━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

JIA

"Jia! You better be watching the women division instead of the men during the competition okay?" Mira said, reminding her the two division was held at the same day. 

Jia chuckled at her cousin. "Tuesday, second week of February." 

"What?! What do you mean Tuesday?! The competition is on Tuesday!" Mira said in disbelief. Jia's body froze when she found out that the finals was the same day as the competition. 

"I-I don't know what time the competition is so we're not completely sure I can't make it." Jia says, nervously. 

"By the way, how are you and Ahra? She got dumped and here you are planning to watch his performance." Mira asked. "And don't even make an excuse saying that you also want to watch me! I know you, Jia. You shouldn't have panicked that much when you found out the finals and competition were at the same day." 

Jia had to put her phone a bit away from her ears since Mira was starting to raise her voice and speak in the fastest way possible. 

"We're fine. I was actually planning on asking her if she wanted to watch with me. After all, you're also performing." She said. 

"Hm is that so? I doubt she would say yes though but there's no harm in trying right?" Mira said. "Well I have to go! I'm pretty sure I'm distracting you from your studies." 

Jia says her goodbye before dropping the call. She only had a week left to prepare for the finals and here she was at her kitchen eating the very last pudding from her fridge. 

She was really looking forward to watching his free skate and to think there was a big chance she may not see it made her a bit sad to be honest. Though it doesn't seem like it, Jia still maintained her distance from Sunghoon at school. She would often see him with his friends but usually she found herself isolating in the library. 

She convinced Jay to stay with his friends instead of wasting his time watching Jia study. He was stubborn of course but she was also stubborn hence why Jia is now alone in the library. 

Walking back to her classroom, she passed by Ahra who looked prettier than ever. She smiled at her and waved. 

"Still studying for the finals?" Ahra asked and Jia nods. 

"By the way, Mira's competition is next week do you want to watch with me?" Jia asked. "It's fine if you don't want, I understand." 

Ahra smiled. "Thank you for the offer but I think I'll pass but tell them my good luck." 

She nods. "Okay then." 

Jia had tutoring sessions after class. It kind of felt nostalgic for her as she remembered spending her after class hours with Sunghoon, teaching him lessons but also having to hear him complain about how useless the lessons was for his skating career. She missed teasing him about his inability to differentiate alchemy from chemistry. 

Once she opened the door to her room, her eyes immediately fall to the paper bag sitting at her desk. It was the gift she bought for Sunghoon. Though she didn't receive a gift from him that was no excuse to not give him a gift. Christmas is after all about the beauty of giving. 

It was a personalized wallet with his initials written on it. It was nothing too special but she did hope he would like it. 

"Heeseung, are you going to Sunghoon's competition tomorrow?" Jia asked, playing with her pen. The teacher had left them for a brief minute and she found it as a chance to ask him. 

He nods. "We can still make it if the math competition ends early. You're also going right?" 

"Yeah but I'm afraid we won't be able to make it in time for his free skate and I really want to see it." Jia frowned. 

He looked at Jia intently. "I've been meaning to ask, do you perhaps like Sunghoon?" 

Her eyes widened at his question. "T-That's not true, we're just friends." 

He chuckled. "Sorry for assuming. I just thought you did." 

Jia facepalmed herself for being too careless again. Sunghoon was absent for the day since he's practicing for the competition tomorrow. She really wanted him to win a gold medal. 

After all, the theme he was using is from Jia. 

"Jia?" Her father spoke while they were eating at the table. "Your math competition is tomorrow right? Isn't Mira's competition tomorrow too?" 

She nods as a response to his question. "I see. You're probably going to the competition right after the math competition." Her mother said. 

"Your grandmother would be delighted to hear this." He said. "I'm sure you've been studying."

"Yeah. The tutoring sessions was effective." Jia replied. 

"We haven't talked about your plans for College, where do you want to study Jia?" Her mother asked. 

Jia wanted to remain in the country to be with her friends and family but she also wanted to try studying abroad. "For now, I just want to see if I get in the schools I want to study at." 

"If you want to study abroad, I'm sure your aunties would be happy to take care of you." Her father stated. 

Dinner was finally finished and Jia found herself collapsing at her seat, staring at the paper bag in front of her. 

"Tomorrow, Jia. Just give it to him tomorrow." 

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"You're not even trembling, are you not nervous?" Heeseung asked next to her. 

The finals were now starting and all the finalist were sitting, waiting for the host to start the competition. It was seven in the morning and Jia was itching to run away and watch Sunghoon's competition but she was just digging her own grave if ever she pulled a stunt like that. 

"Nervous, of course. It feels weird sitting with geniuses." Jia chuckled. 

When the competition started, Jia found herself being amazed by how fast the other students were at solving such a long problem. Going back to her seat right after answering the question, she constantly made quick glances to her watch. 

Heeseung was now in the stage and was given a question. Him being the genius he was answered it with ease and returned to her side. The competition went on and Jia kept looking at the watch on her wrist. She didn't even realized an hour has already passed. 

It was down to 10 people already and they made it all the way. She looked at the competitors and they made a quick glance at her before looking away. Jia didn't know if she should be offended by that as it was clearly obvious they were avoiding her gaze. 

"They're probably intimidated by you." Heeseung says. 

Jia raises an eyebrow. "Do I really look that intimidating?" He nods as a response to her question. They were having a quick break as the last part of the competition was near. The winners were about to be announced. 

Although Jia and Heeseung were from the same school, there can only be one winner which means the two were competing with each other. She received a text from Mira saying their warmups was starting. The men division was coming first but she still had plenty of time before Sunghoon's free skate. 

"How long is this going to last?" Jia asked her teacher, taking a sip from the water she bought. 

"I have no idea." Her teacher shrugged. "Why are you in a hurry?" 

"Um I have to attend something after this." Jia answered. 

After the quick break, they were called to the stage where 10 chairs were present. The audience were filled with parents and teachers watching their children. Her mother told her she wanted to watch but unfortunately her schedule had no space for the morning but if ever she did win, she promised to make dinner reservations as a celebration. 

The winner would be determined by the student with the most correct answers. Currently three were leading with a total of 8 correct answers out of ten questions. It was between Jia and two other boys from a different school. Now a tie breaker was going to be held to determine the winner. Heeseung had 3 mistakes so he didn't make it to the cut. 

This time, Jia felt her cold hands trembling. The winner title was now within her reach and only those two students were blocking her from getting the title. The three stood up to go in front where three microphones were present. 

How long has it been since this started? Has the competition started already? Jia shook all  thoughts and drifted back to her mental notes of formulas. The final question was now being presented and Jia was computing it already in her head. 

But her thoughts kept drifting to a familiar face. It was no time to be thinking about him she was in the middle of a quiz bee but then a piece of paper with his writings showed in her head, freezing her on the spot. 

If you're reading this, that means you're studying. ( good luck, get that 100!! )

She slightly smiled and an surprising amount of motivation continued to fill her up. Soon enough she was reciting the answer to the microphone and hearing the host announce she was correct. The loud claps of the people deafened her and she was just standing there, surprised by what had just happened. 

Did... I just win? 

Jia shook hands with the two men who she was up against earlier and the host. She glanced at Heeseung who was clapping for her. She shook hands with the other students who were included at the top 10 and now the winner was being announced. 

The host spoke first thanking everyone who had joined the competition. Jia eyed the trophy and gold medal sitting at the table. The bronze medal was first given first to Heeseung who had seven points and silver medals were each given to the boys she competed with at the tie breaker. 

Now the host handed Jia the trophy and gave her the gold medal. She smiled widely at the host and to everyone watching. Right after getting off the stage and reuniting with the teacher, she swung her bag to her shoulders and grabbed the paper bag sitting right next to it. 

"Congrats Jia! I knew one of you were going to win!" The teacher says, hugging the two of them. 

"So are you going to run towards the competition? I'm pretty sure it started already." Heeseung said and Jia quickly nods. He lets out a hearty chuckle. "What are you waiting for? You should go now!" 

"Are you not going to the competition?" Jia asked. 

"Of course I am. I'll just arrive a little later than you." He smiled. 

Jia said her goodbyes to the teacher and she was allowed to go home considering she did say earlier that she had important plans after the finals. 

"See you there!" Jia waved at him and walked towards the parking lot where her car was. "If I get caught in traffic, I swear."

Turning the engine to her car on and setting her GPS up, she drove to the venue. Jia drove faster than usual but not too fast that she'll get herself stopped by a police. 

The venue was packed as expected but luckily she was able to find an empty slot. Leaving her trophy behind and shoving the gold medal to her bag, she made her way to the entrance with the ticket given to her in hand. She made her way to the seat where Mira was. Jia hoped she wasn't too late. 

Finally finding Mira, she immediately sat at the empty seat next to her while looking at the skater who was performing in the rink. 

"You made it! Sunghoon's free skate is second to the last so you can breathe." Mira explained. "His first performance was beautiful, you should watch the video." 

Jia nods. "Is that the first performer?" Mira nods. 

"By the way, congratulation on winning first place!" Mira said, slinging her arm around Jia's shoulder. "Our family really has some weird genes that make us incredibly talented." 

She snorted. Her eyes reverted back to the rink. The current skater in the rink was amazing but his moves was a bit stiff. Mira had informed her there were six competitors, so Jia still had to watch 4 performers before Sunghoon. 

"Even though it's not Sunghoon you're watching, you're still watching them intently." Mira says, watching her cousin who was too immersed at the performer in front of her.

"I find it amazing how free the performer look while gliding through the ice and the fact that they could tell a story with those movements." Jia explained, never removing her eyes from the rink.

Mira chuckled. "You really have a thing for freedom."

"Yeah, it must feel nice to be so free." Jia mumbled.

The fourth one's performance was coming to an end and so far the third was leading. If the fourth one gets an even higher score, he would secure a spot in the podium.

"Here he comes." Mira announced, watching Sunghoon skate to the center. His eyes wandered around the venue before looking down and posing. Mira softly chuckled and glanced back at Jia who stared at him. "Whipped."

Jia heard it but she chose to ignore what she said. And then the music started. A small smile crept to her lips while watching him perform in front of her.

Sunghoon had a smile on his face while gliding on the ice. His jumps were flawless and he moved with elegance.

Jia reminisced to back then when she had first saw his performance. She remembered the feeling of being unable to move, the feeling of warmth that surrounded her cold skin.

Last time she felt as if she was nothing but a speck of dust in the world he had created for himself but this time, it was as if only the two of them existed in a world where happiness only existed. A world free from pain and worries.

Youth.

Right, this was their youth. He showed the feeling of not wanting to let go of a time in his life where the truth about reality hadn't hit him.

"He first refused to move on from youth but right after finding a hand to hold, he found himself slowly accepting reality because he knew with this someone life would be better even with the hurdles thrown at him by reality." Mira's eyes widened.

A tear fell from Jia's eyes.

And that someone showed you the beauty of youth.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
AUTHOR'S NOTE :

so yes i'm sorry if this is a long chapter! actually it was supposed to be longer but i decided to cut it before i ruin the chapter any further.