Chapter 33: Ren Xiyao's ice blade sliced ​​across the ice...

Ren Xiyao's skates slicing across the ice made a crisp, clear sound. She came to a sudden stop, her eyes squinting slightly behind her goggles. The temperature at the Mukdong Ice Rink at 8:30 in the morning was uncomfortably low. She had finished the Shanghai leg last week, and then immediately arrived in South Korea. Unlike the Canadian leg, where she came the same night as the Salt Lake City leg, she waited until Monday. After three legs, Ren Xiyao had mastered the rhythm of international competitions, managed her energy better, and was gradually recovering to her peak condition.

"One more set." The head coach of the Chinese team blew his whistle, his voice ringing out loudly in the empty ice rink.

Her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly looked away and focused her attention back on the training.

"Ready! On the road!" the coach shouted.

Ren Xiyao slid to the starting line and took a deep breath. Morning training is always the hardest; her body isn't fully awake, and her muscles feel as heavy as lead. Especially last night, they didn't finish training until almost 8 PM, and by the time they got back to the hotel, showered, and applied ice, it was almost 11 PM. Ice time at 8 AM this morning. She got up again before 6 AM to get ready and warm up.

The whistle blew, and she sprinted off. In the 500-meter event, her starting reaction time was among the fastest in the team, but today she was noticeably slower several times. Ren Xiyao gritted her teeth, forcing herself to focus on each start. However, the ice surface wasn't in good condition; after last night's open training session, the ice rink staff had clearly not maintained it properly.

As training ended, Ren Xiyao, panting, looked at the training data in the coach's hand, frowning slightly as she noticed the data wasn't good. She impatiently removed her goggles; the staff outside the training area were already urging her to hurry up.

"Take a half-hour break." Coach Jin glanced at his watch. "We'll head straight to the training camp later."

Ren Xiyao skated to the sidelines and took the thermos cup handed to her by the assistant coach. The feeling of hot water sliding down her throat made her a little more awake. She took out her phone from her down jacket and, sure enough, there was a new message: "Back door stairwell. Bringed you breakfast."

Her lips unconsciously curled into a smile, then quickly suppressed it. She greeted the coach and handed the things to Lin Shan. Lin Shan looked speechless. Ren Xiyao hurried towards the back of the venue. Pushing open the fire escape door, she saw Quan Zhilong sitting on the stairs, holding two paper cups and a paper bag.

"Why are you here?" Ren Xiyao asked in a low voice as she sat down beside him.

Kwon Ji-yong handed her a cup of hot lemon water: "I finished filming at three in the morning and came straight here." He had obvious dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes were bright: "You started too slowly."

Ren Xiyao took the lemonade, the warmth immediately transferring to her frozen fingers: "You've observed quite carefully, Coach Quan."

“I’m a professional,” Kwon Ji-yong raised an eyebrow smugly, then took out a sandwich from the paper bag: “Eat up, you guys will be gathering soon, right?”

Ren Xiyao wolfed down her food. She usually didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast before training, but today she was unusually hungry. Quan Zhilong watched her quietly, then suddenly asked, "Do you train at this time every day?"

“This week it is,” Ren Xiyao answered vaguely, “but it will change next week.”

Kwon Ji-yong frowned. "I looked at the ice skating schedule. The Chinese team is either scheduled for the earliest or the latest, and the intervals are very short." He paused for a moment. "This is not normal."

“It’s like that in every country,” she finally said, her voice calm. “When we went to Canada, the ice wasn’t good either.”

Kwon Ji-yong stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly reached out and wiped the breadcrumbs from the corner of her mouth: "This is not fair."

His fingers were warm, and when they touched her cold skin, Ren Xiyao trembled involuntarily. But she didn't flinch: "There's never absolute fairness in sports competitions. That's normal, everyone has their own selfish motives."

“Kwon Ji-yong,” Ren Xiyao interrupted him, this was the first time she had called him that, “Everywhere is the same. There’s no difference. So let’s not talk about this.”

Silence fell over the stairwell. Kwon Ji-yong's fingers tapped on his knees. Ren Xiyao knew what he was thinking. As a South Korean, he disliked such subtle gestures, but he couldn't say anything directly. As a Chinese athlete, she didn't need to discuss these things in front of him.

Many newcomers to competitive sports might think it's all about passion and skill. But the truth is, nothing in this world is perfect; too much purity leaves no room for error. Most of the time, competitive sports use a passionate facade to mask numerous problems. Some areas have more issues, others less. It just so happens that South Korea has a slightly larger number of them.

“Okay,” Kwon Ji-yong finally sighed and changed the subject: “I watched your match video in Shanghai. It’s amazing how quickly you’ve recovered your form.”

Ren Xiyao breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he didn't press further: "But we still lost by 0.27 seconds."

“I’ll win next time,” Kwon Ji-yong said with a smile. “My girlfriend can’t always be third.”

"I've noticed that you can be quite arrogant sometimes." Ren Xiyao nudged him, but couldn't help laughing.

Kwon Ji-yong suddenly leaned closer, close enough for her to smell the faint scent of his shower gel and a hint of tea: "Ran, do you think we're on a date right now?"

Ren Xiyao's heart skipped a beat. The fire escape was dimly lit, making Kwon Ji-yong's eyes appear exceptionally deep in the shadows. She instinctively leaned back, but the back of her head bumped against the cold wall. Ren Xiyao squinted. Then she raised her hand and covered Kwon Ji-yong's eyes: "Don't look at me like that. It's too much."

Kwon Ji-yong couldn't help but laugh, raising his hand to grasp Ren Xiyao's hand: "Ren, you look really funny when you're shy."

“Alright, I should head back now,” she said somewhat dryly, glancing at her watch. “Lu Xun’s training should be starting soon.”

Kwon Ji-yong didn't move, but looked at her seriously: "Wait three more minutes."

"no..."

"Two minutes."

"Two minutes," Ren Xiyao compromised, "just two minutes. I feel a bit embarrassed to have Lin Shan cover for me all the time."

Kwon Ji-yong smiled and took a package out of his pocket: "This is for you."

Ren Xiyao took the small bag, which contained several hand warmers printed with cartoon patterns: "What's this?"

“It’s specially made,” Kwon Ji-yong said proudly. “It’s attached to the inside of your clothes and lasts for four hours. I asked the doctor, and it won’t affect muscle activity.”

Ren Xiyao held the few heat packs in her hands, a warm feeling welling up in her chest. She remembered that she had casually mentioned during a video call a few days ago that her back injury had flared up again, and she hadn't expected him to remember it.

"Thank you," she said softly, carefully putting it in her gym pocket. "I really have to go now."

Kwon Ji-yong nodded, then suddenly grabbed her hand and quickly kissed the back of it: "Go for it, my short track speed skating star."

The fire door was suddenly pushed open, and Ren Xiyao was so startled that she almost jumped up the stairs. But it was a cleaning lady who came in, and she was clearly taken aback when she saw them.

"I'm sorry!" The aunt hurriedly retreated.

Ren Xiyao stood up and hurriedly straightened her clothes: "I'm leaving. You...you be careful too, don't get photographed."

Kwon Ji-yong smiled and nodded, making a pursed-lip gesture. Ren Xiyao glanced at him one last time, then pushed open the door and left. The cold air in the corridor cooled her burning face slightly, but her heart was still pounding like crazy.

After circling around the ice rink to the training area, her teammates were already gathering. The head coach glanced at her: "Where have you been? Why did it take you so long to get here?"

"Going to the restroom. I looked in the wrong direction," Ren Xiyao replied softly, putting on the resistance bands and starting her training.

The training ground wasn't very warm, but she could feel a continuous warmth emanating from her lower back. She secretly touched the hand warmer in her workout clothes pocket, and a smile unconsciously crept onto her lips.

When Ren Xiyao finally finished a day of training and meetings and returned to her hotel room, she had just finished showering when her phone rang.

"Hello?" she asked, somewhat surprised.

Kwon Ji-yong's voice came through the microphone: "I'll be waiting for you at the back door."

"Now? What time is it?"

“Just for a little while,” Kwon Ji-yong said. “I’m flying to Japan early tomorrow morning.”

Ren Xiyao bit her lip. Reason told her she should refuse, but her body had already started putting on her coat automatically: "Wait for me for five minutes."

She greeted Lin Shan and sent a message to the head coach, then took the elevator to the first floor and exited through the hotel's back door. Kwon Ji-yong, leaning against a black sedan, immediately waved when he saw her.

"Get in the car," he said, opening the door. "I'm taking you somewhere."

Ren Xiyao hesitated for a moment: "It can't be too long, we have training tomorrow."

“I know,” Kwon Ji-yong assured him, “just a little while.”

The car drove into the Seoul night. Ren Xiyao looked at the neon lights flashing outside the window. The time they could spend together undisturbed was truly precious.

Kwon Ji-yong took her to a 24-hour porridge shop hidden deep in an alley, where there were almost no customers.

“It’s safe here,” he said, taking off his hat and mask. “The boss is my friend.”

When the steaming hot porridge was served, Ren Xiyao realized that her stomach felt much better. She sipped it slowly, feeling the warmth spread from her stomach throughout her body.

"Is it good?" Kwon Ji-yong asked, barely touching his own portion.

Ren Xiyao nodded: "How did you find a place like this?"

“It’s a secret,” Kwon Ji-yong winked, “When you come here next time, I’ll take you to even more great places.”

Next time. The word made Ren Xiyao's heart tighten. When was next time? If she was lucky, she might come to South Korea again for summer training next year, but if things changed, who knew? Their meetings were always like this—rushed, full of uncertainty.

Ren Xiyao looked at him. Under the warm lights of the porridge shop, Quan Zhilong looked much more tired than during the day. His stage presence had completely disappeared, leaving only an ordinary man who secretly prepared hand warmers for her and came to the ice rink to see her late at night.

The atmosphere was really good, so no one broke it.

They finished their porridge quietly, and Kwon Ji-yong insisted on ordering her a pumpkin dessert. On the way back to the hotel, Ren Xiyao unconsciously leaned on his shoulder and dozed off. Kwon Ji-yong gently straightened her head to make her more comfortable.

“We’re here,” he whispered at the back door of the hotel. “Be careful, good luck in the race, I should be able to make it on the last day.”

Ren Xiyao nodded, then suddenly leaned in and quickly kissed him on the cheek: "Thank you for the hand warmer... and the porridge."

Before Kwon Ji-yong could react, she had already pushed open the car door and run into the hotel. Even in the elevator, her heart was still pounding as if she had just finished a 500-meter final.

Back in the room, Lin Shan sighed deeply as she watched her finally return: "She's such a handful!!"

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The author's note: Writing about short track speed skating inevitably involves unavoidable issues, and Han is a constant point of comparison. Avoiding these issues would be uninteresting. Therefore, I personally think that, like the female lead, finding a balance is key. It's just a matter of narrative.

Thank you everyone, and I hope you enjoyed reading! [Heart emoji]