Ice Cold- Park Sunghoon

one

Sunghoon was bored. Not because he didn't have anything to do, he was actually really busy, it was more the things he had to do that bored him. 

Don't get him wrong, if you asked him what the most important thing in his life was, he would answer "the ice" without any hesitation, but after many years of skating for others instead of himself, he lost his personal connection to it. 

These days, he felt more like he needed the ice because he wouldn't be anything without it. He didn't have anything aside from it anyway. 

His family rarely ever talked to him, not because they didn't like each other, but because both of his parents wanted him to do well in the sport and not get distracted. If he were to stop figure skating, his parents would be disappointed in him. 

They never had a lot of money, and what they had, would always go into Sunghoon's skating lessons, new skates or the trips to competitions. It has only been around a year since he started earning money through the sport he once called his passion. 

He missed it, the feeling of the unconditional love between him and the ice as he glided over it, feeling the cold air in his face, giving him the impression of freedom. It was beautiful. Now he just used it. Used it to win another competition. Used it to impress the people around him. Used it to compensate for the lack of excitement in his daily life. 

He felt ashamed, but nonetheless, he never changed anything about it. Too afraid of the reaction of others, too afraid of his parents, too afraid of his own pathetic self. The person behind the nickname of "the ice prince". Park Sunghoon. Just a lonely, 17-year-old boy from Korea, that was nothing without the sport he did. 

"Are you distracted again, Sunghoon?" the man on his right asked, as he watched the boy just stand on the slippery ice. 

"Just bored", the younger bluntly replied, without really caring about the consequences of it. He had started to become unnecessarily rude when no cameras were around. Maybe just another way to cope with his life. 

"Does my training bore you? Do you want to have another trainer? Or do you just think you are already good enough to beat everyone in future competitions?" the trainer snapped back at him, slowly starting to get annoyed at the attitude he was giving him for about 2 years now. 

Sunghoon was exceptionally talented. If he wasn't, the trainer wouldn't have coped with his behaviour for so long, but there was just so much disrespect he could take. Maybe he also hoped, that one day the old Sunghoon would be back. The young boy that loved the ice more than he loved anything else. Back then, only thinking of it made Sunghoon smile and jump around in excitement, now he felt like he needed to drag him to practise every morning. 

Maybe, he finally needed to help out to bring the old Sunghoon back. Things weren't going to fix themselves, at this point he was sure of it. 

"Just tell me what to do so I can win another shitty medal", Sunghoon gritted his teeth and sat down on the ice.

"Well, you know what? I won't let you compete in the next competitions until you find your connection to the ice again. This behaviour will only break you if you aren't broken already."

"Oh fuck off, what kind of trainer are you?"

"One that cares about his students."

"Oh give me a break old man. Your job is just as much of a joke as you are. I learned this shit by myself, you just watched and told me what I already knew. I could exchange you in a second, hell I could even be a better trainer myself."

Hearing that hurt. It really did. Like crazy. The boy that he practically raised, told him that he wasn't important to him, that he didn't need him. 

"If you really think that way, prove it to me then. I am going to give you 3 months to make someone who can't skate, win a competition. I will do the same. If you win, I will let you do whatever you want. If I win, you'll never talk to me like that again and actually do what I tell you. Deal?"

Sunghoon started laughing, but when he noticed that this wasn't a joke, he grinned at his trainer. 

"If it makes you happy, then yeah. Why not. We have a deal, old man", he mocked as he shook the other's hand. 

"I'll see you today at 5 o'clock at the public ice rink then", the man let the younger know before disappearing from the ice. 

Sunghoon scoffed in disbelief about the bet he just made. This is going to be easy, he thought to himself as he started warming up for practice.

 ___

New story, this time in English. Correct me if I make mistakes please^^ 

Also, I don't really know a whole lot about figure skating, so if I write bullshit, tell me and I'll try to fix what I can- without changing the story of course. 

I know that 3 months is not really enough to participate a (serious)  competition, even with a lot of practice (at least I think so xD) but this is a FF so it's okay.

Btw. at this point of time, I-Land is still going on (ep 9) and I don't know if he is going to be in the group- even though I'm almost sure of it. Anyway, he is my bias so I thought I will write this story about him:) 
I had the idea for a while already and originally planned to write it about Hanyu Yuzuru (literally the best figure skater ever) but I changed my mind hehe. 

Hope you like it<3