Yunho spent a week at home in Gwangju with his parents after his discharge from hospital.

His Worlds bid for this year was already over, seeing as the Worlds Selection Committee had been coming to practice, according to Changmin, who called him every day after practice. This would be the first Worlds that Yunho would miss in the last five years.

While he was in hospital, he had given some thought as to whether or not he should return to the Village right away to get his coach's help to get back, or whether he wanted to rehabilitate at home. The thoughts also gave rise to thoughts on whether or not he should continue to try for the Olympics coming up next year, and Yunho also found himself giving thoughts on whether to return to swimming at all.

Eventually, Yunho decided that he wanted to get to a certain level of fitness before diving in with the rest of the National Team for practice – and he thought that would be healthier for his mental health anyway; he didn't need to watch his teammates swim their hardest to be selected for Worlds while he sat on the sidelines.

For the first few days, he went on walks with his parents to the beach and ate his mother's home-cooked food – that was the extent of his training to get back.

On the fourth day back, he decided to go for a light jog around the neighbourhood. Once he started running though, he found himself pushing himself harder and harder, until he ended up quite a ways away from home and feeling so sick and weak that he couldn't finish his run. He had to call his parents to come and pick him up at the side of a random road.

That was when he realized that his swimming career was honestly probably over.

Honestly, Yunho was tired, and with no exaggeration whatsoever, devastated; he still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he'd dedicated his entire life for one cause, and that it was over in a single moment.

"You don't have to go to the Olympics, Yunho," said his mother as Yunho sat in his bed after the disastrous run. "You're already a very successful swimmer."

"I know," sighed Yunho.

"All we want is for you to be happy and healthy."

Yunho sighed and tilted his head back with his eyes closed. But would he truly be happy if he never got to the Olympics? Or would he live the rest of his life just wondering, what if?

It was at that moment that Yunho burned with sheer will; he would get better, he would get into shape, he would win gold at the Olympics, and he would make his parents proud. It didn't matter how hard he had to train – he would do it.

Yunho let out a breath and looked at his mother decidedly.

"Mom, I want to go for it," said Yunho. "I'm going to regret not pushing myself as much as I can if I just give up now, just 412 days before the Olympics. I'm going to go back to the Village tonight. I need help getting back in shape. I can't do it on my own."

His mom regarded him for a long time worriedly, but then finally nodded and smiled. "I want you to do what makes you happy, Yunho."

Yunho wasn't sure if it would make him happy, but at the very least, he was quite certain that he wouldn’t regret it.

Yunho packed to return to the Village right away, and chose a train that would arrive later that night. He texted Changmin about his return, but seeing as he didn't get a reply, he figured that Changmin was in the middle of practice.

He walked into their room before Changmin was back from practice, and was unpacking his bag when the door finally opened, revealing his roommate.

"Hyung!" shouted Changmin. His face broke out into a wide grin.

"Hey," said Yunho, trying not to blush, but he was pretty sure he did anyway, when Changmin fell into his arms, toppling them both onto Yunho's bed.

"You're back!"

"I am."

"And you're just in time for Worlds selections," said Changmin, looking awed.

"No I'm not. I'm not in shape. At all," clarified Yunho quickly.

"Oh," said Changmin sadly.

"At least not yet. But I will be ready for the next Olympics. And you and I are going to be Olympic champions together," said Yunho with conviction.

It looked like Changmin was trying to keep himself from smiling for a few seconds, but then he let himself go and smiled a bright smile.

It wasn't all easy.

In fact, it wasn't at all easy.

Physically, he was asked to push his body much harder than he was ready to. He was put into the pool the very next day, and while he didn't swim at the same pace as his teammates, he was still expected to be swimming for the full three hours of practice in the morning and again in the afternoon. He was so weak by the end of the week that on Sunday, the one day off that they had all week, he spent all day working with the massage therapists and physiotherapists just to be able to move his limbs normally without feeling with like his whole body was on fire.

It was probably even harder emotionally, if that was at all possible. It hurt more than anything to watch his teammates swim for the selection committee while he had been set so far back, and it frustrated him to no end that he had so far to go, for something that wasn't even his fault.

Although he knew that he wasn't going to Worlds this year, standing there with the rest of the team while the Worlds Team was named, and being left off of it for the first time in five years, was more painful than he ever imagined.

Changmin did make the Worlds team again this year, although not without penalty; they had not been happy with Changmin's withdrawal from Nationals, questioning his reliability. In order to keep his place on the Worlds Team, Changmin was required to write a letter of apology to them with a promise that something like this would never happen again, and promise that he would take himself off the National Team should he ever pull such a stunt again.

Yunho expected Changmin to complain about it the entire time he wrote it, but Yunho found Changmin to be quite stoic as he wrote the letter, and he spent a whole night working on the letter in silence, and rewriting it several times by hand to address different members of the selection committee before sealing them into envelopes and leaving the room to drop them off at the coaching office.

Although Yunho wasn't sure whether Changmin intended it this way, he was thankful that Changmin hadn't raised a fuss about writing the letters and that he had taken to the task diligently; feeling the pain of being left off the Worlds Team, Yunho wasn't sure just how upset he would have felt if Changmin had complained to Yunho about how he had to do some writing to be on the Worlds Team, especially when Yunho would have done quite literally anything to have been on the Worlds Team again.

Yunho found himself being able to genuinely congratulate Changmin for making it to Worlds – but watching Changmin pack for the trip, giving the hug good luck and seeing him off, then watching him compete on TV was so painful that if it weren't for his burning willpower to get better, he probably would have quit right then and there.

Changmin had returned with a silver in the 200-metre freestyle and a bronze in the 100-metre butterfly, much to Yunho's (and the whole nation's) delight. He had genuinely been happy for Changmin, and as far as Yunho was concerned, Changmin deserved every bit of every medal from those Worlds.

But the whole experience made Yunho feel more anxious – he needed to get better, and he needed to get better soon. He had to catch up to where he was before soon, otherwise he would never be in contention for a medal at next year's Olympics. Every swimmer sought to peak for the Olympic year, and Yunho was already so far behind. This wasn't about peaking anymore – this was about pushing.

This was about pushing until he had nothing else to give anymore.

And so, the very night Worlds Team returned along with their coach, Yunho made his way to the coach's office, and knocked.

"Come in," said the coach, and Yunho pushed the door and stepped inside.

Yunho took a deep breath and sat down on the plastic chair across from his desk. He waited until the coach looked up to speak.

"Yes, Jung," he said, glancing up from Yunho for a split second before returning his attention to his paperwork. "What would you like."

Yunho spoke seriously. "I want to go to the Olympics."

"Yes, I know, and so does every other guy on the team," said the coach. He filled out some more of his paperwork.

"Coach."

His coach couldn't turn his back on him now. Not now, he couldn't give up on him now when Yunho needed him the most.

His coach sighed and finally dropped his pen. "Yes, Jung."

"I lived my whole life for this. For this Olympics. Coach," said Yunho, trying to keep his voice from shaking and his eyes from filling with tears. "Help me."

The coach watched from behind his folded hands, and then spoke.

"I can't make what's impossible happen, Jung."

"I know," said Yunho, ignoring the pain as the words sliced through his chest. "And it's possible. I know it is. But I need your help."

The coach left a long silence and just watched Yunho for a long time. Eventually, he finally opened his mouth.

"I need to know that you're serious about this," said the coach. "I don't want to waste my time and yours if you're not serious about this."

"Coach, I'm serious."

"Are you?" questioned his coach skeptically.

A feeling of frustration welled up in Yunho's chest. His coach had no idea how serious he was.

No idea.

"I am," said Yunho through clenched teeth. He willed his tears not to fall. "Coach. I'm desperate."

Another long silence passed between then, and finally, his coach spoke.

"All right, Jung," said the coach finally. "Starting tomorrow, I want you to see me after the evening weight training every day. You're expected to partake in all of the workout sessions throughout the day, and then you will see me for extra training. Is that clear?"

Yunho nodded. "Okay," he said quietly.

"I didn't hear you, Jung. Is that clear?" repeated the coach.

Yunho sat up straighter. "Yes, sir."

The coach nodded and turned back to his paperwork.

"You're dismissed."