Competition
"Where's coach? Isn't she usually here by now?" Jangmi asked Aera as she stuffed her school uniform into her duffel bag and sat down on the floor beside her friend. She put on a fresh pair of socks then slipped her cheerleading shoes on and tied them tightly. Aera looked up from her cellphone and shrugged her shoulders before calling one of the team captain.
"Where's coach?"
"I texted coach fifteen minutes ago and she said that she had a family emergency. She said it will be Coach Jang today."
"But, where is he though? Shouldn't he be here by now?"
That's when the captain also shrugged his shoulders at the two girls. "I also don't know. He's not replying to me," he huffed in annoyance before looking to all of his teammates. He called everyone's attention, having everyone huddling at his feet and sat down in front of him while Jangmi and Aera remained where they were.
"If you guys didn't know, Coach Kim will not be able to make it today because of a family emergency. We'll be having Coach Jang—" He was interrupted by his co-captain when she suddenly stood beside him and showed her phone to him. All the team captain did was sigh, face palming from what he just read.
"Nari just got word from Coach Jang..." his voice faltering, unsure of how to word his next sentences properly. "Basically: training has been cancelled today. Apparently, Coach Jang was not informed that he had to be here; and he's in the middle of other things right now. We, or Nari, also asked about Coach Kwon; but she's currently in Thailand with the gymnastics team. for a competition."
Competition.
It was the only word that Jangmi heard from her captain. It stuck in her mind and reminded her of Sunghoon. Since her training had just been cancelled, did she finally have a chance to watch him? Could she finally watch him do the thing he loved the most? She could feel the excitement bubble up inside of her so quickly that it made her want to run to the ice-skating rink right at that moment.
"... so, we will have training tomorrow. For now, just rest or something," the captain said dismissively as he ran his hands through his hair frustratingly. Jangmi was only able to hear the last part because she was so lost in her own thoughts but was still able to understand what was going on. She stood up from the floor as soon as everyone else did.
Aera nudged her friend. "Should we eat somewhere? Because I'm hungry and Subway sounds great right now!" She said enthusiastically as she thought of where they had gone last winter break. Besides staying with Jay and his friends, Jangmi would also stay with Aera and go out after training. The two girls would either go to that one pizza place Aera loved so much, or head to the street food stalls just a few blocks away. When they couldn't decide between both places, the settled for Subway: affordable and healthy.
Jangmi smiled at her friend awkwardly. "I actually have to be somewhere in 30 minutes. I'm so sorry, Aera. I'll make it up to you, I promise," she said in a panicked manner as she looked at the clock. Even if the ice-skating rink was just a five-minute walk, she wanted to be early; either that or maybe she just wanted to see him already.
All she knew was that she just wanted to see Sunghoon compete.
"I don't mind, Jangmi!" her friend patted her shoulder as she picked up her duffel bag. She was also doing the same; the only difference was that she was rushing a little. "But why do you seem nervous? Are you okay?"
Jangmi herself didn't know how to answer the question.
Aera eyed her expression and laughed at a realization. "Oh! Will you be seeing that ice-skater boy of yours?" she smirked and nudged her playfully. Jangmi scoffed at her friend and rolled her eyes. "He's not my ice-skater boy."
"Why are you being defensive? I'm just teasing, calm down!" Aera laughed at her reaction, making the other girl join in.
Aera was laughing too much to notice the awkwardness and slight nervousness in her friend's laugh. Jangmi thought about the idea of Sunghoon being 'hers', and it just made her feel weird. With her having Jay as a very protective brother, it was not going to happen. Plus, the older boy doesn't like her that way; and she doesn't like him that way.
Jangmi was so sure it would never happen.
---
Sunghoon, clad in his full costume and a jacket on top, started warming up on the ice: running through his routine and remembering the techniques he had to do. Although he had been ice-skating and competing for years, he always felt nervous before competitions. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he continued to mark the routine, breathing in and out deeply as he tried to calm himself down.
When he turned around and looked at the judges' table, he looked up a few rows behind it and saw his friends—all six of them all smiling and waving at him. Jake gave him a thumbs up while the rest of them cheered him on with several "fighting!" and other cheers. There was just one person who wasn't there; and he, obviously, knew who it was.
Sunghoon was still bummed that Jangmi wasn't there to watch him but he understood her current situation: she couldn't miss training because it was important—and he knew it. But, he wanted to be selfish for once and almost begged her to miss training, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He was an athlete and she was an athlete. They knew what each other was going through.
But he just wanted to see her there in the crowd.
"Sunghoon oppa! Fighting!"
The ice skater froze in the middle of running his routine again for the nth time. He lifted his head up as soon as he heard his name. It was a familiar voice, and he was very sure of it; but he couldn't get himself to turn around. He didn't want to get his hopes up and see someone else besides her. "Jangmi has training," he told himself in a whisper. "That's not her."
"Sunghoon oppa!"
This time, the ice-skater finally turned around and faced the direction of the voice to see the one person he wanted to see. Jangmi stood by the barrier of the ice as she waved her red and blue pompoms in the air excitedly. Once she spotted him looking at her, she made her movements bigger.
He didn't waste a second and skated to her quickly. As their distance became less, he felt his heart pounding in his chest for a different reason. He shook the feeling away and smiled at her.
She was here in person, cheering him on so loudly. Park Jangmi was actually there for him.
"Hi, Jangmi," he greeted her a little breathlessly, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. He scanned the girl's outfit; and although he has already seen her in her training clothes, it still seemed different today: hair styled in a half up-half down fashion secured with a white cheerleading bow, a blue dri-fit with the words 'Bigtide Cheerleading' printed in white, black leggings, a thick black, slightly oversized jacket, and white rubber shoes.
He still had no idea if he was dreaming or if the younger girl was really there in front of him—but everything did feel fuzzy. It was weird that the longer he stared at her, the prettier she looked. Maybe it had something to do with how apparent her usual glow was as it felt to be tripled in size. Her smile was wider too; and although others might find it very different and overwhelming, he liked it.
For Sunghoon, it was what exactly he needed.
"I thought you had training?" He questioned, still in disbelief. He specifically told her not to skip training for him because he could not live with that kind of guilt. But Jangmi just smiled and shook her head. "There was a miscommunication between the coaches and the schedule, so they cancelled training."
Sunghoon's coach came up from behind the younger girl and gave him his blade guards. He left the ice to put it on when he saw his coach shooing Jangmi away from him. "Coach! Can she stay for a bit?"
"No, Sunghoon. We really have to go back to the dugout already."
"It's okay, oppa! I'll go to my brother and Sunoo,"
She said and smiled. Before she could leave, Sunghoon called out her name. "Thank you for coming," he said quickly. The girl made her way back to him and hugged him tightly—which caught him by surprise. All the times they were together, they never hugged. He knew that she was naturally a touchy-feely person, but never forced her to hug him even if he really wanted to.
She pulled away quickly, leaving the older boy frowning a little since he wanted the hug to last longer. "You got this! I know you can do it!" She smiled at him before waving her pompoms for him again. She smiled at his coach and bowed, then continued to go and sit beside Sunoo.
As the older boy followed his coach, he felt confidence surge within him. He nodded to himself and told himself that if she knew that he could do it, he too should believe the same. Even if the girl didn't say much before leaving, Sunghoon was sure that she was the reason for what he was currently feeling.
She always had the ability to bring out the best in people because she gave many giving pep talks. Whenever he was upset about not landing a skill properly, she would cheer him on and tell him to not give up.
He thought that Jangmi was his personal cheerleader— and he liked the sound of that.
The cheerleader made her way to Sunoo and sat down beside him, instantly wrapping an arm around his side, and giving him a side hug. "I thought you weren't going to be here because you had training?" Jay turned around to ask her. The girl pulled away from Sunoo and sat up straight. "Miscommunication with the schedule so they cancelled training instead."
Sunoo grabbed the red pompom from her hand and inspected it. "Where do you hold it?" He asked as he tried to look for something to grasp from the ball of foil. Jangmi laughed and held the middle part of her blue pompoms to show it to him. "Here, where the hard part is," she said as she pointed it to her best friend. The boy gasped as he gripped it and shook it very excitedly. They talked about the pompoms for a bit: if it was made by her, what material did she use, how long does it take to make—and many more questions.
After a few minutes, he gave the pompom back to Jangmi and sighed. He moved closer to her and whispered in her ear. "So, what's going on between you and Sunghoon hyung?"
"What do you mean?"
Sunoo scoffed and rolled his eyes at her. "What do you mean? You clearly hugged him before you came here," he smirked and nudged her playfully. Jangmi's mouth dropped at what she heard. She already heard this from Aera a while ago, and she didn't need to hear it from Sunoo as well. "Nothing is going on between the both of us. Can't two friends just hug normally?" She snapped a little.
He tilted his head as he eyed Jangmi's seemingly blank expression. It showed no signs of anything romantic like shyness of some sort, just plain annoyance. He wrapped his arm around her arm. "Don't be mad at me anymore, please? I won't bother you about that anymore, okay?" He asked, intentionally making his voice sound cuter.
Jangmi turned her head to see Sunoo pouting and giving her puppy eyes. She chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry I lashed out too. You're the second person who's brought this up today; and frankly I'm tired of it. He and I are friends. No more, no less." Her tone was now soft, a stark contrast to how she spoke a few seconds ago.
But it was okay, Sunoo understood where she was coming from.
"Jangmi!" he whined as he shook her arm, trying to change the topic. "Let's take a selfie!" he brought out his cellphone and pointed the camera at the both of them.
"Post the ones where I look good too!" Jangmi complained, but still smiled for the camera, nonetheless. They were taking their twenty-fifth selfie ("Let me take more, I look ugly," Sunoo told her. Jangmi shook his shoulder aggressively. "Hey! We both look good there! If you take more, I'll look ugly!") in a span of two minutes when they all heard Sunghoon's name being announced to compete next.
The older boy stepped out on the ice. His jacket was gone, and he was in a white long-sleeved, loose shirt and black pants. Jangmi stifled a gasp as she laid eyes on him when he faced the judges. She couldn't lie, but even if he didn't have makeup on, he was still very handsome. His hair looked natural as it swayed with every movement he made.
Sunoo noticed how her pupils have dilated by the way she seemed to have froze in her place, looking like she stopped breathing so suddenly. He nudged Jangmi softly to snap her out of her trance and pointed at her red pompom, making her nod. She grabbed her blue pompom and they both shook it for Sunghoon to see. He smiled at them a little before going to his place. A chorus of "fighting!" were heard before it all died down.
As the music started, to say that she was amazed was an understatement.
As soon as the music started, she held her breath and kept her gaze on Sunghoon the entire time. Her mouth was dropped, and she would let out a sigh of relief every time he would land his jumps properly. He liked to show her parts of his routine proudly; but to see everything pieced together was different. To Jangmi, it was like he was flying. He glided over the ice so smoothly; and with the music, he looked elegant and graceful as well.
Sunghoon ended his performance perfectly, just as Jangmi knew he would. He skated to the center of the ice and bowed in front of everyone before everyone started to clap for him. Jay, Sunoo, and the rest of the boys cheered for their best friend. The girl, for some reason, couldn't get herself to cheer loudly like the rest of them so she clapped instead.
"Are you crying?" Sunoo's eyes widened as he glanced at his best friend, pointing at her cheeks. She raised an eyebrow at him as she touched where he was pointing to feel tears streaming down her face. Chuckling awkwardly, she wiped them away as she thought about why she was even crying in the first place. She didn't even notice it until her best friend pointed it out.
Why was she crying over Sunghoon's routine?
"It was good, right?" Jake faced back and spoke to her softly. He sat in front of Jangmi and Sunoo, and beside her older brother. All she did was nod, sniffling unconsciously. The older boy touched her knee reassuringly as Sunoo hugged her from her side.
"This is so embarrassing."
"No, it's not Jangmi." The older boy replied as he touched her knee reassuringly. Her best friend wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him for a side hug. "It's a beautiful routine. And plus, the music is also beautiful," Sunoo comforted her as he rubbed her back, making her calm down.
---
The competition ended with Sunghoon placing first. He stood on the podium proudly, smiled at the camera, and then stepped down to go back the dugout. As much as he loved what he was doing, he was very tired. All he wanted to do was eat dinner and then head straight to bed to sleep.
He walked out the dugout to see his parents and Yeji waiting outside for him by the wall. They attacked him with hugs and praises before fixing his jacket and taking his duffel bag from his shoulder. "Where do you want to eat, Sunghoon?" His mother asked with a smile. All the boy did was shrug his shoulders since he wasn't picky with food. "Anything's fine, mother. I just want coffee ice cream for dessert!" He told her as they started to walk out the ice-skating rink. His father chuckled at him and ruffled his hair.
"We can have the samgyeopsal you like! The one just in this area."
"Okay!" Sunghoon replied, grinning wider at the thought of eating his favorite food. He thought it would be a good reward for all the hard work and effort he put into his routine today. But as they continued to walk, another thought plagued his mind: He hoped his friends didn't leave yet since he wanted to thank them for supporting him. It was the least he could do for them.
It was the least he could do for Jangmi as well, who wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place.
They reached the end of the hallway and pushed the glass doored exit open to reveal his friends right outside it. The thought instantly left his head as they all cheered loudly for him. Although their fist pumping in the air made Sunghoon smile, but he still shushed them quickly.
"You want us to be quiet? We're just cheering for the champion!" Jay exclaimed as he placed his hand on the athlete's shoulder. "Congratulations! We're all so proud of you!" he said. The others agreed and chimed in their congratulations. Heeseung initiated a group hug, and they all jumped in, including Sunghoon's parents, who were so happy to see their son among his friends.
When they all pulled away, Sunoo pointed at Jangmi, who was standing behind them, to Sunghoon. He could easily notice how out-of-place she looked, and instantly approached her.
"Jangmi, thank you—"
"I'm proud of you, oppa! Please accept these flowers," she said as she handed him a bouquet of sunflowers very shyly. He didn't expect her to buy flowers for him at all, making him flustered at her action. He thanked the light from the lampposts for being dim, or else he would just be more embarrassed.
He stared at the flowers and felt his heart swell. "You didn't have to buy me this, Jangmi. But, thank you so much for these sunflowers," he made direct eye contact with her, forgetting about the people behind him for a few minutes. The younger girl gulped nervously as she scratched her head. "I tried to find roses and daises, but the woman who sold flowers in front of the rink said—"
Sunghoon stepped closer to Jangmi and pulled her into him. He could sense how the younger girl froze; so he pulled her closer. Even if he wasn't usually the kind of person to initiate hugs, he felt like he needed to at the very moment. The younger girl, after a few seconds at least, wrapped her arms around the older boy's body and placed her chin on his shoulder.
"Thank you for being here, Jangmi. I wouldn't have done it without you," he whispered in her ear. After the words rolled out of his mouth, he could feel her hands rubbing his back reassuringly. He found her hugs to be warm and comforting. He wouldn't mind hugging her for a very long time.
"It's my pleasure, oppa. Anything for you."
Hello! The fifteenth chapter's up!
It's currently 2 am here on a Monday so I'm technically following my schedule HAHA 😅 I won't be able to post later in the day so the update came hours earlier than expected. If you get this notification when you're about to sleep PLEASE LET THIS WAIT AND SLEEP!
ALSO I FEEL LIKE I CLOWNED EVERYONE nyehehe because I was really planning for Jangmi and Sunghoon to see each other! Remember the scenarios I said I had written before the story had been made and published? This is 2/3 of it!! I researched a lot but didn't want the chapter to get too technical because it would just be more confusing for me to write and for you guys to read. So if you know more about ice skating competitions, please don't come for me 😭
This chapter made me cry a little especially with the news that Sunghoon fully retired from ice skating 😭 I know it was bound to happen, but I just got emotional seeing "Retired in 2020" in his wikipedia page. He'll meet his first love again, I'm sure of it.
Hope you guys like the chapter! Don't forget to vote and comment if you're enjoying so far! 💛
See you in the next chapter!
- Lia