Chapter 89: Solemn Promise
The bathroom was filled with steam. Yuzuru Hanyu tilted his head back, letting the water from the shower run down his forehead. The hot water washed away the foam and the fatigue from catching the night bus. He quickly brushed his damp hair to make sure there was no residual foam, then snapped the shower shut, a quick, clean motion.
The mirror was fogged up. He wiped a clean area with his hand, but the lingering heat from the bathroom quickly brought the fog back. In the increasingly blurry mirror, he noticed the stubble around his lips and chin. He curled his lips, grabbed shaving mousse from the sink, squeezed it into his hand, and rubbed it around his chin and lips.
The conversation I had just had with Le was still going over in my mind.
Le didn't ask him why he came back early. Perhaps she knew he was eager to go home, so she wasn't surprised. Or perhaps she had something else she wanted to share. When he sat down next to her, she put down her iPad and pen, turned her body carefully, and looked at him seriously.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?"
She stared at him for a long moment, not saying a word, which made Yuzuru Hanyu nervous. The sudden call today, the sudden mention of missing him—all these unusual signals suddenly came together, lighting up the alarm bells in Yuzuru Hanyu's mind.
"I have something I want to discuss with you, but you don't have to be so nervous." Le smiled and pinched his face. The prickly touch on her hand made her stunned. "You must have had a hard day today. You even have stubble... Why don't you go take a shower first and talk later?"
"No need, you tell me first." He was so focused on waiting for the answer to the riddle that he had no time to take a shower.
"The troupe wants me to play Margaret."
The mystery was revealed so quickly and directly, without any foreshadowing, that Yuzuru Hanyu felt a momentary discomfort. He turned around in a daze to look at the dance drama still playing on TV.
"This Marguerite? From the Lady of the Camellias..." He pointed at the dancer in a white dress in the picture. Seeing Le nodded, he lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, "Should I save the situation or..."
"Regular starring role."
Yuzuru Hanyu's eyes widened at this answer, but after a brief moment of surprise, he quickly recovered. He held Le's hand and listened quietly as she recounted the events of the past few days, including how she had been discovered by Master JN and how she had been recommended for the lead role.
"The director said he wants me to give him a reply tomorrow, oh no, today. I was worried you wouldn't come back," she smiled and fiddled with his fingers. "It's a good thing you're back. This way I can reply to the director on time."
"wait for me?"
"Yes, I still need to confirm two things about this decision. First, I want to ask the audience who have known me best over the past ten years: Do you think I am qualified to stand center stage? Second thing..."
"Of course!" Before he could even say the second thing, Yuzuru Hanyu answered the first question first, "And my answer is objective! Absolutely no personal feelings involved!"
He raised his hands to his ears to prove that what he said was true. His confident look made Le laugh and cry.
"Okay, I believe you." She smiled and pulled his hand away. She coughed lightly, adjusted her posture, and placed her hands on her knees, sitting solemnly in front of Yuzuru Hanyu. "Then, the second thing I need to ask the director is if I, as a member of the ice performance creation team, can take on a part-time job on a larger project with a lot of overlapping time periods?"
Her serious, breath-holding demeanor was clearly imitating the way Yuzuru Hanyu had approached her two months earlier, inviting her to join the ice show's creative team. Now it was Yuzuru Hanyu's turn to be at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
"Of course..." He replied with a wry smile, "Director Suginohara, you're a part-timer..."
"That's all~" She smiled with relief, and her upright sitting posture only lasted for a few seconds before she relaxed and returned to the cross-legged sitting position that she felt comfortable in. She picked up her phone and turned back the progress bar of the screen projection.
"Are you done?"
"Yeah." She watched the movie carefully without looking back at him.
"Just... this?"
Such a simple discussion about an important career decision? Yuzuru Hanyu didn't understand, but he was still sent to the bathroom by Le in a few words, as if afraid he would regret it.
Is the allocation of time and energy the only thing she cares about? Is it enough to affirm his ability with only him? Yuzuru Hanyu couldn't figure it out... He had always deeply understood Le's decision to leave the center of attention. So what was going on now? It was like telling him, warmly inviting him back to the competition, would he accept?
Thinking of this, Yuzuru Hanyu absentmindedly shaved his jaw with an electric razor, scooped up a handful of water, smeared it on his face to wash off the foam, and put on his pajamas. In the living room, the piano music of Chopin had not yet stopped, and Le was still there working on his project.
"Have you really thought it through? Do you want to go back and be the leading actor?" He said as he stood next to Le in a menacing manner, looking down at her.
However, his hair was tangled and messy due to not drying it, his face was still covered with water droplets, and there was a little shaving mousse foam on his temples. He looked not only unintimidating, but also a little funny.
Le looked up at him in surprise, suppressing a laugh for a moment before tugging at his sleeve and motioning for him to sit next to her. He obediently sat down, cross-legged and hugging his ankles. The little bit of momentum he had just had vanished without a trace.
"Do you have any ideas?" Le used his sleeve to wipe the water droplets off his face.
"What was the reason why you chose to leave the stage back then? Has that reason been resolved now?"
"The reason... Actually, I didn't think too much about it this time." She straightened her hair and looked up to recall the past. "To be honest, this isn't the first time I've received an offer like this. Since returning to Helsinki, I've been offered promotions and starring roles many times, but every time I'd suddenly become terrified. Afraid of falling again, afraid that I'd do something wrong and be photographed and screenshotted, and then repeatedly criticized... In the end, it all comes down to one thing: I'm unworthy of my position. And I'm also afraid of the corridor from the director's office to the dance studio. It seems like everyone in the corridor is discussing something about me..."
Listening to her inner confession, Yuzuru Hanyu held her hand distressedly, but she smiled and patted the back of his hand to comfort him in return.
"That's all in the past. But last time I saved the day, I didn't think about anything else. I just wanted to put on a good performance. And this time, when I left the director's office, I was filled with excitement. I think this is the time." Her smile was filled with relief and relief, not fake. "Do you remember? After the competition in China that year, you told me that I was actually scared."
How could I not remember? Yuzuru Hanyu nodded.
He had just recovered from the accident at the China Cup and was no longer seriously injured. However, every time he jumped, his body instinctively looked back and hesitated, making him deeply aware of his fear. He couldn't share this fear with anyone, but somehow, he shared the joy of Helsinki.
"Do you remember what I said then?"
"Fear is fear, what's the big deal? As long as I accept it calmly and digest it, one day I won't be afraid anymore." He quickly repeated the words he had remembered for a long time, and then realized, "When that day comes... it will be the time for [I'm back]..."
"Yeah. Now it's probably my turn to say that. I'm really excited to have the chance to say 'I'm back' so cool." Le laughed out loud, but then noticed Hanyu's brow was still furrowed with worry. He reached out to smooth his brow. "I know what you're worried about. I left the stage not because I was disappointed with it, but because I had so many fears and concerns. I was disappointed by the media, the rumors, and my unscrupulous peers... I left the stage simply because I couldn't hold on to the stage back then and distanced myself from the people and things that disappointed me. Now, I want to try and hold on to what I want. You too, hold on to the figure skating in your heart. The competitions and judges that disappointed you aren't worth looking back on."
Poking his heart with a finger, telling him what should be there most.
At the same time, it also pointed out the confusion in his heart.
"Okay, I'm going to challenge the leading role. Why are you more worried than me?" She gently stroked his cheek, the soft touch intertwined with the prickly velvet. She took a closer look and sneered, "He hasn't even shaved off his stubble yet. He's already grown up..."
"I was in a hurry..." He defended himself unhappily.
"Yes, yes, it's not like before... Before, you would blush when you touched his stubble, but now you just frown." She poked his eyebrows with her finger again.
"How can I be embarrassed..."
"Of course not? I remember it clearly! After the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, that little roadside stall in Gangneung, who was the one who rushed out in a hurry? His stubble was so obvious, and he blushed like crazy when he got touched." Le squinted his eyes, describing the time, place, and people with incredible clarity. After he finished speaking, he suddenly understood something, "Ah! Did you have feelings for me back then? Otherwise, why are you blushing?!"
"Who... who..." He was left feeling guilty and unable to refute.
"Now that you mention that... I suddenly remembered that you also said..."
Memories suddenly came alive. In a small Korean roadside stall covered in a red waterproof awning, Yuzuru Hanyu sat across from her, his hands on his knees. Blushing, he said, somewhat awkwardly, thanking her for accompanying him in realizing his dream. Now, he would be the one supporting hers. She smiled and said yes, then realized that success hadn't quite grasped his meaning...
Just as his shameful past was about to be brought up again, the music from La Traviata, still playing on the TV screen, came to Hanyu's rescue. The familiar piano notes of Chopin's Ballade No. 1 rang out, and Hanyu suddenly turned his head, interrupting Le's words.
"Eh? Why is it this music?"
On the TV screen, a ballerina in a black veil and a black dress stood in the center of the frame, one eight beat, two eight beats, longer than Yuzuru Hanyu's standing time in Xuyi. This aroused his curiosity.
"Oh... Master JN's version of La Traviata uses Chopin's music throughout... The Black Double is the first ballad." Le explained calmly, then recalled the unfinished conversation. "Don't interrupt!"
"Okay, no interruptions, let's get back to the point. Anyway, I absolutely support you returning to the stage! Both as Yuzuru Hanyu himself and as the chief conductor of Gift, I support Suginohara Gaku. Whether it's allocating work time or facing the pressure of returning to the stage, I will do my best to support you. Don't worry!" He gave a quick summary and turned back to watching the stage. "I'll study the ballet with you now~"
Yuzuru Hanyu's music has become almost muscle memory. Whenever he hears it, his own choreographed steps naturally form in his mind. His own program is edited to the music, and the images before his eyes and the images he practiced in his mind interweave, often causing abrupt shifts in flow. Until, in a musical segment not included in his program, Armand strips off Marguerite's black dress, causing Yuzuru Hanyu's eyes to widen in shock. He gritted his teeth and continued, and to the step sequence music he knew so well, Marguerite kissed Armand passionately, and Yuzuru Hanyu felt like his back teeth were about to break...
"Is this... so..." He squeezed out a few words stiffly. Is ballet like this? It wasn't like this when he saw it performed in Helsinki before.
"Hmm? You mean the acting part? Of course I have to perform a dramatic ballet..."
"Can I ask who your partner, Armand, is?"
"With Jiu..." Le looked up and thought for a moment, "Of course, we can't rule out arranging someone else..."
The declaration of support had already been made, so was it too late to retract it? Yuzuru Hanyu, who prided himself on always keeping his word, for the first time considered denying his words.
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