“And Ong Seongwoo once again breaks the world record for the second time this season. What a wonderful performance it was. He truly, is a rising star.”

The commentary filled the otherwise silent room that was shrouded in darkness. The light from the tablet screen flashed as the video showed the scene of Seongwoo bowing to the audience and his coach before smiling brightly at the camera.

“Yah Kang Daniel! It is late at night! Go to sleep already! Don’t you have practice tomorrow?”

The said male groaned at the mention of practice and whined as his best friend and housemate, Yoon Jisung, strode over to his bed and snatched his tablet away.

“Ah my tablet! My Ong Seongwoo…” Jisung sighed at the younger’s obvious affection and huge crush on fellow figure skater. He picked up a fallen plushie and threw it onto Daniel’s face, walking out of the room with the tablet in hand.

“You can get your tablet from me tomorrow after breakfast. Goodnight!” and the door to Daniel’s room slammed shut.

Daniel laid spread out on his back, staring up at the dark ceiling and sighed.

Deciding that he indeed needed to sleep, Daniel got himself comfortable and went into dreamland, where his crush resumes his career and wins the season’s Grand Prix Final together with him.

 

---------------

A car drives into the car park of the ice rink Daniel uses to practice. Daniel, walking from Jisung’s car, tilted his head curiously, for he does not remember ever seeing the car before. Shrugging it off, he entered the building to the locker room.

Outside, the driver of the unknown car lugs out a small luggage, rolling it on the ground behind him as he makes his way to the exact location Daniel was headed to.

In the locker room, Daniel was doing some stretching as he talked to his Canadian coach, stopping when he was informed about a new training mate.

“New training mate? Who?” speaking in his accented English, Daniel questioned curiously as he remembered the unknown car he saw on his way in.

Just when his coach opened his mouth to answer, the door to the locker room opened, and the mentioned new training mate stepped in, bowing and introducing himself.

“Hi everyone, nice to meet you. I’m Ong Seongwoo –” screeches and screams cut him off as various skaters abandoned their warm ups to rush to him.

Daniel was left gaping with his mouth open as Seongwoo forced a smile while shaking hands with everyone crowding around him.

“That’s your new training mate. Get to know him during your warm ups. Be in the rink in 10.”

And with that, Daniel was left standing all alone as he rubbed his eyes and pinched himself a few times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

Finally getting away from the crowd as they disperse to enter the rink after getting scolded by their coaches, Seongwoo spotted a tall, broad shouldered male standing in the middle of the locker room staring blatantly at him.

Recognising the other figure skater as one who debuted in the senior level on the last season he was active, he walked up to the other male and smiled widely.

“Kang Daniel, right? I’m your new training mate! Nice to meet you. I’m so glad you are Korean because my English is horrible…” speaking in their native language, Seongwoo gave an exasperated look when he spoke of his own inability to speak good English.

“N—nice to meet you too… I’m a huge fan of yours actually…” giving a bashful smile, Daniel bowed his head in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his neck with one of his hands, his ears reddening as Seongwoo smiled in response.

“Well, we better start stretching. Practice starts soon.” Daniel nodded in response and went back to stretching. Seongwoo soon followed suit and sat on the ground, stretching his legs apart.

 

---------------

“Daniel, your landing! Practice your landing again. Seongwoo, you are done for the day!”

Daniel nod once in response while panting heavily. He turned away from his coach and skated back into the rink as Seongwoo made his way out.

Wearing his blade guards, Seongwoo stood by the side of the rink trying to catch his breath. Taking gulps of water, he capped the water bottle and shifted his gaze onto a certain broad-shouldered Korean jumping up into the air and spinning. He cringed when Daniel landed badly, falling onto the ice and rebounding up to start over again.

“He is quite good at the execution, right? He can easily get a quad, but sadly, his landing is always poor…” the coach beside him commented, just as Daniel did another quadruple jump, only to stumble upon landing.

“Daniel! Start from the triples again!” Daniel nodded once again before he picked up speed and went for a triple, only to fall.

The cycle kept repeating. Falling, picking himself up, stumbling, and just a whole hour of trying to land properly.

By the time Daniel’s training time ended, Seongwoo was long out of sight.

Giving a sigh of disappointment with his own performance, he trudged into the locker room and changed back into his shoes.

The duffle bag containing his skates seem heavy as he dragged his feet out of the building, groaning when he saw that it was raining. Unfortunately for him, Jisung wasn’t going to fetch him, leaving him with no choice but to take public transport home, since taxis were expensive. But with the rain pouring heavily and the fact that he had forgotten to bring an umbrella with him, he wasn’t going to be able to get home as fast as he expected.

After checking the weather forecast, Daniel can only sigh. His day was getting from bad to worse. The rain was not expected to be getting smaller any time soon, but with his online class starting soon, he couldn’t spend any more time waiting.

Pulling up his hood, he was just about to run out of the shelter when a car horn sounded. He turned around, only to see the very same car belonging to Seongwoo drive into the foyer driveway.

“Are you going home now?” Seongwoo came out of the car and jogged to him, questioning with a soft smile. Mesmerised with the smile on his crush’s face, Daniel could only give a small nod.

“I’ll send you back. Wait for me here. I forgot to take my towel.” Before Daniel can answer, the other had run back into the building, coming out a few minutes later with a towel in hand.

“Come on, you can put your bag behind.” Putting his bag in the passenger seats at the back, Daniel settled himself in the front passenger seat, buckling his seatbelt as Seongwoo starts the car.

“Where do you stay?” Seongwoo questioned as he drove the car out of the car park.

As Daniel stated his address, Seongwoo keyed it into the GPS system, eyebrows raising when he saw the location.

“Hey that’s near where I’m staying! I was wondering why the address sounded familiar…”

“Oh really? Where are you staying at?” Looking towards Seongwoo, Daniel gave an eye smile that had Seongwoo’s heart thumping fast.

For the rest of the ride, the two picked up small conversations, Daniel ridding himself of depressing thoughts on his practice and just focusing on the happy feelings he was getting from talking to his long-time idol and crush.

Before he knew it, the car came to a stop at his apartment block, causing Daniel to pout at the fact that he wouldn’t be able to continue chatting with Seongwoo.

“Ah I don’t feel like going home now…” he complained as he unwillingly unbuckled his seatbelt.

“You have online classes, don’t you? We can chat next time.” Seongwoo laughed at the other’s pout, reaching over to pat the younger on his head.

“Ah! Can I call you after class?” pulling out his phone from his pocket, Daniel opened up the phone function and passed his phone to Seongwoo, who quickly input his number in, smiling at Daniel’s enthusiasm.

“Study hard!” Seongwoo called out through the half open window as Daniel stood waving back at him with a bright smile on his face, contrasting the gloomy sky.

As he drove off back to his own place, all Seongwoo could think off was how Daniel seemed to have made his life a whole lot better. Ever since his car accident which left him temporarily blind for 4 months, a severe head injury which took another 6 more months to fully recover, his life was gloomy.

He had to spend another season in rehabilitation for his legs which were rendered useless during the one year, and truth to be told, Seongwoo had thought of giving up on his skating career, especially when his coach announced that he was retiring, and could not coach Seongwoo any more even if he decided to go back to skating.

Spending two seasons away from skating when he was at his prime was hurtful, especially when his fans dwindled, and so did his hope and pride.

Daniel was like a happy puppy, and though it may also be because Daniel was his fan, but Seongwoo’s heart was filled with happiness just looking at Daniel laugh at his words. They may have only met officially for a day, but Seongwoo knows for sure, that their friendship will bloom beautifully, and his life will brighten up even more than it already did.

He found his reason for skating again.

 

---------------

“Seongwoo, you are done for the day. Daniel, your programs are fine. Practice your landings.” Weeks have gone by since Seongwoo started training once again under his new coach. With his new programme completed and practiced, all that was left was to perfect his jumps and steps.

Daniel, however, was still stuck with his poor landings. From falling to stumbling to hands down on many of his landings, Seongwoo could tell that his poor landings were the only reason why he had never gotten a medal.

Seongwoo stepped off the ice rink and wore his guards as Daniel took gulps of water, trying to catch his breath.

Wanting to encourage Daniel, whose eyes were filled with disappointment, Seongwoo said something that made Daniel’s heart leap, and butterflies filled his stomach immediately.

“Let’s go out after your practice. I’ll wait in the locker room.”

 

True to his words, Seongwoo drove them out to the nearest beach, and the two walked along the coast line in silence, just enjoying the sound of waves and each other’s presence.

Settling down on an ocean-facing bench, Daniel, for the first time, started speaking in a soft and trembling voice.

“You know… Before you came here, I was thinking of quitting…” Taking his eyes off the ocean and onto Daniel, Seongwoo saw the tears welling up in his eyes.

“I started skating late. I wanted to dance, really, and I was going to be a dancer. But then I injured my arm one day, and my mother brought me to the ice skating rink to try and cheer me up. There, I saw people figure skating, doing all the spins and jumps and all I thought was that I wanted to do that too.” Daniel sighed, sniffling slightly as he recalled the memories of the past.

“So, I gave up on B-boying and started skating. But I was bad at landing. Still am. I practiced day and night to perfect my jumps, my steps, everything to try for a medal, but unlike B-boying where landing after a spin is easy, landing on ice perfectly is something I can never do. And I still don’t know why… But you came along. Well not really, but when I first thought of quitting while in Junior level, I saw your performance, and I threw away that thought.” Turning his head, Daniel looked into the eyes of Seongwoo, a smile on his face.

“But then just when I finally made the cut to enter the senior level, the news of your accident came out, and I was so depressed that I screwed up all my performances and ended up unable to go for the Grand Prix Finals. Another season went by without you and with my poor landing, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to continue skating. I was never going to win anything anyway.” Unknowingly, Seongwoo scooted closer, providing warmth and comfort to Daniel, just like he always did.

“You came along just in time. I was going to tell coach that I wanted to quit on the day you came. I may not win anything in future, but I want to at least skate in the same competition as you. That’s what keeps me going. I know this whole speech is random, but I just wanted to let you know, before I really end up quitting next season.”

At the last sentence, Seongwoo’s eyes grew big with shock, unable to comprehend that very last sentence Daniel stated.

“You… You are quitting? Why… Don’t…” Seongwoo instinctively grabbed onto Daniel’s hand, rapidly shaking his head to dissuade the younger from his decision to quit.

“Hyung…” Daniel, surprised by the elder, started to get flustered even more when Seongwoo started to tear up and cry.

“Hyung why are you crying… Don’t cry… What am I to do if you cry?” using his free hand to wipe away Seongwoo’s tears, his own eyes tearing up at the sight.

“Don’t quit… I don’t want you to quit… I want you to stay with me… If you quit, I’ll retire too.” As a last measure resort, Seongwoo blurted out his feelings.

“What… No! Don’t retire! You still have long to go --” Daniel exclaimed, only to be cut off by Seongwoo.

“But I’m only continuing to skate because you are here! If… If you are not going to skate then I have no reason to either…” Seongwoo confessed, his voice becoming softer.

Daniel was silent, just staring at Seongwoo as he sniffled, looking down as he spoke again.

“I… I really like you… So, don’t quit… Stay with me…” Seongwoo tightened his hold around Daniel’s hand, his face flushed in embarrassment.

Daniel raised his free hand and tilted Seongwoo’s head upwards to face him, quickly moving in to place his lips on the elder’s.

At that moment, it was as though the whole world came to a standstill, and they were the only ones there. Everything became silent to them, and they could only hear their own fast beating hearts.

Daniel moved away, staring back into Seongwoo’s eyes as he moved his hand to intertwine with the other’s. As though something was pulling them back together, both of them moved closer and kissed again, this time neither wanting it to end.

 

---------------

“Niel-ah! Relax your upper body!” sitting on the chair outside of the rink, Seongwoo trained his eyes on Daniel, giving advice whenever he found a mistake.

Their coach was down with flu, and not wanting to risk passing the illness to the athletes with the season starting soon, he decided to take a day off, leaving them in the hands of their choreographer. After practicing his jumps and programs, Seongwoo changed out of his skates and settled on a chair to aid in Daniel’s training.

Doing just as Seongwoo had said, Daniel jumped for a quad.

As he spun in the air, Daniel could tell. This time round, he was not going to fall.

And true enough, he landed perfectly. His very first perfect quad.

With triples, he could get a good landing half the time, but with quads, he had never been able to land well at all. The season was starting in a week, so landing a perfect quad lifts his hopes for being able to land at least one quad and being able to land most of his triples.

“You did it!” Seongwoo yelled out in surprise.

Daniel smiled widely and skated to where Seongwoo was, coming to a stop right at the edge of the rink where Seongwoo stood waiting. Not caring for what others were thinking, they hugged tightly, the choreographer patting Daniel on the back lightly.

 

In the next few days just before the season started, Daniel practiced his landings, showing marked improvement just by following Seongwoo’s advice and consulting with his coach.

Then came the very first event of the season.

At the airport, Seongwoo sat on one of the seats facing the windows, giving him a view of the planes. He breathed out nervously as he thought of the competition, lowering his head to put his face into his hands.

“Nervous?” Seongwoo looked up from the husky voice belonging to his boyfriend and nodded his head subtly.

“You will do fine… Don’t worry too much. You are the best anyway.” Daniel settled onto the seat beside Seongwoo, raising his arm to rest on Seongwoo’s shoulders after leading the elder’s head to rest on his broad shoulders.

“Aren’t you nervous?” pulling Daniel’s free hand into his smaller palms, he played with Daniel’s fingers as he questioned softly.

“Of course, I am, but as long as you are there, I’m sure I’ll be able to do well.” Being ever so optimistic, Daniel moved his arm to play with Seongwoo’s hair, turning his head to kiss a blushing Seongwoo’s forehead.

The sound of someone clearing their throat separated them, standing and turning around to face their coach, who was giving them a teasing look.

“I knew you two were much closer than normal friends…” he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

It was the couple’s turn to clear their throats nervously as they looked in opposite directions and away from their coach.

“Well, it is time to go onto the plane. You guys can continue to cuddle after that.” The two athletes pinked at the last sentence and quickly grabbed their bags to walk briskly to the gate, their coach following behind while chuckling.

 

---------------

“Ah… Here comes the legendary Ong Seongwoo. Once known as the King of Ice, he had to take a long two-year hiatus due to his injuries. Now, at 21-years old, this will be his first free skate after his return to competition. Let’s see if he still has what it takes, to climb back up to his original world ranking.”

Seongwoo huffed and jumped on the spot a few times. Taking off his blade guards, he stepped onto the ice with his heart beat quickening from the pressure. All the cameras were on him as he jumped a triple axel in practice. Although stumbling slightly on his landing, the crowd goes crazy and chants his name as he goes for another jump before going to his start position.

He knows he was ahead of everyone else in short program, but free skate takes up a larger portion of points, so he can’t mess it up. Getting into his starting pose, he took deep breaths and waited for the music to start.

A soft violin melody filled the ice rink as the music started and Seongwoo let his body flow along, picking up his speed as he skated around the ice rink. The song quickly moved to one of a faster pace, and just as the beat dropped, he jumped, spinning in the air as though he could fly. The vocals of the song started just as he landed perfectly, drawing cheers from the crowd.

A jump. A spin. Another jump. A set of spins and steps.

Even though he was an athlete like all the other skaters, the elegance he performed with is out of the ordinary. When the song ended, he stopped in the middle of the rink once again with another pose. It was not his best, with a few stumbled landings, but he knew. He knew that he had just proven his worth. That he was still as good as he was before his accident.

It was raining flowers and soft toys in the rink, the most popular gift being that of the customised seal toy that his fans had designed very early on in his career and had a whole line of merchandise created after it. And he was in the middle of this rain, panting heavily as he looked around at everyone cheering for him.

He smiled widely and bowed to all sides of the audience before he skated out of the rink, where his coach was waiting with an equally wide smile, and a message from Daniel.

“He had to go back to his warm ups, but Daniel said he really loved it, and that you did great as usual. He didn’t say this but I’m guessing he wanted to say he loves you too.” Seongwoo blushed and smiled widely with his nose scrunching up cutely. Quickly putting on his blade guards, they made their way to the kiss and cry to wait for his results with nervousness.

The upbeat music playing in the background soothed his nervousness slightly as they sat down. Quickly going through his steps and mistakes with his coach, he put on his athlete jacket and stared at the score screen, trying to calculate his possible points deducted.

Wiping his sweat, he smiled brightly and looked up at the audience once again with small bows when his face appeared on the large stadium screen for his kiss and cry.

“The score please.” The announcer’s voice filled the stadium in replacement of the music. It was then that Seongwoo’s nervousness came rushing back. This would be his first free skate score since his comeback. He could only hope he did as well as he thinks he did.

There was a tense silence in the stadium as everyone held their breaths while waiting.

“Seongwoo Ong has earned, in the free program, 215.16 points…” as soon as the results were out, screams and cheers filled the stadium. Not expecting a result more than 210 due to his many stumbles, Seongwoo’s eyes widened in shock, recovering a while later with teary eyes and wide smiles as he turned to hug his coach.

Adding together his short program and free skate points, he was in the lead with 322.43 points.

Standing up, he bowed profusely to the audiences, coach and choreographers. For the fact that he had barely started skating again a few months ago, his results were more than what others would be able to do given the same training time period.

As the skater after him prepared to start his program, Seongwoo was ushered into the waiting room areas where reporters were prepared to interview the athlete. It was no doubt that Seongwoo was going to be the biggest star of the articles and news.

 

Daniel took deep breaths as he made his way to the rink. He was the last skater, and while it may have given him more time to warm up and practice, it did nothing but worsen his nerves. Walking past hallways, he reached a hallway buzzing with reporters and flashing of cameras.

Looking between the heads of the reporters, he caught a glimpse of his boyfriend and smiled. The elder seemed to have noticed him, and their eyes made contact. It was a much-needed moment for Daniel, as the elder seemed to have cast a calming charm on him.

Cutting off the eye contact, Daniel continued his way to the ice rink. As he stepped out of the cloth covered entrance, the cold air immediately reminded him of his task. To get the highest score possible and secure a place in the finals. He had barely gotten the 6^th place in the short program, the 7^th place being only 1 point behind, so if he doesn’t do well, he will be kicked out and would lose the position he worked so hard to get.

It may not seem like much, but 6^th place to him is as important as getting a gold for any other athlete. Because this is the first season his long-time crush and idol, who is currently his boyfriend, is back on ice. And he so desperately wants to be given a chance to stand on the podium with him.

Sure, he may not be able to get anywhere near bronze, but just a given chance is more than enough for Daniel to feel satisfied.

Stretching one last time, the entrance to the rink opened for him to enter.

Like any other skater, he skated around to the other end of the rink, building up speed and strength as he tried for a triple jump. Unfortunately for him, just like usual, he landed with a hands-down. His heart dropped in disappointment. He tried for another triple, only for him to stumble.

Things weren’t looking very good.

Sighing, he skated to the centre of the rink, turning his head towards the rink entrance, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, they immediately drifted to the clearly excited Seongwoo, who had quickly wrapped up his interview and run out to catch Daniel’s free skate. It was then that Daniel realised how much he loved Seongwoo. The disappointment and negativity in his heart was overrun by the need to show his best performance for his lover.

Smiling slightly, the music started, and he turned his head back to the front. Gone was the playful and puppy like male. Kang Daniel gave out a charismatic aura as he smirked and went along with the sensual but yet fast paced melody.

Skating to the end of the rink, he jumped, remembering the many advice Seongwoo and his coach had given him as he landed nicely. Perfectly, some would even say. His first perfect quad. Even in the short program, he had stumbled when landing on his quad and got a hands-down on his combination jump.

His steps sequence was nothing but perfect. After all, he was once a dancer who could execute all sorts of dance movements. His subsequent triples were all perfect too. It seems almost too good to be true.

On his last jump, Daniel had wanted to end with a perfect jump. But good things also don’t last long. He had stumbled yet again when he attempted another quad, but it was good enough.

He knew it was good enough as he stood in the middle of the rink at the end of the program with a standing ovation from the entire stadium.

It was the first time that it happened to Daniel. A standing ovation, and flowers streaming down from the stands. He buried his face in his hands to wipe away his tears, looking up only to bow to the audience in all directions like Seongwoo.

When he skated back to the side of the rink, the elder athlete was waiting for him with open arms.

“You did great. I loved it. I love you…” hugging each other tightly, Seongwoo whispered into his ears.

Separating, Daniel hugged his coach and put on his blade guards before all three of them made their way to the kiss and cry. Seongwoo, not wanting to intrude, stood just out of the camera, right beside the seat as he looked at the huge score board in the middle of the stadium.

“The score please.” To Seongwoo, it was the second time this phrase knocks the air out of his lungs as he held his breath in anticipation.

“Daniel Kang has earned, in the free program, 201.07 points…” there was no need to listen to the rest of the comment, as it was clear that Daniel was going to be in the top 6. The cheers and screams from the audience themselves also made it hard to hear the rest anyway.

The overall score was shown, and then the score board. There, Daniel’s name appeared at the fourth row.

“Fourth?!” both Daniel and Seongwoo exclaimed at the same time. Daniel was shocked. First of all, he had never gotten a free skate score above 180, much less 200. Secondly, getting 6^th place was something that was difficult for him in the past, so he never looked past getting a 5^th place. Getting fourth place was something he never imagined he would ever be able to do.

For Seongwoo, his poor math skills had kept him from adding up the score with the short program score, so when the score board showed the overall score and Daniel’s position, he was of course elated. As soon as Daniel walked out from the kiss and cry area, he jumped and held Daniel in yet another hug. Tip toeing slightly, Seongwoo had his nose scrunched up, his happiness at Daniel’s unexpected results radiating everywhere.

The two were separated and ushered behind the entrance curtain by their amused coach, and Daniel was brought to have a short interview while they waited for the award ceremony to start. And of course, as soon as he finished the interview, he changed out of his skates and ran out to the audience section to have a better view of Seongwoo receiving his first award in a while.

As the ceremony ended, Seongwoo looked around the audience, and their eyes met yet again. Sending his love for the elder through his eyes, Daniel sneakily winked, causing the elder male to chuckle and blush as he skated out of the rink.

This was the start of their journey on ice.

 

---------------

Screams and cheers erupted in the crowded airport. If one didn’t know who was coming, they would immediately assume they are some K-pop idol group.

Armed with banners, gifts, high-definition cameras and plenty of energy, the fans rushed forward, pressing themselves against the barriers to get a closer look at their idol. Who are not actual singers or anything, but rather just athletes.

To be more specific, two very handsome athletes.

The events had ended. Very successfully, the couple would describe. Seongwoo had gotten first place in all of the events, and Daniel had managed to get at least fourth place in most of the events, though he was close to getting a bronze in one of them.

In return for their hard work, they were given a break from training. That’s the very reason why they were back in their home country, surprised at the huge number of fans at the airport welcoming them home.

Thanking fans for their support and accepting the small gifts and fan letters, the two hopped into a taxi to bring them to Seongwoo’s home.

 

“My son! Oh, come give mom a hug.” The very excited mother pulled her son into her embrace, causing him to stumble and abandon his luggage with the younger at the entrance.

“Mom… Too tight…” Seongwoo patted the back of his mother, who immediately released him.

“Hehe, sorry son. I missed you too much.” She patted his shoulders and looked over to Daniel.

“Oh! Don’t just stand there. Come in come in!” as though preferring Daniel over her own son, she pushed Seongwoo aside slightly and gestured to Daniel to enter, ordering Seongwoo to help Daniel with the luggage.

Daniel, laughing at the pouting Seongwoo, easily picked up both their luggage when he saw Seongwoo struggle to carry his own luggage over the step. Letting Seongwoo roll their luggage into his room, Daniel introduced himself to Seongwoo’s father and elder sister, who were waiting for them in the living room.

“Wow, you are so much more handsome in real life.” Seongwoo’s sister commented as they shook hands. Seongwoo poked his head out of the room, looking shocked.

“You call him handsome?! Then how about me? You always call me ugly! Unfair!” he complained, just as his mother hit him on the head.

“Don’t shout at home. Go and unpack with Daniel.”

Grumbling, Seongwoo stepped out and pulled the still laughing Daniel into the room.

 

It was after dinner when the two athletes left the warmth of Seongwoo’s house and ventured out into the chilly late spring night. They were on a quest to buy snacks and drinks home for a late-night family bonding time as they watch drama reruns. Taking their time to walk to the convenience store, the two started on a topic that they had avoided talking about.

“How are we going to break it to your family that we are going out?”

Coming from an Asian country where LGBT were more shunned than celebrated, they knew they would come across this problem of coming out to the family. They also knew that if the public knew of their relationship, their careers might even be at stake, for people may petition for them to be removed from the national team.

Seongwoo sighed in response, shrugging as he stared at his feet.

As though the depressing topic took a toll on his body, Seongwoo began to slow down, his footsteps heavier and his feet dragging against the ground.

“I… I don’t know really… I don’t even know if they would be fine with me being gay… If I just tell them I’m going out with you… I don’t know how they will react…” sighing again, Seongwoo stopped in his steps, tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of the possible negative reactions of his family.

Pulling Seongwoo into an alley away from prying eyes of the public, Daniel engulfed Seongwoo in a hug. Separating slightly, he cupped the elder’s cheeks with one hand and wiped away the falling tears before swooping down to peck him on the lips.

“Don’t cry alright? We’ll figure out something before we go back to Canada.”

Sniffling, Seongwoo nodded and wiped away his tears on his sleeve, staring back at Daniel who smiled and for his red nose. Playfully hitting the younger for teasing him, he stepped out of the alley in fake anger, making his way to the convenience store with Daniel following behind.

Filling up the convenience store basket with snacks and drinks, the two quickly paid and made their way home, not wanting the family to question why they took so long. As they made their way back, there was noticeably lesser people, so Daniel used his free hand to grab onto the elder’s, surprising him.

“Yah… What if people see?”

“If we move slightly slower, it gets hard to tell. Plus, it’s so dark and we are wearing black. No one can even tell that we are holding hands.” Daniel retorted, pulling the elder closer to him as they tried to hide their hands with their larger bodies.

Even though it’s a small action that has little meaning to normal couples, it brought much needed comfort to Seongwoo, who dreads the time that they will have to confess to his family about their relationship.

 

“Say, Daniel. You just debuted in the senior level not long ago right?”

It was late at night. Seongwoo had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and the elder’s sister had gone back to her room to sleep as well. Turning his head to face the head of the house, he nodded.

“Yea… About two years ago.”

Seongwoo’s father hummed, nodding his head as though he clarified something.

“You are doing not bad. Fourth place right?” Daniel nodded once again, wondering why the elder man had suddenly asked him the questions.

“Then… What is your relationship with our Seongwoo? Other than being teammates and training under the same coach.” This time, it was Seongwoo’s mother who questioned him.

This question stunned him, as he stared at the woman, not knowing how to reply.

“Wondering why I suddenly ask such a question?” as though reading his mind, she gave a small smile. Daniel could only nod in response as Seongwoo stirred slightly.

“Well… Fans had been capturing how you two were very close during the entire season. Seongwoo had also never brought anyone home for any sleepover.” She started off softly.

“Also, we always kind of knew he was gay. He never showed any interest in girls after all. We just always thought it was because he was too focused on skating. But now it seems like we were right with our hunch after all.” The older male continued from where his wife had left off, giving Daniel a gentle look. He didn’t want to scare the boy who could possibly be his son’s boyfriend.

“Ah… Well… We are dating. Seongwoo just didn’t know how to tell you all since he was afraid of rejection.” Daniel confessed. He looked down at the sleeping male who was oblivious to what was happening around him.

“I better bring him in to sleep. Have a good night.” Carefully lifting Seongwoo, Daniel stood up and bowed slightly to the elder couple and retreated back into Seongwoo’s bedroom.

 

The smell of food wafted into the room through the small gaps at the doorway. As if it was an alarm, Seongwoo woke up, blinking a few times to get used to the brightness in the room before he twisted his body to stretch, only to find an arm over his waist, and a very large body belonging to his boyfriend behind him.

It was Daniel’s turn to awake as he felt the elder male shifting.

“Morning hyung.” He rasped out, turning to stretch his own body.

“Yah. What if my family came in?” forgoing his morning stretch, Seongwoo quickly sat up and hit the younger on his exposed stomach.

Daniel gave a small smile and just pulled Seongwoo down into his arms as he narrated what happened the night before.

“Heol… They kind of knew?! Ah… I feel so cheated… I was worried for nothing…” Seongwoo heaved a sigh of relief as Daniel smiled and pecked him on the lips.

Still cuddled against each other, the two whipped their heads to face the intruder who had slammed open the door to the room.

“Breakfast is ready! Wake—Oh you guys are already up. Well, it’s time to eat. You guys can continue to cuddle after that.” The Ong family’s elder daughter turned her heels and walked out, causing the two to look at each other.

“That… That sounded familiar…” they said at the same time. Shrugging, they made their way out, only to see a table full of home-made dishes.

Once again, Seongwoo complained of unfairness, since they don’t usually make so much food for him, but now that Daniel’s here, they made so much food.

“Well, he is our future in law, so we can’t mistreat him can we? Come, eat more.” Seongwoo’s mother picked up her chopsticks and piled up food onto Daniel’s bowl, making her own son pout yet again.

As though the whole issue about them dating had never been an issue before, the Ong family continued enjoying the family time together, integrating Daniel into part of their life.

 

---------------

“Do fans have bionic eyes or something… How did they even spot us from so far?” the couple were panting as they entered the elevator to bring them up to their apartment.

“It’s like they have some sensor warning them that we are close…” Seongwoo nodded and added his own comment.

They had gone back to Canada, and had started training for the next season. To save money and time spent not seeing each other, they had decided to move in together. Or more like Seongwoo move in to his shared apartment with Jisung, who more often than not is at work since he is an office worker. Jisung was more than willing to let him in, since he did not have to drive Daniel to the club anymore, which gives him more time to sleep in.

The couple had just gone out for a short late-night date after their online classes, but were quickly spotted by fans. Not wanting to have their dating news out yet, the both quickly turned away from the fans and run away, hoping that whatever pictures they took will be too blur to recognise them.

Unfortunately, their wish didn’t come true.

The very next morning, Jisung barged into their room and dumped his tablet on their faces.

“I though you guys said you want to keep your relationship low for now? Well you guys are top news.” He stated, crossing his arms as he watched the couple squint their sleepy eyes at the tablet, only to have them open wide at the news article. They sat up in sync, totally awake.

Swiping the tablet screen with their fingers, they read the article quickly, disbelieving their eyes.

“Olympic Gold Medallist Ong Seongwoo Spotted Out on Late Night Date with Up-And-Coming Figure Skater Kang Daniel”

As they scrolled down to the comments section, negative words caught their eyes. Ones that called them disgusting. Ones that claimed they don’t deserve to represent South Korea in the upcoming Olympics. Ones that demand they be removed from the national team.

Their faces scrunched up in anger and sadness, so Jisung quickly snatched the tablet back to prevent them from reading any more hurtful words.

“Don’t worry about haters. Just concentrate on your practice alright? You guys have a competition coming up soon.” He then stated that he had made breakfast for them before he left for work, but even with his encouraging words, the hurtful comments didn’t seem to leave either of their minds.

For the rest of the day, both of them kept getting mistakes after mistakes. Falls after falls. Their coach even made Seongwoo continue practice after his usual practice hours, merely because he too was too distracted by the hurt he felt that he couldn’t concentrate, even though he was known to keep his personal problems out of the rink.

At the end of their practice, their coach could tell that there was something on both their minds that made their practice today fruitless. Entering the locker room where the two were changing out of their skates, he pulled over a chair and sat in front of them.

“Okay spill. What is it that got both of you so distracted for the whole practice?”

The two sat up and looked at each other. Eyebrows furrowed, Daniel tried the best he could to summarise in English.

“The people in back in Korea. They read the news on our date. So… They don’t want us in the national team and in the Olympics. Said some hurtful words and cursed at us.”

It was their coach’s turn to have his eyebrows furrowed. Being a Canadian meant that he was all for LGBT, and have no problems with his pupils being gay. What he did not understand was why being gay should have any effect on the couple’s career.

“Listen. You two are one of the best, if not THE best figure skaters your country could have. If they want you out of the national team and the Olympics just for being gay, then they are losing out. Your country does not determine who you are and definitely not your career.”

“But the thing is, it is probably only those few people who are against you. Unless your country makes its decision, they don’t get to have a say in anything. So don’t listen to them. Focus on yourselves and prove your worth to them. Prove to them that if they are still against you, they are the ones on the losing end and not you.”

Even though Seongwoo couldn’t understand everything word for word, he understood the main idea behind the speech. Daniel too nodded in understanding.

The couple, once again in sync, thanked their coach as he smiled and left them to go back and help the other skaters.

“Shall we go on a date?” Daniel turned to the elder and held out his hand.

Smiling at the hinted message to ignore haters and be themselves, Seongwoo nodded and took his hand, swinging their held hands openly.

 

The cool air of the bedroom welcomed Daniel who just stepped out of a quick warm shower. There, sitting on their bed, was his boyfriend, who seemed to be deep in thoughts yet again.

“What’s wrong?” sitting beside the elder, Daniel wrapped his arms around Seongwoo’s small waist, pulling him closer.

“I was just thinking… We have yet to tell your mum about us. I’m just worried about how she will react… What if she saw the article? Do you think—” before Seongwoo could get another word out, Daniel had silenced him with a kiss.

“Don’t worry so much about my mum. She is very easy going, and I’m sure she will like you anyway, so she will change her mind even if she was originally against it.” Pecking the elder on his lips once more, Daniel pulled him up and pushed him to the bathroom to bathe.

Lying down on the bed, Daniel unlocked his phone to play a game, only to pause when his phone screen changed to that of a call, and a ringtone belonging to that of his mother began ringing.

Sighing, he sat up and picked up the call, putting it up to his ears as he answered as he would normally.

“Mum! Why’d you call?” speaking in his Busan accent, Daniel leaned against the headboard, hoping that the answer to his question would not be about the article.

Alas, his hope was for naught, as that was the first thing his mom said over the line.

“My son, what is this article I am seeing? Are you really dating that male?”

He sighed yet again, and nodded his head slightly as he replied with a soft yes.

“Do you really like him?” This time round, Daniel’s nods and reply was more resolute.

“I see… When you come back to Korea, bring him home with you alright? Mum wants to see her future son-in-law. Just tell me when you are coming back and I’ll fly back from where ever I am at that time.” Daniel chuckled in response, agreeing with her as he remembered how Seongwoo’s family also called him their future in-law. To his ever-busy-flying-around-the-world mother, having her son bring back a lover would be something she never thought of, and something she would get overly excited for.

Cutting the call, he looked up as the door to the bathroom opened, revealing a freshly showered Seongwoo. He stood up and walked over to the elder, pulling the surprised athlete into a hug.

“My mum called. She wants me to bring you home with me the next time we go back to Korea.”

The elder froze in place, pulling Daniel apart from himself to stare in shock.

“What… She accepts us?” with a nod from Daniel, his nose scrunched up in happiness again as it was his turn to jump on Daniel for a tight hug.

With parental acceptance out of the way, the two went out on their date feeling much lighter than they did in the morning.

 

---------------

It was the South Korean Figure Skating Championships. The previous season, Daniel had been close to a bronze, but had unfortunately gotten a hands-down in one of his quads, causing him to miss the bronze by just 1 point. It brought him much disappointment, as the medal would have been his if he had just landed without a hands-down.

This season though, the tension was there in the air. This time round, there were a lot of emphasis on winning and getting as high scores as possible. For the Olympics, South Korea was planning to send 2 skaters for the Men’s Single. It was much different from the previous time, where there was only one spot that was given to Seongwoo unconditionally.

After having confirmed that they were dating, the couple had successfully ignored all hate comments and were more than grateful to the fans who still supported them. In the Grand Prix Finals, Seongwoo managed to clinch the first position again, and although Daniel had gotten 5^th place, he was still very close to the bronze, as he was behind the 4^th position by 3 points, and it was due to the fact that he had fallen for 2 of his quads.

Undeterred, the two had flown back to Korea straight from the competition, going to the ice rink nearby to practice, with Daniel changing his choreography slightly to include one more spin. They had been spotted by fans, who all luckily gave them their space to practice and go on their dates.

Now, sitting in the kiss and cry together, they stared in anticipation for Daniel’s results to come out. Seongwoo was sitting at first place again, though his points were slightly less than usual due to a fall in his short program. Their coach was nowhere to be found as he had a new Taiwanese skater under him, and had gone to Taiwan to accompany the newbie, under the couple’s insistence that they were alright by themselves.

“Kang Daniel, has scored in the free program, 209.26 points…”

Screams erupted from the audience. Both males stared in shock at his high score, which when added to his short program, exceeded 300 to a grand total of 317.38 points.

They watched as the score board changed to show the ranking. Second place.

Daniel was in second place.

He was not the last skater, but with the last skater having a very low short program score, he was pretty much confirmed to be second place. Not fourth, not third, but second.

The couple hugged each other tightly, regardless of the cameras and possible homophobic viewers and audience. Standing up, Daniel bowed to the audiences yet again, walking away from the kiss and cry with the elder as they waved to their fans, some who were waving banners with “ONGNIEL” in large print.

 

Even as he stood on the podium, Daniel still could not believe that he was in second place. Sure, it was only a national competition, which meant lesser competition, but the scores itself said otherwise. It wasn’t because of the smaller competition size. It was all his own hard work that led him to being where he is.

As they stepped down from the podium after a quick picture taking, Daniel pulled Seongwoo into another hug, too happy to care about the ushers ushering them out of the rink so that they can end the event and start cleaning up.

“I’ve now completed my dream of standing on the podium with you…” he said simply.

Daniel moved away from the hug and pecked Seongwoo on the lips, holding his hand and pulling him along to move out of the rink, leaving Seongwoo blushing hard as he let the younger pull him.

Their fans were squealing and screaming, flashes from their cameras going off as they took pictures of the two athletes’ moments.

 

Surprisingly, the public seem to be warming up to the fact that they were gay, and had completely accepted the fact that the two were the best candidates for the Olympic games.

Some people even petitioned for Seongwoo to be the flag bearer, although he had kindly rejected the offer due to his weak arms. The Olympic committee then turned to Daniel and gave him the offer instead, which he took with Seongwoo right beside him urging him to accept.

That’s also how Daniel found himself leading the Korean athletes in the Olympics opening ceremony, the heavy flag in hand.

When he returned back to the athlete dormitory near the Olympic ice rink and his phone, a flood of messages came in from friends, his mother and Seongwoo’s family. Scrolling through the messages, he laughed in embarrassment as most of the messages were pictures of him waving the flag, with the subsequent messages being that of praises.

Seongwoo too had a flood of messages, and he quickly commented on his regret for having stood at the front of the crowd of athletes, since he too was spotted on camera, and had many unglamorous screenshots and pictures.

As the night deepened, the two went to sleep soundly in each other’s arms, wanting to rest as much as they could before their practice and actual program.

 

---------------

“Ah… I’m right after you…” Daniel commented disappointingly.

Having just received their order for their free skate, Daniel was disappointed to see that he was just right after Seongwoo, which meant that unless the elder stayed behind after his kiss and cry to watch, Seongwoo wouldn’t be able to see his program.

“Don’t worry. I’ll ask them to allow me to go to the waiting room after your program.” Seongwoo mentioned casually as they walked back to their dorm to change into training gear for practice.

Happy at the elder’s comment, Daniel reached down and grabbed onto Seongwoo’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

 

“… and is currently in first place.” Seongwoo did a short celebratory dance before he stood up and bowed to the audience. Stepping out of the view of the cameras at the kiss and cry, he stood next to his coach, watching as Daniel did another jump as practice.

Cheering internally when he saw Daniel land perfectly, Seongwoo leaned against the rink barrier to lift some weight off his feet, resting them as he watched Daniel start his program.

As Daniel jumped for a quad, Seongwoo held his breath, cringing when the younger landed poorly or fell, and cheering silently when he landed perfectly or at least managed to save his landing. Every time Daniel came close, he would look up, and Seongwoo made sure to have eye contact with him, as the younger had told him how much strength he gains just by having eye contact with the elder.

Stopping his spin in time with the music, the audience cheered, and it started raining flowers and soft toys yet again. Seongwoo stood by the side of the rink entrance as Daniel skated over, a bright smile on his face as he pulled his elder boyfriend into a hug, doing the same to their coach afterwards.

The audience fell silent as the announcer’s voice sounded, anticipating the scoring that will determine Daniel’s performance.

Daniel sighed. He wasn’t positive about his scores. He had fallen on one of his quads, stumbled on half of his jumps, and had almost missed the timing for a few of his spins. Although he had managed to salvage them and complete his program, he was positive that he would get a lower score than expected.

So when the results were out, announcing his high score of 210.26 points, Daniel could barely comprehend what was happening. And then the ranking board was displayed on the screen, and made him completely frozen and speechless.

Second. He was second place again. Sure, it might be temporary considering the other skaters after him, but being second meant a lot. Especially since this was the Olympics, and not any other competition.

Snapping out of his frozen state to thank the audience and his coach, he stumbled out of the kiss and cry area, rushing to hug his boyfriend who was equally shocked and frozen in place.

Being ushered to the waiting room for the current top 3, their coach kept complementing both of them, especially Daniel, whom he had been training for a long time. Crediting his high score to his Program Component Score, their coach praised his skills in choreography, which had led him to being able to change up some parts of his program to make up for his poor jumps.

 

It was nerve wrecking.

At times like this, Seongwoo wished that they had been the last two skaters. If that was the case, they wouldn’t be so unsure if their position will be taken over or not.

The third position had been constantly changing for the past 2 hours. With every skater, no matter their world ranking, it was nerve wrecking. With every change in third place, Daniel wonders when he would be the one to have to move down a position. Maybe move down 2 positions and lose the chance for an Olympic medal.

It was the last skater. For 2 and a half hours, Daniel had been praying that his score was high enough to keep him in second place. Seongwoo had been too. With this last skater, the two were confirmed a medal, which made Daniel so elated, for it was his first major competition medal. Seongwoo was just as elated, as he managed to secure his promise of winning yet another Olympic medal.

At last, the results of the final skater, Korean-Japanese Lee Daehwi, came out.

Second place.

That was the final ranking of the last skater.

Daniel had to move down to third place.

Nonetheless, Daniel was still happy. Plus, his boyfriend had just won the gold medal. His second consecutive Olympic gold medal. What was there to be upset about?

Daniel had never imagined that he would be able to sit in this room for such a long time. He had never even imagined getting a medal in any competitions just a year ago. Yet here he was, getting a bronze medal in the Olympics.

The three Olympic medallists had a group hug, settling down to wait as the venue ceremony was being set up on the rink. Unfortunately, they had to wait until they got to the medal ceremony location to get their medals, but Daniel was just as excited.

Waiting just outside of the rink for their names to be called out, Daniel and Seongwoo conversed happily in Korean, including the much younger silver medallist in whenever he could understand. Often, the Japanese skater found himself unable to keep up with the conversation, feeling much like the third party as the couple held hands while conversing.

Even during the venue ceremony and medal ceremony, Daehwi felt like he was just a little baby being taken care of by his parents, and basically ing them. While Daniel had so naturally wrapped his arm around Seongwoo’s waist, as per winning pose tradition where the second and third place places their arms behind the first place, Daehwi was very confused and had left his arm hanging in mid-air behind the couple.

During his post-Olympic interview, Daehwi then complained in Japanese about the couple and how they made him feel like a third wheel on their date.

When journalists interviewed the couple about how they felt about Daehwi’s comment, they could only laugh and apologise, for they had no idea that they were making him feel that way.

To summarise their entire Olympic experience, the couple then gave a single word description.

Love.

It was love that pushed Daniel to his position.

It was love that helped Seongwoo get over his nerves of the huge amounts of pressure on him.

It was love that they felt when they both won medals.

Their love was what propelled them to where they are, and it is love that will push them even further.

 

---------------

“Three-Time Olympic Gold Medallist Ong Seongwoo and Two-Time Olympic Bronze Medallist Kang Daniel Talks of Their Future After Retirement”

A video of their post-Olympic interview went viral.

Six years of dating, and the two had not only became closer, but had also become one of the most famous couple around the world. They had pretty much become celebrities when they started to go on variety shows and star in commercials. Fans and non-fans alike fawned over the two handsome males, and being LGBT advocates brought even more supporters.

The usual flower and soft toy rain after their free programs became a flower and soft toy rainstorm, as more and more people became their fans. On ice, various skaters around the world had become used to the sight of the two playing around together, and always got ready to plug in their ears when the two had a very romantic moment.

Daehwi, who was almost always on the podium, also became used to feeling like the third wheel. He had become who the fans call “OngNiel Baby 1”, and just accepted the name, for he knew that the two were always babying him and some other skaters, including their new training mate, Taiwanese Lai Guan Lin, who became known as “OngNiel Baby 2”.

Daniel wasn’t always on the podium, dropping back to the slightly lower positions of 5^th or 6^th place at times. He hadn’t ever gotten a first place, but he does not bother, for he knows that if he were to get anywhere near first place, his boyfriend would be in that position. Of course, that doesn’t mean Seongwoo was always first place either. At times, he drops down to second place; very rarely, he drops down to third place.

Then they went for the Olympics, and had once again gotten the same positions as the previous Olympics, with Daehwi in the middle yet again. Many fans laughed at the déjà vu moment when they were on the podium for the venue ceremony and medal ceremony.

In their post-Olympic interview, they were asked about their inevitable retirement from competitions, and their future. Initially starting as a solemn and serious topic, it then proceeded to become a comedic and cute moment as Daniel started to tease his elder boyfriend once again.

“Uh…… Truth to be told, the two of us did talk about our future every now and then. For now, nothing is decided, but we have plans to go for show skating for a few years before we become coaches or choreographers. Daniel is leaning more towards choreographing and I’ll probably take on coaching.” Seongwoo had replied maturely.

“We will still be in competition for a few more years, and will take that time to keep a lookout for skaters whom we see potential in. When we do become coach and choreographers, anyone looking for Seongwoo hyung to coach will probably have me as their main choreographer. We come as a set you see.” Daniel playfully continued, to which Seongwoo turned his head sharply and whacked the younger’s arms.

“Don’t listen to him. If I become a coach, none of my skaters shall have him as a choreographer.” Seongwoo sniggered before the both of them apologised for their jokes and concluded the interview.

Over the next few years, fans and reporters spotted the two watching other skaters intently, talking them up quite seriously at times.

And then came the news of their retirement.

To end things off with a bang, the two went for their last Olympics, where Seongwoo surprisingly won his fourth gold, and Daniel even more surprisingly won silver. In their very last post-Olympic interview, the two shared their final plans and joked about retiring to let others win. Many other skaters shared their disappointment in not being able to compete against the two anymore.

At the end of the gala, pictures of the group photo being taken were uploaded online, and many spotted the couple waving goodbye to the camera at the very back.

Goodbye to the competitions, hello to show skate and new jobs.

 

Confetti fell all over the ice as skaters skated around the side of the rink, waving goodbye to the audiences. Daniel and Seongwoo were at the end of the line of skaters, and just as all the other skaters leave the ice, the music softened to nothing.

It was one of the special ice skating event, and after their retirement from competitions in the beginning of the year, the couple had travelled around the world for show skating, and had then gone on a Japan tour for this ice skating event.

This was the last stop for the event. Unlike all the other days when the two had just gone off the ice like the rest of the skaters, Daniel instead pulled Seongwoo to the centre of the rink and moved slightly further before facing Seongwoo.

Putting the microphone in his hand up to his lips, Daniel started to speak.

“Seongwoo hyung. Today marks our tenth-year anniversary. On our first, I brought you out on a date. On our second, I bought you flowers. On all the subsequent anniversaries, I gave you all the love I had for you in some form or another. This anniversary, I shall give you my love in this form.”

A soft romantic song started to play, and Daniel kneeled down on one knee, holding up a ring in one hand, presenting the piece of jewellery to the elder.

Seongwoo covered his mouth in shock, his eyes tearing up at the sight.

“Will you marry me?”

The audience chanted yes, and Seongwoo just let his tears fall and uncovered his mouth, revealing a huge opened smile with a scrunched-up nose. Nodding his head, the audience went crazy, and Daniel stood up, sliding himself to the elder. Taking Seongwoo’s hand in his, he slipped on the ring, letting Seongwoo jump up and wrap his arms around his broad shoulders, his own arms wrapping around the smaller figure tightly.

Daniel’s proposal went viral, and before the two could even make the call to their parents to inform them of their engagement, their parents were the ones to call, bombarding them with questions of the wedding.

The two spent the night laughing at their eager parents, finally ending the eventful day with Seongwoo being handled ever so gently by the younger, who was afraid of making their first time painful for the elder.

 

---------------

“Mama! Look! I’m skating!” a young 4-year-old boy slowly skated across the ice while stumbling, his only support being that of his father’s arm as the elder male slid alongside his son.

“Yah, Kang Seo Jun, I told you I’m not mama. I’m appa.” The ‘mother’ of the boy skated towards the father and son from where he was doing a jump at the other side of the rink.

“But it is easier to differentiate papa and you by calling you mama.” Seo Jun, despite his young age, retorted back before stumbling and eventually falling as he lost his grip on his father’s arm.

“Hyung, just leave him be. After all, he is correct in a sense.” The father reached for Seo Jun and picked him up, setting the young boy back on his feet. Releasing his hold on his son, the couple watched as Seo Jun made small movements with his skates and slowly moved towards where they were waiting.

“Ah… At the rate you are learning how to skate, you will be a better skater than your mama.”

“Yah Kang Daniel! Stop teaching him to call me mama. I’m a male!” Just as the comment was made, Seo Jun crashed into his mama’s legs, looking up and calling him mama yet again.

Giving up on the father and son, Ong Seongwoo, now a famous coach, rolled his eyes and let Daniel pick up their adopted son and pull him out of the rink.

After show skating for 2 years, the two had decided to stay with their club in Canada due to the memories they had there, and to take over their coach, who was officially retiring to rest. Daniel became a popular choreographer, and many skaters flew to Canada for training just to have Seongwoo coach them while getting their choreography done by Daniel.

Five years after their marriage back in Canada, the couple were finally allowed to get married in Korea, and had decided to adopt a son. At just a year old, Seo Jun stole their hearts, and they immediately adopted him, giving him Daniel’s surname.

When Seo Jun turned 2, he became more restless at home without his parents, so they decided to bring him to the rink, where he immediately grew an interest in skating, much to the couple’s surprise. In their free time between training, they put skates on Seo Jun and pulled him along, much to his excitement.

The skaters Seongwoo were training also became attached to the young boy, who decided that he was going to be a skater like his parents. Eventually, Seo Jun became a “permanent resident” of the club, tagging along with his parents and sitting by the side, watching as his parents worked.

Needless to say, Seo Jun and Daniel still teased Seongwoo to no end, with Seo Jun refusing to call Seongwoo appa, but mama instead, since he calls Daniel papa. The skaters and workers of the club found it absolutely amusing, even when they couldn’t understand half of the conversations the family has in Korean.

With new skaters coming in and old skaters retiring, every day is a different one. With their son following in their footsteps to become skaters, every day becomes an interesting one. With their love for each other and skating still strong, it is no doubt, that there is ‘fire’ on ice.

 

 

 

 

 

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THANKS FOR READING! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

BTW, if you do follow figure skating, do try and figure out who Daehwi and Guanlin are supposed to be XD. Hint* Guanlin's character is based on a South Korean figure skater while Daehwi's is a Japanese skater.

Also, for those who are curious, Daniel's character is sort of based on Javier Fernandez (cuz YuzuVier is as real as OngNiel).