Day 4 of the Alpen Trophy, final day, free skate...
Sunghoon woke up stretching arms. Today was the day, the day to redeem himself and do his best and raise his score. It would be almost impossible to rank 1st because his short program score was so low, but he had a chance to prove himself. To prove that he is capable and not a disappointment... well he only felt that way because of Chaerim. He couldn't forgive himself for the events that happened before the competition and his poor performance.
"Today, I'm going to do better," he said to himself, "I'm going to put on a great performance and make Chaeri proud."
He put on his black blouse for the free skate, grabbed all of his belongings and headed out of the hotel room, walking towards the hotel lobby to wait for coach Ji and Chaerim.
At the lobby...
Sunghoon saw his coach, a tall woman who had an extremely sharp jawline, fair skin, narrow eyes so intimidating, and a stiff upright posture.
"Good morning," he said quietly.
"Hello, Sunghoon," her voice was hostile, "Chaerim will be down in 5 minutes."
There was an awkward tension between the two. Sunghoon knew from the start that coach Ji always liked Chaerim better than him. And he knew that coach Ji once showed a liking to him, but it was when he was much younger... when he didn't have the dream to be an idol. Chaerim was like a breath of fresh air, her skating style was one never seen before and it's all because of her passion and love for figure skating. Sunghoon lost that a long time ago and felt as if skating was a chore, something to please others and not himself.
"Coach Ji," he began to say, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I know I was a mess, a horrible mess. So I promise you, today I'm going to do my best and really show my skills."
"I would like to see that... very much," coach Ji responded.
**
Chaerim stood in front of Sunghoon as he began to tie his black skates before warming up on the ice. She could feel a different vibe from. It wasn't upsetting though, it was filled with will and determination yet with uneasiness.
"Sunghoonie, how do you feel?" she asked softly.
"Never been better."
**
"Sunghoon Park of the Republic of South Korea," the woman's voice announced.
He inhaled and exhaled deeply as he skated onto the center of the ice rink. Ready in his beginning stance, the majestic music from the Phantom of the Opera began. Moving his body gracefully to the music, his first jump was coming... a triple axel. Taking off from his front foot, he quickly got into formation and spun his body beautifully with 3.5 rotations. Sunghoon felt a sharp pain in his ankle as he landed, silently gasping and falling onto the cold, hard, ice.
"Damnit," he gritted through his teeth, standing up and moving onto the next part of the choreography, "I can't afford to perform this badly. I can't stand to disappoint any other people. I know Chaeri said she wasn't disappointed, but I know she was. I know she wasn't expecting me to fall this much and screw up this badly."
Moving onto his next move, the combination jump, triple lutz-triple loop, Chaerim clutched her hands tightly, hoping Sunghoon would land the jumps well.
"I have faith in you, Sunghoon. I know you can do it," she whispered.
"I don't want to disappoint you again. I don't want to hurt you like I did before. I was going to tell you. I really was at some point, but I didn't know when or how to tell you I was a trainee. And you found out the worst way possible. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I kept it hidden from you. I know you forgave me, but I can't forgive myself. It was cruel of me to do such a thing to you. So now I want to make it up to you. I want to make it up to you and-"
His eyes opened widely as he almost missed the landing on the triple loop. Sloppily executing the jump, he clenched his teeth and felt a horrible sense of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Chaeri."
"No, Sunghoonie, don't be sorry. I know you're trying your best."
"All I care about is your happiness because I love you," they both thought.
With a sudden feel of encouragement and energy, Sunghoon began to skate faster and more elegantly. His body lines seemed straighter and smoother, he began to land his jumps, execute the spins perfectly. It was as if he became a new person, radiating an aura of passion and lovesickness.
The music stopped as he fiercely ended the performance. Though the beginning of the choreo was rough, Sunghoon managed to redeem himself and feel more joy and pride. Chaerim smiled broadly as he skated back to coach Ji.
"Good job, Sunghoon," she grinned, "Let's go get your score."
He smiled softly and began walking with his coach.
**
"Sunghoon Park of the Republic of South Korea scored a total of 91.87 in the free skate," the woman exclaimed on the speaker, "scoring a total of 134.41 points ranking in 2nd place."
Coach Ji smiled widely as she tightly hugged Sunghoon. Even though it was only the beginning of the free skate, she was proud to see Sunghoon improve in the second round.
Rejoicing because of Sunghoon's hardwork and effort, Chaerim ran to him and engulfed him in a warm hug. The small girl was on her tippy toes as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Sunghoon," she cried happy tears, "I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud and happy. Thank you. You truly are the best. I mean it."
**
The end of the free skate ended with Sunghoon ranking 21st. But he wasn't disappointed, if anything, he was happy. He was so happy that he was able to make Chaerim proud and was able to forgive himself. The pain he felt while his distant relationship with Chaerim was unbearable. But because of his free skate and was able to express his emotions to her, he was now able to move on. And it's all because of his love for her.
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a/n: hey y'all I'm sorry how this chapter was so boring and dry ahhhh i promise you that the next chapters will be much more interesting and better.
also, I can't believe I'm saying this, but lier is almost over sghskghskghks i only have 2-4 chapters left to write. but don't worry I have another story planned!