Detroit, Michigan, USA

Yūri felt her palms sweat as she rubbed her fingers together. Celestino was right there, watching Phichit skate and offering advice where it was needed. In a few minutes, all she had to do was walk up to him and tell him she wanted to go to Korea for a few days. And yet… "What if he says no?" Yūri hissed to Venus.

"Yūri, he'll say no if you give him a reason to," Venus said, placing her hands on her hips. "And he can't even if he wanted to."

"What if he makes you refund the tickets?"

Her friend looked at her sternly. "I. Won't. Let. Him."

"Take a break, Phichit!" Celestino called out.

Venus patted her shoulder twice before giving her an encouraging shove. "Go."

Yūri swallowed and walked right past Phichit, who was busy putting his skate guards on. Celestino hadn't even looked up from the papers he had in front of him. She considered leaving him alone so he could read them properly but she knew that Venus would send her back, most likely pushing her the whole way. "…Coach Celestino?"

Celestino looked at her. "Oh, Yūri. Is something wrong?"

"N-no," Yūri replied. "Well, I wanted to ask you something."

The Italian man blinked at her. Yūri was beginning to worry that Celestino could see right through her. That the whole idea was doomed from the start. "You don't ask anything from me very often," he said.

Yūri didn't say anything to that because Celestino said it like she was supposed to bother him with questions. She didn't know how everyone else could do it so easily. Most people hated to be bugged by countless questions. "I was wondering if I could take a small break and go to South Korea for a few days."

"To Korea?" Celestino looked more surprised by her intended destination than by her request. "What made you want to go there all of a sudden?"

"W-well, it's the World Championships for short track speed skating and I—"

"Ah." Celestino nodded in understanding. "He Long is going to be there, isn't he?"

"Yeah, and I was thinking of going to see him," Yūri finished.

Celestino looked away from her, sitting silently. Yūri was suddenly afraid that he was going to refuse and that she would have to produce the tickets and ignite his anger. Why else wasn't he saying anything?!

"That boy would definitely be happy to see you there," Celestino finally responded.

"Huh?" For a moment, Yūri thought she was dreaming. Was Celestino giving his approval?

"He came all that way to Sochi to see you," he continued, looking at her again. "It's only fair that you should return the favor. I think it would be good for you to get out of Detroit right now."

"Really?" Yūri was confused by the last part. What did he mean 'right now'? "What's happening?"

Celestino waved her over to his side and tapped on the papers. Yūri took a look and realized they were the scoresheets for her programs at the Four Continents. 3A+1Lo+3Lz was circled as well as 4F(under-rotated).

Wait, what?

"That was an over-rotated triple," Yūri said. She knew for sure that she had gone past a quarter rotation of a triple flip. Yūri thought she landed at the half mark.

"You give yourself less than you deserve, Yūri," Celestino said. He pulled out his phone and opened it to a video, one that Yūri recognized as her free skate at the Four Continents. Celestino had paused the video just before the slow motion replay of her jumps. There was the triple jump combo that he had wanted her to learn. She recognized the takeoff for her triple flip. In the video, she rotated at least three times in the air but kept going. One quarter past the half mark, she finally landed but immediately stepped out. "That was three quarters, and the judges treated it as an under-rotated quad flip."

"But that's…" Yūri was at a loss for words. She knew from Phichit's earlier video of her decking the landing for a quad toe loop that she could do a quad. But to have landed an under-rotated quad at a competition? She might as well have set off a signal flare. Quads were frequent in the men's division, but practically nonexistent in women's. The only woman who had ratified a quad in history was her fellow countrywoman, Miki Ando, and she was a junior skater at the time.

And yet…for an under-rotated quad, Celestino didn't seem very happy. "There's something wrong with that, isn't there?"

"No!" Celestino shouted too quickly. "Not with the quad, but…" Her coach sighed in frustration. "Ever since the Four Continents, the parents of my female junior and novice skaters have been up in arms. I've been trying to convince them that I'm not playing favorites."

"You're not!" Yūri blurted before she could stop herself.

"Thank you, Yūri," Celestino replied with a grim smile. "But the American parents aren't so understanding. It's not that I don't want you to land a quad—I want to see you land one and ratify it," he added.

"They just want their daughters to land one before me," Yūri guessed.

Celestino nodded at the same time his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and groaned. "You should go to Korea, Yūri," he said, thumb hovering over an icon. "But I won't go easy on you when you come back."

Yuri smiled in relief. Yet as she walked away and Celestino answered his dreaded call, she couldn't help but feel angry. Over an under-rotated jump, a bunch of adults who had no right to her life suddenly thought they could dictate what jumps she could do and when. That was so…so…

Stupid!

Even so…she should have heard about her feat on her social media apps. Then she remembered that in her determination to win the Worlds, she had neglected her social media for a while. Come to think of it…

"Phichit." The Thai skater looked up from his phone. "Did Ciao Ciao tell you to keep me distracted so that I wouldn't look at my phone?"

Phichit looked uncomfortably guilty and Yūri knew that she had hit the nail on the head. Why else had Phichit showed her pictures and memes so frequently after the Four Continents? "It wasn't just me," Phichit admitted. "Venus did it the best."

That explained why Venus seemed to swoop in as Yūri was about to open her SNS during the days following the Four Continents. The female pair skater had given her phone to Yūri asking for her help on difficult levels of Candy Crush. While it irked her that Celestino had gone behind her back in an effort to distract her, she was glad for that. She was thankful for him. Seeing the reactions probably would have ruined her focus leading up to the Worlds. "Can we look at the replies together?"

"Sure." They sat together on the bench, huddled over her phone. There were over ninety-nine notifications on her social media. It was time to face the music.

{OH MY GOD! IS THAT A QUAD FLIP? #4cc fs #yuri katsuki #quad flip}

{It's a quad! #4cc #yuri katsuki #quad flip}

There were a lot of comments like that. Then came the more realistic users.

{It's not a quad. She missed a quarter turn so it's under-rotated #4cc #yuri katsuki #attempted quad #sorrynotsorry}

{She can try but she'll never land a quad for real #girlsdontdoquads #sorrynotsorry}

{ xxxx [photo] Just like how you'll never get laid no matter how much porn you suscribe? #sorrynotsorry}

{This comment was removed due to inappropriate content}

{Dude, what is wrong with you?! You're such a sick f*!}

Phichit scrolled past the rude and inappropriate comments when he found them, but he had been too late in ignoring the earlier ones.

Sara Crispino

Congratulations on winning
the 4CC, Yuri!

Mila Babicheva

Wtg Yuri! Show them who's
boss!

Yuri Plisetsky

[screenshot of judges' results]
The ISU cleared it. It's official.

JJ Leroy

JJ Style here to send best
wishes to Yuri Katsuki! Congrats
on the almost quad!

Yūri felt her heart warm at the amount of congratulations that poured in from her fellow skaters. There was even one from Mila's youngest rinkmate, Yuri! She didn't think she had made an impression in Sochi for the teen to remember her, much less support her.

Christophe Giacometti

Nice job on the quad flip!
Wait till Vitya hears about this!

"Oh…" Her heart plummeted when she found Chris' message. That was when she remembered that the quad flip was Viktor's signature move. Viktor Nikiforov, the skater who ratified the quad flip and the only skater in the circuit capable of pulling off that jump. Viktor, the untouchable god of the ice, and Yūri had basically trespassed on the god's territory. "Oh no..."

How did Viktor feel about all of this?

He probably hates her right now.

And why not? The quad flip was practically his trademark, and Yūri had just infringed on it. He had every reason to hate her for trying to steal his signature move—even though the thought of it never even crossed her mind. Viktor had so many gold medals to his name and Yūri was a dime-a-dozen figure skater who arrived late to the scene.

And the thought of her idol hating her…that…that…

That terrified her.

Venus had taken care of the trip to and back, but her friend had warned her that the accommodations were all on her. Yūri wouldn't have had it any other way. The pair skater had already given up so much to get her to Seoul. A few days before she was set to fly out, Yūri had searched on her laptop for hotels within range of the Mokdong Stadium, where He Long's World Championships was set to take place.

But which one was he staying at? She knew that she couldn't stay at the same hotel as him or as the reporters. She'd give herself away in no time. Yūri wanted to surprise him, the same way he had at the banquet in Sochi.

"You could always ask," Venus mumbled sleepily from her spot on the couch, Porco Rosso playing on TV.

"I only know so much Korean as it is!" Yūri reminded.

The female pair skater snorted. "I meant the Shanghai Dragon. I'm sure he'll be glad to share."

"He'll know exactly what I'm up to. Besides, how exactly does one say, 'By the way, where are you staying?' without giving themselves away?"

"Dun…no," Venus yawned. "Same way you didn't tell him about the odd card in the roses you got?"

Yūri shivered violently. Days had passed since her free skate, but the card's message disturbed her to no end. Coupled with roses, it could have been a typical love note if it weren't for the block letters. The use of that particular script had scared her. "…I don't want him to worry about me so much."

"He's your man. He's supposed to worry," Venus insisted as Porco rounded on Fio on TV. "He's probably worried right now. I mean, if a bunch of online users could see you looking scared when you picked up that bouquet, what makes you think the Shanghai Dragon didn't notice?"

It felt like a fire had been lit in her mind. Come to think of it, after the Four Continents, He Long had called her up and congratulated her for defending her title. She knew that he had to have seen her programs and yet…he never said a word about the moment she had been terrified by a seemingly harmless bouquet. Venus had noticed right off the bat that something was wrong and tossed the offending bouquet into the trash when the cameras were off of them.

Yūri had assumed that he didn't want to ruin the joyous occasion, but it had been a week since then. Venus had taken action as soon as Yūri stepped off the ice. Why hadn't He Long said anything?

Her phone rang, the caller ID one that she was familiar with. "Hi, He Long," Yūri greeted.

"I rest my case," Venus said loudly.

"Is Venus there?" He Long asked.

"Where else would I be?"

"You're flying out to Seoul soon, aren't you?" Yūri asked.

"Tomorrow," he agreed. "It gives us time to check in, tour the city, and get mobbed by the local fans before we have to skate in the preliminaries."

"Are you staying in one of those skyscraper hotels the city built just to show off?"

"I swear, practically everything there is a skyscraper," He Long said. "Thankfully, we're staying at—" Yūri couldn't believe her luck. He had just told her where he was staying that easily. She pulled up a tab with the name of the hotel just so she wouldn't forget about it. "It's supposed to be on the smaller side," he added, though the added emphasis showed that he didn't believe it for a second.

"And Viktor's still not there, is he?" Yūri wondered.

"No," he agreed. "He's taking a break to raise his daughter. And why not?" Yūri remembered how dismayed her boyfriend was to find that his idol wasn't competing this season. She remembered how excitedly he had showed her the Instagram post that surfaced of Viktor Ahn with his newborn daughter.

"And…does it ever make you wonder about your sister?"

There was silence on his end. Yūri was suddenly worried that she had crossed a line. "I've been thinking about that," he finally said. "When the season is over, I'm thinking of returning to Shanghai during the summer. That way, Hui Yang will know who I am."

"That sounds good," Yūri noted. The age difference between the two was large enough that any interactions between them in the future were bound to be awkward. Their relationship didn't need to strained further by physical distance.

"What about you? Aren't you going back to Hasetsu after your World Championships?"

"Yeah. I've been away from home long enough." Too long, in fact. The NHK Trophy wasn't enough of a reunion. Both sides wanted the moment to last longer, but Yūri had to return to Detroit. So when the World Championships were over, Yūri would return to her hometown by the sea, hopefully with a medal from the Worlds to give to her parents.

"I'm sure you'll do well," He Long said. Yūri wondered if he had managed to hear her hopes for a medal. "You're the Four Continents champion and you almost landed a quad. How many women right now can say the same?"

Yūri felt her heart warm at his encouragement. How did he know just what to say to make her feel better? "Thank you, Long."

"Since you won gold at the Four Continents—" Yūri braced herself for the inevitable. He Long had seen her reaction to the bouquet and now he was going to ask about it. "—that means I can't slack off at my Worlds," he finished.

Or maybe not. "Just don't push yourself too hard," Yūri reminded, blinking in surprise.

"Sorry, Yūri. I'm afraid I can't do that." Of course he couldn't. Neither could Yūri. After the Four Continents, Yūri had been brutal to herself just so that she wouldn't disappoint anyone when she returned to Japan for her Worlds. And now she was trying to tell her boyfriend to be good to himself when his own World Championships were right around the corner?

"Then remember that Sjinkie Knegt isn't the best role model."

He Long howled in laughter on the other end. It had been two years since the European Championships for short track speed skating where the aforementioned skater had thrown double fingers at Viktor Ahn. It still amused the Chinese skater to no end. "I have to go. The national coach is trying to get us to break our personal best for the relay event."

"Good luck on that."

"I have you! What more do I need!"

When the call ended, Yūri lowered her phone. She was all he needed, huh? But was that enough?

Speed skating involved multiple events and if one was lost, there was always a chance of a medal at another. Short track was no different. And He Long always came out of his competitions with at least one medal to show for it. Figure skating was nothing like that. In each discipline, there were three medals to be won at any competition and if it was lost, that was that.

He was the Shanghai Dragon and the pride of China while Yūri was a late bloomer. Was she really enough for him?

Seoul, South Korea

Before she got off of the plane when it touched down in Seoul, Yūri pulled her medical mask over her mouth. If she had any fans in Korea, they were likely to be few. Korea had their own skaters to love. But she still had to be careful.

One thing she noticed about the hotel she was staying at was the mix of Koreans and foreigners in the lobby. Yūri felt at ease knowing that she wasn't the only one in the country just for the World Championships.

As soon as she checked in and dropped off her luggage in her room, Yūri hurried out. It was the first day of competition, so they were deciding who would move on through preliminary heats. Yūri could only hope that she had arrived in time to watch the qualifiers.

Tutorial

"Hi, everybody!" Chibi Yūri greeted. "You probably don't know a lot about short track speed skating so let me bring you up to speed!"

She pulled out a chalkboard from nowhere and began to write on it. "In short track speed skating, preliminaries are set up to decide which skaters will move on to the next round and eventually compete in the finals. Since there are so many speed skaters, a certain number of skaters are allowed to race at once on the ice to make the process go faster. Here at the World Championships, how you place in the individual events decides how you place overall." Chibi Yūri stepped back from the chalkboard to display her work.

1st 34pt

2nd 21pt

3rd 13pt

4th 8pt

5th 5pt

6th 3pt

7th 2pt

8th 1pt

"In the finals of the individual events, you earn points based on how you placed," Chibi Yūri continued. "There are four events—not including the team relay—and whoever has the highest combined score is the overall champion, much like how figure skating decides the winners by their combined short program and free skate scores. In the 3000m super final, the leader after the first 1000m earns five extra points."

[{photo} Is that Katsuki Yuri?]

{WHERE IS THIS?}

{Why is she in Seoul?}

{Yuri-unni is here!}

{I want to see her!}

{Idiots. It's not her. It's some girl with plastic surgery}

{The doctors did a really good face job}

{It is her! That's the jacket she wears when she's not at a competition!}

{…should I be concerned you know what clothes she owns?}

{But why is she in Korea?}

{Isn't it obvious? She's here to see Yuan He Long}

The stadium wasn't as packed as she thought it would be. Sure there were people, but there were still so many empty seats. Either Yūri had come too late or people cared more about the semifinals and the finals. The front row of seats in the section that Yūri entered was void of people that she was able to freely choose a seat close to the ice.

All of the skaters on the ice at the moment were women, each wearing a skin suit with different colors to represent their own nation. As they left the ice, Yūri was suddenly worried that the heats were finished and the day was over.

Her fears were swept away as four male skaters made their way onto the ice, some warming up by skating a slow lap. Yūri could easily identify the skaters from the Netherlands and China by their colors. Dark blue was either Korea or the USA. Judging by the brown hair and the dark goggles on the Chinese skater, he was likely one of He Long's rink mates.

"Go to the start." All four skaters lined up at the starting point, picking the front of their long blades at the edge of the line. "Ready." They leaned forward, much like track racers anticipating the starting pistol.

It happened so quickly that Yūri almost didn't catch it. The skater from China moved forward a hair of a second before the pistol sounded. The others followed China's lead and sprinted before all of them slowed down at the blow of a whistle. "False start!"

Yūri bit her lip as the speed skaters took one lap around the ice at a leisurely pace. He Long once explained to her the things that could get a short track speed skater disqualified from a race. Unsportsmanlike conduct was one of them, as demonstrated by Sjinkie Knegt years ago. A false start was another. After the first, if the same skater instigated another false start, they would be disqualified for cheating.

"Number 8, you have one false start," the announcer called. The Chinese skater wearing the number 8 on his helmet nodded in the direction of the announcer. He held his hands clenched behind his back, his mouth a thin line that held back his shame.

"Go to the start." The men lined up again, edging the line with their blades. Unlike figure skating blades, speed skating blades lacked the toe pick since it would only hinder their performance. "Ready." At the sound of the gun, the skaters took off, crouched low as they leaned to their left to take the turn. China's skater was currently in fourth. The first false start probably made him wait a split second too long after the gun sounded.

If the bell had sounded after the half mark of their third lap, Yūri would have known that this was the 500m heat. When they continued even after the four and a half mark, she knew that this had to be either the 1000m or the 1500m heat.

China's skater, now impatient, moved away from the inner edge of the track and sprinted down the outer lane. As they approached the curve, China crouched low and leaned left, suddenly in second place.

Korea was as desperate to move onto the next heat as China, if not more. Korea's skater was on home territory and definitely would not accept defeat. Currently in third, the Korean skater mimicked China's earlier move. But he lost his footing at the curve and slid across the ice, crashing into the soft barricade that encircled the rink.

Yūri hissed the moment Korea hit the barrier, but the other three skaters hardly took notice. Yūri didn't know why she expected them to do so. Speed skaters never looked back, after all.

After the eighth lap, a bell rang loudly. So it had been the 1000m. Now desperate, the remaining three sprinted but the Netherlands and China were neck in neck. They bolted across the ice, matched in speed until the first curve where China managed to steal the first position. Hungary was doing his best to catch up and South Korea was trying to make up for lost time. China bared his teeth in a triumphant smile after he and the Netherlands took the final curve.

Yūri leaned forward until she held the guard rail. The brown hair on skater #8 had thrown her off, but the sneer on his face as he approached the finish line was unmistakable. Even with a pair of dark goggles covering his eyes, she knew who he was.

The Netherlands and China were greeted by applause as they crossed the finish line, slowing down now that the heat was over. They would move on to the next round. Skater #8 took off his goggles, his familiar face flushed with exhaustion and pride. South Korea seemed to love him.

Yet as he waved to the crowd, he stopped and squinted. Something had caught his eye. Then Yūri realized that he was looking in her general direction.

He Long got off of the ice so that the next group of skaters could race. As fast as he could on his skates, he made his way around the rink. "Yūri!" he called.

Yūri leaned over the guard rail while He Long rushed past fans and spectators looking for an autograph. When he was within reach, He Long engulfed the upper half of her body in a hug that she returned as best as she could in her position. She could hear the audience cooing and aww-ing at them, but neither could bring themselves to care.

It had been too long.

[Photo of Katsuki Yuri and Yuan He Long at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships]

{Yutsuki is alive! #yutsuki #my ship}

{They look so adorable together! #yutsuki #couplegoals}

{He'd better be good to her. If he pulls the same shit as the hockey player Kim Yuna dated #heisdead}

{Not likely. Have you seen these two?}

When the skaters were dismissed for the day, He Long came out to the lobby with his duffel bag. He grabbed Yūri's hand and whispered, "Let's go."

The two ran past fans and skaters. A reporter called out to He Long but he barely gave a thought to the man. They finally slowed down at a stoplight, taking deep breaths before He Long started laughing. "I-I'm sorry," he gasped, leaning against the pole. "I just can't believe you're really here. I thought I was dreaming." He Long rested a hand on his thigh. After the heats he had to race through, Yūri was surprised that he still had the energy to run.

"Your hair faded," she said without thinking. Yūri felt hiding in embarrassment. This was their first reunion since December and of all the topics she could have picked, she chose to talk about his hair.

He Long reached up to his head and patted his hair. "I haven't had the time to dye it since I came to Shenyang."

"I didn't recognize you until the end of the race because of it," Yūri admitted. "And with the goggles, I thought you were one of your rinkmates."

"What?" He Long squeaked with a look of horror. "I can't believe my own girlfriend didn't know who I was!" he whined dramatically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" Yūri stammered. "I just got so used to seeing you with red hair and clear goggles!"

He Long held his face in one hand. Yūri was afraid of the thought that he might be mad at her. "Stupid Shen."

"Who's Shen?"

"One of my rinkmates," he explained. "We were training for the 500m sprint at home and he took me out with him when he wiped out. We sprained some fingers—"

"Were you okay?" Yūri asked.

"Tomorrow I will be," He Long said, holding up his right hand to show his pinkie finger bound in bandages. "But the crash broke my favorite goggles and I've had to use dark ones."

When she had tried short track speed skating as part of his and Phichit's bet, Yūri didn't see what difference a pair of goggles made, so long as they kept her eyes from drying out. He Long, however, had worn clear goggles for most of his career and hated to break the streak.

"…how?" He Long looked up. "How did you get here?"

Throughout the time they had been together, Yūri had never been able to come to an actual competition to support him. They had been desperate college students, working to the bone to scrape enough money to pay tuition. And figure skating was an expensive sport. Even with her sponsors, Yūri barely had enough money to spend on herself.

"Venus got me the tickets," she answered. He Long tilted his head, surprised by her answer. "She wanted me to take a break before our—my Worlds," she corrected.

"Venus?" He Long repeated. "What about—wait, I forgot about her cousin," he added. "How is she?"

Yūri bit her lip. "Well, I don't know how to say it."

"Oh?" The pair walked across the street. Yūri had no idea where they were going but if she had to guess, He Long wanted to drop his stuff off at his hotel. "Did something happen?"

Yūri thought back to the night Venus had given her the tickets, when her friend had proudly declared that she wasn't going to the World Championships. She wasn't ashamed—no, Venus had said it as though she had proclaimed herself queen. "Venus is ending her partnership."

"Really?!" He Long exclaimed, looking at her in astonishment before looking back at the road. "She really said that?"

Yūri nodded slowly. "Celestino hasn't said a word about it. I'm wondering if he's trying to convince Venus to hold out till the end of the season."

He Long snorted. "Good luck. Once Venus sets her mind on something, she doesn't give up. But..." He readjusted his bag's weight on his shoulder. "I really did think that she would hold out longer. She doesn't like to call quits so early."

Once He Long had dropped off his things, he took her to a local ice rink. "Because you came all this way to see me, I can't let you skip practice!"

"But I didn't bring my skates with me!" Yūri cried.

"You can borrow a pair," He Long said. "I bet the staff would be happy to rent you one."

As it turned out, the staff at the rink was more than happy to do so. Yūri was the Four Continents champion and He Long was a well-known short track speed skater. Having two recognized skaters at their venue made them happy to accommodate them.

"W-what?" He Long stammered as he was asked for his size.

The woman's smile slowly faded into a look of confusion. "Don't you want to skate with your girlfriend?" Yūri knew that there was something she missed in translation, but she was sure the lady had just asked if He Long wanted to skate with her.

"No, no, no," he said, laughing nervously. "I'm a speed skater."

Unless Yūri was mistaken, the woman behind the counter pouted in disappointment as she handed over Yūri's skates. "Did she want us to skate together?" she wondered as she laced up the rented skates.

"She's a businesswoman," He Long sighed, resting his head on the rinkboards. "She probably thought us skating together would bring in more people."

Thinking back to her own father thinking of different ways to advertise their inn to bring in more guests, Yūri could understand why the woman wanted them to skate together. From one business to another, she knew what any staff would do to bring in more revenue. That didn't mean she was comfortable being used as a shill. "You know she didn't expect you to do jumps like a figure skater."

"I would have been terrible at it anyway. I'm a speed skater, not a figure skater."

"But you did make a good ice dancer," Yūri said quietly.

"Did I?" He Long looked up with narrowed eyes as he set his elbow on the barrier with his face in his hand. "Well, at least my feet stayed on the ice."

Back when Phichit and He Long made the bet, they agreed that whoever called uncle first had to admit the other's sport was harder. Of course, both of them were too proud to give up. Phichit endured aching thighs and sprained fingers just to have the chance to finally have one over his roommate. He Long almost called off the bet after seeing what the jumps did to his feet. The Thai skater definitely would have bragged for days on end if a student from one of the other coaches hadn't recommended ice dancing, which was still figure skating but involved no jumps.

(Phichit wasn't happy with the loophole at all, having called He Long a cheater among other things.)

{Guess who just saw Yutsuki at the local ice rink!}

{Pics or it never happened}

{[photo] He looks so happy just watching her!}

{It'd be romantic if they did a pair skate together}

{Not likely. Yuan is a speed skater}

{Then what about ice dancing?}

{A lot of work goes into ice dancing and you think Yuan can pick it up easily so they can act out your fantasies? Dream on}

"And this is the wall that protects Deoksugung Palace," He Long said as they walked along the ancient stone wall to get to Yūri's hotel. "Of course, walls aren't always good at keeping intruders away. Look at the Great Wall of China," he added with a derisive snort.

"I think it would have done some good," Yūri pointed out.

"All it did was make people think they were safe." He Long ran his hand along the stone wall as they walked together. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at a pair of girls not too far from them. They glanced at them not so subtly as they whispered in Korean. Yūri could hear "those two", "bad", and "how", but the rest of the words failed to register. She could guess that they were talking about how they were even together, and that she was a bad match for He Long.

She already knew she was, but it hurt hearing it from other people.

Whatever the girls said ticked He Long off. He narrowed his eyes as he called out, "Hey! Didn't your mother teach you it was rude to—?" Yūri didn't know how he finished his sentence, but he must have told them off since the girls flushed red at being caught. He Long threw a dirty look that sent them scurrying away before huffing in disgust. "Those brats. What gives them the right to assume that?"

"...what did they say?" Yūri asked in a low voice. It wasn't easy for her to hear what people thought about her, but she knew that one way or another, she would learn of their opinions.

He Long looked at her and at the wall before he shook his head and continued walking, this time at a faster pace that Yūri had to run after him. "Some superstition. Apparently, us walking down this road means we're going to break up."

"What?" This was the first time Yūri had heard of this. Well, seeing as using scissors on the day of a date and riding in a boat on a lake in Kichijoji were signs of bad luck for a couple in Japan, this shouldn't have shocked her too much. But what was so unlucky about this road? "Does it ever happen?"

He Long stopped abruptly and spun on his heel, making Yūri take a step back to avoid crashing into him. In the dark of the night, the shadows cast over his face gave him a darker appearance. With his amber eyes glinting from the lamp lights, he looked like a dragon closing in on its prey.

Yūri gulped. "L-Long?"

He leaned down slightly to meet her in the eye, but it did little to ease her initial fear. "I'm Chinese," he said coolly, "and you're Japanese. Even if it's true, why would a bunch of Korean ghosts want to haunt us?"

"But aren't you—?" Yūri looked down when his eyebrows rose, as if daring her to finish. "I-I didn't...I didn't mean..." The look on his face resembled one of annoyance, but Yūri could detect the anger underneath. She wanted to take it back and apologize, but feared what would happen if she said anything. Yūri was afraid that one more word from her would ignite his anger and she...she'd never seen him angry before. She didn't know if she could handle that.

She didn't want to fight with him.

"Yūri." Hands rested on her shoulders but did little to ease the tension she felt. Yūri looked up tentatively, relaxing when she found a pair of gentle eyes staring back into hers. "An old wives' tale can't do anything to us. Trust me, it's going to take more than some folk curse to make me get lost."

Before Yūri could respond to that, her phone rang. She fished it out of her pocket and found that Phichit was trying to FaceTime her. "Phichit?"

"Hey, Yūri," Phichit greeted, waving at them from the screen. "How's the Lucky Bastard treating you?"

"Phichit!" Yūri admonished as the so-called Lucky Bastard waved back to her rink mate.

"Your makeup any better, Phichit?"

"Not you too," she groaned, covering her eyes. Did they have to poke at each other like this?

"Way better than your hair styling skills, jerk!"

"That's enough for both of you," Yūri warned before He Long could retort. "How's Detroit?"

Phichit bowed his head as he rubbed his eyes. "Yūri...is there anyway you can come back early?"

"Huh?"

"Ever since you left, they've been so loud," he bemoaned, sticking a finger in his ear like he was trying to get something out. "I swear I can still hear them yelling at each other when I sleep."

"Them? What do you—oh." Yūri realized that there were only two people Phichit could possibly refer to who had been at each other's throats before she left. "You mean Venus and Giles?"

"Yes," Phichit groaned, looking up tiredly. "Yūri, I swear you had this weird magic spell that made them a bit tamer than this and the minute you left, they threw off the gloves."

"What's Celestino doing about it?" He Long asked.

"He's been thinking about sending them to couple's counseling—" He Long turned away and howled hysterically. Yūri tried to hold back her own at the insanity of the idea. "—yes, he actually considered counseling, but there's not much he can do since Venus dropped the bomb."

"You mean...You mean she finally—" Yūri couldn't bring herself to finish.

Phichit nodded grimly. "Venus is done with Giles."

American Pair Skaters Announce End of Partnership

Pair skaters Venus Jones and Giles Badcock have announced that they will not compete at the World Figure Skating Championships in Tokyo. In fact, the two will no longer skate together for the rest of the season. Their coach, Celestino Cialdini, stated that the decision to dissolve the partnership was made due to a lack of cooperation.

Jones is a Flint native who once received a suspension from the ISU...(Click to continue reading)

Yūri sat in the bleachers as she waited for the men's 500m final to begin. The 1500m final was over and He Long had finished first in that event, earning 34 points. Among his competitors, he was one of the favorites to become the overall champion.

"Starting in lane number one, from the Russian Federation!" The crowd roared and airhorns went off as the Russian skater waved to them. Even though they'd never been seen as a major threat in the sport before, in recent years Russia had become a powerhouse like China and South Korea. Russia had the latter to thank for that.

The atmosphere in the arena felt unreal. Yūri was used to loud but polite applause but that was figure skating. Here, in short track speed skating, it was loud, rowdy—chaotic, really. Etiquette was thrown out the window here. Yūri could have compared this to a street race (only because the apartment where she lived with Venus wasn't too far from a sketchy neighborhood).

"Starting in lane number four, from the People's Republic of China!" Yūri looked up as the announcer yelled, "Yuan He Long!" The audience exploded for him as He Long skated forward, placing his dark goggles over his eyes and adjusting his helmet as he took the spot furthest from the inner lane.

Once all of the skaters racing had been introduced, they were called to line up. "Ready." The men leaned forward, anticipating the starting gun. Once it went off, they sprinted as fast as they could, cheered on by the audience. This was the shortest event and even a split second made a difference.

As the skaters took the curve, the Hungarian man in front of He Long stuck his arm out. It was fairly common for speed skaters to extend their free arm out when they took curves, but the arm actually pushed against the Chinese skater and slowed him down slightly. No matter how he placed by the end of the race, Hungary would be penalized for impeding another skater. If He Long decided to stay in fourth or try to pass the others, neither would affect him badly in the long run. He was guaranteed a medal by the end.

There was always a place for him.

The same couldn't be said for her.

Yūri should have felt happy. She was happy earlier. By the end of the second day of competition, He Long was in the lead for the world title. She should have felt happy for him.

But as they wandered around Seoul, visiting memorable sites around the city, it gave her time to think, which led her to remember. That dredged up memories of the article that came out just yesterday—or today, due to the thirteen hour time difference. The article that announced to the whole world that Venus and Giles had finally ended their partnership, along with additional info about the former partners and their earlier histories. (What right did the editors have to remind everyone that Venus had been suspended?)

"Is something bothering you, Yūri?" The Japanese figure skater looked up, surprised to find herself and her boyfriend sitting on a bench. Then she remembered that the two had decided to stroll through a park.

"Well..." Yūri held up her phone uselessly.

"Still thinking about their split?" He Long guessed.

Yūri could only nod. "I mean, Venus is happy with her decision. I should be happy for her, too, but...I keep thinking that she'll retire," she admitted in a weak voice. Yūri looked down at her phone in her hands.

"Everyone retires from sports eventually."

"I know that...but I don't want her to retire so early...because of..." Yūri trailed off, unable to finish.

"Because she can't find a partner?" He Long guessed. Before she could agree, he continued, "Because of the suspension attached to her name?"

Yūri's head shot up and turned to face him. He Long flinched from how quickly she reacted. "It's so unfair!" she cried, holding her phone tightly. "She's an amazing skater and she deserves to win more than just bronze but that's all the judges will ever give her and anyone she skates with! All because she was suspended for something that wasn't her fault!"

"I don't mean to say you're wrong," he said slowly, "but I think the suspension is only half the reason your judges treat her poorly. I mean, they're looking for delicate princesses and Venus isn't—" Yūri narrowed her eyes at him, making him hold up his palms in surrender. "All I meant was that the judges are biased. Look at how they robbed Kim Yuna in Sochi!"

"Don't even start on that scandal," Yūri huffed, crossing her arms. Just like how He Long could never stop laughing at any mention of Sjinkie Knegt, Yūri couldn't get over how Russia's Adelina Sotnikova was somehow awarded gold over Kim Yuna. For weeks following the Olympics, both she and Phichit talked about the poor judging. Phichit had even ranted to his followers about it.

As they left the park, He Long stopped at a food stand. Yūri stood off to the side, admiring the pond's reflection. If the cherry trees were in bloom, she would have felt right at home.

"Y-Yūri?"

Yūri jolted at the sound of her name. The voice didn't sound like He Long's—this one sounded feminine. But why would anyone in Korea bother to learn her name?

She looked around until she saw a young Korean woman standing a few feet away with her hand over her mouth. Yūri furrowed her brow in confusion. "Do I...know you?" she asked hesitantly.

The young lady was also confused, like she didn't know why Yūri didn't know who she was. And that made her feel guilty because the other girl clearly knew who she was while Yūri didn't. But then she looked relieved. "No. You deserve better than to remember who I am." What surprised Yūri was that the girl responded in English, even though Yūri had asked in Korean.

"But that's not right," Yūri countered. "If you know who I am, I feel like I should know who you are." The girl before her seemed to consider it and opened her mouth.

"Yūri!" He Long came back, holding a bag. He stopped when he saw the other woman and bowed his head in greeting, which the woman returned. "And you are...?"

"I-I was just leaving. I'm sorry." She bowed in apology before she looked up. "Is this your boyfriend?" the woman asked.

"Yes," the couple answered in unison. The two looked at each other in surprise before Yūri looked away, her face burning lightly.

The woman looked at the two of them, a smile growing on her face and eyes glittering—were those tears? "I'm really happy for you, Yūri!" she said. "And I hope that you're happy with your boyfriend!" She bowed to them again before she looked at He Long. "But if he makes you cry, I won't forgive him!"

"What?!" Yūri cried. "Wait—!" But the woman was already running away from them.

"Who was she?" He Long asked. "And how did she know you?"

"That's the problem," Yūri admitted. "I don't know."

He Long looked from her to the direction where the woman had run off. "...Let's sit down," he decided, jerking his head towards a tented area just beside a food stand. "The jokbal I got is supposed to be really great."

Just from the aroma wafting from the food stand, Yūri could tell the food would be good. She bit into the meat, savoring the smoky flavor cooked into the pig feet—oh.

Oh.

So that's who she was.

The final day of competition for short track speed skaters was much louder than the previous days. Today, the overall medalists were going to be decided. The remaining individual finals, the 1000m and the 3000m, would determine the the placement of the skaters. Having placed first in the 1500m and third in the 500m sprint, He Long was in the lead with 47 points. She was so sure that he would win, but China's national coach had told He Long to watch out for Hungary and Canada's Charles Hamelin.

Yūri didn't blame his coach at all. He Long hadn't qualified for the 1000m final after he and an Italian skater wiped out in the quarterfinals earlier. And now the Canadian skater crossed the finish line first, to the audience's joy as they roared and honked air horns wildly. With Hamelin in second overall with 35 points, the 3000m super final was He Long's only chance to keep him in check.

And that was what was happening now. Since only the skaters who had earned points from earlier events could participate, eight skaters were out on the ice. Canada, China, Hungary, and South Korea: four countries, two skaters each. There were 27 laps to skate and the leader after the first nine laps would earn a five point bonus.

"Go to the start." The skaters lined up, two of them starting behind the rest of the men in front since there was no space for them. Being assigned the seventh position from the inner lane, He Long was one of them. "Ready." The starting gun went off and the skaters started slowly, lining up single file in the inner lane. Stamina was the key in this event. It wouldn't do to go faster than everyone else in the beginning only to burn out during the last laps.

The 3000m event was supposed to get crazy during the last five laps of the race. But one of Korea's skaters, emboldened by chants of "Dae-Han-Min-Guk!", sprinted ahead of everyone else. His team mate followed after him, leaving the rest of the skaters to pick up the pace. Yūri realized that the Korean skater who had bolted ahead had been after the five point bonus once the bell rang after nine laps and he was in first.

Now that the bonus was taken care of, the skaters were free to take their time. China was carrying the tail end of the race. When there were nine laps left, He Long veered into an outer lane and skated ahead, followed by Wu Dajing. Now they were in fourth and fifth place, but that wasn't enough for He Long. Looking at Dajing to his right, the two sprinted down the outer lanes to overtake Canada and Korea.

Unhappy with his new placement, one of Korea's skaters maneuvered past Dajing and He Long to take back the first position. With four laps to go, He Long returned the favor by sprinting at full speed around the track. The remaining seven skaters were left in his dust to pick up the pace.

Yūri swore that as Korea's Park Se-young caught up to him until they were side by side, He Long glanced at him, mouth curling into a sneer before he turned his attention forward and sprinted. The rest of the skaters matched He Long's speed, but separated by half the length of the track, they had to find their remaining energy to gain some distance.

Three laps to go...two laps...At the final lap, the sneer on He Long's face grew wider until his teeth were bared, much like a wolf ready to pounce. No, that wasn't right. He Long was the Shanghai Dragon. And that's what he was now: a dragon baring his fangs in victory.

After he took the final curve, He Long stood up and clapped his hands before throwing them up in the air as he crossed the finish line. The crowd erupted with him as he yelled triumphantly. Even Yūri couldn't stop the whoop she let out when he crossed the line. It didn't matter how he and the rest of China's skaters would place in the relay later. They could get last and even that wouldn't put a damper on him.

He had won.

After the men's relay event concluded in China's victory, Yūri waited out in the lobby for He Long. Just now, he had posted a group selfie of Team China holding up their relay gold medals in the locker rooms.

Without warning, Yūri felt herself being lifted off the ground as He Long grabbed her in a hug. The other people in the lobby, including his team mates, whistled loudly as He Long spun around while holding her up high. "I won!" he exclaimed, grinning widely up at her. "I won, I won!"

"Long, you can put me down!" Yūri placed her hands on his shoulders to balance her weight. "Aren't I too heavy?"

He Long let out a short laugh, like the idea was unfathomable. "Are you kidding? You're weightless! You're not even a pound!"

"That's not a good thing!"

"Do I care?" He set her down only to grab her hand and run out the doors with her, much he did on the first day after he found out she was here. She could hear his team mates calling after him in Chinese, but He Long didn't seem to care. Finally he stopped and spun around, taking it all in. "I feel like I own the world!"

After all the events he had to race in, Yūri thought that he would be exhausted. But the high of victory made He Long drunk with pride. He turned to look at her, wearing a wide smile as he closed the distance between them. "Now...what do you want to do, huánghòu?"

"What?" The foreign word was unfamiliar to Yūri, but she could recognize it as Chinese. "H-huánghòu?" she repeated.

"Empress," He Long said, still wearing that giddy smile. "It means empress. The Korean translation is hwanghu."

"But why huánghòu?" Yūri asked.

"Well, since I'm the emperor of my sport, I need an empress, don't you think?" He leaned forward until they were face-to-face. "So again: what do you want to do, empress?"

The whole situation felt surreal. He Long was now the overall world champion. She was dating a world champion. A world champion was calling her his empress.

He was the world champion in his sport and Yūri...what was she? She was the two-time Four Continents champion, but that title held nowhere near as much prestige as the world title.

With her own World Championships coming up in less than three weeks, Yūri resolved to train like crazy when she returned to Detroit. She wanted to get on the podium in Tokyo—she had to. Otherwise if she didn't...she wouldn't be enough for him.

Because what right did she have to stay with He Long if she couldn't get a world title like him?

Author's note:

There really is a superstition in Seoul that if a couple walks along the stone wall of Deoksugung, they'll break up in the future. It's because in the past, the road led to the divorce court.