My Secret Lover

Chapter 45

Pov. Park Sunghoon*

Depressed, I played with the gold medal hanging around my neck and gazed into the distance.
At that moment, all the spectators, juries, skaters, and other guests were standing outside on the huge balcony, enjoying the fresh air with champagne and small appetizers that had been specially organized for the New Year's Eve party.
It was soon midnight, and most had gathered here joyfully to watch the fireworks together and toast the New Year.
Everyone was happy and had a great time. Only I was less enthusiastic and completely lost in my thoughts. I didn't even notice Wonyoung, who was looking at me anxiously while putting on her white bonnet. With a sad expression on her face, she put a hand on my shoulder and hugged me lightly.
"What's the matter? Aren't you happy about the victory?" she inquired, slowly letting go of me and leaning back against the railing to make eye contact.

As arrogant as it may sound, I honestly wasn't shocked that we won. There was a lot of hard training behind our performance. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears. I always thought that the training in Arisu was very hard, but compared to Iseul, Arisu was only peanuts.

"Yes, I am. I'm glad," I grinned playfully and leaned back against the terrain now as well. I felt that some eyes were still staring at me intensely, but I tried to avoid any eye contact and discovered something interesting in my gym bag in front of my shoes.
"Hoonie, what's wrong?" she asked, pouting, and putting an arm around my shoulder again. "Nothing, I'm just tired from the whole day. It was very tiring," I yawned, hoping she would buy the act.

At the moment, I didn't really feel like talking about my feelings. It wasn't like she was the last person I wanted to talk to about it. Quite the opposite. Wonyoung was a really good friend. She had it similar to me in the past, was also constantly called names by others as an arrogant, ice-cold princess, had few friends, etc. So, the whole package, except she didn't have a secret lover...

"All those interviews were really draining. But you did a good job, Hoonie. I'm proud of you," Wonyoung praised. "You did a good job too! But that little blooper when you almost dropped the mic was funny," I giggled. "YA! Don't remind me, that was really embarrassing!"
"Zzz was cute."
"As long as it doesn't turn into a meme..." she said, rolling her in annoyance. "But if I'm honest, I'm really tired too." Gently, she began to stroke her hand along my upper arm and leaned her head against my shoulder as we now began to observe the people around us.

Somehow reassuring.

My gaze wandered over the heads and of course, stopped at the Arisu people. Hesitantly, I looked at Namra and Seon, who were wearing their bronze medals around their necks and talking to Heeseung, who had his back turned to us.
Wonyoung followed my gaze until she stopped with her eyes where I was now looking. "Are they making you uncomfortable?" She looked up at me and pouted sullenly as her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you want me to say something? Did they do something to you?" she added, but I shook my head thankfully. "Are you sure? If you want me to do something, tell me!"
Slowly, I freed myself from her grip and pulled off the medal. "It's okay, Won!" Laughing, I bent down for my gym bag and put the gold piece in the side compartment. After that, I felt around for my cell phone but couldn't find it. I quickly stood up and reached into my jacket pocket and then into my pants, but I couldn't find it there either.
"Can you watch my bag for a moment? I'm going to the cabin, I think I left my cell phone there," I asked my partner, to which she nodded in affirmation and pushed the bag with her white winter boots a little closer. "It'll be midnight in ten minutes. Don't be late. I don't want you to miss the fireworks," Wonyoung replied, smiling caringly at me.
Confirming, I nodded and walked back into the hall toward the locker room, where I searched for my cell phone. I searched under the benches, in the lockers, and even in the showers, but my phone was nowhere to be found. So, I decided to sprint to the restrooms because I didn't want to miss the fireworks. When I got there, I ran straight to the last toilet stall I was in last before I went to the balcony. Sure enough, there was my cell phone on the counter. I quickly grabbed it and hurried back out, but suddenly stopped rooted to the spot when I saw a familiar person in the room. I swallowed hard and didn't know what to do.There he stood.