Call Me Noona

Chapter 48 - Competition

We stood in the window watching as the first skater took the ice. She seemed to lack confidence in herself. I noticed she seemed to be thinking too much and hesitating before her jumps and spins. It felt awkward... not fluid. The second girl started off a little better than the first but was still not as good as our girl. Maybe I was biased, but I really didn't think she came close to Tori's level.

Minhyuk was focused on the ice. He commented how similar the sport was to dancing, yet so different in its discipline. He seemed to be enjoying the performance. We heard voices outside the door and then it opened slowly, and the other 6 members filed in. They each gave me a hug as they came in. I missed most of the third skater. Min shushed them and pointed to the ice. "Tori is up next! You guys have to see!"

They all came closer to the window so they could get a good view. The third skater finished her routine and the crowd cheered. She almost fell on one of her jumps, but she corrected herself in time and recovered. You could tell where her family and friends were seated from the supportive cheers and hoots.

Now it was time for the one we were waiting for. We all stood close to the glass, focused on the spectacle below. Min stood behind me with his arms wrapped around me and his chin resting on my head. I felt safe and loved. I smiled to myself and nuzzled my head against his chest. I had my phone ready to record her performance. It was being recorded professionally too.

They announced Tori over the PA system and she gracefully took her starting pose, which was the same as Dramarama. The music started and she began to glide across the ice as if she were weightless. The routine she had choreographed was a mix of some dance moves from the song, classic ice-skating jumps and spins, and some hapkido kicks and moves. It was fascinating to watch, and I caught the guys dancing a little as they watched. Whenever she would spin or jump, the guys would yell, "whoa!" or "wow!". They especially loved the dance moves she did in between.

Her performance was flawless and looked effortless. After she took her ending pose, the entire place erupted and everyone stood. I jumped and screamed. She killed it. I was so proud. The guys cheered with me and we saw Nikki jumping and cheering. This was a state final and there were only 3 more skaters. This was the best of the best, but the rest had nothing on Tori.

After all the skaters finished and the judges were tallying their votes, the eight of us headed down to join Nikki on the floor. Her eyes lit up when she saw Kyun, and I noticed his coy little smile. All the guys gave her hugs and there were murmurs and whispers all around. The judges named the top three and they all came to the front. They named the bronze and silver medal winners, and then gold... Tori!! My girl won! Nikki and I screamed and jumped, and the guys cheered. They played Dramarama over the PA while she posed for some press photos. When she started dancing to the song, the guys ran up to the wall and started dancing it with her. The crowd pretty much lost it as they realized who was there, dancing with Tori Randolf. Nikki and I made our way to where they all were.

I recorded it with my phone to show Min later. After they finished their dance, Tori picked up the bouquet of roses they had presented to her and waved to the audience. Her smile was brilliant and lit up the entire place. A reporter from a local newspaper came over to talk to her and asked if he could get a picture with her and Monsta X. She said that they were there as her family, not as Monsta X and declined. She told him he could have her picture since she was the gold medal winner. The reporter looked shocked. He tried to cajole her into saying yes. She told him that she was not going to use their fame to get attention. The guys just stood back and laughed, because it was painfully obvious that was exactly what the reporter was trying to do.

Tori went to change, and the guys finally said hello to Nikki. Kyun was careful since they were in public, but I could see that he wanted to eat her up. Bobby and Tori wanted to ride in the van, but they couldn't because of liability issues if there was an accident. So instead, Min and I rode with Nikki and the kids, and the rest of the guys rode in the van. We went back to Nikki's house to grill out. We had gone grocery shopping the night before and she was shocked at the amount of food I put in the cart. Having fed them on multiple occasions, I was familiar with the requirement. We asked the meat department manager to make the burger patties so we would not spend all our time doing that.