The cheers drown out the beating of his own heart, his breathing is shallow and slow, his hands are shaking as he balled them up into fists. His grin is unmistakable, he's a mixture of emotions - pride, happiness, weary, sad that it's all over but glad that he bagged a silver on his first ever Asian games and he's standing on the small podium with tears b in his eyes because he may have lost the final match fighting for gold but at least he's won the hearts of many. 

"Truly the crowd favorite," Doyoung says, smirking at him when they're back in the hotel and Jaemin still has his silver medal hanging around his neck. The others are decked in bronze, silver and even gold medals as well. It felt good to be ending the day, these Games, as a team full of champions in their own ways. 

Their coach patted them each on the back before they got here and his words still echo in Jaemin's head: "You did good, kid. I'm proud of you."

It isn't till later on in the late afternoon when Jaemin skypes with his parents that it hits him just how much everyone was so pleased by his performance, more than pleased perhaps. His old school had put on a tarpaulin in front of the gates with his face smiling at the drivers and pedestrians along the highway and his parents had even taken a picture in front of it. He remembered feeling so happy at the awarding ceremony that he almost cried, but in front of his parents' pixilated faces and smiles is when he lets the tears flow. 

All those years of hard work and training and setbacks all paid off in the end, he was a national champion, South Korea's pride, and the pressure on him was immense ever since he started trending and appearing on tabloids and online news, but now he could finally breathe and everyone was more than proud of what he had accomplished here and for Jaemin, this was all worth it. 

He laid back on his bed with his hands behind his head as he stares up at the ceiling with a huge smile after ending the video call with his parents. Jaemin had did great for someone who was a first timer in these international games, and he's proud of himself too. He deserved this, all of this, and he knows he does. 

Shuhua was on the local Japanese news, she had garnered six medals in the span of a week of the Games which is totally insane but Jaemin is not that surprised. He expected no less from someone like her. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" she's in front of him right now, in the hotel restaurant as they eat dinner. Just the two of them since Jaemin came down here alone and Shuhua was supposed to be seated with her Chinese teammates but she carried her plate over to him when she saw him enter and plopped down the chair next to him.

He didn't complain of course, why would he? He likes her company. "You're just amazing, you know?" And okay, he likes her in general. 

"You are too," she smiles sweetly at him. "Congratulations, Jaemin. I wanted to watch but I had one last event, I'm sorry I couldn't -"

"Shuhua," her name falls off his tongue gently. He's slicing through his steak as he looks at her with a funny expression. "You had to compete! Why are you sorry? It's not like you're obliged to watch me, and I'm glad you really didn't because I lost the finals, remember?"

She laughs, girly and airy, and then tucks stray hair behind her ear as she peers at him with her big, doe-like eyes that makes Jaemin almost cut his finger off with his knife. "Well, maybe that's why you lost? Because I wasn't there to watch?"

Jaemin chokes on his own saliva and he hastily puts his utensils down before he could seriously cut himself or her. "I - excuse me?"

"It's just a joke," she pokes his forehead with her finger and lets out another laugh. Her eyes gaze past Jaemin and her expression sours before she sticks a tongue out at someone behind him. "Don't mind them," she says when Jaemin turns around to look at her oggly-eyed teammates who were also making faces at them and pointing in their direction. 

Jaemin squirms in his seat and goes back to eating, suddenly feeling shy under their scrutinizing looks. Shuhua reassures him they're just teasing them, but Jaemin can't shake off the feeling how it's different when it's just the two of them, when they're not surrounded by dozens of people. He can talk freely to her without being judged or restrained, and he's pretty sure she feels the same because later when they're finished with dinner, Shuahua grabs him by the wrist and leads him back up the rooftop. 

The feel