Hockey Skates & Coffee

0.1

Chaewon despised one thing in the entire world.

Judgy people.

Listen, she was no saint, but she hated the idea of being judged before she got the chance, hated the flash decisions people made to assume about other people's character, even if they turned out to be correct. Chaewon had her fair share of people judging her, so she tried her best to never judge people on first impressions, or second impressions, for that matter, and even third impressions, but who was counting?

Chaewon's problem was rooted in the fact that she hated passing judgement on anyone, ever. But she didn't view it as a problem, she actually viewed it as a non-problem. Irrelevant, if you will. Because Chaewon knew her worth, she didn't judge a person's entire character, just the bits of it she'd seen; Chaewon would decide she didn't like those bits, and move on.

So, essentially, Chaewon was a bit judgy.

A prime example of Chaewon's incredible multifacetedness was in highschool when some guys in her class were giving her trouble, they would harass her in the hallways and whisper about her in class, but she didn't really mind all that much. She did mind when they decided to take it a step further and watch her perform at her skating competition just to boo her. It threw her off her game and so, after the match, she threw them off the bleachers and degraded them to the point of tears (oops) for being (in her words) 'petulant little man children' with, and I quote, 'no regard for anyone other than themselves,' which Chaewon told them would 'cost them in the long run and make them rue the day they were born.' She also said some other less than pleasant but still pompously worded insults that are irrelevant. Chaewon stood by her oath of non-judgement to herself, however, as she told no one of their harassment, and when it stopped, she didn't even consider doing anything for 'revenge'. See, if Chaewon had told a teacher, they would pass judgement to the boys about a miniscule portion of their life, and that would be unfair to them, so she let months of petty bullying die down and fade away, with no real repercussions for the perpetrators; but that was just Chaewon's way. It was the way it had been for years, and (if everything went according to Chaewon's plan) the way it always would be.

—--

Chaewon was overjoyed when she got accepted into her first choice University with a sports scholarship and a plan to get a degree so she could be a coach. She was overjoyed when her mother gave her a hug and exclaimed how proud she was, and she was overjoyed as her father was still visibly disappointed that Chaewon was pursuing 'this whole ice skating thing'. He tried his best to be happy for Chaewon, but she could tell there was a sadness lingering in his eye. That was something she would reflect on later, however, as she was busy being absolutely enthralled that she got accepted. She had nothing but high hopes for uni, it was nowhere near where she lived, so no one would know of her family history (it wasn't her fault her uncle was involved in some money laundering scheme!). She would be able to dedicate all her time to her figure skating, she would be in an environment with competitive comradery (because it was more of a team than competitors) and she would finally, finally, be free of the watching eyes around her neighbourhood, free of the moving houses because apparently 'a large portion of her father's earnings were handouts from her uncle', free of the passing glances people would send her in the hallway, and free of the notion that she was somehow criminal just because she was related to one. Free of judgement.

Chaewon smiled and sighed just to release some extra air, and ran to her room after the excitement died down to pack her bags, even though it was premature.

She spent the rest of the school year working extra jobs so she had savings for her residency, and counting down the days till she would board that plane that would propel her into her future, every morning she'd tick off the day, and with bated breath, pray that tomorrow would come sooner.