Mo Yeon strips one of the competition announcements off of the concrete column, the paper crinkling under her grip. She examines the information three times over, digesting the reality in front of her.

“At least neither one of us will have to wait for the other,” she says in defeat. “Actually, my competition will finish about two hours before yours. I can still cheer you on.”

She avoids his eyes, but she cannot avoid the heat that is rapidly colouring her face. Si Jin is feeling something similar, a warmth centered at his chest spreading through his body. His love for his sport is usually derived from his competitive nature, but for once, he is motivated to do well simply because he knows Mo Yeon will be among the spectators. The feeling is foreign, but he welcomes it, fully understanding why Mo Yeon chose a sport that heavily relied on audience engagement.

Or maybe, he considers, he just likes making her blush.

He leans in, until the only thing in his field of vision is her face. His lips part in a open-mouthed smirk, eyes alight with amusement at the reaction he receives. She feels herself take a sharp intake of breath, suddenly finding it difficult to swallow. Yet her gaze burns him, retaining the same defiance that had bewitched him from the beginning.

“I await your attendance with bated breath,” he murmurs.

Mo Yeon blinks, a retort forming on her lips, yet she can't seem to find her voice in time before he darts out the door.

“Yah! Yoo Si Jin!” She yells impulsively.

She turns away, knowing that there was no expecting his return. She buries her face in her hands, almost flinching at the heat emanating from her cheeks.

Mo Yeon leans on the wall for support. All her muscles ache to the core, each step a nightmare for her feet. Her training regimen is ruthless and rigorous, but it had already yielded results. From her hours upon hours on the ice, her programs have all been transcribed from pairs to singles,

If she is not on the rink, her head is bent over a book, finishing schoolwork. Coach Park seems to take notice, his discerning eye catching Mo Yeon’s dark circles, lethargic movements, and sporadic yawning. He all but banishes her from the rink for the rest of the day - prescribing real rest, no academics and no skating involved.

So she wanders about the city, and finds herself in a familiar location. The elevator seamlessly stops at the designated floor, and she barely even registers the directions she has to take to reach the hospital room. Inside sits her former partner, Lee Chi Hoon, his head turned towards the window that overlooked the skyline.

At the sound of Mo Yeon entering, Chi Hoon slowly rears his head and his face lights up with recognition.

“Sunbae!”

Hearing the genuine delight in his voice, Mo Yeon smiles despite the guilt being produced from the sight of him still confined to the hospital. The pristine wooden walls and the privacy held within provide a sliver of comfort, a testament to the wealth of Chi Hoon’s family.

“How are you, Lee Chi Hoon?” Mo Yeon greets, setting her gift down on his bedside table.

Chi Hoon rolls over to face her, a grin that practically radiates sunlight plastered on his face. The return of his bursts of energy encourages a smile on her face as well. “I’m being discharged tomorrow! I still have to go in for check-ups, but other than that I’m recovered.”

Mo Yeon feels a pang of sadness, noting that he neglected to say fully recovered. Chi Hoon, ever the optimist, shows no visible change in demeanour despite the fact that he won’t be stepping on the ice again.

“The regional competition is coming up, isn’t it? Coach Yoon told me you’re competing in singles now.”

“Yes, it’s in just four days,” She nods.

She used to count down the days until the next competition, eagerly anticipating the next time to showcase her talents. Now, she’s entirely sure whether she’s counting down the days to the competition, or to the next time she can see Yoo Si Jin without any other commitments.

“Sunbae, hwaiting! Make sure that our program gets a medal - for the both of us,” Chi Hoon cheers at an attempt to lift her spirits.

Mo Yeon nods again, a promise to uphold their honour. She swallows back tears of gratitude - what did she do to deserve such a teammate? For once, she was thankful she was now in singles skating, for the only person she could injure now was herself.

She wouldn't dare put anyone else at risk.

Maintaining his nearly horizontal angle is hard on ice alone, and even more torturous on the ground. His legs feel like molten lava, and every muscle feels strained as he keeps pushing forwards. Seo Dae Young acts as his tether, a belt secured between the two of them to allow Si Jin to lean as he moves forward, finally coming to a stop when they reach the wall.

“How about a practice race?” Si Jin pleads through his pants.

“Where are you getting this unlimited energy?” Comes the exasperated reply.

“I just want to do my best! The audience deserves that,” he insists.

“The “audience” is a pretty girl, isn't it?”

Dae Young is met with silence, cementing his suspicions in stone.

On the day of the competition, Mo Yeon’s mind goes into overdrive. Since the moment her eyes blinked open, she has been continuously going through her entire routine to quell her irrational fear of forgetting on stage. She reviews every mistake she has ever made, and how to correct it, every foot position and arm angle had to be accounted for.

She slings her duffel bag over her shoulder, quickly double checking the contents. She goes down her mental checklist as she sees her skates, costume, and makeup kit.

Mo Yeon calls her farewells to her mother over her shoulder, who will arrive at the event much later than the competitors have to.

“Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?” Her mother asks right as Mo Yeon steps outside.

Mo Yeon has nothing but gratitude for her mother, who has to accommodate her daughter’s hectic daily schedule. Though she is tempted to have her mother drive her to yet another venue, she declines, and instead reminds her when she has to arrive.

She spends half an hour in transit, rushing into the dressing room with no time to spare. The other skaters have all changed into their mesmerizing costumes - and of course, Yoon Myung Ju captures her attention first. She is sporting a silky dress as white as snow, with long sleeves that end at her wrists. Silver jewels, arranged in feather patterns, twist around her back and down her arms, giving the illusion of wings.

Mo Yeon quickly bows and greets everyone before ducking into a changing room to change into her own outfit. She is overwhelmed with compliments when she reveals it - a silvery dress that fades to white at the tulle skirt. The dress flares out dramatically and shimmers with tiny gems scattered throughout the dress.

With the help of Myung Ju and Min Ji, she manages to have her makeup and hair done before they're due on the ice for fifteen minutes of rehearsal.

As the spectators filter in, skaters from different clubs skirt around each other, trying to maximize practice time before time runs out and the true show begins. Each spectator holds a small booklet, listing the skaters in order of performance. Kang Mo Yeon is among the latter half.

When the warm up is over, she sits on the benches, next to her coach, anxiously awaiting her turn.

She scans the venue, and immediately regrets it. The crowd is immense - she can only spot a couple of empty seats. And this time, the audience will be solely focused on her, with no partner to split the attention. The reality makes run dry, and if her heart is still beating, it’s going so fast that she can’t register it. With each performance that goes by, she is counting down the approximate amount of time until she has to perform.

She spots her mother and Chi Hoon, near the front. In their laps sit bouquets of flowers. They wave excitedly, and she tries her best to conceal her panic.

Mo Yeon clutches her phone like it’s her lifeline, unlocking it and barely being able to hold it stable. She scrolls down to the bottom, and looks at the contact who has a hoodie as his picture. She hesitates - Si Jin might not have his phone on him, he could very well be competing at this moment as well. Calling him would be selfish. She takes a deep breath, and calls him anyway.

It rings three times, and she’s ready to give up when the ringing stops and -

“Yoboseyo?”

“Yoo Si Jin?” She asks in disbelief.

“Kang... Mo Yeon? How did you get my number?”

There's a pause as she hears indistinct voices in the background. She feels her breathing steady again, and then the guilt settles in, pooling in her stomach. “Is now a bad time? Are you about to race?”

“No, I’m waiting for my qualifying heat. It’s the last one,” he reassures. “Have you won yet?”

“What?” She exclaims, caught off guard by his iron-clad confidence. “No, I have to perform my short program soon. I don’t think I’ll win though, the others have been skating and practicing for this for so long, and I’ve always relied on my partner, and some are trying to do triple-triple combinations, I’m really out of my league. Ach, sorry. I’m rambling.”

She resists the internal urge to slap herself. She is sure that he has enough things to worry about, lest her add to his nervousness. The line is silent. I probably overwhelmed him, she chides herself. Kang Mo Yeon, you idiot.

“Pretend that I'm watching,” comes the unexpected response through the receiver.  

“What?”

“Imagine me there, imagine that you're trying to prove that figure skating is better than speed skating,” he elaborates. His voice is staticy and fuzzy, but she can still hear the joking nature in his voice. “Impress me.”

“Don’t you ever get nervous?”

“I’m very good at my sport. I don’t get nervous, and I don’t lose.”

She feels the natural instinct to challenge him surge through her. It overpowers her nerves and leaves her hungering for the ice.

“Thank you,” she breathes. “I needed that.”

“Is this your number? Text me with updates.”

“Yes, please do the same for me,” she says as her name appears on the screen. “I have to go now, good luck in your race!”

She tucks her phone into her bag, and enters the arena. The announcer repeats her name and song to the crowd, who she waves at with her best smile.

Meanwhile, at the Taereung rink, Gong Cheol Ho watches Kang Mo Yeon wave to the cameras on his phone. Si Jin hangs up the phone, and peers over, surprised to recognize the performer.

“Why are you watching the figure skating competition?”

Cheol Ho snickers and explains, “This is Seo Dae Young’s phone. He wants to watch Yoon Myung Ju perform when he comes back.”

“Ah,” Si Jin says in understanding. He leans back, eyes never leaving the phone.

“Avid fans of figure skating might remember Kang Mo Yeon’s face, even though she’s never competed in this sector before,” the commentator says while Mo Yeon waits for her music to start. “The talented Miss Kang Mo Yeon usually competes in pair skating, but due to her partner’s injury, she’s skating on her own today.”

“She certainly has the talent to shine on her own,” another commentator concurs. “She has been skating since she was three, and landed her first triple jump at just eight years old!”

The impressive feat leaves the other commentators gasping and making sounds of excitement. Mo Yeon starts to move with the music, and everyone, including those in the Taereung locker room, go silent.

She moves as if she is an extension of the music, her skates travelling across the ice as if they were clouds. The commentators shower her with praises over her technique and choreography, and how precise yet effortless each movement is. His heart falls when she misses the landing on one of her jumps, but she returns to her routine with no indication of it even happening. On the corner of the screen, her points gradually increase.

“The final scores for Kang Mo Yeon, please,” booms the announcer’s voice, requesting her score from the judges.

The number 126.97 reveals itself on the screen, and Mo Yeon is elated. She currently sits at a comfortable second place, and only a handful of performers remain. To finish in the top ten, after all that she endured, is compensation enough.

Myung Ju skates a flawless program, resembling an angel soaring with her impossibly high jumps. The uncontainable pride on her father’s face is so contagious, Mo Yeon can’t help but feel proud of her as well. She lands a ten-point lead ahead of everybody else, and holds her position until the end of the competition.

She almost wants to skip the medal ceremony, but she stays in order to be able to wave her bronze medal in Si Jin’s face. In the dressing room, she fumbles through her duffel bag for a change of clothes. She comes across a navy hoodie with a certain speed skater’s name on it. In a rush to catch the bus, she opts to slip it over her costume and do a proper change at Taereung rink.

Two minutes before the bus arrives at its stop, she receives a text from Yoo Si Jin.

My race is about to start. See you soon.

She practically leaves the bus running, trying to get a glimpse of the race before it ends. She bursts through the doors of Taereung rink, her eyes scanning everywhere for directions.

The double doors that lead straight to the rink slam open, a stretcher leading the way. Through the commotion, Mo Yeon remains silent, the shock that drove through her leaving her completely numb. On the stretcher lies Yoo Si Jin, clutching at his bandaged calf, bloodstains peeking out from between his fingers. His face is scrunched up in pain, and with each breath he takes, she can see the fear behind his eyes.

She follows after the stretcher, and finds herself staring at the rear of the ambulance. The first responder casts an empathetic look at her.

“Sorry, miss. You can’t get on unless you’re family.”

She looks past him, and directs her gaze at Si Jin, whose eyes search for her with such pure, unbridled fear in them. His desperation compels her to make a split decision.

“I’m his sister,” she announces, even turning around to present the family name on the back of the hoodie. Without waiting for a response, she climbs onto the ambulance.

A/N: Fun fact: the exercise that Seo Dae Young and Yoo Si Jin do during training is called "turnbelting." Anyway, we finally have our heroes face actual peril! My exams finish this Thursday, so there will probably be another update next week! (but then final exams are just around the corner TT___TT)