Jisung had set his alarm to ring at 9:30 am, to get ready to go down to the cafeteria for 9:45. However, the boy was awake a lot sooner than that. Having had a sleepless night on the much too hard and unfamiliar mattress in his room, Jisung had gotten up at 7 am and went down to the swimming pool to get in some laps before breakfast was served.
This was always the time he had enjoyed about competitions, before rock climbing, he had also been an avid swimmer and although never took part in contests, enjoy how tranquil the sport could be, even in moments of rush whilst against someone. In the mornings Jisung loved to wake himself up with some laps in the water, it not only would keep him awake, but it also was something he found helped his anxiety, much like the feel of the harness and rope. The water against his skin calmed him down in times of stress.
It was already 9:50 by the time Jisung got back to his hotel room and so quickly took a shower to get rid of the chlorine before dressing in some sports joggers and a tank top along with his favourite hoodie, all adorning the GB colours. Locking his door jisung quickly headed downstairs opting for the stairs instead of the lift. He would freak out if he got stuck in a lift and on his own, no need to tempt fate and risk it.
Finding Chris was easy, he was sitting with most of the other coaches, already eating a plate full of the buffet. Jisung spotted Felix sitting with Hyunjin and Seungmin and so after grabbing a tray and picking precisely what his diet requirements are for that day, Jisung walked over to the group.
"Hey Ji!" Felix smiled as he scooted over slightly on the booth like seating they were occupying.
"Hi" Jisung gave a small smile and slid in, opposite him was Seungmin and Hyunjin was in the corner.
"Hey Jisung, congrats on your win at the boulder championship" Seungmin gave a small clap as he congratulated the boy.
"O-oh thanks, I wasn't expecting it" Jisung looked down embarrassed by the cheer.
"You definitely deserved it! That last challenge looked so hard! And you did a drop knee and then a crimp hold just to do a dynamic jump! My legs would've given out on me" Seungmin chuckled as he cut up some of the bacon on his plate.
"I look forward to competing against you this week" Hyunjin spoke up, "It was a shame about my injury so I couldn't take part"
"Oh, yeah- how is your ankle now? It was a pretty nasty fall" Jisung bit his cheek as he vividly remembered how Hyunjin had slipped on the Jug hold and landed awkwardly on his ankle.
"It's okay, it gets sore if I do too much on it, but it should be good. Getting past today's semi-finals is my main goal" Hyunjin explained as he stirred the milk in his cereal.
Jisung nodded and looked down at his own food before deciding to eat one of the hash browns he'd picked up. The group went on to chat about a few of the competitions and training they had been doing to prepare for today's contest. Most of it was notably strength training something all of them disliked and so there was a loud groan from all of their mouths when Hyunjin mentioned his leg strengthening training.
"Jisung, we gotta go" Chris came over to the table just as the boy had finished his plate of food.
Han gave a nod and said goodbye to his friends before making his way back to his room to double-check his climbing bag and to make sure he had everything from his two pairs of shoes, the chalk and bag, as well as some tape in case he needed some. He met Chan just outside his room and the two walked down to get a taxi to the training centre where the contest was going to be taking place.
"I'm sure you know what you'll be doing for your warm-up, but please remember to do the hanging board as well, I know you hate it but you need to get your fingers warmed up so you don't strain them" Chan was looking at Jisung's training schedule on a clipboard he had procured from thin-air.
Jisung rolled his eyes and let out a small sigh thinking about doing the warm-ups. Especially having to be in the same room as everyone else, it shouldn't be embarrassing but Jisung always felt like someone was judging his warm-up techniques. Also one of the reasons why he was getting there so early was so that he didn't have people watching him stretch.
—-
There was no surprise that once Jisung got inside, the South Korean team were already training, the coach shouting orders loudly so that all four of the climbers would hear, as well as everyone in the vicinity.
Jisung quickly passed them, making sure that he looked at the ground and didn't make eye contact with any of them. It was times like this when Jisung would've loved to have a fellow teammate on the GB team, but sadly none of them qualified that often to go to competitions, so most of the time it ended up with Jisung on his own.
"I'll be over by the cafe if you need anything okay?" Chris dropped off the few extra warm-up items for Jisung to use before scurrying away.
Han wasted no time in plugging in his headphones and going through his meticulous warm-up to ensure he wouldn't pull a muscle whilst climbing later on. Soon enough he was ready to start doing the hang board exercises because knowing Chris could still see him, it would be best to get them out of the way.
"Hey Ji!" Felix waved at the GB climber as he entered with his own team, there were three of them, two girls and then himself. Although they got along swimmingly, Felix always preferred to keep Jisung company during warm-ups. It gave them time to catch up as well as talk about the competition they were up against.
"Oh Lix, since you're here can you time my hang-boarding, I gotta make a note of it and I can't do it on my own" Jisung was already pulling out his phone and getting the timer up.
Felix hummed out a yes and reached out for the phone as he stood on the mat and waited for Jisung to get in position, "I need to do it for around two or three minutes"
"Okay, whenever you're ready" Felix clicked the start button as soon as Jisung's fingers were gripping on tightly and his feet were off the ground.
....
"Ooh that was good!" Felix grinned as he showed a flashing three minutes and fifty seconds on the timer. Jisung gritted his teeth and stretch his fingers after realising he was so close to the four-minute mark.
"Dammit, you should've said I was close to four minutes, I probably could've gotten to four" Jisung went to get ready to hang from his other hand.
"Move Han" a voice spoke from behind Felix, it was almost too easy to distinguish the voice. The thick accent speaking in English.
Jisung spun and saw Minho standing with his arms crossed, staring Jisung down.
"I-I-I'm using this though, I was here-" Jisung spluttered out in broken Korean at the older boy who gave a small smirk. Jisung, despite being on the British team,was also half Korean, his mum and dad meeting when his father had studied abroad. Technically he was allowed to perform for either team, but considering he was living in England at the time of his first contract signing, it made sense to stick with team GB.
"I-I-I.." Minho mocked as he tutted and rolled his eyes stepping past Felix and onto the mat so he was closer to Jisung.
"It wasn't a question Han" Minho glared at the climber, even though Jisung was terrified he tried his best to not stare at Minho's arms which were on full show thanks to the tank top he had chosen to wear.
"I'm not finished on it," Jisung said slightly more steadily in Korean back to the boy but still gulping.
"Stop trying to act so brave, Han, you've had plenty of time to use the hang board, now move" Minho sneered to the boy and with that Jisung wasted no time in ducking away and grabbing his bag and moving away from the boards.
Felix quickly followed his twin and they watched how Minho wasted no time in chalking up his hands and hanging and swinging up, down and around the hanging board with just his fingers.
"He's so annoying, now I can't even warm up properly" Jisung kicked one of the edges of a mat lightly, not really putting much force into it.
Felix sighed as he turned from watching Minho to his friend, "Come join me, Jenny and Ashley, he's not worth watching Ji, you'll just get more riled up and if Chris sees then he'll get annoyed and shout at the Korean coach which would do you no favours." Felix grabbed Jisung by his wrist and dragged him over to the Australian team to finish his warm-up, even though now it was practically pointless because his schedule was ruined and nothing felt right.
YOU ARE READING
Climbing Up to You - Minsung
Fanfiction"Oh trust me Honey, you need all the help you can get" "Well of course I do when I'm stuck up here idiot!" Training for the Olympics is never easy but mix in your enemy, a training camp and many competitions on the side and you've got chaos.
