Icy Break; Norenmin

RENJUN

The weight of the world restricted his movement and his hands began to tremble in fear. Said hands struggled to tie the skates, a task he's been doing all his life with ease. With each passing second he could feel himself slowly die. He tried taking deep breaths in order to relax himself but it was useless. He was now useless.

It took him an eternity to get himself to the ice. With each step he took he could feel the weight of the world slowly sink him. Before he'd rush in order to spend as much time as he could skating, but now even coming near the rink consumed every inch of his body with fear.

He wasn't accompanied today, which was good. His coach wouldn't be able to yell at him for wasting everyone's time and no one would be able to stab him with their pity glances. He was supposed to get himself back together for the olympics as he was one of the favorites for gold and deemed a force to be reckoned with but for the past three months he hadn't been able to even come near ice.

He closed his eyes and a familiar sight began to plague his mind like a broken record. Silence had consumed Renjun that tragic day as his eyes were glued to a sight he wished he could erase. It didn't make sense. That day was meant to be one of his happiest days. Everything he had dreamed of was within his grasp. Everything was meant to be perfect.  At one point it was his happiest, perfect day, but that was now forgotten in the past.

He could feel his arm being torn apart from his shoulder as it was harshly yanked causing his fragile body to be dragged by those surrounding him but his eyes remained fixated on the sight in front of him. The golden medal that he had recently won began to weigh heavily weight around his neck and that's when reality began to consume him.

Panicked screams were everywhere. Of course they'd be, there was a corpse on the ice.

No one knows exactly what happened. Everything happened too quickly for the audience and world to comprehend. Renjun had just hugged and congratulated the once living body. They weren't friends. In figure skating there was no room for friendship, but they both had respect for each other and had seen each other through competitions throughout the years.

There wasn't a lot of blood, but it was enough for Renjun's eyes to see red each time he closed them. He was the 2017 World Figure Skating champion, a skater with a guaranteed spot at the winter olympics. A skater that has spent his whole life on the ice, and today said ice was witness to the demise of one of its children.

His win was beautifully achieved but no one could celebrate it. His coach tried to lighten his mood but everything was an immediate failure. Those around him were starting to get irritated as time had begun to pass and people began to move on but Renjun remained stuck at the moment everything crumbled.

He was allowed some time to himself. He was forced to undergo therapy. He was supposed to be skating again soon. He was expected to be perfect.

He was sent to South Korea in order to start working on his olympic winning program but it was hard when his body struggled to sustain itself due to fear. Today was meant to be a milestone in overcoming said fear but the closer he got to the rink, the more dread he felt. Time didn't exist anymore as Renjun stood in front of the ice. He couldn't move anymore and his breath was all his ears could hear until a deep yet cheerful voice startled him.

"Do you need help?"

Renjun was lucky enough to know Korean due to his grandmother. By no means was he fluent but he knew enough to where he didn't need to rely on a translator for his day-to-day encounters.

He slightly moved out of the way as he didn't want to disturb anyone else. The male was good looking in a way Renjun couldn't quite describe. He had soft features but they weren't soft to the point that it made him look feminine. He was definitely handsome and it could be argued that he was quite pretty.

"No sorry, I was about to go home."

"Home? You haven't even skated though.. Wait!" The male suddenly exclaimed. "Aren't you that Chinese guy? The figure skater! Renjun! Are you practicing here?"

Renjun nodded slightly. He wasn't in the mood for conversation, he just wanted to go home and he didn't care if he was perceived as rude.

"Cool! My team will be practicing here too! Maybe we'll see each other around! Oh- My name is Jaemin by the way, Na Jaemin."

"You skate?" Renjun accidentally asked. Jaemin was too cheerful for Renjun's taste and by no means was he trying to engage in any type of conversation or small talk with the man but his brain wasn't able to control his vocal cords on time.

"Well yeah I play hockey so I guess, not like you though of course." Jaemin was already on the ice so he kind of twirled in a way that Renjun could only imagine was supposed to be graceful and a mockery of his own sport.

"Well, I hope you have a good time in Korea! And I hope to see you soon Renjun!" The male waved cheerfully before he skated away.

"Goodbye.." Renjun hoped he never came across him again.