The rink during a competition was calm and quiet, only the sounds of skates cutting into the ice, the announcer declaring who would be skating, and muffled conversation from the audience filled the arena. A weight of nostalgia settled itself into Chanyeol’s chest. He hadn’t been in the skater’s area of the arena during a competition since Yoora’s last competition and he couldn’t help but get lost in memories of her.

Baekhyun made his way rinkside, Joonmyun at his side, and his headphones shoved into his ears drowning out the surrounding sounds of the crowd. Chanyeol followed close behind, taking in the electricity sparking through the air. He took in all of the signs made for Baekhyun wishing him luck on the ice and he could feel his heart pounding. He had missed this.

As they approached the side, one of Baekhyun’s competitors, a Japanese skater with slicked-back black hair, finished up his program and then quickly made his way off of the ice. Baekhyun nodded at the man as he made his way into the kiss and cry. Then, he removed his Korea skating jacket, his blade guards, and pulled his headphones from his ears, trying to hand them to Chanyeol, only to find Chanyeol staring off into the distance.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, bringing him back to the present moment. Baekhyun stepped off the ice and put his blade guards back in place. “Everything ok?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Was just thinking about Yoora’s last skate,” Chanyeol replied. “Just having some weird deja vu. But, I’m excited to see you compete. I’m excited for you to bring home the gold.”

“Well, I’m certainly going to try,” Baekhyun said, moving toward the rink entrance. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes locked with Chanyeol’s, all focus and fire, then he turned back toward the ice.

“On the ice now, representing the Republic of Korea, Byun Baekhyun!” The announcer called overhead.

Chanyeol waved at Baekhyun as he stepped onto the ice, smiling as he always did. “Good luck!” He called out, even if Baekhyun couldn’t hear him anymore.

He watched as Baekhyun skated around the rink, acknowledging all of his fans, then he took his place in the center of the ice. The music began, a beautiful pressing repetition of notes over and over, and Baekhyun moved backward, gearing up for what was supposed to be his first Triple Salchow of the program, one of his easier jumps. Instead, Baekhyun adjusted his takeoff position and landed a Triple Flip.

Chanyeol’s mouth dropped as he watched the program he knew like the back of his hand change. Not only was Baekhyun changing the jump elements, but Chanyeol could feel something radiating off the ice that hadn’t been there before. It was like Baekhyun was speaking through his skating in a voice that wasn’t muddled.

When he finally came to rest on the ice, Chanyeol could feel tears beginning to stream down his face. Carefully, he wiped them away as Baekhyun made his way off the ice and into the kiss and cry with Joonmyun. He wanted to sit with Baekhyun in the kiss and cry and squeeze him as tight as he could no matter what his score was, but he resisted. Instead, he leaned against the side, the announcer came over the intercom.

“The score for Baekhyun Byun representing the Republic of Korea, the score please. 223.50. That brings his total score to 320.7. He is currently in first place,” the announcer said, and Chanyeol stared frozen at the scoreboard in front of him, then he looked to Baekhyun, who was being smothered by Joonmyun. Not only had Baekhyun taken the gold, but he had also broken the current world record. This was something to be celebrated and he could think of a few ways.