Chapter 50

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Lisa's cold war with Yeonjun lasted till the last day of the province skating championship.

The last day was the figure skating finals. Lisa sat in a corner of the audience. She wore a hat and a mask and had wrapped herself in thick layers like a dumpling.

There was numerous figure skating fans in the audience. When they saw Yeonjun appear, they burst into applause. Yeonjun had once clinched gold in the National Youth's Singles.  Though he was not as well-known as some famed athletes, there were still many people closely following his news. Recently, someone claimed to have bought his gold medal on Idle Fish. This was voted by a certain forum to be one of the top ten jokes of the year.

Yeonjun's face was pale and he appeared tired. When Lisa saw him like this, she began to feel self-reproach. Perhaps she should not have  taken her anger out on him. After all, it was not his fault for having a strong-willed and overbearing mother. He was a victim himself rather than being an accomplice.

Yeonjun's song choice for his free stake today was a jazz piece. Though the music was rich, sensual and riveting, he executed a performance awash with melancholy. Lisa was no expert in music but she could sense that he was not happy. She felt extremely upset and was overwhelmed with the urge to rush down and apologize to him.

She was still feeling torn over this when suddenly, Yeonjun's skates slipped against the ice at the end of a triple Axel jump. He fell towards the ice uncontrollably.

Crash Lisa seemed to hear the heavy thud of fragile human body ramming against the icy hard surface.

She leapt to her feet.

Figure skating was as dangerous as it was beautiful. When athletes land in the midst of a fast spin, they must bear an impact that is several times their weight. One could imagine the pain that Yeonjun was feeling now.

Nevertheless, without hesitation, he immediately climbed to his feet and continued skating.

While some people were silent, there were a greater number of people who were clapping.

....

After the competition was over, Lisa wanted to find Yeonjun. However, she saw him waved to his mom. She sighed, got up and left.

When Lisa returned to her dorm at night, she spotted Yeonjun standing outside the dormitory building.

Wearing a tracksuit, he stared blankly into space as he stood under the street light. As usual, his figure was tall and slender but his side profile appeared pale and drawn.

As Lisa approached, he happened to turn and their eyes met.

After staring at each other for a while, the two of them spoke at the same time.

"I'm sorry".

"I'm sorry".

Lisa scratched her head uncomfortably and asked. "Why are you apologizing?"

Yeonjun was stumped for a moment. He said, "I'm apologizing for my mom. Though I'm not sure what she said to you....Lisa, please don't be angry anymore".

"I'm fine". Lisa shook her head. "Actually, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. My bad". Lisa felt a little sheepish after her apology. She shifted her gaze away from him to a distant grass patch in the dark.

Yeonjun watched her face without saying a word. Once again, silence fell between them.

The silence stayed till Lisa remembered what happened to him earlier. She opened her mouth and asked. "Does your body still hurt?"

"Mm, but you still have to see the doctor. It's quite common to fall while figure skating. So many world-famous athletes have fallen before; don't take it to heart".

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