❝ sometimes, little things make a big difference ❞
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Coach Chae's whistle went and the six Speed Skaters shot from the starting line.
It wasn't a race against each other. Everyone knew who was the fastest, Seonghwa would always beat them by leaps and bounds. It was a race against themselves. To get a better timing, to improve.
The icy air kissed Seonghwa's face aggressively as he leaned down strategically to cover for the turnabout, accelerating sharply. His gloved fingers met the ground as he slanted to the end of the round-about and pushed himself back up.
He sucked his teeth as he streamlined his body the way his Coach had repeatedly drilled him to, or rather 'the way the least air-resistance would go against one' in Hyojin's words. He found himself rolling his eyes at the thought of the girl and sped up, taking down the second round-about with ease. He bended forward at the final bit, feet moving in sharp jerky running motions to propel him forward faster.
"35.7 seconds," Coach Chae said with a nod when Seonghwa passed him at the end line. "Your final dash needs more practice."
The Park boy accepted the results with a small smile and skidded out of the rink to take a sip of water.
Minhyun came in next at 38 seconds, joining Seonghwa with a slap on his shoulder and a loud ragged pant.
"Good job, good job," Jeonghan followed by next, right at Minhyun's heel, sitting on the other side of his best friend.
When the remaining three crossed the end line too, Coach Chae pointed out certain individual aspects to be improved on and had them repeat another round after five minutes.
The results were slightly better on the second round as expected, but Seonghwa's timing was near stagnant. That very fact made him feel especially uncomfortable, like he had an itch he couldn't scratch.
After Coach Chae dismissed the rest of the team, he stayed back to go another round.
"Same thing," the man said when Seonghwa crossed the end line. "You took too long to accelerate at the final part." Coach Chae placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Go for lunch, Hwa. We'll try again tomorrow."
"It's fine. I'm not hungry," the boy muttered. "I can-"
"It's our practice time, pretty boy," a sharp voice cut him off from the entrance.
The doors were swung open and the team of majestic Figure Skaters ambled into the arena. Ryujin fixated the boy with a pointed look, telling him non-verbally to get out.
Coach Chae glanced at him, "You heard the girl."
"Just one more round," Seonghwa pleaded. "It would only be 36 seconds at max." He found himself searching the bunch for Hyojin, even though he knew for an almost certain that she'd not side with him. What was he hoping to see? What was he expecting? He didn't even know himself.
