Jessica Jung sighed to herself as she repeatedly hit the side of her right thigh with her fist. The muscles throbbed with soreness.

‘I can’t believe Coach made me do all those jumps. I guess I deserved it though, for skipping so much practice.’

Sighing once more, Jessica looked up towards the sky. The sun had set hours ago, revealing a sea of shining stars, each twinkling lightly against night’s dark canvas as if they held the world’s secrets.

Suddenly, her thoughts were thrown back to two nights ago when she laid, tired and breathless but heart pounding from excitement on the frozen lake, staring up at a sky similar to this one.

Closing her eyes, Jessica let the night breeze blow across her face. Though it was freezing, Jessica welcomed the sensation. The cold seemed to hit her right in the core. 

Opening her eyes, Jessica looked to the right towards the gray building in the distance - the SM Ice Rink.

‘Everyone is probably in their dorms by now. Coach made me stay late to do the punishment so all practices must be over. No one should be in the ice rink right now.’

Making up her mind, Jessica gripped her gym bag tightly and headed towards the ice rink.

A pair of skates clinked lightly against each other in her bag as she walked.

Jessica peeked through the door window. The lights to the rink were off.

‘So I was right. No one is here.’

Using her student card, she unlocked the door and walked into the building. The temperature inside wasn’t too different from outside. She could still see her breath.

Rubbing her hands together unconsciously, Jessica stalked towards the dark gray doors that lead to the entrance of the rink. Taking a deep breath, she pulled open the door.

Letting the door close behind her, Jessica took a minute to just stare at the empty ice rink in front of her.

The lights were off and besides Jessica, there wasn’t anyone else in sight. Jessica felt her heart clenching tightly at the vast expanse of smooth ice in front of her. 

For some reason, the ice rink looked so lonely.

Or maybe it was her.

Maybe she was the lonely one.

Walking forward, Jessica stopped at the edge of the ice. Her eyes wandered the smooth surface. It was so white. So inviting.

Jessica carefully plopped her bag on the nearest bench before sitting down herself. She wasted no time in taking out her skates and putting them on. No thoughts flew through her mind. Her body was on autopilot.

With one last tug, Jessica fastened the skates to her feet and stood up.

‘As I thought.’ Jessica mused to herself, wiggling her toes in comfort. ‘The feeling is different from pointe shoes.’ So her feet were still more accustomed to the stiffer structure of ice skates after all.

Taking a deep breath, Jessica pushed herself onto the ice and though she was on solid ice, she felt like she was flying through the skies.

Jessica closed her eyes. Maybe if she flew high enough, she would be able to touch the stars.

Not even bothering to open her eyes, she jumped.

Kim Yuna shuffled the papers away into a pink folder before filing the folder away in a cabinet. Sighing, she glanced at the clock on her desk.

‘It’s late. I should get going.’ Yuna closed her eyes in thought. ‘This next season is going to be tough. I just hope my training regime is enough. I want to help those girls improve, to help them achieve their dreams.’ 

Yuna’s thoughts wandered to her students.

Bae Irene. One of the two second years on the team. The girl was promising. She had the flexibility and the grace. ‘Not to mention, with a face like hers, there’s no doubt she’ll become popular with the public.’

Ju Seohyun. The other second year. She was actually quite similar to Irene. Both were strict with technicalities and excel in grace. ‘Still, she needs to learn how to be more expressive.’

Hwang Tiffany. Yuna smiled to herself at the thought of the redhead. This third year would best be described as a firework. Fiery, passionate, warm, showy, and big were all characteristics of her skating style. Her love for the sport is overwhelming when she’s on ice. ‘If only she could be more consistent with her jumps.’

Kim Taeyeon. Yuna adorned a small, proud smile. Kim Taeyeon, was a third year at SM Sports, and of course, her adorable little sister. Watching her sister chase after her dreams in the same way she did not too long ago, made Yuna proud. Taeyeon was doing well, always looking for more ways to improve.

As sisters, they couldn’t help it if their styles were similar. Though these days, Yuna could see Taeyeon’s own style showing more and more in her skating. ‘She no longer is chasing after my shadow.’

And then there was the new girl.

Kwon Yuri. Another third year, Yuri was previously the American national champion, which was no small feat. The US was full of promising young skaters. Their trials were always a league above Korea’s.

‘At least they were in the past,’ Yuna mused to herself. With this lineup of girls, Yuna knew that Korea was taking the next step in becoming a figure skating powerhouse.

‘Back to Kwon Yuri.’ The girl had exceptional jumps, a characteristic commonly exhibited by American skaters. Yuri’s jumps were probably better than Taeyeon’s and Tiffany’s at the level they are at now.

Yuna sighed, recalling her past training. ‘Jumps were always a weakness of Korean skaters.’

Between the three third years, it was still difficult to tell wh