Chapter Text
"Ladies and gentlemen, the next skater, representing South Korea... please give it up for Park Seonghwa."
The arena erupted. Cheers rolled through the stands like thunder.
Seonghwa stood at the edge of the rink, waiting for his cue. "I can do this." He whispered to himself, almost like a mantra. He kept on checking his skates—ensuring that it's tight enough so that he wouldn't fall but also making sure that it's comfortable for him.
Then the opening notes of "Experience" echoed through the arena. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and pushed away from the boards, starting his routine.
Instantly, the arena fell silent.
Every push of his body was effortless. The audience held their breath seeing Seonghwa's body flowing through the music as if he was telling a story. He moved in sync with the music, each glide and turn carrying an emotion words couldn't express. The piano in the background made the atmosphere in the arena more heavy.
As the music builds up, Seonghwa's movements softened as he was about to do a layback spin. He planted his blade and froze. A familiar silhouette stood beyond the rink. "No, no... it can't be." His mind screamed. His heart lurched.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
At this point, Seonghwa wanted the ground to swallow him up. His mind was telling him to stop the routine and exit the rink. Thankfully, he snapped out of his trance and continued his routine as if nothing happened. Deep down, he was internally panicking.
Applause echoed through the arena, followed by the announcer thanking him for the wonderful performance. Seonghwa didn't hear a word and ran off.
"Hey Hwa, that was really great; I'm proud of you—" His manager and best friend Yunho, stopped talking as he saw how disheveled Seonghwa looked. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he paced back and forth while muttering something inaudible. He looked... pale, as if he saw a ghost.
"Hey, hey—come on, let's go to the bathroom. Wash your face, eat a little snack and then we'll go home and watch a movie. I'm gonna call Woo and Yeo so that they can join us ok?" Yunho comforted him. He didn't know what had happened out on the rink but seeing how shaken up he was made him think that something really bad had happened.
"I'm sorry for crying, I didn't know what came over me." He sniffled, wiping his tears. Yunho looked at him in pity. He wanted to know what had made him break like that but he didn't want to pry—he'll share when he wants to. He gestured for him to sit down and try to calm himself down.
Seonghwa simply sat down, staring at his hands while Yunho remained beside him. He felt grateful that Yunho didn't pry—instead just sat quietly while making sure that he's doing great. The only sounds heard were Seonghwa's sniffles and the faint hum of the air conditioner above them.
The silence in the waiting room was quiet. It wasn't uncomfortable, it felt peaceful. Seonghwa tries to recollect his thoughts and calm himself down while Yunho was just sitting beside him, comforting him by ensuring that he's there, and he won't leave until Seonghwa's okay.
After a few minutes, Seonghwa finally wiped his tears and calmed himself down. His breathing was steadier than just now.
"Can we go home?" His voice was shaky.
Yunho nodded immediately. "Yea, of course."
Yunho packed up their things and went to go inform the workers at the arena that they'll be leaving early due to personal reasons while Seonghwa went to go unlock the car.
The drive back to their dorm was silent. Seonghwa rested his head against the window, watching the city lights pass by in a colourful blur. Normally, he would've been chatting with Yunho–about the routines or where they should eat at and they get hungry really easily, but tonight, he didn't have the energy.
His thoughts kept circling back to the rink.
That silhouette.
Those familliar features.
There was no way he couldve mistook them.
"Not tonight." He thought. He squeezed his eyes and tried to forget about the incident. The more he thought about it, the more he wouldn't be able to sleep and he really needs sleep.
When they finally arrived at the dorm, the sound of loud voices could be heard from the hallway.
"You're finally back!" Wooyoung shouted thr moment the door opened.
He was sprawled across the couch, legs on top of Yeosang's lap. Yeosang was playing with his phone while Wooyoung was scrolling on the television, thinking on what to watch. Both of them looked up expectantly, but their expressions immediately changed when they saw Seonghwa. Even though Seonghwa hid it well with his smiles and after washing his face, his friends could tell when there's something wrong.
Wooyoung's smile faded slightly. Yeosang's brows furrowed.
Wooyoung glanced at Yunho, who subtly shook his head.
𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬.
Wooyoung understood.
Instead of questioning him, he simply stood up and walked over.
"Movie?"
Seonghwa looked at him for a moment before giving him a small nod.
"Movie." His voice came out in a small whisper.
That was all it took.
They didn't need to talk about it.
The four of them settled into their usual spots on the big, white L shaped couch, arguing over what to watch. Wooyoung insisted on watching a rom-com, while Yeosang wanted to watch horror. This led to them bickering back and forth, arguing over why their choices are better than the other. Yunho eventually took the remote away from both of them. In the end, Spiderman: No Way Home was played on the screen. Groans were heard from both Wooyoung and Yeosang.
"Typical Yunho" Seonghwa thought to himself and chuckled. He found himself smiling despite everthing that happened. It felt peaceful.
The movie played in the background as Wooyoung provided unnecessary commentary every few minutes. At one point, he'd laughed so hard that he nearly fell off the couch, resulting to him smacking Yeosang in the back. Yunho threw a pillow at Wooyoung as he wouldn't shut up throughout the movie, while Yeosang quietly complained that it's too noisy as he couldn't pay attention to what was happening the movie. Seonghwa watched them fondly, he was grateful for having them in his life. They'd always be by his side, no matter what. If it's a good thing or a bad thing, they'll make sure that he's doing great.
By the time the credits began rolling in, the tight feeling in his chest had eased considerably. The memory of the rink was still there, buried somewhere in the back of his mind, but it wasn't suffocating him anymore.
Wooyoung noticed the change immediately.
"You look less dead." He commented.
Seonghwa turned around, unimpressed. "Thanks. I hope that's a good thing."
"It is." Wooyoung stretched his arms above his head, letting out a loud yawn which resulted to Yeosang smacking him in the arm for invading his space.
For a moment, everything felt normal again. Then, Wooyoung suddenly sat upright.
"Let's go out."
Seonghwa's smile disappeared.
"No."
"But it's only 11pm. There's so much time. We should atleast go somewhere to release our stress." Wooyoung looked at him with a smirk. Oh he knew what Wooyoung meant.
"Club." Seonghwa replied flatly.
"Exactly!" Wooyoung enthusisatically replied. He grinned, "Come on, It'll be fun. We can dance, get some fresh air–"
"That's not how clubs work." Yeosang interjected.
"Okay fine. we can drink—"
Yunho raised his eyebrow.
"Wooyoung."
"What, I'm trying to help him forget about tonight." Wooyoung fought back.
Seonghwa looked down at his hands. He knew what Wooyoung was trying to do. None of them knew what had happened and he felt guilty for not sharing, but seeing his friends wanting to make sure that he doesn't drown in sadness by not pestering him, thus, going out to get some fresh air. He appreciated it.
Maybe going out really wouldn't hurt.
"Okay." He agreed.
Wooyoung immediately jumped from the couch, showing how ecstatic he was.
"YES!"
Yeosang shook his head but there was a small smile plastered on his face. "You're way too excited."
"We're going out!" Wooyoung replied.
Yunho looked at Seonghwa carefully, "are you sure?"
"I'll be fine, no worries." He reassured him.
A few hours later, the four of them stood outside a crowded club. The faint bass of the music could be heard. Seonghwa stared at the entrance for a moment, wondering if agreeing to this was a bad idea.
Yeosang, sensing his body language, squeezed his shoulder and reassured him that nothing will go wrong. "Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, we're a phone call away." Seonghwa took a deep breath and started to enter the club with the others following behind him.
The moment they stepped inside, they were hit by a wave of heat.
The club was packed. On a Friday night, it was expected to be really crowded. Bodies pressed together across the dance floor as colourful lights flashed overhead, changing the entire room every few seconds. Some were seen making out while others were seen grinding on one another. The music was so loud that Seonghwa could feel the bass against his chest.
The air smelled strongly of alcohol, perfume and sweat. This made Seonghwa grimace slightly.
"Why did I agree to this?" he muttered to himself.
"What?" Yunho shouted.
"Nothing!"
Wooyoung grabbed Yeosang's wrist.
"We're going!"
"Where?" Yeosang replied, raising his voice due to the loud music.
"I don't know!" Wooyoung shouted.
Just like that, the two of them disappeared into the crowd.
Seonghwa stared at them in disbelief. "I can't believe they just left." He shook his head while muttering it to himself.
"I'm gonna get us some drinks. Stay here, okay?" Yunho told him.
"Okay."
Seonghwa leaned across the wall, watching the crowd move around him. He tried to enjoy himself. he really did. He even allowed himself to sway slightly to the music, but the longer he stood there, the more uncomfortable he became.
Then his stomach twisted.
Of course.
He needed to go to the bathroom.
He bolted to the nearest bathroom, not looking at where he was going, he accidentally bumped into someone.
"Ah–I'm sorry." he apologised, giving the person a small bow. He waited a few seconds for a response and when he didn't, he started making his way to the bathroom as he's really urgent.
He had barely taken two steps when he heard the stranger speak, sounding confused.
"Seonghwa?"