FALLEN//Minsung

01

"Next to skate representing the Republic of Korea,Jisung Han."

That was it,the shouts and cries from the crowd. The one thing Jisung dreaded the most before he preformed his program. The crowds of young girls and boys screaming his name along with the elderly people he knew just came to judge him and the way his feet landed after jumps. It never gets old.

As soon as Jisung stepped onto the ice,that's when the pressure had hit him. This was reality. He had been waiting for this moment for years now but his nerves were getting to him. Obviously people from the crowd couldn't see,but his hands were totally shaking from the intenseness in the ice skating rink along with his heart beating at an un predictable speed.

The past few days had been full of extreme pain,anxiety and stressful thoughts that lingered inside the boys mind. No matter how hard he tried to think of something else,the image of him messing up and not winning one of the top three medals dragged him down. After all the hard work he had put into this competition it would be very discomposed of him to leave empty handed.

The sound of the figure skaters,skates gliding against the rough ice towards the centre were echoed around the hall. Finally,the crowd had died down leaving Jisung to get ready in his starting pose.

As soon as his track had begun,the younger had gracefully moved his arms to the music taking off with an easy start. His feet,moving one after another on the ice making the gliding marks that people found beautiful. After a few minutes of just getting himself steady on his feet,Jisung had attempted his first jump.

With a few normal and easy turns,Jisung elegantly turned crossing his left leg over his right to create an x shape before taking off from his blade,just landing it. Obviously with the outcome of this Jisung wasn't very pleased with his first proper jump that would get him points but the claps from the crowd kept him going.

"Attempted a quadruple loop and just landed,luckily no hands touched the floor so I'm sure no points would be abducted."

While Jisung was re gaining his stamina while just skating around,non stop he decided to now attempt the next jump in his program which was a triple axel. He careful began to skate backwards with speed looking over his left shoulder before stepping onto his left foot,he drawn his arms back along with his right leg before jumping forward,completing the triple axel.

With that the crowd had jumped up clapping again for him.

"Wow,the first attempted triple axel this season and he had managed to land it!"

Jisung had a smile plastered on his face knowing up to now he had done great and surprisingly he was coming to the end of the performance already.

His last jump was a toe loop,days before Jisung had been having problems with landing this one. He was just hoping he would be able to land this jump perfectly and end his program with no mistakes and make his fans and coach proud. He began to enter the toe loop with a turn,his left leg reaching his back. His left toe pick striking the ice before jumping,attempting his quadruple toe loop.

As he was in the air,just about to complete a quadruple toe loop he collapsed going unconscious for just a few seconds. Making the hall fall silent. But he didn't get up,he just lay there with his arm over his eyes not wanting to be looked at. He knew everyone's eyes were on him. It was obviously. He was the only one on the ice. He was the only one who had just messed up.

"And he's down- Jisung looks like he just collapsed and he's not getting up. I don't know if they are sending paramedics on since there doesn't look like no serious injuries."

Jisung slowly began to re gain his consciousness and realised he needed to get up and continue. He removed his arm from his eyes and turned his head to his coach,who had just looked away. He sighed to himself,knowing he let everyone down. After getting back up,he shook of his legs and arms before he began to glide across the ice again.

"No way he's carrying on,he's crazy. That fall looked hard- but. I guess he doesn't want to stop."

Jisung kept his eyes fixed on the floor while he began the steps to the quadruple toe loop again. He began to enter the toe loop with another turn,his left leg reaching his back. His left toe pick striking the ice before jumping,attempting his quadruple toe loop once again.

Yet this time he landed.
Cheers and screams were heard from the crowd again,he gracefully made his way back to the centre of the ice rink and threw his arms up into the air,before he bowed. With that,flowers and many plushy toys were thrown into the rink. He smiled a little to himself before he grabbed his waist and skated to the exist of the rink,slowly stepping out.

His coach had passed him his ice skating guards,so Jisung put them onto the bottom on his skates before he went over to the bench,sitting down waiting for the results of his points. There was a sharp pain in his waist,but he tried to hide it until he was in the locker rooms.

"If you knew you couldn't off landed the quadruple toe loop in the first place you shouldn't of attempted it."

Jisung only nodded,he wasn't even paying attention to the score board he just clapped and got up leaving.

He went and sat down on a chair,letting out a shaky sigh. He then realised one of his team members were there. He smiled and shook his head when he seen Hyunjin stretching.

"Oh come on,it wasn't that bad Hyunjin. I landed it the second time."

"Hm,I guess you did. But coach Kim doesn't seem happy. You better get ready for a scolding later on."

Jisung only nodded and picked up a towel,drying the sweat from his face.

"Anyhow,I'm up after Russia. This season they brought good skaters you know,hah. I'm going to get roasted out there."

"Good luck Hyunjin. Actually,you don't even need my luck. Your going to do amazing. Maybe don't attempt the quadruple toe loop and if you do,flex your calves!"

...

"Representing the republicans of Korea,Jisung Han just winning silver medal by only three points more than Mark Lee representing Canada. Please come out and collect your award."

Jisung was currently panicking since he hadn't planned to go back out on the ice,he had actually took off his skates,now rushing to put them back on. As soon as he did,he left the locker room and made his way to the rink,as soon as he was in sight of everyone the cheers and screams of the fan girls were back. He couldn't help but smile while making his way onto the ice again while waving in every direction.

When he had gotten to the podium,he took his place on the second stand and received his medal. His waist was still hurting,sending shocking pains every few minutes around his body. After many pictures were taken,he could finally go. Which he did.

He went back to the locker rooms,where his team and coaches were waiting.

After celebrating the win,Coach Kim had pulled Jisung to the side for some words.

"What you did today Jisung really really didn't impress me. But. At least your not leaving empty handed and we can always try again next season. How is your waist? That fall today was dirty and looked painful."

"Ah- thank you coach- and it's okay. Just a little sore. It might bruise but I'm sure it will be fine."

The elder nodded and ruffled Jisung's hair.

And just like that.
It was over.
I did win silver,maybe it wasn't gold.
But I did get back up when I was in pain.
My mom had alway told me to never give up because pain is only temporary.
So I didn't.
And now I leave with a silver medal.
Knowing the next day it will mean nothing,knowing the next day I'll be practicing for next season instead of celebrating my accomplishments off this season.