HIM AND I

14; "Perfect at ice-skating...."

04-23-16/ Byeol:15 years

Three weeks before the Olympic Games, and a drama fell. A crack sounded in the rink, and Riki's screams defined who that sound belonged to. His ankle was turned and the commotion was felt. The coach was calling the fire department, while Jungwon was untying the laces of Riki's skate. I tried my best to comfort and support him. His tears were not tears of pain, but of sadness. He knew that it was all over, that he would not be able to participate in the Olympic Games. "I am forced to tell you that it will be impossible for him to attend the Olympic Games and even more serious things can happen..." "What do you mean doctor?" Riki's parents were under stress, as was our coach. So much so that Jungwon and I were afraid of what he might tell us. Riki, on the other hand, had no emotion on his face. "The injury he got is not just a small fracture, he must have had problems with his ankles before, maybe due to his growth or something. In any case, there is a chance that he will not be able to skate anymore, unless he wants to end up with big problems and difficulties to walk afterwards. This to well affect other joints in his leg. On that note!" Riki was in pain, tears streaming down her cheeks. His dream had been shattered and he had just been told that he might not be able to skate again. "I would like to be alone with Byeol please."Everyone left, leaving him and me alone. My arms wrapped around him and tears were heard. Tears ran down our cheeks. I was sad for him, sad because I had to give it up too. "Don't worry Niki, I won't go without you. I'll give it up for you." "Byeol...""We promised each other we would go together and win together. I won't betray you.""Thank you Yoru..."After this long moment of hugging, I went to my coach to tell him the news. "Mr.Nim, I have something to tell you." "What is it byeol?""I'm not going to the Olympics...""I BEG YOUR PARDON?"You heard me."Who do you think you are? You think you can decide this? Just because of some bullshit promise with the other kid, you think you have the right to cancel it for your own good? "Sir, I don't want to betray and abandon my teammate.""And have you thought about the rest of your team? Did you think about how Jungwon would feel? Did you think about what the rest of the team would think?" "You have Jungwon, sir.""You're our gem, Byeol. The key to our success, without you Jungwon won't succeed. Can you imagine the pain he will feel, humiliated in front of millions of spectators after you promised on TV last time that you would succeed in the Olympic Games. I'll give you the scoop: "The skaters Jungwon and Byeol, lose the Olympic Games, after claiming success on TV. Will they still be part of the competition? Without you, we will lose. Without you, we will have to start all over again. And all because of you! Would you be willing to lose everything for this boy, or could you just explain to him .... Which one do you choose?"My heart was pounding, I didn't know where to put myself. On the one hand I would lose my whole dream, my whole career, Jungwon would be humiliated and I would disappoint everyone. On the other hand, I would lose Niki, unless I could convince him...."I-I'm going...to the Olympics...." I can't disappoint and lose everyone's career. I can't destroy everything....That's impossible...Days passed, I tried to talk to Riki about it, and an argument broke out between us. It was too late, I would sort it out later. I had been living in fear for 3 years, more than 10 years working hard to reach this goal, 10 years fighting for my place, 10 years having to put up with the nerves of our group, 10 years of everyone pressuring me to succeed. "And the winners of the 2016 Beijing Olympics are...Yang Jungwon and Park Byeol, the representatives of South Korea." Everyone was applauding us, and tears were flowing. We were happy, we had succeeded. "We did it Byeol, we accomplished our dream. This sentence should have come from Riki, I felt bad. He was probably watching me from his house. I was going to lose him I was sure. And shit....When I got home, Riki was waiting for me outside my house. "You promised me Byeol....YOU PROMISED ME BYEOL. YOU BETRAYED ME BYEOL, YOU PROMISED ME THAT IT WAS FOREVER! That we would never give up...I believed in all these years of work, I believed in our promises. But I see that you don't know how to keep them, so I won't keep mine. I leave you in your fame Byeol, don't count on me to support you from now on. One day we'll see each other again, believe me, and on that day I'll show you how much better we could have been together, I will show you the bitter taste of betrayal. I'll crush you like you crushed my feelings. You made a fool of me, but you forgot that the wheel always turns.""Niki..." "I don't want to hear you say goodbye, Park." End of Flashback In the present day"After that, we never spoke again. I always had a hard time with my success in the Olympics, I heard about his achievements. People call him Akuma, which means devil in Japanese. He was already formidable before, I can't imagine today... He will do anything to destroy me... " "But you'll end up first I'm sure! Riki is worthless compared to you."It's not Sunghoon, you don't realize that because you don't know him. He doesn't care if I come first, he has a much worse plan in mind.He didn't answer, shocked by what I had just told him. A guy he didn't know existed a few hours before, turned out to have a strong past with his girlfriend..."Even if that before he was an angel, one of the sweetest people I know, he knew very well how to manipulate others, and that strength now is even more devastating now. If something happens, we'll have to let it happen..." "What do you mean by that?""If something happens with him, Sunghoon, you'll have to let me do it okay. If you interfere nothing good will happen and things could get worse than they already are..." "Fuck..." Our evening ended on a bitter note, just as the devil in himself desired. He was the devil, and his plan was going the way he wanted. To tell the truth Byeol lied again to Sunghoon, chances of being first his weak, and she knows that is what Niki wants. But she did not want to worry him....