look at the stars | sunsun

nine.

As it turns out, Sunoo is right. The Winter Olympics of 2021 will be the next time they meet, mid-February of spring the year after; their names are submitted as representatives for their respective countries when applications open for the official games.

By next spring Sunghoon begins training for new choreographies ─ The Greatest Show for his short program, and Merry Go Round of Life for his free skate. The Winter Olympics will be the most important event of his career thus far. Nothing short of gold will satisfy him, the way it has always been, the way it always will be.

─

The media coverage on the Winter Olympics is more extensive than Sunghoon had expected, but he supposes it is normal for an event on such a scale. The roster for the year includes a fair number of world-renowned skaters ─ K from the ISU Japanese representative team, another Korean skater named Jake from Australia, an underdog skater from Vietnam who went by Hanbin, and of course Kim Sunoo and himself, the most anticipated faceoff in the game since their head-to-head in the previous year's Grand Prix.

Reporters crowd the front entrance of the arena as he alights from his limousine, Coach Bang following closely behind him.

"Sunghoon, how are you feeling about today's competition?"

"Sunghoon! How confident are you in skating against your opponents this season?"

He catches sight of a familiar logo printed on the side of a camera's lens. He's heartened to see some of these reporters have been following him since his senior debut in the ISU Grand Prix.

"Sunghoon, what color do you expect to see around your neck by the end of the Games?"

He doesn't stop walking, but he slows down to answer some of their questions.

"Color?" Sunghoon's face is expressionless, but he lets the hint of a smile cross him for just a moment. "Gold, of course. I won't settle for anything less."

He avoids looking directly into the shutters of any cameras around the waiting area once he enters; the media have an uncanny knack for catching him whenever he looks in their direction and the sudden flashes are beginning to give him a headache. His coach smooths out the sleeves of his costume, giving little pointed reminders as he usually does before Sunghoon skates.

Today is his short program, an energetic, fast-paced routine that shows off the intricacy of his footwork. He's confident in carrying it out, but there's a light, fluttery impatience that doesn't seem to leave him as the minutes count down to his timeslot.

What am I waiting for?

His heart's beating too fast ─ the thrumming of blood through his veins is disrupting the calm he usually upholds before a competition. He finds himself looking around the wide, open room; quick, searching glances that scan the crowd for one face in particular. He turns immediately as someone enters from the far exit.

The first thing Sunghoon notices about him is how much taller he's grown since last year.

Shut up? Why do you sound like a relative at a family gathering.

Whatever boyishness was left in him from puberty has abandoned him in the course of the year that has passed since they last said their farewells ─ his features have crystallized into a certain delicate beauty, sharp as a blade in his gaze. His costume this season is white with sleek lines running down his sides, and as he passes Sunghoon can see the imprint of silver wings down his back.

Sunoo is beautiful, there's no denying no matter how he frames it.

He tries not to let his mind linger on it as he hears his name over the loudspeakers, calling him to the rink.

"So tell me, do you wanna go?

Where it's covered in all the colored lights

Where the runaways are running the night

Impossible comes true, it's taking over you

This is the greatest show!"

─

The short program goes fairly smoothly. He gets points taken off for over-rotating two quadruples, setting him back to 89.31 points for the day. The free skate tomorrow will complete the other part of his scores that give him his final standing.

Coach Bang conducts him back to the hotel as soon as he's finished. He knows Sunghoon well by now; he performs well under pressure, but only the right kind of pressure.

Kim Sunoo scoring 97.66 in his short program is exactly the wrong type of pressure.

Sunghoon ends up finding out later in the day anyway, wiping his sweat between sets of standing drills in his hotel room. He realizes belatedly that Coach Bang wasn't wrong to try and keep him from knowing, but he supposes he'd rather be aware regardless.

He doesn't get more than four hours of sleep before the sun rises again.