“Put the phone away, or I throw it,” Kyungsoo said, staring up Chanyeol. Even with his small stature, Chanyeol was usually terrified of Kyungsoo’s wrath. “I don’t care if he’s Korea’s darling or not. We have band practice. Shouldn’t he be skating right now anyway?”

“He is. He’s at the rink. Joonmyun gave him a quick break. I just need to get back to him. I haven’t talked to him in over a week,” Chanyeol replied, utterly oblivious to Kyungsoo’s ire.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Our quick break is over. We only have twenty minutes left in practice, can it wait?”

Chanyeol sighed and Sehun laughed at the interactions between them, but they returned to their instruments and finished out the session, ending on one of Chanyeol’s favorites ‘The Eve.’

As soon as he had put his guitar back in his case, he hopped on top of his amp and pulled out his phone again. He ignored all of his bandmates as they left, only gently waving his hand at them as they exited, promising that he would lock the door on his way out.

‘You’re coming, right?’ The latest text in the stream of messages from Baekhyun read. The message, as ordinary as it was, had been weighing on his mind since he received it during their break. It was one thing to see Baekhyun compete when Chanyeol only knew him as a fan, it felt weird though to see him rehearse as someone who knew him more intimately. He hadn’t watched anyone rehearse since Yoora was last on the ice.

Chanyeol stared down at it, biting his lower lip. Finally, he made up his mind and responded. ‘Yes, I’m on my way.’

And with the text sent, Chanyeol grabbed his guitar case, locked the practice room, and made his way to his truck.

The drive to the Taereung Training Center didn’t take as long as Chanyeol had anticipated. He had expected more traffic. He found the main entrance pretty easily, the banner strung across the entrance way was a dead giveaway in his mind. He followed Baekhyun’s instructions on what to tell the guard at the gate, and sure enough just as Baekhyun had said, he was granted access. Once inside the complex,  he only got lost once, mistaking the swimming pool for the ice rink. But, he did find it. He parked the car, grabbed his emergency hoodie from the back seat, before heading for the door.

Baekhyun was waiting inside the entrance doors, his blue and white skate guards over the blades of his skates and his Supreme jacket, the one Chanyeol had gifted him, slung over his shoulders. His eyes lit up the moment Chanyeol passed through the doors.

“I didn’t actually think you’d come,” Baekhyun said.

“Oh?” Chanyeol said. Baekhyun turned and began walking toward the rink, Chanyeol following by his side.

“It’s just a bit out of the way,” Baekhyun said. “And I’ve invited other friends out here to see me skate and no one’s taken me up on the offer beyond Jongdae...but I know he has other motives.”

“Well, I wanted to see you. I missed you. It was weird to not have you texting me all the time,” Chanyeol replied.

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun said his voice becoming small and tinged with guilt.

“Hey, no! It’s no problem,” Chanyeol replied. “I know Four Continents are next week. I want you to win gold probably as much as you do.”

Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol and gave him a small smile. “I could watch you skate forever,” Chanyeol followed up almost instantly.

“Easy boy. I don’t know that desperate suits you,” a few giggles peppered Baekhyun’s response.

They arrived rinkside and Baekhyun removed his blade guards, placing them on the ledge of the rink wall, before jumping out onto the ice.

“Finally back I see!” A voice called from the other side of the rink. Chanyeol was able to make out a figure wearing a large puffy black coat with light brown hair.

“I am! Brought a friend with me too!” Baekhyun said, taking a lap around the rink.

“Is that jacket boy?” A different voice called, though Chanyeol couldn’t find the figure it belonged to, he recognized it. That was definitely Jongdae, Baekhyun’s roommate and definitely not boyfriend.

“Yes, it’s me,” Chanyeol called back. “Good to...uh...hear you again Jongdae.”

Jongdae cackled, the sound echoing throughout the rink. It was quickly followed by the sound of someone clearing their voice.

“Ok, Baekhyun. Nice to meet your friend. Now, can we please do another run through of your short program. You need to tighten up some of the step sequence. This’ll be the last run for today. No excuses,” the first voice said. The voice probably belonged to Joonmyun, Baekhyun’s coach, if he had to guess.

“Roger that,” Baekhyun said, moving to the center of the ice.

The music began softly with just a clarinet, moving up and down the melody. Baekhyun began moving slowly, making wide spins on the ice before hitting the first jump of his program, a Triple Lutz, when the other instruments joined in.

He moved into a spiral and upon his exit, began backward crossovers to prepare for his next jump, a Quad Salchow. He extended his leg and took off from the back inside edge, rotating all four times, but missed his landing and fell. Chanyeol tensed as he waited for Baekhyun to get up, memories of Yoora’s practices and falls replaying themselves over and over again in his head.

Chanyeol had seen this routine hundreds of times. He knew the choreography like the back of his hand. He had seen him do this very routine in person four weeks ago at Korean Nationals and yet watching Baekhyun do it now seemed very different. Even with the fall, his skating was stronger. More pronounced. There was something more to it than there had been before.

When Baekhyun finally came to the end pose, arms stretched out above his head, Chanyeol broke out in applause, a swell of pride caught in his chest. Falls or clean program, only Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s skate team got to see him like this. He couldn’t help but smile.

Baekhyun skated off of the ice toward Chanyeol. He put his blade guards back on, reached up to place a small peck on Chanyeol’s cheek, before walking around to the other side of the rink to see his coach. Chanyeol followed behind, unsure if he was meant to follow.

He looked out onto the ice to see another male skater finish a lap and make his way to one of the exits. The boy was taller and more slight than Baekhyun and had jet black hair. Chanyeol recognized him almost immediately as Kim Jongin, Korea’s third-best skater. Baekhyun stopped walking, but Chanyeol was so fascinated with watching Jongin that he nearly ran into him. Just nearly. He stopped with enough space to not knock him over, but not enough for someone to not make a comment.

“Good to see you again, Chanyeol! And with clothes this time!” Jongdae said the moment they reached the other side of the rink.

Chanyeol blushed a deep red, while Baekhyun rolled his eyes. Neither of them dignified him with a response. Baekhyun, instead, turned his attention to the other man close by, who was standing at the rink wall watching Jongin on the ice.

“So you're the reason my skater’s been behaving differently,” the voice Chanyeol now recognized as Joonmyun’s said.

“Ummm...I didn’t mean…I just….I...” Chanyeol scrambled looking for words, but couldn’t find them.

“Looks good Jongin. You’re finished for today. We’ll debrief tomorrow,” Joonmyun called out across the ice and then he pushed away from the wall, coming over to stand in front of Chanyeol. “Thank you.”

Chanyeol furrowed his brows and looked over at Baekhyun, who was hiding his face in his hands. “I’m sorry, what?” Chanyeol said, looking back at Joonmyun. He opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something, to ask for clarification, but chose not to.

Joonmyun looked exactly like Chanyeol had expected him to from all of the times he’d seen him on TV or in person during Korean Nationals for that matter. His face, however, wasn’t as strict as Chanyeol had expected. He had a goofy smile, and even though he wasn’t on the ice, he still wore skates with his dress pants and puffy winter coat.

“Thank you,” Joonmyun began.

“Whatever he says isn’t true!!” Baekhyun protested, interrupting. Jongdae burst into giggles and Baekhyun glared at him.

“Will you let me finish talking. I haven’t even said anything yet,” Joonmyun continued. “He’s always been so serious on the ice. Rehearsing until his feet were blistered and bruised. Everything was always about technique and precision. Feeling was an afterthought. And I know it's none of my business, I’m just his coach, but whatever you’re doing has changed his skating for the better. He’s more relaxed. So, thank you.”

Baekhyun blushed and Chanyeol smiled as he caught a glimpse of how red Baekhyun’s cheeks turned.

“I’m glad I could help,” Chanyeol replied.

Joonmyun smiled. “I’m glad you could too. Make sure he stretches and showers and actually leaves the rink at a decent hour tonight. Heaven knows he won’t listen to me on that.”

“I’ll do my best,” Chanyeol said. Joonmyun patted him on the shoulder as he made his way across the rink to the locker room. Jongdae following not far behind.

Once they were out of earshot, Chanyeol asked, “Is Jongdae always here?”

“Not always,” Baekhyun replied. “He tends to show up near the end of practice and usually goes home with Joonmyun.”

“Ah. I see. So, whenever you’re ready, we can leave. I’ve got an idea of a nice place to stop for dinner,” Chanyeol said, watching a smirk take over Baekhyun’s face. “What?”

“I was thinking that before we head out that we’d get you out on the ice.”

“What? No. No.”

“Why not? It’ll be fun.”

“For you maybe. Not for me. I can’t. I told you that. I can’t skate. Besides I don’t have any skates.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “I’ve already solved that problems,” Baekhyun said, pulling out a pair of skates from a bag that had been placed under one of the benches.” Joonmyun said I could borrow his spare pair.”

“They won’t fit,” Chanyeol protested.

“Yes, they will. Now put them on,” he said, removing the blade guards from his own skates, and making his way out onto the ice.

Chanyeol sighed and made his way over to the bench. The only way he was getting Baekhyun off the ice was to skate. He removed his shoes, not even bothering to untie the laces. He picked up the black skates, loosened the laces a little and then slid his left foot in. Much to his surprise, it did fit. He laced it up, and then put the right one on. Once both were securely tied to his feet, he removed the blade guards and wobbly made his way over to the rink wall.

“I am going to fall!” Chanyeol shouted across the ice. Baekhyun finished coming out of his layback spin and skated over to the entrance where Chanyeol stood.

“No you won’t,” Baekhyun said. “I won’t let you.” He reached out his hands, waiting for Chanyeol to take them.

“This isn’t going to work. I’m going to fall and I’m just going to take you down with me. Just because I know a lot about figure skating doesn’t mean I can--”

“Will you shut up and just give me your hands!” Baekhyun reached out and took Chanyeol’s hands in his. “I won’t let you fall. Now, step out on the ice.”

Chanyeol took a deep breath. “Ok,” he said, and he moved carefully on the ice.

“Great,” Baekhyun said. “Now, push me across the ice. I’ll keep you balanced. You just worry about moving forward.”

Chanyeol nodded and started moving his feet. They moved slowly, but not smoothly, stopping every few moments when Chanyeol believed he was going to quickly. Baekhyun chuckling every time.

They made it halfway around the rink, not speaking to one another, only focusing on the skating together. “What made you start watching figuring skating? I can’t believe I haven’t asked that yet.”

Chanyeol looked up from his feet. “My sister. She was a skater before she retired.”

“Right. You said your sister skated,” Baekhyun replied.

“Yeah. She was older than me, and I thought she was so cool, so I was interested in the same things she was. I tried skating, I just can’t stay upright to save my life. But, Yoora, she was amazing. I used to sit at all of her practices after school and used to try and help her figure out more complicated jump and spin combinations. They were never any good, but I tried. I remember once at Nationals--”

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute! Your sister was Park Yoora? I loved watching her skate,” Baekhyun said, mouth hanging open a bit. “I remember watching her. She had the best Triple-Triple combination. Mine was in tribute to her.

“I had no idea you watched her,” Chanyeol said. “Oh my god. Now that you say that, I can see her influence on your programs. Holy !”

Baekhyun laughed, nearly falling off balance, but catching himself before he upended Chanyeol. “I’m glad I was able to share that piece of trivia with you. Unlock another level of obsession for you….I was really sad when she stopped skating.”

“Yeah, me too. We don’t talk about it much, her retirement or skating.”

Baekhyun looked over his shoulder as they came upon a curve partially to make sure they didn’t run into a wall. “Can...Can I ask why she retired? She was in her prime and I know official reports said she broke her ankle, but she could have taken the season off, come back the next year.”

Chanyeol took a deep breath. “She, umm...well, yeah, she was in the car accident. That’s part of it. She also fell in love and I don’t want to say she gave up everything for him because that’s not fair, but one day, even after her ankle had healed, she just left the ice entirely.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Chanyeol said, he took another glide forward but quickly lost his balance. Baekhyun hit the ice first with Chanyeol doing his best to avoid falling directly on top of Baekhyun.

Chanyeol flopped onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s ok. You did warn me,” Baekhyun laughed. He crawled over to Chanyeol and laid his head on his chest, drawing circles on Chanyeol’s stomach. Chanyeol ran his hand through Baekhyun’s hair and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Baekhyun’s head.

“If I haven’t said it before,” Chanyeol began. “You make me really happy.”

Baekhyun leaned up to look at Chanyeol. “You make me happy too.” He leaned in and placed a kiss on Chanyeol’s lips. It was soft and undemanding, but that soon changed. Chanyeol’s hands buried themselves further into Baekhyun’s hair and they pulled each other closer, chaste kisses became desperate pleas.

Chanyeol could feel his and Baekhyun’s stiffening between them before they broke apart from each other gasping for breath. “What do you say we move this to somewhere a little more private?”

“The locker room sounds like a great idea to me,” Baekhyun responded. He pushed himself off of the ice. He reached out a hand to Chanyeol.

“I was thinking more like my place,” Chanyeol said, taking Baekhyun’s hand and returning to his feet. The chill from the ice on his back had begun to sink into his body and he shivered. “Less of a chance someone will catch us.”

“We’re the only ones here,” Baekhyun said, his voice purring. “Follow me.”

And Chanyeol did.