02. Without You.
Characters: Seventeen: Dokyeom, S.Coups, GFriend: Yuju, Sowon
Pairing Focus: DK-Yuju (SeokJu), S.Coups-Sowon (SoCoups)
AU // Yuju and Dokyeom face a rough time in their relationship and they turn to other means to cope the pain but they only end up being worse. 
NCT U - Without You

Choi Yuna, known as Yuju by everyone, opened her eyes. She stared blankly at the ceiling before looking to the calendar hanging on the wall.

There was a date circled in red that was spotted by her eyes and she immediately sat up. She stretched her body and started making her bed. A sigh escaped her lips as she remembered the circunstances she was facing.

'Seokmin...No, Choi Yuna, stop.' Yuju's mind started wandering but she stopped her mind from going further.

After Yuju was done washing up and, she started packing her ice skating stuffs into her bag. She slung the bag over her shoulder and her left hand was holding her boots.

She climbed down the stairs and saw her brother having breakfast before going to work. Choi Seungcheol, or S.Coups, is Choi Yuna's older brother. S.Coups watched as his sister grabbed a banana hanging from a rack..

"Good morning, Yuna." S.Coups said and Yuju looked up, "Oh, good morning, Seungcheol oppa." Yuju greeted with an expressionless face.

"I'll be going to the rink to train, as usual. See you in the evening." Yuju explained before walking out of the house. S.Coups looked at Yuju's figure as she left and sighed.

Sowon came out from the bedroom and heard the door close. She looked to S.Coups before saying, "Oh, Yuju left already? Did she eat breakfast?"

"She just took a banana." S.Coups said as Sowon took a seat infront of S.Coups. "Just a banana? That's not enough for an athlete like her." Sowon said slightly surprised. S.Coups and Sowon was a young couple who had been married to each other for slightly over a year. 

S.Coups nodded. Sowon saw the worry in his eyes and reached out for his hand. "Don't worry, I'll make good food for her." Sowon reassured and S.Coups broke into a smile. 

Sowon glanced to the clock on the wall and stood up, "You better leave for work now. If not, you'll be late." Sowon said as she hurried back into the room and she came out with S.Coups' tie.

S.Coups put his paper into his office bag and walked to Sowon. Sowon wrapped the tie around his collar and tied it nicely. "There, you're good to go." Sowon said and dusted his shirt.

"Kim Sojung?" S.Coups said and she looked into his eyes. "You never forget that, do you?" Sowon said, knowing what he was asking. 

"How could I forget?" S.Coups said with a laugh. Sowon smiled and pecked his cheek.  S.Coups then pulled her forehead gently towards him and kissed her forehead.

"Please be careful when you do your work later. If you're feeling sick again, please tell me." S.Coups said to Sowon and he touched her waist. Sowon nodded at him and she sent him out of the door. She waited until the car left the driveway before went back into her bedroom to do her writing.

Yuju made her way to the ice skating rink. As she made her way to the rink, the painful memory replayed in her mind.

Yuju rushed quickly to the restaurant, several darted their eyes to her.

Dokyeom had been waiting in the restaurant for almost 2 hours for Yuju. Yuju had an apologetic look as she took a seat infront of Dokyeom. She tried to tame her bangs, having being bunned up together with all of her hair during training.

Dokyeom merely greeted her and started ordering food. Yuju's stomach wasn't feeling good when Dokyeom was silent throughout dinner. 'Oh no, did I screw up?' Yuju thought nervously as she offered some of her steak to Dokyeom.

Once they were done with the food, they took a walk but Yuju started to ease up. However that didn't last very long.

"Yuju, why were you late for so long?" Dokyeom asked as the strolled nearby Han river.

"I had training, of course." Yuju said and Dokyeom sighed. "Yuju, how can you treat our dates so lightly?" Dokyeom stopped walking and Yuju tensed up.

"I don't-"

"Yes, you do, this isn't the first few times that this happened." Dokyeom said and Yuju breathed out.

"Dokyeom, this is my profession. I can't have free time as and when I want." Yuju said and Dokyeom immediately retorted back.

"This isn't about profession. It's about priority. Sure, I have a job too and I have tons of paper work I've got to do but you are my priority. Am I not yours?"

"How can you say that?" Yuju said and her fists started to ball up in anger.

Dokyeom and Yuju continued to talk things out but soon, the talking became an argument, something that never happened before. It had gotten to a point where both Yuju and Dokyeom had tears in their eyes and their throats feeling sore. Their assertive argument became domineering and this only drived them mental.

"I'm tired." Yuju said and walked away, her tears still streaming down her face. Dokyeom was tired to and his anger did not subside one bit as he saw Yuju's figure storming away.

Dokyeom used his fist and hit the metal railing. He was too angry and hurt to even feel the pain in his bones. He looked out to the river and started shouting. Yuju's tears did not stop and she started running.

Yuju once again scolded herself for thinking about that night. She arrived at the rink. She quickly ate her banana and started preparing herself. She tied her fringe and hair up into a high bun and soon she was doing her routines, jumps and spins. The younger trainees and ice skaters made way for Yuju automatically without Yuju even saying a word.

That red circled date was her competition date. She would be representing South Korea in the Ice Skating World Championships. There was a heavy burden on her shoulders.

What only made it heavier, was her relationship with Dokyeom. She hadn't spoke to Dokyeom for two week ever since they had that argument, let alone meet up. Yuju hated the fact she and Dokyeom were not talking. What she hated more was the fact that she didn't know what to do to fix this problem,

Yuju's only output to forget about that burden was to focus on her ice skating. It was the best way to stop her mind from wandering to Dokyeom. It reached a point that she forgot to take her meals and her life only consisted ice skating and sleeping.

"Yuna, you should take a break. You have been skating for 6 hours already." Yuju looked to her coach who stopped her.

"It's okay, I'm good." Yuju said and gave a weak smile. Her coach shook her head. "No, Yuna, go get a drink. You can't fall sick before the competition." Her coach ordered and Yuna nodded obediently and skated to the exit.

She sat by the bleachers and took off her skates. She walked to the nearest vending machine and got an energy drink. She gulped it down before going back into the rink.

Her coach only looked worried and shook his head.

----------

A few days later, S.Coups was done with his sister's behaviour. 

'Doesn't she know how worried Sowon and I are?' S.Coups thought as he drove from work.

S.Coups stepped out of his car and walked into the ice skating rink. It was almost 9 in the evening and it was beyond the closing time. However, they had to make an exception for Yuju.

He stood by the bleachers and watched his sister skate for awhile. He couldn't deny how beautiful Yuna looked when she skated. She was living the dream their late parents wanted for her.

But S.Coups couldn't stand how Yuju was unknowingly torturing herself.

"Choi Yuna!" S.Coups said loud enough for Yuna to stop twirling and look for the source of the voice.

"Why are you here?" Yuju said as she skated towards him. She was confused, she rarely saw him here in the rink, even if Yuju asked him to pick her up.

"You need to stop this. Come on, let's go home." S.Coups said firmly but Yuju had a resolute look. "You can go home first. I'll make my way back home myself." Yuju said and turned away and started skating again.

'You are always so stubborn.' S.Coups thought and shook his head.

"Appa and eomma didn't want you to ice skate until you are neglecting your health." S.Coups started and Yuju turned around. "Why do you bring in appa and eomma? Ice skating is helping me. Don't you see it?" Yuju said as she looked at S.Coups.

"How is it helping you when you're starting to look sick all the time?" S.Coups raised his voice slightly.

Y