Chapter 21: Negative
The plane landed in Stockholm in the local afternoon. Northern Europe in late March was hardly known for its warmth, especially on a sunless afternoon like this. The wind blew against Yuzuru Hanyu's face as he emerged from the cabin, the dry, cold air stinging his skin. He recalled Le's words about the Nordic winter wind being like a slap in the face, and couldn't help but sigh at the aptness of the metaphor.
After sending a message about his safe arrival, Hanyu shoved his phone back into his pocket. He wanted to complain about the gray sky in Stockholm, which was far worse than the weather in Helsinki every time he visited, but then he thought it might be too long-winded.
I deleted the words I had typed and sent out the following words: "I've landed safely~"
At this special time, competitions are extremely precious. My last competition was the full-day event on Christmas Day. After much consideration, I decided to come to Sweden alone to participate in this World Championship.
A few months ago at the All Japan Championships, Yuzuru Hanyu won another big victory, but he was not particularly happy.
He was relieved when he scored in the free skate, but the selective blindness in the short program couldn't be ignored. But unexpectedly, while waiting backstage for the awards ceremony, he received a video invitation from Lebo, their first since their reconciliation.
Le's expression of excitement and pride for him practically overflowed the screen as she enthusiastically praised his performance. His all-clean performance in both the short program and the free skate was certainly something to be proud of, but Hanyu didn't know that Le's joy was simply seeing that young man, so proud of himself, once again.
"Le, do you like this show so much?" Her joy was so contagious that it was hard to interrupt. Yuzuru Hanyu swallowed his complaints about being underrated before he could even utter them. He smiled at the screen and asked, "So, is this show your favorite?"
The person in the video bit their lip in confusion. "What should I do? I have so many favorite programs... But this one is perfect for Yuzuru Hanyu right now! Not only 'With Heaven and Earth', but 'Let Me Entertain You' is just as great! The best set!"
Suginohara Raku's praise was never covered by polite words or smooth with formalities. Every word he said touched the heart of Hanyu, who loved to hear compliments.
Since this is the program that best suits Yuzuru Hanyu right now, he will definitely not let anyone down. Looking out the window at the gray sky, Hanyu closed his eyes. He felt a little short of breath beneath his three-layer mask, and decided to get a good night's sleep when he got to the hotel.
The pre-match training and adjustments were all normal, although I hadn't competed in an international competition for a long time, so my body was a little slow to adapt to the time difference.
Before the short program, Hanyu sat in the locker room, staring at his skates in a daze. It was rare for him not to wear headphones, but he was in a dazed state, oblivious to the people around him. Others just thought he was concentrating, and no one spoke to him.
His gaze drifted from one spot for too long, and the skates before him gradually began to double. He still hadn't managed to sort out his chaotic thoughts. He suddenly felt a little scared to put on these shoes. What if I made a mistake? What if I fell? What if I got hurt? And... what if even going all-clean didn't win? He'd never thought of this before, but now the fear was coming back more and more. He hated this cowardly self, but it seemed impossible to resist.
His breathing quickened, and all sorts of thoughts flooded through his mind like a tide. Sure enough, he should listen to some music. How could he be in this state? He pulled his earphones out of his pocket and put them on. Just then, the notification tone of a message on his phone reached his earphones, a crisp ding.
【Raku: Warm-ups are almost here, right? 负けないで！ MR.GOAT！】
It was clearly a text message, but he thought he heard a voice, just like the "Minakenaide" she'd shouted at the top of her lungs in the stands of the Helsinki ice rink that year. As he struggled to catch his breath and calm his pounding heart, a clear voice from the stands, undeterred by the cheers from the crowd, followed the sound. He spotted the person at the emergency exit in the stands. He heard that cheer clearly, then and now.
I bent down to slip my shoes on, quickly tightening the laces. I stood up and lightly jumped twice, twisting my body to feel the muscles tighten. I took a deep breath, adjusted my expression, lifted the insulation covering the door, and walked towards the rink, surrounded by the sound of cameras.
Guan Yue, who is far away in City B, China, has been very troubled recently.
Guan Yue was a person with a stronger sense of boundaries than curiosity, so she never asked Le too much. After all, being a secret keeper was difficult, especially when she suddenly approached her idol. Holding back was a challenge to her patience.
But as the saying goes, sometimes you don’t need to ask around to get gossip. As long as you get close enough, the food will always fall into your mouth.
Observing the daily lives of her boyfriend's family and friends up close, she was completely confused because she simply couldn't understand the relationship between Le and Hanyu. They contacted each other almost every day, often video chatting, but the videos weren't about anything practical; most of the time, they were just doing their own things.
Isn't this the state of people in long-distance relationships?
Especially during the New Year's Day holiday, when everyone played games together last time, Yuzuru Hanyu's reaction was too strange.
That day, he came over excitedly and pulled Guan Yue to play games together. They were playing the popular "Human Fall Flat" in the early years. If this game had not been installed on the computer, the dust would have been so thick that the main body could not be seen.
"My students said it's very interesting. Come online and I'll play with Yuzuru."
This sentence is very attractive. What's the big deal about blowing away the dust? You can have fun even if you want to reinstall the computer!
But before long, Guan Yue began to lament the challenges of being a kindergarten teacher. Le and Hanyu Yuzuru were both new to the game. They started by laughing for about five minutes at the character lying on the ground, unable to get up. Then, while lifting a large rock, they collapsed, and laughed for another five minutes. The two of them kept laughing in the voice chat.
As a fan, Guan Yue's collection of Hanyu's smiles is one of her favorite video collections. However, she now feels that it is too noisy.
"Can you two be quiet and listen? Can we still pass this level?"
Two three-year-olds, hurling rocks at each other, finally quieted down and began cooperating with Guan Yue's instructions, as the three of them began searching for the trap. While the three were playing, Le answered a phone call, leaving Guan Yue and Yuzuru alone in the game, quietly waiting. It felt a bit awkward. Thankfully, Le quickly returned to the game, but the awkward silence persisted.
"Who called you?" Guan Yue chose to break the silence first in English.
"It's that junior student." Le replied in Chinese.
"Oh~~~" Guan Yue responded very ambiguously, "Is he pursuing you? Don't you want to consider it? His younger brother is quite handsome~"
"Don't consider it. The little brat is too childish." Le said nonchalantly, took off his headphones and stood up to pour water.
The conversation was in Chinese, but Guan Yue's gossipy tone caught Hanyu's attention. Curious, he peppered the voice chat with questions, alternating between English and Japanese, even throwing in a few "what"s in Chinese—who knows who taught him that? Unable to resist the constant barrage of questions from his idol, Guan Yue, now alone and away from her computer, pondered for a moment and offered Hanyu some explanation in her simple English.
"Le's junior is pursuing her..."
But I guess the second half of the sentence is useless because it was interrupted by an exclamation before it was even finished.
“WHAT???!!!” As he spoke, Hanyu’s character fell directly from the window he was climbing and returned to the starting point.
Guan Yue wanted to go on to say that Le didn't like him, but Hanyu's reaction was already intriguing enough. She had a guess in mind, but she wasn't sure based on that one reaction alone.
It wasn't until the day of the free skating at the World Championships that Guan Yue received a WeChat message from Hanyu shortly after the competition ended.
[YZ: I had an asthma attack before this race. Please don't tell Le, Guan Yue-san. Thank you.]
Guan Yue was shocked when she received the news. It turned out his frequent mistakes in the free skate were due to an asthma attack! She quickly typed a reply.
[The Moon Can't Be Confined: So you had an asthma attack! Are you okay now?]
[The Moon Can't Be Confined: But even if I don't say it, the news will report it, right?]
[YZ: She never watches the news, so unless Guan Yue-sang tells her, she probably won't know.]
【YZ: Please, I don’t want her to worry. 】
After a poor performance, the first thing he did after the match was to avoid worrying his family and friends? Were these still ordinary family and friends? Guan Yue suddenly felt like she had hit the jackpot. She even began to imagine a complete meal with handshakes, autographs, photos, and a meal.
I replied "OK," but in my heart I was secretly laughing at this naive athlete Hanyu. He was trying to hide this? Le probably already knew about it.
Guan Yue’s guess was correct, Le had discovered it long ago.
Le watched the entire free skate with a frown on her face. She noticed the unusual lack of energy, even the triple axel had a noticeable error. His heavy breathing at the end reminded her of her first competition in Helsinki all those years ago. She picked up her phone to send a message, but on second thought, she deleted every word she typed. Le felt a tightness in her stomach, and without even checking her score, she went back to her room.
Lying in bed, staring at the chat screen on her phone, she couldn't sleep at all. Nothing she said about her asthma seemed to matter. She scrolled through her chat history; the messages showed Hanyu Yuzuru was doing well, a positive person. Even after his short program score was downgraded a few months ago, Le didn't receive a screen full of "regrets." Instead, she received a very positive message: he'd won first place.
bite--
A new message has arrived.
Yuzu: The self-service award ceremony was also quite an amazing experience.
Yuzuru Hanyu, you've made it big! Perform again!
I threw my phone aside, closed my eyes angrily, and announced after 10 minutes that I had failed to fall asleep.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
