Chapter 1: Dark Eyes

...The first time that Taehyung sees him, Taehyung is performing in front of hundreds of people....

...Showcase is a performance that the Korean national figure skating team holds every year for the public and as a member Taehyung has to create choreography and skate it in the showcase....

...Taehyung is toward the end of his performance, with only one jump left. Everything had gone beautifully this performance, but the last jump is the hardest. He swings his right foot backward and kicks off the ice to help him take off, spraying chunks of white everywhere as he leaps off the ground with the edge of his blade....

...He twirls four times in the air, his feet together and his arms tucked close to his chest. For a moment he holds his breath as he descends from the jump. He lands on his right foot, ice crunching beneath his skate, and he throws his left leg into the air to balance himself....

...The crowd cheers as he lands the jump and Taehyung smiles, secretly celebrating...

...Taking a deep breath of relief, the cold air burning his throat, Taehyung throws himself in the the final choreography. He relaxes now that the jumps are over, and flirts with the crowd as he spins and glides easily over the ice....

...As Taehyung spins in circles to the music, he throws winks at the crowd. He slides his gaze over the people and notices something in the corner of his vision. Over by the edge of the rink, where no spectator should be able to go, is a boy about Taehyung’s age....

...He is standing there, staring at Taehyung. Taehyung loses his breath for a moment, butterflies dancing in his stomach and making their way up his throat. Taehyung almost forgets his next move, but tears his gaze away from the dark haired boy just in time....

...He avoids looking over to the boy again as he does his final move, a combination spin. He stars with a camel spin, lifting his leg behind him as he spins slowly. Then kicking the ground to gain speed and twirl faster, he crouches down and brings his arms above his head, spinning close to the ice before twirling to a standing position. He brings his leg above his head and holding the bottom of his skate around the blade he spins until he slows....

...He brings his leg down with a flourish of his arms and he does a 180 to face the crowd, in time with the last beat of the fast classical music. The crowd erupts in cheers and Taehyung smiles. He lets the adrenaline course through him, feeling like a king as he takes his bows and picks up flowers from the ice....

...Once more he looks toward where the mysterious boy was, but he's vanished. Taehyung frowns to himself and can't help but feel disappointed. He moves off the ice, smiling when he sees his best friend Jimin jumping up and down squealing his name near the bleachers....

...…...

...Jeongguk watches the tan boy with red hair skate easily across the ice. The boy was obviously very good and Jeongguk was impressed with the quad Lutz he had pulled off flawlessly....

...As he watches the red haired boy smile and flirt at the crowd, Jeongguk gets a tickling feeling in his stomach....

...His grip tightens on the railing of the gate around the rink, his knuckles turning white. He takes one last look at the cute smile of the boy and the skin exposed by the sparkly outfit, then stalks off, leaving the rink....

...…...

...Taehyung smiles as Jimin jumps on top of him, yelling about how great his performance was....

...Jimin’s boyfriend, Yoongi, holds his fist out for a fist bump. Taehyung squeals at getting approval from grumpy Yoongi and over enthusiastically fist bumps him and pulls his best friends in for a group hug....

...Taehyung sits down to put his rainbow skate guards on and shrug on a jacket as Jimin chatters away, “I think that was the best performance I've seen from you! That last jump was crazy! You have to show me how to do it right when we get home!”...

...Taehyung laughs at Jimin’s excitement. Jimin skates for fun because Taehyung taught him when they first met two years ago, and he's pretty good....

...“You think you can handle it?” Taehyung asks teasingly....

...Jimin huffs and pouts. Taehyung acts cute for forgiveness and wraps his arms and legs around the shorter boy, careful of his skates. He holds Jimin in the tight koala hug on the bench and Jimin grumbles but hugs Taehyung back. Taehyung laughs and pokes Jimin’s cheek....

...“You should totally do that at the nationals competition.” Jimin says, “You’d get crazy points for that jump.”...

...Taehyung smiles at his awesome best friend who remembers all of his skating events. “I'm planning something even better than that.” Taehyung reveals, smiling secretively down at Jimin....

...Jimin groans, “I'm literally going to die of anticipation if you keep this up Tae! Let your best friend live!” He falls back against Taehyung dramatically, pretending to faint....

...Taehyung laughs. “You'll be the first person I show when the choreography is finished!”...

...Jimin looks up at him and holds out his pinky, “Promise?” he says in mock seriousness....

...Taehyung mimics the serious expression and links their pinkies. “Promise.” he says staring at Jimin. After a short staring contest they both erupt into uncontrollable giggles....

...Yoongi watches them with half asleep eyes, “Yah! I'm here too!” he whines....

...Taehyung and Jimin look at each other, and in unison, jump on Yoongi. The three of them sit together and watch the rest of the skaters, making comments here and there and laughing at their own jokes....

...At the end Taehyung talks to his coach and says goodbye to the team before leaving with Yoongi and Jimin. Taehyung forgets all about the handsome dark haired boy that was watching him with such passionate, dark eyes, until the next day....

...…...

...Taehyung is sore the next morning. His ankles hurt and his legs feel like they could fall off....

...He groans as his alarm rings a stupidly happy tune. Taehyung rolls over, his blankets getting more and more tangled as he reaches around for his phone on his bedside table blindly. When he finally finds it, he lets out a sigh of relief when everything is quiet again after he turns off his alarm....

...He cuddles deeper into his mound of pillows and blankets and calculates how long he has until Jimin comes into his room to push him out of bed like the disgusting morning person he is....

...He sighs and opens his eyes, blinking away the crust that had sealed them shut earlier. He stares at the plain white ceiling of the apartment he, Jimin, and Yoongi share. He feels bad thinking about it. Ever since Jimin and Yoongi started dating he feels like he had been an intruder in their apartment....

...They say it's fine and that he helps pay rent and they would probably be homeless without his income, but Taehyung knows they could handle themselves, and feels bad that he can't give them the privacy they need....

...Taehyung hops out of bed and gets in the shower, cursing his early schedule and asking himself why he does this as his muscles protest with every move....

...He has early classes because he has skating lessons and practice in the afternoon, and then he teaches kids in the evenings. He loves his job and loves kids so it's worth it (most of the time)....

...Taehyung gets out of the shower and throws on some black sweats, sandals and a white long sleeved shirt that he cut up himself. People criticize him for his horrendous fashion but Taehyung doesn't care enough to change his ways....

...Grabbing his keys and bag, making sure he has his skates, he heads to his first class at 8 in the morning....

...…...

...Taehyung's classes were uneventful and he’s happy to be heading to the skating rink. He has been working on developing his program for the national competition with his coach Seokjin and he is exited to start practicing. The Korean national competition is a skating competition that determines who will go on to represent Korea at the world figure skating championships....

...The preliminaries were two weeks ago and Taehyung had scored second under someone named Jeon Jeongguk. Taehyung had scored a 95.93 which was very good but Jeongguk had scored a 105.40. The current world record for short program is 110.95. Taehyung was more than a little worried....

...It irked Taehyung even more when he found out this Jeongguk kid was younger than him and has only been skating for five years. Taehyung is naturally very competitive, so he fully intends to kick this guy’s *** at nationals. To do that he needs the best choreography possible....

...Luckily his coach and choreographer, Seokjin, was one of the best, if not the best, in Korea. He has trained with Seokjin ever since he made the national team and he's like a father to Taehyung....

...Taehyung's usual schedule has him getting individual instruction for two hours, and then group instruction for another two. Seokjin helps coach the Team sometimes with the head coach, Namjoon. Somehow they know each other outside of coaching but Taehyung isn't sure what their relationship is....

...Taehyung wears simple clothes to practice, long sleeve under armor, leggings, and a sweatshirt with black gloves. His skates for practice are white, but he has tan ones for competitions. Walking inside the the rink is almost therapeutic with how the cool air hits his cheeks and cools his skin. Immediately Taehyung feels at home and when he sees Seokjin's tall form over by the rink he approaches the coach....

...Seokjin greets him with a hug, and fusses over him while he laces his skates, “How have you been? Did your showcase performance go well? Have you been taking care of yourself? If you need food just call me and I'll make you some, okay?”...

...Taehyung whines as Seokjin pinches his cheeks and Taehyung pushes the older man off him. “I'm fine! I've been well! You just saw me two days ago, Jin-”...

...“My baby could starve in two days! I have to take care of my children!” Taehyung laughs at Seokjin’s ridiculous hand motions as he frets over Taehyung....

...“Jin, have you finished the choreography for the second half of the program?” Taehyung changes the subject before he can be coddled again, finishing lacing his skates and putting his favorite rainbow skate guards on....

...Seokjin’s face lights up as Taehyung mentions the choreography, “Yes I did! I finally found some inspiration and I think this is the best routine I’ve ever come up with!” Seokjin almost stumbles over his words with how excited he is and Taehyung is elated....

...“I knew you would do your best for me hyung! Thank you!” Taehyung says excitedly and hugs Seokjin....

...Seokjin laughs and hugs him back, “Let's get out on the ice! I think this routine will definitely win you nationals and take you to worlds!” Jin and Taehyung step out onto the ice and as Taehyung sets his blade guards on the railing of the rink, he gets the feeling someone is watching him....

...He turns around to see a figure sitting on the bleachers, with dark hair partially covered by a hood, and dark eyes staring intently at Taehyung....

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