

Donghyuck gives the man a triumphant smile at his words.

“Perfect, because I wouldn’t have it any other way. Do you want to try skating together?”

Mark nods his head and from there they agree on a simple skill combo that they’d attempt together. They each get into a neutral starting position and Donghyuck counts them off. As soon as the last number leaves his lips, Mark’s hands are on his waist. A zip of electricity goes down his spine at the contact. He tries to ignore the unfamiliar feeling so he can focus on not messing up in front of his new partner, but can’t exactly shake the butterflies from his stomach.

They execute the rest of the combination perfectly and Mark gives Donghyuck’s waist a quick squeeze before letting out a cheer of excitement and letting go of him completely. Donghyuck quickly tries to let go of the lightheaded feeling from the touch of a virtual stranger.

“Donghyuck, we’re literally gonna kill it! Our first time working together and we were practically completely in sync. I feel pretty confident already that we’ll actually make it to the Grand Prix Finals, maybe even the Olympics.” Donghyuck has quickly realized the word ‘Olympics’ is his buzzword because as soon as he hears it he snaps out of whatever mental turmoil he was going through over light touches and stomach butterflies.

“Hell yeah we’re gonna make it to the Olympics. I wasn’t kidding when I said it. There is no might, we have to. Jaemin and I were for sure going to make it but then he had to abandon me so now you have no choice but to help me get us there. I will be skating on Olympic ice this year no matter what.”

Mark puts both of his hands up and lets his skates guide him slightly further away from Donghyuck at the deadly serious tone, “Okay, got it. Olympic bound no matter what.”

Donghyuck gives him a satisfied smile, “Good, I’m glad you understand. Now, let’s get off the ice, we have to call our coaches and at least one news outlet so we can kick off this partnership and win gold in Milan.” Donghyuck doesn’t wait for confirmation, he quickly makes his way to the exit of the rink, promptly avoiding the children skating around him. 

As soon as he makes it to the exit, he turns to give Mark, who’s not far behind him,  a dazzling smile, “I can’t wait to get started on our program. I’ll see you tomorrow at 9AM with your coach. Don’t be late Markie, we have lots of work to do.”

With that, he makes his way off the ice and to the corner he left his bag in, promptly packing up all of his things and leaving the center, thumbs working away on a lengthy text to his coach who will probably kill him for not consulting her on any of this.

❄️

“Jaemin he’s hot and I’m really mad at you for not telling me about it.”

He heard Jaemin’s heavy sigh with the low ring of multiple other voices in the background.

“Hyuck, I’m in the airport about to board a plane to the United States where my life will forever change and you are complaining that I set you up with a hot partner…you and your champagne problems are gonna be the death of me.”

Donghyuck couldn’t help but feel a wicked sense of satisfaction at Jaemin’s bewildered tone.

“Well, yeah when he’s young and hot and touches me all gently, I don’t know how you expect me to react. We have to be professional but if he wanted to get in my pants, I’d probably leave them unbuttoned for him.” Jaemin lets out a choked off laugh at Donghyuck’s words.

“You need to get laid and stay out of Mark’s pants. Plus, he’s only a year older than us and I know your whole rule about needing a man at least five years older.”

Donghyuck bites his lip at the revelation, “Hey, a hyung’s a hyung no matter the birth year.”

Jaemin promptly gags into the phone.

“Listen Hyuckie, I love you, but I gotta go. Please try to keep it professional especially because you two are only going to be partners until I get back, you were very adamant about that. Don’t let feelings get involved, that just complicates things. Also don’t try to text me for the next 18 hours, I didn't buy the plane wifi for this reason exactly. Have lots of fun, send me the article announcing our split and your new partnership whenever it drops! Keep it in your pants! MWAH.”

The line goes dead and Donghyuck sighs heavily at his best friend’s antics. He has to be at the training center in 10 hours and he should probably think about sleeping, though the thought of Mark hyung and hands everywhere threatens to keep him awake.

Damn, he’s right, I really do need to get laid.

❄️

“Good morning! I hope you’re ready to hit the ice and create the best show the figure skating world has ever seen!” Donghyuck walks into the training center, yelling, knowing there will be no one but the people he’s meeting in the building at 9AM on a Monday.

He hears Mark’s incredulous laugh as he walks closer to the group of three standing by the rink, “God, do you do crack right when you wake up? No one is this chipper so early on a Monday.”

Donghyuck gives him a beaming smile, “No, I am just excited to finally be an Olympian because obviously there’s no way we aren’t making it and there’s even less of a chance we win anything lower than a silver medal. We are about to be the pride of South Korea, Markie, get used to it.”

Donghyuck hears his coach scoff at him and promptly rolls his eyes in irritation. Don’t get him wrong, he loves his coach. She’s from America and had a great Olympic run in her prime. However, she also doesn’t believe he can even make it to the Grand Prix Finals with a partner he barely knows and she made that very clear over the phone yesterday.

“Mark, this is Amber, my coach. She’s American and has absolutely no faith in us, which is typical of evil Americans-” Donghyuck gets a smack to his shoulder, “-but, unfortunately, she’s damn good at her job so I gotta keep her around.” He feels a swift kick to the back of his knee that probably would’ve taken him to the ground had he not already been prepared for the secondary assault.

Mark exchanges pleasantries with her and turns to the woman by his side, “This is Lana, my coach! She’s from Canada and is actually an old family friend. Despite the relation, though, she’s a great coach and that's why I chose her.” Lana shakes Donghyuck’s hand as they share pleasantries, speaking in Korean surprisingly fluently despite being born and raised in Canada.

“Well, now that we have the greetings out of the way, it’s time to make the best Olympic program anyone has ever seen.” The three people surrounding Donghyuck immediately roll their eyes, but can’t help from letting the endearing looks shine through.

They end up coming up with a gothic retelling of Romeo and Juliet for their free dance, putting pause on their rhythm dance because Mark refused Donghyuck’s idea of a Girl’s Generation medley and Donghyuck refused to hear any other idea if it didn’t involve a mashup of Genie and Into the New World. 

“Okay, Donghyuck you’re our Juliet which means, Mark, you’re Romeo. We need you guys to display an insane level of chemistry, almost as if you had been partners for 20 years and not 2 months.” Amber gives Donghyuck a pointed look after the chemistry comment.

Before Donghyuck can say anything snarky to his coach, Lana cuts in, “Amber is right. You guys don’t know each other and you need to convey a chemistry that will convince the judges and the audience that you two aren’t practically strangers. I don’t care if you guys end up hating each other, you need to spend time together and build that natural chemistry whether it’s as besties or something more.” She gives Mark an exaggerated wink that immediately makes the man flush. Donghyuck refuses to acknowledge the implication of that interaction and gives both coaches a mockingly serious nod.

“Yes, I will spend every waking second with this man until we have chemistry so strong we could be in Breaking Bad.” Nobody laughs at his joke, bummer, and Mark stares at him like he’s grown a second head, unsure exactly how serious Donghyuck was.

“Relax Markie, I was kidding. Don’t start hyperventilating at the thought of never escaping me, you might hurt my feelings.” 

Mark’s face immediately displays a look of concern that he might’ve accidentally hurt Donghyuck’s feelings for real. Amber is trying to hold in her eye roll while Lana laughs lightly behind her hand at the interaction. 

“Don’t panic Mel, just meet me at the bar two blocks from here at 9 and my feelings will be safe.”

Mark nods and walks away, completely forgetting to say any form of goodbye. Or, any words for that matter.

“Good going Donghyuck, you’ve broken your new partner and you haven’t even competed yet.”

Donghyuck just gives a loud laugh and goes to take his skates off.

❄️

“Hyuckie, you literally cannot place your foot there when I put you down, it will eventually trip me and I’ll fucking die.”

“Is that not the point of the ever-so-tragic Romeo and Juliet?” Donghyuck ignores the shiver threatening to run through his body hearing Mark use his nickname.

Mark gives him a flat look, the message not quite landing as intended with the cold causing a light dusting of pink to cover his cheeks.

They’ve been at this for weeks now, the closer they get to their first assigned competition in China, the more they’ve started to butt heads.

“I get that you think it looks better as a landing but it isn’t safe, so please find another solution before all my teeth get knocked out because I fell and landed face first on the ice.”

Donghyuck gives him an eye roll, but concedes nonetheless.

They continue to go through the motions of working through their routine, trying to find the groove in their partnership, still not quite able to make any true compromises. They’re halfway through the routine when Donghyuck trips himself after being put down from a lift. He immediately braces himself for the biting cold of the ice to meet the warmth of his skin. The impact never comes, but what he does feel is the tingly warmth of hands gripping his waist, almost too tight. Almost. 

“Are you gonna open your eyes and realize you didn’t eat shit or are you trying to stay in my arms forever?”

Donghyuck’s stomach does a violent flip at the words and he immediately straightens up, out of Mark’s arms. He looks up from his feet to see Mark smirking at him, his stomach practically a butterfly sanctuary at the look. 

“Thank you for saving me, but I have no clue why you’re looking at me like that.”

“Well, for one, you’re a brighter red than what’s on the Canadian flag, and I told you that you should put your foot down differently, I just didn’t think you’d be the one to fall. Feels a bit satisfying nonetheless.”

Donghyuck scoffs at Mark, absolutely hating the fact that he was right.

“Hey, a ‘thank you’ would be nice. I did just save your life.”

If Donghyuck scoffed any harder, he’d probably gag.

“Thank you for preventing me from falling as if I’m not a professional who hasn’t fallen on the ice a million times and didn’t actually need your-”

Before he could finish Donghyuck feels his feet falling out from under him, and the cold wetness of the ice almost immediately meeting his butt.

“Oops, I’m so sorry I placed my foot wrong. Good thing you’ve fallen on ice a million times.” 

Donghyuck can feel his pants getting wet as Mark snickers above him. He wants to be mad at the older man, but is more focused on how he can wipe the amusement off the man’s face. So he does what any regulated, normal skating partner would do and he grabs Mark by the ankles, sweeping his feet from under him.

Mark goes down admittedly harder than Donghyuck did, the people skating around them all stopping to look at the commotion. He knows it’s only a matter of time before both of their coaches come to check what’s going on and see them sprawled out on the ice. However, Donghyuck really couldn’t care less as the twisted satisfaction of seeing Mark’s shocked expression runs through him.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

“You did it to me first! It was only fair!”

Both boys start to bicker, still having not moved from their spots on the rink.

“Donghyuck!”

“Mark!”

The aforementioned men look to the sound, seeing their coaches with varying expressions. Lana looks mildly concerned at seeing the boys on the ground. Amber looks livid like she already knows who’s fault it was.

Both Mark and Donghyuck immediately scramble to a standing position as if that would soothe the wrath of their coaches.

Both pairs meet at the door to the rink, Donghyuck bracing for impact while Mark looked like he was preparing a speech to claim his innocence. 

Amber speaks first, “Don’t even say anything I don’t think I want to know. Show me the routine before I have you guys doing strength training for so long your limbs fall off.”

Donghyuck heaves a sigh and drags Mark to center ice by the hand. He tries to ignore how perfect his hand fits in his.

From there they start their performance, still imperfect due to neither of them willing to concede to the other. Once they finish, their chests are heaving and sweat is starting to form on their brows despite the chill of the rink.

“Do it again! You two aren’t coming off that ice until it’s perfect!”

This was going to be a long rehearsal.

❄️

Grand Prix Cup of China.

Donghyuck had been to this competition more times than he could count. However, no matter how many times he’s been, the familiarity has never made him less nervous. It doesn’t help that now he’s trying to make it to the Olympics with a partner he’s had for less than a year. The odds were completely against him. Still, he tried to hide the nerves from Mark so as to not stress the older out.

“Donghyuck I’m worried if you don’t take a breath soon, you’re going to die. I know it’s nerve wracking, but we've practiced a billion times. Trust me, we’re gonna do great.” Mark places both hands on Donghyuck’s shoulders, squeezing.

“Maybe I want to die because you convinced Amber and Lana to veto the Girl’s Generation Medley.”

Mark’s hands immediately fall away, causing Donghyuck to mourn the loss of the soothing pressure.

“It has been months, you are not allowed to still be mad about that. Girl’s Generation didn’t meet the guidelines anyway.” 

Donghyuck scoffs, though he’s much more relaxed now that he’s managed to unnecessarily piss Mark off.

“C'mon Hyuckie, we gotta go on standby, Sweden just finished their program.”

He lets Mark drag him away, deciding that Mark taking the lead and being in close contact with him has calmed his nerves down considerably. 

After they finish their warmup, they’re on standby for their rhythm dance, waiting impatiently to take the ice. They decided to dance to a mix of Poison and Something in Your Eyes by Bell Biv Devoe. Mark chose the music and Donghyuck had no choice but to go along with it.

They’re finally called to the rink to start their performance. Throughout the nearly three minute program, Donghyuck feels a sort of synergy between him and Mark that they were struggling to find during practice runs. They haven’t been together long, but Donghyuck feels the connection so strongly, it’s like a string tied them together. The performance ends with no flaws, it was a high unlike any other he’s ever had. Before bowing to the audience, he throws himself into Mark’s arms, completely overwhelmed with the excitement of it all.

“Woah Hyuckie, we still have to bow to everyone, save the celebrations for when we’re off the ice.”

Mark gives him a reassuring squeeze at the waist and they take their bows.

Once off the ice and their guards securely on their blades, they wait for their score. With an 80.4, they’re promptly in 2nd place.

Once down from the bench, Mark sweeps Donghuck up into a hug.

“God, Donghyuck, that might’ve been the best performance I’ve ever put on in my life. I genuinely don’t know how we’re gonna top that, you were perfect out there!” 

Donghyuck can’t see Mark’s face since the older tucked his head into the junction of where his neck meets his shoulder, but he can hear the beaming smile in his voice. He’s thankful they can’t see each other's faces as he feels his cheeks start to heat at the intimate embrace.

“I’m really glad we managed to pull it off, I was worried my foot would trip you.”

Mark scoffs and immediately pushes Donghyuck out of the hug. Donghyuck laughs, but still feels a sense of emptiness at the lack of Mark in his space.

Before Donghyuck could tease Mark further, his phone rings in his jacket pocket.

“Hello?”

“You were complaining about you and Mark not having chemistry as partners and still somehow managed to pull off a rhythm dance like that? Yeah you’re a piece of shit liar, never complain about your partnership ever again.”

Donghyuck lets out another laugh, “Awe, Jaeminie, are you jealous? It’s not cheating when you dumped me first. Mark was just here to pick up the pieces.”

A weird, sick sense of satisfaction runs through Donghyuck at Mark’s immediate flush. He’s quickly figured out he likes to make Mark squirm.

“Okay, whatever. I just called to tell you that you guys killed it out there and 2nd place is astounding for such a new partnership, don’t mess up the free skate. Even if you do though, you're still gonna have an AO3 tag by tonight. You got this, good luck.”

Jaemin doesn’t let Donghyuck get another word out, promptly ending the call.

Donghyuck tucks his phone back into his pocket, beckoning Mark with his hand, “Cmon, let’s get ready for the free skate.”

Mark gives a flustered nod and they’re off.

The free skate goes just like the rhythm dance did, smooth and energetic. The performance puts them into a tentative 2nd place, with other teams still needing to perform.

The high of the results is intoxicating, Donghyuck feels like he’s on cloud 9, not even worried they’re not in contention for gold. 

The competition ends with them defending their 2nd place. Their first competition as teammates and they make the podium. The silver medals feel practically weightless around their necks because of the adrenaline. Donghyuck can’t remember a time he’s felt this excited and he has more gold medals than he does fingers.

Once off the podium and finally able to get out of their skates, Donghyuck turns to Mark, “We have to go out and celebrate our maiden podium as teammates. This is literally historical.”

Mark gives him a laugh, "I've never heard someone wax poetics about a silver medal before.”

“Well that’s because you hadn’t met me yet.”

Mark ends up agreeing to hit the bars with Donghyuck, only adding to the younger’s ever-growing excitement.

They make it to a bar in Jiefangbei, the brightly lit sign catching Donghyuck’s attention.

Neither of them have yet to take off their medals, Donghyuck insisting that they celebrate with them on to, “break them in”.

Once they make it inside, they realize it’s more of a club than a bar. Donghyuck embraces it, immediately dragging them to the bar in the far corner of the room to grab drinks before swiftly dragging them to the dance floor. Mark tries not to let his drink slosh around too much, opting to chug it and leave the glass on a nearby table. Donghyuck follows suit and immediately puts his, now free, hands on Mark’s shoulders.

Mark wraps his around Donghyuck’s waist, both of them jumping up and down to the music. Donghyuck feels tipsy already, not realizing exactly how stiff that drink actually was. He has an almost uncontrollable urge to kiss the man in front of him and his heart can’t help but stop for a second at the realization. He leans in a little closer, wanting to kiss the beaming smile right off of Mark’s face. As he makes the decision to do it, Mark moves his mouth to his ear.

“I think you’re kind of drunk, we have an early flight home tomorrow, we should probably go.”

Every word felt like a kick in the chest to Donghyuck.

Did he know what I had planned to do?

Did I completely read the situation wrong?

His mind was racing, all he could do was give an expectant Mark a distant nod.

The silver medal resting around his neck suddenly felt like a 20-pound weight and the exhaustion of the day caught up to him all at once. 

They were going to finish the night off in separate hotel rooms and Donghyuck couldn’t quite figure out why that made him feel so upset.

❄️

Grand Prix Finlandia Trophy.

Finland is significantly colder than China. And wetter. And sadder.

However, the sadness might be due to Donghyuck being unable to shake what happened in Chongqing. The competitions are damn near a month apart, Donghyuck has seen Mark everyday since then, and still, getting rejected like that has haunted him every second they’re on the ice together.

Mark has definitely picked up on his mood change, but Donghyuck gives him a curt, “I’m fine,” every time he tries to ask about what’s wrong. The shame won’t stop following him and Donghyuck can’t believe he was foolish enough to let himself crush on his partner. Now here he is dealing with the consequences of letting his heart take the lead for once.

Donghyuck knows he has to lock this in the back of his mind before he hits the ice, however, the rest of his high functioning organs didn’t get the memo and their rhythm dance ended with Donghyuck stumbling three times and a score that put them in 5th place.

They get off the ice and Mark turns to him immediately, visibly frustrated. 

“What the hell happened out there? The last time you stumbled during that routine was when we were still learning it, did you leave your brain back home? You’ve been acting weird since we got back from China, what's up with you?”

Donghyuck knew Mark didn’t mean to come off so aggressive, but he still couldn’t help the hit his ego took at the older man’s words.

“People make mistakes Mark, I’m sorry mine were at a competition, but you don’t have to be so fucking rude about it. You’re acting like a prick for no reason, I already told you. I’m. Fine.”

Mark scoffed, “Well then act like it. I’ll see you by the rink for warmup, I need some space.”

Donghyuck practically fumes at the fact that Mark had the audacity to be so rude and then act like Donghyuck was the problem. Despite the fact that Mark has already walked away from him, he still scoffs at the man’s words. 

He really doesn’t see Mark until their warmups, the man looking visibly less upset than he did after their rhythm dance. They warmup in silence, no noise outside of their skates on the ice and the people around them. They end up having a pretty solid free skate, despite it not being their best run. Their score brings them to a hesitant third place. Donghyuck breathes a little easier knowing his mistakes in the rhythm dance didn’t completely knock them out of podium contention and just hopes their free skate score is high enough to ward off the teams performing after them. 

After the most grueling hour and a half of his life, every performer is finally finished. The breath Donghyuck hadn’t even realized he was holding finally left his lungs when finding out that they were able to keep their position and had secured the bronze medal. Him and Mark didn’t hug, the tension from earlier still lingering. They went through the motions of the podium ceremonies, both more melancholy than the last time.

As they took their skates off, Donghyuck could feel eyes on him. He looked up to see Mark blatantly staring at him. He quirked his eyebrow in a silent question.

“...I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how I reacted after the rhythm dance. I was super on edge since we’re so close to finding out if we’ll make it to the Olympics or not. I didn’t mean to take it out on you, Hyuckie, and I’m sorry I did. Whatever you’re going through, you can always come to me when you’re ready to talk about it and I’m sorry for trying to force it out of you earlier." The sincerely guilty look on Mark’s face makes Donghyuck’s heart melt. He wants to grab the man’s face and kiss him. His heart promptly clenches at that thought.

Instead, he crosses the small room and gives Mark a hug.

“It’s okay Mel, I know you would never be mean to me on purpose. I forgive you.” Mark lets out a light laugh at the nickname, hugging Donghyuck back.

“Good. Let’s get out of here and grab dinner. I'm starving and we’re due for a celebration.”

Donghyuck lets go of the man in front of him and gives him a beaming smile, they exit the stadium with their arms linked.

Despite the reconciliation, Donghyuck still can’t help but be devastated at not being able to tell Mark exactly why he’s been so off.

❄️

Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

Donghyuck felt like he was going to vomit.

This was the final competition before the Olympics and potentially the last of their season if they didn’t score high enough to make it to Milan.

Donghyuck’s palms were sweating and he felt as though his heart was racing a mile a minute. To make matters infinitely worse, his crush on Mark has grown exponentially since Finland. The older vowed to treat him better after his outburst, which, in hindsight, wasn’t even that bad. Needless to say, Donghyuck is an absolute goner.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” Donghyuck was pacing back and forth as they waited to go on for their rhythm dance, every minute passing like an hour.

“Donghyuck, you have to calm down. The closer to a panic attack you get, the worse you’ll do in performance.” Mark put on a soothing voice, trying to get Donghyuck to breathe.

“Mark, we are 2 performances away from potentially making it to the Olympics. What if we bomb both of them? What if they decide we haven’t been partners long enough to be trustworthy candidates to send to Italy? I have worked towards this goal my entire life, I literally can’t calm down right now.”

Before Donghyuck could continue his pacing, Mark pulls him down into his lap, draping himself over the younger’s smaller frame. Donghyuck freezes at the sudden contact, his entire body immediately forgetting why it was in a heightened state of panic.

“Hyuckie, you’re okay. We’re gonna make it to the Olympics, South Korea would be stupid not to send us after the season we’ve had. Who cares if we’ve only been partners for 6 months? We’re gonna make it to the Olympics as long as you put your head back onto your shoulders and breathe.”

Regardless of Donghyuck’s fast beating heart, he manages to slow his breathing and calm down. The prospect of potentially losing out on the Olympics becoming significantly less daunting than the thought of being unable to tell Mark his feelings as he holds him so intimately. 

As they continue to hold each other in comfortable silence, a staff member knocks on their dressing room door. It’s time for their warmups.

“Remember, Hyuckie, we’ve performed in Japan plenty of times. This competition is no different, Olympic bid or not. Just think of it as any other competition.”

Donghyuck gives him a nod. From there, they put on their skates and hit the ice for warmup.

With Mark’s words in his head, it feels no different from a normal competition. Same view of the crowd, same view of the judges, same ice he’s skated on a million times before. They finished their warmup with no hiccups, and were on standby, waiting to take the ice.

As they’re waiting there, Mark suddenly turns to him and grabs his hand, “Remember, you got this.” He then leaves a light kiss on Donghyuck’s temple.

Like a cruel joke, Donghyuck had no time to react before they were being called onto the ice.

He couldn’t let his resolve crumble, he gets into position right next to Mark and as the opening notes of Poison begin to play, he shuts off his brain, letting adrenaline and muscle memory take over.

The performance feels like it ended before it even started. All Donghyuck can remember is getting into position and then bowing to the audience. However, based on Mark’s ecstatic expression as they exit the ice, he knows they killed it.

With their blade guards securely on their feet, Mark sweeps Donghyuck into a side hug as they walk to the bench to get their rhythm dance score.

“Hyuckie, we literally killed that! I can’t imagine we’re gonna place any lower than second, that was one of our best runs!” Donghyuck just laughs along, too filled with nerves to really give a proper answer.

Once they make it to the bench, they hear their placement called out over the loud speaker.

Donghyuck feels his heart stop once the announcer tells everyone in the stadium that they are currently in first place with their rhythm dance. There are still so many teams left to go, but Donghyuck can’t help the feeling of suffocating hope fill him at the thought of placing on the podium and making it to the Olympics at long last.

Mark gives him a quick little side hug, and they make their way back to the dressing room where his phone is buzzing hard against the plastic chair he had left it on.

He answers it knowing exactly who was on their other line.

“I’m going to make this quick because I’m about to walk into class, but you absolutely demolished that rhythm dance and this may be too soon but I can’t wait to see you guys on Olympic ice. Love you, you bitch. Okay, gotta go, bye! Good luck in the free skate!”

Donghyuck couldn’t even get a single noise in before his best friend hung up on him and all he could do was laugh at the absurdity.

Him and Mark spent the rest of their time before the free skate getting ready and mindlessly bickering. Everything felt comfortingly normal and he was infinitely grateful to Mark for making it so easy. 

“Donghyuck and Mark Lee, you guys can go warm up for your free skate now!”

Donghyuck felt himself flush at the thought of them sharing a last name because of marriage and not coincidence. He then realizes he sounds absolutely delusional.

Mark grabbed his hand to lead him to the rink as he shook his head to get rid of the thought. There was no time to get distracted. This was now or never.

As they finish their warmup, they immediately go on standby. They’re the second team up after Spain. 

Donghyuck can feel his nerve endings buzzing throughout his entire body as he watches the Spaniards on the ice. This was it. Everything he had been working towards his entire life was about to come to a head. As the four minute program comes to an end, Mark and Donghyuck wait for the bows before they finally take the ice. As they get into their starting position, Mark gives Donghyuck’s hand a strong squeeze. Donghyuck reciprocates it as the music starts. They go through their program fairly effortlessly, a few mistakes from both of them, mostly due to nerves, not really affecting their performance. Once they hit their ending pose, Donghyuck feels himself getting swept off of his feet and twirled around, the sound of cheers deafening.

“Mark! Put me down, we still have to do our bows!” Donghyuck says with a laugh.

The older man listens and does as he was told. They exit the ice, giving their coaches hugs and then heading straight for the bench to receive their scores.

Donghyuck has a death grip on Mark’s hand, unable to prevent the anxious jitters from taking over. He hears the intercom crackle to life and the announcer declare that, as it stands, they are currently in first place. 

Donghyuck lets out possibly the loudest cheer he ever has in his life. Even though the rest of the teams still need to go, he’s practically certain that they’ll make it to the Olympics. Mark gives him one last big hug before they make their way back to their dressing room and wait for the final results.

Said results came quicker than expected, the two and a half hours feeling like 2 minutes for Donghyuck. With the final team done, the final scoring gets announced:

“And in second place, South Korea’s Lee Donghyuck and Mark Lee. Congratulations on your medal as well as your entry into the Olympics representing South Korea.”

Donghyuck wanted to bawl his eyes out. He finally made it to the Olympics and even though he wishes he could share this moment with his best friend, he’s glad to have Mark by his side.

“Donghyuck, we did it! We made it to the fucking Olympics!” 

Mark sweeps him up into a big hug, almost immediately putting him down and dragging him to go to standby for the medal ceremony. 

Donghyuck feels like he’s floating. The medal around his neck feeling weightless, nothing but the knowledge that they’re headed to Milan soon keeping him down on Earth.

His smile never leaves his face even as he leaves to celebrate with Mark and their coaches.

I can’t believe I finally made it. Holy shit.

“Cmon, Hyuckie, the restaurant’s gonna close at the speed you’re walking.”

Donghyuck promptly shoves Mark forward, the medal around his neck swinging with the force of it and reminding him that they finally did it.

❄️

Milano Cortina Winter Olympics

Italy is much warmer than the other countries they were traveling to. Its proximity to the equator is much closer than the previous competitions.

That, or Donghyuck was so excited to be in the olympic village that he didn’t give a flying fuck about the weather.

“Mark, can you believe we are literally in Milan for the Olympics? We made it to the Olympics!”

All Mark did was laugh at him, his excited energy highly contagious.

“Yes, I know Hyuckie, I’m right beside you, also in Milan for the Olympics.”

This earns Mark a swift smack to his shoulder.

“Okay, smartass, we have warming up to do in the Olympic facility.” That earns another laugh from Mark as they go to warm up for their rhythm dance performance.

They had competed for their country in the past couple of days and with all of the other figure skating athletes, only managed to get South Korea into fourth place. Both him and Mark vowed that they would go home with Olympic medals one way or another and decided they needed to bring it for the individual competitions.

Donghyuck had decided the Olympic ice feels way better than any other ice he’s ever skated on, however, that does not stop the nerves from practically choking him as they standby for the rhythm dance.

Once team Lithuania hit their final pose, Mark gives his hand a reassuring squeeze and whispers one last sentiment into Donghyuck’s ear, “We got this, baby.”

Baby… 

Baby?!

Donghyuck’s entire system shuts down. There’s no time to overthink it but he wants to.

Mark leads them to the center of the ice, Donghyuck practically unable to skate for himself.

He quickly shakes his head, trying not to feel enraged by the word, considering Mark has not a clue of Donghyuck’s feelings. 

As the intro to Poison begins, Donghyuck locks in and does his best to shut out the way Mark’s voice sounded calling him baby.

They manage to pull off a pretty flawless run of their rhythm dance, no mistakes during the entire three minute performance. Maybe “baby” was the magic word because their chemistry was through the roof. The subtle looks and the intimate smiles really brought the performance to life. Once they hit their ending pose, they immediately hugged tight. Their first solo experience in Olympic competition and they absolutely nailed it.

They did their bows, hugged their coaches, and made their way to the couch to hear their scores.

“Why doesn’t every competition have a couch? This is way better than any bench could ever be.”

Mark snickers as the intercom crackles to life to announce they managed to put themselves into third. Both of them immediately hug and cheer again and go off to find a place to watch the rest of the skaters.

“I can’t believe we’re among the best of the best and made it into third.”

“Woah, slow your roll Hyuckie, We were the 6th team to go. The real heavy hitters aren’t gonna be on until this evening.”

Donghyuck just gave him an “I know” and they settled into a comfortable silence as they watched the Georgian team perform. He deluded himself into thinking that Mark didn’t actually mean to call him baby and that he would just never mention it to him for that reason.

They finished watching the rest of the performances, ending the day in sixth.

Both Mark and Donghyuck hurried back to the Olympic village so they could eat dinner with the rest of team South Korea, catching the tail end of a conversation about how the village has already run out of condoms, despite 50,000 being provided.

Dinner goes without a hitch and by the time they’ve tucked themselves into bed, Donghyuck has completely forgotten about Mark calling him the B word.

The next morning was not as peaceful for Donghyuck, his nerves woke him up before his body was ready to even be up. In turn, he banged on Mark’s door until he also woke up so they could get breakfast together. 

They went to training pretty soon after, and then made their way to the stadium to start getting ready. Free skate was a longer program, so they had to get an earlier head start on everything. 

Because of their score yesterday, they were put towards the tail end of the competition, where the real world champions were. Donghyuck was a bundle of nerves, completely on edge at the thought of their performance. As more and more teams went on and they got closer and closer to their performance, Donghyuck felt more and more like he was going to be sick.

By the time they were ready on standby, every single noise was drowned out by the loud ringing in Donghyuck’s ears. 

Donghyuck watched as one of the French teams took their bows and as they exited, he let Mark pull him out onto the ice, his stomach practically dropping to his feet with nerves. Before they got into their starting pose, Mark quickly forced Donghyuck to look at him.

“Listen I know this is probably the worst timing in the history of the entire world, but I’m in love with you and I have been for a while now.” Mark turns Donghyuck back towards the front and muscle memory is the only thing that can carry Donghyuck into his starting position.

The silence before their track started playing was long and tense, Donghyuck’s brain running at a mile a minute with the addition of Mark’s confession on top of the fact that he was about to give his final performance on Olympic ice. 

Once the song started, Donghyuck couldn’t help but truly feel every emotion he was meant to convey as Juliet throughout the program. The anger at Mark for choosing the worst time to confess, the sadness about not being able to say anything back, the desperation of wanting to give his all even though his mind was a jumbled mess, and the fear that Mark might not give him the chance to reciprocate the feelings. The performance felt years long, his mind grateful that his body’s muscle memory was absolutely perfect down to the foot placement. His lines were still sharp and he and Mark were perfectly in sync. Donghyuck didn’t even realize he had already hit the ending pose until he was swept up into an overly excited hug from Mark. Before they separated and took their bows, Donghyuck grabbed Mark by the cheeks and crashed their lips together. Donghyuck felt hot all over despite the frigid cold. Once they broke apart, Donghyuck finally realized just how loudly the crowd were reacting to the kiss. Donghyuck stares at Mark for another beat before stepping out of his embrace and grabbing his hand.

“I’m in love with you too, but don’t you ever make a big announcement before anything like our fucking Olympic performance ever again. Now, c'mon, let’s do our bows.”

They swiftly bow to the audience, and make their way off the ice and onto the couch to wait for their scores, a slight delay as the judges analyze the performance.

“How long have you been in love with me?”

Mark looks slightly startled before replying, “Probably since you told me I look really Korean for a Mark.” Donghyuck blushes at the memory and then drops his jaw as he remembers exactly how long ago that was.

“You’ve been in love with me for that long? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Wait, how long have you been in love with me?”

Donghyuck’s blush goes even redder at the question.

“Since China, but I thought you didn’t like me like that because you rejected me when I started leaning in to kiss you.”

It’s Mark’s turn to drop his jaw as he takes in the information.

“I didn’t even know you were trying to kiss me, I thought you were tired!”

Donghyuck face palms. How could he be in love with such an idiot?

Before he could say any more, the speakers came to life to announce their score. 

“South Korea’s Lee Donghyuck and Mark Lee are currently in first place!”

The stadium erupts with cheers, Mark and Donghyuck immediately hug each other, Mark planting a shy kiss on the younger’s cheek. They both know they won’t stay in first place unless a miracle happens but now they have a shot at actually being on the podium.

They leave to go change out of their costumes so they can watch the last five teams go on.

Once they find a seat not too far from their dressing room, they enjoy the rest of the performances wrapped up in each other in a comfortable silence.

The last American team hits their ending pose and makes their way off the ice, everyone waits for their score with baited breath. Mark and Donghyuck had already been bumped down to second, and now the lowest they could go was third.

The announcer sounds overly excited as he announces that the Americans have taken first, leaving Mark and Donghyuck with the bronze medal. Donghyuck can’t even find it in himself to be bummed as they make their way to the rink for the medal ceremony. 

Their first Winter Olympics and they took home the bronze medal for South Korea, Donghyuck couldn’t be more excited. 

As they step up onto the podium, Mark pulls Donghyuck close.

“I have a question.”

“Can it wait?”

“No.”

“Okay, Mel, make it quick.”

Mark shoots a beaming smile his way.

“Donghyuck, will you be my boyfriend?”

Before Donghyuck can get the chance to respond, they’re being adorned with bronze medals and a bouquet of flowers for each of them.

“What did I tell you about asking important shit on Olympic ice?”

Mark’s smile falters ever so slightly.

“But, yes I will be your boyfriend.”

Mark then whoops loudly, catching practically everyone’s attention as he pulls Donghyuck into a sweet kiss.

I so am gonna get a call from Jaemin about this.