Chapter 26 The Great Secret

"That's all for today's training, Chiba. You're not focused. Pay attention," the coach said, patting Baiyin's head and letting her go. After all, this girl always trained very hard, so perhaps something had affected her concentration today.

Baiyin lowered her head and curled her lips in shame, indicating that she would reflect on herself.

She rubbed her sore butt from the fall and returned to the rest area to pack up. She'd indeed been distracted during training today, but she couldn't blame anyone else. After all, Qianye Baiyin was carrying a profound secret, a weight that weighed heavily on her heart, causing her to lose her balance and fall repeatedly with every jump.

Yuzuru Hanyu actually has a girlfriend!

Ever since hearing the news, Baiyin's mind has been recurring to the gentle and elegant young lady she'd met at Disneyland. But with her mask on, her full features weren't visible. All I could remember was her smiling eyes through the mask, curved and perfectly matched with Yuzuru Hanyu. Ballet and figure skating are indeed a perfect match! Baiyin thought excitedly, completely unfazed by the frustration of having chosen the wrong couple.

This excitement lasted until the evening. A lively Disney music collection played in the room, and Baiyin sat on her yoga mat, stretching out her body. Suddenly, the sound of a phone message joined the music, its crisp sound particularly noticeable.

Yuzu: Because we're still in the season, for various reasons, please keep this a secret! Please! In return, I can help you chase your idol! So... what's the name of that ballerina you like?

It really is a big secret, and it’s not unfair that I fell today.

Bai Yin wasn't the only one experiencing difficulties in practice; Yuzuru Hanyu also suffered. His ankle pain intensified, forcing him to withdraw from the NHK and Russian competitions to avoid affecting his participation in this year's All Japan Championships. After all, the All Japan Championships were his path to a third consecutive Olympic gold medal, a feat only Hanyu could achieve.

"Actually, it's okay for me not to go to the Olympics, right?" Yuzuru Hanyu said this subconsciously. He didn't look at the camera of the iPad placed in the corner of the table, but stared at the photos of the Pyeongchang Olympics on the table. He didn't notice that the person in the video's expression changed slightly.

Le didn't speak in a hurry. She quietly looked at the profile in the video, waiting for his next words.

“Not all clean is necessarily…”

"But you want to do the 4A, don't you?" Le interrupted him, "Why don't you leave it to fate? If you become the All-Japan champion, come to the Olympics. I'll be waiting for you there."

Hearing her words, Yuzuru Hanyu laughed out loud, took a long breath, and looked at the video with a serious expression.

"Are you doubting that I can't win the All-Japan Championship? It's just an All-Japan Championship. I'm Yuzuru Hanyu."

"Yes, yes, amazing athlete Hanyu, take good care of your foot!" Seeing that he was pretending to be angry, Le felt relieved and lowered his head to fiddle with the things in his hands.

You can't see what she's doing in the video, only her head lowered. The lights and scented candles in the room flicker, making the light and shadows move with them. It seems like she's busy doing something.

"What are you doing?"

"It's a secret~" Le replied without even looking up.

Her knitting continued unabated, the yellow yarn swiftly woven into shape under the nimble movements of the metal needle. Yuzuru Hanyu rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a moment. He figured it was a surprise for him, so he just had to wait.

"Le Le! The takeaway is here!" Guan Yue knocked on the door. Le said hello to Yuzuru Hanyu and closed the video, then went to the living room with his unfinished secret.

Nothing beats a barbecue takeout meal on an early winter night. Guan Yue tilted her head back, took a sip of beer, and picked up a skewer of barbecue from the coffee table. She plucked off several pieces in one gulp, chewing heartily. Le, sitting nearby, symbolically participated, keeping her head down and busy with her own business.

"You've been so busy lately, how can you still find the time to do handicrafts?" Guan Yue asked vaguely while chewing on a skewer. But the color combination seemed to make her understand what was going on. She wiped the corners of her mouth and hands with a tissue and reached out to take the knitting in Le's hand, but was nimbly dodged.

"What are you doing? You're so stingy. Let me see~"

"Your hands are all greasy." Le said as a matter of course.

"Professional color matching, is that you, Pusang? Are you preparing a birthday present for Haniu?" Seeing her nervous look, Guan Yue's guess was further confirmed. She proudly expressed her idea but received a negative answer.

"No, I thought of something else for his birthday. This is for the Winter Olympics. I heard a few days ago that Disney doesn't have the copyright for this Winter Olympics, so his Poosan might not be able to take it to the games."

"Oh~" I got the answer. Although I didn't guess it right, I leaned back on the sofa contentedly. "But speaking of birthday gifts, I have to remind you that international express delivery is not very reliable nowadays. Send it as soon as possible. Time is running out."

Guan Yue’s reminder was very useful, and Le quickly took out his mobile phone to place an order.

Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu has never been too concerned about his birthday, as he's never lacked people to celebrate. But this year, he's looking forward to it, as it's his first birthday since he started dating Le.

Not long ago, I saw Detective Tanaka posting on Instagram a photo of a belt customized for him by his girlfriend. The card on it said "To my beloved Detective-kun" and contained a heart.

Humph, it's just a custom-made bear, not as good as the ones made by Le. When Yuzuru Hanyu saw it, he secretly began to look forward to his birthday this year.

In the past, Le was rarely around on his birthdays, so after all the calculations, the only birthday present he could get was the little bear on the snack bag. What would he get this year?

Did they also custom-make a pair of headphones for him? He hadn't even received any notification about the ear shape sampling, but maybe Le didn't know much about it. Oh, what if they weren't good enough? Hey, if it's a gift from Le, I'll use it even if it doesn't work!

Or maybe it's something she made herself? Wasn't she busy with her work in the video the other day? What could it be? Is the little bear getting a companion?

A new Poosang, who had just joined Yuzuru Hanyu's Poosang team this summer, sat on the bed, watching his owner mutter to himself as he spun around in his computer chair. Fortunately, he wasn't a living creature, or else he'd probably lament the weight of his ordeal. On his first day in this home, he had to watch his owner make out with his girlfriend, and often, he'd have to watch him lose his mind alone. These days, even a bear has a hard time.

On December 7, Yuzuru Hanyu received a package.

It was a brand new iPhone 13 Pro. He searched the entire package and found nothing except the phone, not even a charger, let alone a card.

[Raku: Happy birthday! The package shows signed for, so it must have been received~! Please treat it well and don't throw it away!]

Yuzuru Hanyu looked at the Line message on his phone and was a little silent.

Yuzu: Is that all?

What do you mean "that's it"? Le, far away in China, frowned at the message. Didn't he specifically mention last time that his phone was broken? Didn't he mean he wanted a new one?

Raku: ??? What else? I spent a fortune on this. If I drop it again, you'll see what happens.

Shouldn't there be a card with a heart written on it saying "To my beloved Yuzuru-kun"? There's nothing, and they're still trying to scare him...

Yuzuru Hanyu suddenly felt a little aggrieved. Thinking back carefully, in the few months of dating, it seemed that Le had never said words like "I like you". He couldn't even find a love expression in their chats!

The feeling of grievance surged in my heart and lasted until the evening.

"Are you unhappy on your birthday today?" Seeing Yuzuru Hanyu in the video looking uninterested, Le felt a little strange.

"No……"

Seeing that he didn't seem to be willing to say anything, I felt really helpless. The thing about being so far away was that I had no idea why he was unhappy, nor did I know how to cheer him up.

Both sides of the video were silent until a knock on the door broke the silence. It was Guan Yue who came in with a bowl of strawberries. The plump red strawberries whetted her appetite. Le happily took the strawberries with both hands and said to Guan Yue, "Ah! Thank you, Yueyue! I love you!"

It was just a few simple words, although they were in Chinese, but Yuzuru Hanyu understood them.

"Haha! Happy birthday!" Guan Yue waved at Hanyu in the video, who immediately narrowed his eyes and smiled, thanking her for the blessing. After Guan Yue left the room, Le turned around and saw that the man who had been smiling in the video just now now had a look of grievance and a pout.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you changing your expression so quickly?"

"I want one too..."

"Hmm? Strawberries? This is what Guan Yue ordered online. Dandong strawberries are delicious! But you can't eat them. Just watch me eat them, dear~" Le said, and took a bite towards the camera, which made the people in the video swallow their saliva.

"No, I mean, what you just said."

"What?"

"Le likes Guan Yue-san very much, right?"

"Of course~ I like Yueyue the most~" He stuffed another strawberry into his mouth, the sweetness lingering between his lips and teeth, so happy!

"What about me?"

Cough cough cough—— I never expected Yuzuru Hanyu to say this suddenly, and it choked me.

"Le just told Guan Yuesang that he loves you, right? He hasn't told me yet! He hasn't even said that he likes me... Does Le really like me?" Yuzuru felt more and more aggrieved as he spoke, his voice getting lower and lower.

"Can this be the same?"

"You never said you liked me anyway!"

Le's eyes were evasive, which was particularly obvious in the video. Hanyu puffed up his cheeks and asked angrily, "Le, do you really like me?"

"Are you stupid?!" Le's ears turned red.

"Then why don't you say it?"

"don't want."

The two of them engaged in a meaningless back-and-forth argument like elementary school students, their ears growing redder with joy. They hunched over their chairs, hugging their knees, their faces buried in their hands. In the video, Yuzuru Hanyu was still humming, repeatedly asking why he didn't want to speak, "I want to hear it."

"Well~~! You're so annoying!"

"Not only does Le not like me, he also finds me annoying..." Yuzuru looked aggrieved.

Le, with his face buried in his elbows, uttered two muffled sounds, "su ki".

"What did you say? You were too quiet, I couldn't hear you~"

"I like it! I like it! I said I like it! I like you!" Le looked up at the camera with his eyes closed as if in self-abandonment and shouted in a low voice with some embarrassment. When he opened his eyes, he saw the person in the video smiling like a successful fox.

"Yeah! I like music too! I like it the most! Hehe~"