Thirty seven

Yuuri felt like a miner, extracting information from Seun Gil one tiny morsel at a time. But his persistence paid off. He learned that the Korean was a math genius and could calculate his jump scores down to a tenth of a point in his head. He learned that, though he would never admit it in so many words, Seun Gil was afraid of women. They confused him and surprised him, and he hated being surprised.

At first, Yuuri had thought that perhaps what he needed was to overcome his fear of women, but the more he got to know Seun Gil, the more he suspected the man was asexual. So if that wasn't the problem, what was?

Since using him as a sounding board seemed to have garnered the best results in the past, Yuuri pulled up the chair next to Seun Gil as he ate and propped his feet up.

"If you get married, and no one knows, and then the person you're married to forgets about it, does it still count as a real marriage?"

Seun Gil swore in Korean and threw down his chopsticks. "What the hell are you rambling about?"

"Victor, of course," Yuuri waved his hand negligently. "I bet if I asked him to elope with me, he'd do it. Not here, obviously, but we could probably catch a plane to France or Sweden. No one would even know. But I'm not sure it would even be worth it."

"Nikiforov might be a forgetful person, but no way would he forget getting married."

"You'd be surprised."

"It's a foolish idea, anyways. Tying yourself to one person for the rest of your life. You have no idea who they will be in ten years, who you will be in ten years. So why make a hollow promise and have it made legally binding?"

"Y-you don't believe in marriage then?"

"It's an archaic institution. Marriage, especially arranged marriage, is the antithesis of what-"

"Arranged marriage?" Yuuri sat up, wondering if he'd finally gotten the last piece of the puzzle. "Are you being set up for an arranged marriage, Seun Gil?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes. At least, they're trying."

"But you don't want to get married that way."

"I don't want to get married at all. The fact that I barely know the woman has little bearing on the matter."

"Have you told your parents that?"

"They know my feelings about it."

"And they are still trying to make you?" Seun Gil's silence was answer enough. "Well, you're an adult, so it's not as if they can really force you." His words were met with an icy glare.

"I would think, being Japanese, you would understand the situation better than that. My father is the head of the family. It is my duty as his son to do as he wishes."

"Yes, but-"

"There are no buts. It's just a matter of time." He pushed away from the table and stood abruptly.

"Seun Gil, wait!" Yuuri rose as well, searching for the right words, or any words at all. "You can't just give up. There's always an answer. It's just like a math problem that needs to be solved. All you need is the right variables."

Seun Gil paused for a moment as if considering, then left the room without another word. Yuuri wished he knew what else he could say. Unlike Emil and JJ's problems, he didn't think this could be solved with a few pieces of advice. Perhaps the only thing he could offer was support and friendship. The problem was, any rapport he built with Seun Gil was lost at the end of the day. He had to start fresh gaining the other man's trust and getting him to open up. How was it possible to make any headway?

Frustrated, Yuuri went back to the rink to find Victor.