What am I to you?

by Purecinnamonbun

Victor has been mysteriously quiet lately, and Yuuri is feeling just the tiniest bit insecure. All of the Yuri On Ice ships have been wondering the same thing. What am I to you?

4. Chapter 4

Heyooo! Welp, my life has been hectic recently. And just so you know, yes, I will be making an excuse like that every time I don't upload for a bit. Ths chapter I'm going to be doing one of my Yuri On Ice OTP's: Seungchuchu. I spent way too long reading Seungchuchu fics, and I regret nothing. I'm going to finish up this story soon, and I'm thinking of doing a Seungchuchu Little Mermaid AU. SEUNG GIL NEEDS LOVE! As always, thanks for your support!
- Purecinnamonbun

Seung Gil moved slowly through the long passages and corridors of the rink. Another Grand Prix. Another mess-up. He hadn't stuck around to hear the scores- he missed too many jumps, stumbled on too much footwork. Seung Gil gave everyone he walked past his stoic, unaffected face, silently falling apart inside, wanting someone to see past his cold exterior. He didn't make the mistake he made last year. He didn't let a single tear escape. Due to an unfortunate….. incident, in his past , Seung Gil had decided that he couldn't trust anyone. If you gave them your trust, they would just stab you in the back. A vision came back of several years ago, when Seung Gil was still a teenager.

He and his friend, Rowan ( He was also a figure skater), were walking down the street, after a long practice that lasted until midnight. Then an arm had reached out and grabbed both of them, pulling them backwards into a deserted alleyway. A man stood there, his breath reeking of tobacco and illegal drugs, held a knifeto Seung Gil's throat, and demanded that Rowan hand him everything he had, otherwise Seung Gil would be a goner. At this point, Rowan had just smirked, a truly evil smirk, and said
"Doesn't matter to me if you kill him. He has all the money and everything of use. See ya."
And then Rowan had turned and escaped. Leaving Seung Gil. Seung Gil had nearly died that night. He would have, if a man hadn't walked into the alley at the last moment, his face shrouded in shadow. The man had let out a cry, and the mugger had dropped his knife and run away. When Rowan looked back, the man had gone. Seung Gil had vowed never to trust anyone again. He had moved rinks, kept on the down-low. A few years later, on the television, he saw that Rowan had quit figure-skating due to an injury, and said he'd never watch the GPF again. He made his senior debut the next year. Rowan still thought he was dead. Seung Gil was not going to change that. And that was how Seung Gil had got to where he was today. Broken, with trust issues that he wasn't going to try and fix. He trusted no one. They would all just betray him in the end.

"Seung Gil!"
Seung Gil hadn't realised he's stopped walking and zoned out until a voice called him back into awareness. He turned around, and was instantly looking into the eyes of the selfie machine Phichit Chulanont, who was standing way too close for comfort.
"What?" Seung Gil said, scowling. Usually his scowl alone was enough to scare people away, but Phichit just stood there, with his annoyingly bright smile.
"I just wanted to say well done!" Phichit grinned, and Seung Gil felt irritated.
"Why?" Seung Gil turned and started walking, and was annoyed when the other boy started jogging along next to him."I totally bombed it- I failed all my jumps"
"So? You still did well even if you didn't qualify. Everyone deserves a well done!"
Seung Gil was starting to get really annoyed.
"Yeah, well thanks for the pointless statement. I don't gain anything out of a well done."
Seung Gil started walking faster, but Phichit still persevered
"Yes you do! You're coming to dinner with me and the rest of the skaters, and I am NOT taking no for an answer. Come on!"

And that's how Seung Gil appeared in front of a chinese resturant, unsure whether Phichit had teleported him there or not. He was pretty sure you could not drag someone a mile that quickly, so Phichit must have some sort of mystical power. Seung Gil eyed Phichit warily. Was he a leprechaun?
"No, I'm not a leprechaun." Phichit said happily, casually shoving Seung Gil inside. He could read minds too?
"No, I can't read minds either. And by the way, I get you like thinking out loud, but calling me a leprechaun is very rude, and if I was anybody else, I would take offence. Ah, here we are!"
As Seung Gil unhappily took a seat at the table full of skaters, he decided he really needed to work on his brain to mouth filter.
"Why is Seung Gil here?" Seung Gil heard JJ ask Isabella in very loud hushed tones.
"Because I invited him!" Phichit laughed, bouncing on his seat "Are we ready to order?"

The rest of the night went without a hitch, and Seung Gil had to admit he had fun. The two lovebirds got drunk and got up to some strange antics, Mickey and Emil accidentally made their relationship public when they started making out, the little Yuri kept referring to Otabek as 'Otabae', and JJ had shrunk back into a corner, started crying and muttering about the 'end of JJ style', while Isabella watched sympathetically. And Phichit stayed sober and videoed and photagraphed the whole thing and uploaded it to Instagram. Seung Gil smiled softly and started to walk home. It was better to leave now than make fiends who would eventually stab him in the back.
"Yo, Seung Gil!," Phichit materialised next to him, and started walking with Seung Gil. "We're staying in the same hotel. I'll walk back with you!"
At this point Seung Gil knew not to argue, and simply go with it. So he mooched along, staying silent while Phichit came up with a string of endless chatter.
"And then I said, 'What've you got on me?', so he said.."
"S-s-seung Gil?"
Seung Gil froze. He slowly turned around and there behind him was unmistakeably Rowan.
"Y-y-you're dead!" Rowan croaked "t-t-that mugger killed you!"
Oh no. This was it. The end- Rowan knew, and now….
"Dude, who are you talking to?" Phichit asked Rowan
"S-seung Gil!" Rowan gasped, pointing "He's dead, he's supposed to be dead!"
Phichit turned, looked at Seung Gil, frowned and turned back
"Is this supposed to be some sort of prank?" Phichit asked suspiciously "There's no one there"
"GHOOOOOSSSSTT!" Rowan shrieked, and raced off in the other direction

As soon as he was out of sight, Phichit doubled over and started to split his sides laughing
"He-actually-believed-me" Phichit gasped between chuckles "what- a- wimp!"
"Last time I checked I was perfectly visible." Seung Gil muttered.
Phichit straightened up and wiped tears out of his eyes
"I know, but if he's the kind of person that thinks your dead, and if you were, you'd come back to haunt him, you two probably don't have the best relationship."
"Yeah" Seung Gil muttered almost inaudibly. He was thankful toward Phichit.

They walked in silence for a bit. Then Phichit said:
"Does this have anything to do with that time you were mugged in that alleyway?"
That caught Seung Gil completely off guard. He'd NEVER told anyone about that incident. Just told them never to talk to Rowan about him. They'd assumed he and Rowan had had a fight.
"HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!" Seung Gil spluttered. Phichit turned around and gave him a funny look.
"Erm, I was there. Yelled really loud?Chased that guy for miles as well! Caught him just off the high street and turned him into the police!" Phichit announced proudly, jabbing his thumb onto his chest.
That man who made the mugger run away then disappeared. Whose face he didn't see.
"THAT WAS YOOOOOUUUU!" Seung Gil screeched, leaping about a foot into the air.
"Yeah? I thought you knew?" Phichit scratched the back of his head "Wondered why you never mentioned it- thought I'd get a thank you at least. I didn't really mind though. So was that guy linked to that?"
"Possibly" Seung Gil said in a tone that meant end of conversation. Phichit caught on and they walked the rest of the way to the hotel in silence. Just before Seung Gil entered his room, he let out a grudging but sincere "Thanks. For… everything."

Over the next few months, Seung Gil started a cautious acquaintance with Phichit. He refused to call it friendship, and kept Phichit at arms length. Deep down he knew he was friends with Phichit though and kept feeling this….. weird fuzzy feeling whenever he thought about him. Phichit had somehow managed to obtain his number, and sent him text after text, selfie after selfie, meme after meme. Seung Gil didn't respond very much, but whenever he heard the familiar 'Ding!' and Phichit's name flashed up on screen, his heart felt like it was on fire.

Of course, at one point Seung Gil figured out what was happening, as he always did. He had spent the entire day in his room, silently mulling over the fact that he was in love with Phichit Chulanont. How it had happened. How Phichit had quite forcibly barged into his life, waving his hamsters around. Then when the Grand Prix finals took place, Seung Gil had just bought a ticket and flown over there without even thinking. It was good to see Phichit again though, even if Seung Gil had to fight a blush every time Phichit spoke to him. Phichit was his usual bubbly self, and even waved to Seung Gil when he was starting his program. It was the first time Seung Gil had ever cheered for another skater, and it was weird. When Phichit hopped off the ice, he pulled Seung Gil into a bone-crushing hug. Seung Gil froze, then tentatively hugged back. When Phichit was going to betray him, he might as well be in way too deep. He already was.

The final night of the GPF, they were walking back to the hotel that they were both staying at, both of them chattering. Well, more Phichit chattering and Seung Gil putting in the occasional word.
Then, as if fate wanted him gone, a knarled hand pulled them both into a deserted alley. An oldish man with rotten teeth and breath stinking of illegal drugs put a knife to Seung Gil's throat and said to Phichit
"Give me everything you've got, or 'es a goner,"
It was happening again. Seung Gil internally laughed bitterly. Life hated him. Now Seung Gil got to see the man he loved abandon him, leave him to die. Maybe this time, he wouldn't be so lucky. Maybe he wouldn't survive. Seung Gil shut his eyes tightly shut. He didn't want to see Phichit betray him. To see his happy extorior change into one of malice and contempt. To see Phichit walk away, knowing full well what was going to happen to Seung Gil.

Something hard and flat hit Seung Gil's cheek. In his surprise, his eyes opened, and focused on the ground. It was Phichit's wallet. Why would Phichit….? The mugger's eyes gleamed, and he loosened his grip on Seung Gil for a minute, reaching down for the wallet. Then a flying kick appeared out of nowhere, hitting the mugger smack bang in the painful parts. Then Seung Gil was being yanked backwards, a clammy, scared hand clamped around his wrist like a vice. The mugger forced himself up again, and Seung Gil could see his cold, beady eyes narrow, resolve forming. Before Seung Gil could duck or even scream, an knife came flying towards his face. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. This was it, he never got to say goodbye to his family, or even Phich-
An arm that was most certainly not his came flying in front of the knife, and Seung Gil heard it before he saw it- an awful skewering, slicing noise that made his stomach twist. Then blood slowly started to drip downwards, and Seung Gil was being pulled into a run, a pained yell of "Come on!" making his legs move. As he ran, Seung Gil's brain was slowly processing all of this information. He hadn't heard Phichit run. Phichit's wallet. When the arm had taken the impact, it was most certainly not his. Seung Gil ran and ran, having no idea where he was going.

Eventually, Seung Gil took a sharp turn into an alley, and collapsed on the dusty, cobbled floor, along with a warm, breathing, and and groaning in pain body. Seung Gil turned to face Phichit, and picked up Phichit's mutilated arm, examining it and wincing.
"I'm calling an ambulance" Seung Gil muttered. The phone call was a blur, and as soon as it disconnected, Seung Gil pulled out his cleanest handkerchief (Thank goodness he didn't believe in tissues) and slowly began to wrap it around Phichit's arm.
"You saved me." Seung Gil stated, as he wrapped, his mind whirling.
"That I did." Phichit replied, managing a lopsided grin. His teeth glinted in the darkness.
"Why?"
Phichit didn't answer, and Seung Gil didn't pry, continiung to wrap. They sat in silence for another minute before Phichit slowly asked
"What am I to you?"
Seung Gil hesitated before replying
"You are the first true friend I've ever had. You haven't given up on me, not when I pushed you away, not when I ignored your texts. You helped me get rid of a person I really didn't want to see, and heck," Seung Gil touched Phichit's arm gently "You even took a knife for me. The thing is, even though you're the truest friend I've ever had, I don't know if I want to be friends." Seung Gil felt Phichit intake breath sharply, then wince. He continued, slowly wrapping Phichit's arm."I think I might want to be something more."
"I was hoping you'd say that" Seung Gil heard Phichit whisper, then their lips were locked together and they were kissing. The kiss deepend, and when the ambulance lady found them, they sprang apart guiltily. She waved them off and assured them that she'd seen worse. Seung Gil came with Phichit to hospital, and knew that this was the start of something. Maybe, just maybe, he would start to be able to trust people again.

… Well THAT evolved quickly. It was SUPPOSED to be a fluffy little story about Phichit comforting Seung Gil after he bombed his competition, but NOPE! How did I incorporate muggers into this? Or trust issues? Or my terrible medical knowledge? ( you probably don't wrap a handkerchief around a bad open wound). Eh, whatever. I'm gonna go watch anime to make myself feel better.