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"Jun!"
Coach Brian called Jun-Hwan from the side of the ice. Brian gave Jun his blade covers and motioned to come off the ice. Coach Brian and Jun sat watching the other skaters skate back and forth in the rink. They sat in silence at first and Jun-Hwan shifted uncomfortably.
-First day and I'm already having a time out- he thinks
His eyes slowly glide toward Soo-Ah who skates into a Ina Bauer, her signature move. Her flexible back lets her almost touch her head to her back leg. Jun-Hwan's eyes are glued to her as she exits her Ina Bauer into two twizzles.
"Jun."
Jun-Hwan is broken away from his trance.
"Yes, Coach?" He answers.
"You seem out of it today," Brian says. "Is something the matter?"
Jun-Hwan shifts his head from one side to the other and looks down at his feet.
"I don't know..."Jun replies with his head down. "I'll try harder."
A sudden sound from the ice makes him and Coach Brian lift their heads. Soo-Ah and Yuzu had collided and now were lying down on the ice laughing. Seeing a smile on her face Jun-Hwan subconsciously smiles too.
"I was surprised to know you two knew each other." Coach Brian suddenly said.
Jun-Hwan's gaze leaves Soo-Ah and he shifts gaze to Brian.
"Uhh..w-we went to the same school together...in Korea." He explained.
Jun-Hwan tries to not think of the past.
"Also...the same rink."
Coach Brian notices Jun-Hwan trailing off with sentences and doesn't push him any further with questions.
"You skated well today!" Yuzuru heavily accented voice sounded.
Everyone was getting ready to go for the day and Jun had barely talked to anyone. He was surprised that he was being talked to let alone complimented by Yuzuru Hanyu.
"Oh no...I was really um...not focused today." Jun-Hwan stuttered shyly.
"It's your first day in a new setting...so of course."
Yuzuru asked Jun-hwan where he's staying and about skating. They talk and the other guys come to the locker room to change. Yuzuru introduces him to the other skaters and they all get along almost immediately.
"So...that's all the skaters at the club right now," Yuzuru says.
"There is also Soo-Ah or Angelica who I think you already know," Javi adds in.
Jun-Hwan stiffens a bit at the sound of her name but recovers quickly to not be noticed by anyone.
"Yeah." He simply says.
"You live pretty close to Yuzu and I, would you like to head home with us?" Javi suggested.
"Ok"
Jun-Hwan finished packing and followed the older boys out of the locker room and into the main lobby. There Soo-Ah stood there eyes glued to her phone. When she heard the boys coming closer she looked up.
"You guys take forev-...oh hello Jun-Hwan."
Jun-Hwan flinched a little.
-She used to call me Junnie-He thought.
"Hi." He replied.
Yuzu walked over to Soo-Ah and ruffled her hair.
"Soo-Ah stays with me so she'll be coming with us too!" Yuzu explains.
The group took off from TCC on foot and took a bus towards the city. They got off at a stop and proceeded to walk the rest of the way to their apartments. Javi and Yuzu walked ahead joking around leaving Soo-Ah and Jun-Hwan behind them. They first walked side by side in silence until Soo-Ah starts talking.
"So...how have you been?"
It's the first time in a while she's talked to someone in Korean and the first time in a while she's talked to Jun-Hwan, so she thinks carefully of what to say.
"Alright...how about you?"
That's all Jun says.
"Been better..."
Her voice trails off. She gazes at him slightly from the corner of her eye. He notices and turns his head towards her. She shifts her gaze quickly and looks away. An awkward silence envelops the atmosphere in contrast to the older boys in front of them. Jun-Hwan bites his lip nervously and stares down at his feet as he walks with her not wanting to look at her. Suddenly, she stands still. He stops too and turns toward her to see what's wrong. Soo-Ah waits for the older boys to walk farther down the street before talking. Once the older boys cross the street, she faces him. She doesn't make eye contact, but signals that she's talking to him.
"Jun-Hwan..." She began, "We've come to a different setting...a different rink, with different people."
She pulls a strand of hair out of her face not looking at Jun-Hwan, but still talking to him.
"Things happened in the past...things that I would like to put behind, that I would like to forget...Things I think you would like to forget too."
She slowly builds up confidence, searching for the right words to say.
"Jun-Hwan."
This time she looks at him, her eyes piercing his.
"Soo-Ah..."
Her name feels bittersweet inside his mouth.
"Can we forget about the past?"
Jun-Hwan looks shocked. He's surprised that Soo-Ah is the one that wants to forget. She stands there unfazed hair slightly blowing in a sudden breeze. He can't read her expression, which is pleading but then again strong.
"Plea....se?"
She adds. This time her voice breaks a little and Jun-Hwan realizes how she's biting back tears.
