"A certain darkness is needed to see the stars"

****

🔸🔸🔸

It was just eight in the morning and their class wasn't starting until ten, but Samuel was already back here in Arena C, to do some stretching.

The room was still empty with nothing but the sound of Samuel's skates against the ice floor. The mellow music playing from the Bluetooth speakers connected to his phone provided a contrast to the screeching of the blades.

Samuel managed to get around four hours of sleep, which is more than good if you ask him. His skin had now regained a bit of color, but he still had to cover the bags under his eyes with a bit of concealer.

Removing his skates, Samuel got back on the floor, stretching his hamstrings; back straight, body bent at hips, right leg forward with toes pointed to him, then he shifted to his left leg. Holding his position for thirty seconds each, Samuel took a few slow and steady deep breaths along.

"Woah... Easy there, princess." Justin stepped inside as well, immediately ruining Samuel's mood.

"I'm not your princess, Wong." Samuel rolled his eyes while continuing to stretch.

"Pfft, I called you princess, yes—never said that you're mine—see the difference?" Justin replied with a rather mocking tone, dropping his bag before walking towards the rink, just a few feet away from Samuel.

"Tch, just shut up, okay? I have no time for you today." Samuel moved to stretch his other leg.

"Hmm... does that mean you've time for me—"

"Don't even think about continuing that sentence, Wong. Do me a favor and stop pestering me for once. You know what today is for all of us here, though I'm really not sure if you even care." Samuel cut Justin off, making the latter laugh out loud.

"C'mon Sammy... relax! It's not like Mark Hamilton will eat you alive! Chill, okay? You'll be fine," Justin said, now warming up as well.

" 'course he won't. As if I'd let him."

"That's the spirit!— oh..." Justin was about to finish that sentence when Samuel bent his knee, arching his back to a beautiful curve, graciously giving Justin quite a view.

"What?" Samuel hissed, glancing back at Justin; rolling his eyes and clicking his tongue in annoyance when he caught the latter checking him out shamelessly.

"What—what?" Justin said, still feigning innocence after being caught red-handed.

"Keep your eyes to yourself, Wong! Your form looks sloppy, tch." Samuel continued to stretch, deciding not to waste his time and energy on their petty arguments.

_________________

*Now playing: This Is Me : The Greatest Showman*

Mark Hamilton then came and took his seat by the wall without saying a word. He just pointed his finger at each of them and flicked it towards the center—they knew what to do from there.

Almost half of their class was done performing a two-minute act on 'This Is Me' and now it was Rosalina's turn. All eyes were on the leggy blonde at the center of the rim. Hamilton remained silent as he watched her go; moving her body as graceful as ever, making Hamilton nod his head for the first time since he stepped inside and took his seat to observe the class.

She'll get a spot—everybody was sure about that.

Katherine then followed; skating as if she could control all her bones, bending and breaking them at will, then putting them back in place again. She moved like a puppet with herself as her own marionette—and that surely secured her a spot with Rose as well.

After a quick break, Mark Hamilton pointed at Justin who then took a deep breath, wearing a devil-may-care smirk on his face. The music played again as Justin spread his arms wide, moving side to side. The muscles on his thighs contorted then bulged proudly against his black tights, spinning on one leg as if he was weightless. It was quite a sight to see—that is, until he leaped out of choreography, adding a double axel, then a lutz, graciously launching himself into the air.

Landing with a satisfied smile, Justin then presented himself again, toned chest puffed out proudly, making everyone gasp loud. Samuel swore he saw Mark Hamilton crack a small smile, looking on the other side; hiding his expression at the back of his palm.

Shit.

Justin Wong surely ruined the choreography and immorally got away with it again.

"Surely Mr. Parker taught you 'This Is Me'—what's your name again? Justin Wong?" Hamilton asked as the music stopped.

"Indeed. Then again, you've been watching the same thing for like half an hour already, so I figured you must be bored by now—one has to step up, y'know?" Justin replied, dropping the formal tone, and for some reason Hamilton didn't seem to mind.

"How compassionate of you. Now get on the back. Next." Mark Hamilton pointed towards Samuel, signalling him to take his place at the centre. With a deep breath, Samuel then stepped forward, brushing past Justin who was now stepping off the arena.

"Samuel, it's been a while... how's your mother?" Hamilton asked as Samuel stood at the centre of the rink like a proud spectacle.

"Fine as always, Mr. Hamilton. She's in Korea for some work, but will be back soon. If you've got some time from your busy schedule, she'd appreciate a short visit from you." Samuel smiled at the older man.

"Of course, I will. Your mom speaks highly of you, by the way. Then show me what you got Mr. Jeon. The floor is yours," Hamilton replied, snapping his fingers once to get the music to start. Just when Samuel was about to begin his act, he snapped them once again.

"S-sorry?" Samuel asked, a bit taken aback at being interrupted like that.

"Odile. Can you do Odile, Mr. Jeon?" Hamilton said, leaving Samuel perplexed.

"O-odile? But—"

"Oh, I'm sorry you must be surprised. You see, my flight got delayed and we're behind schedule so instead of shortlisting eight, I'll be picking six of you who'll be sent to the Nationals in Tennessee. I have high expectations from you Mr. Jeon, and even though I have the utmost respect for your mother, I can't be biased. This surely proves it, don't you think?" Hamilton glanced at their coach Parker on his side, making the latter change Samuel's song for his performance.

"Odile is not just restricted to ballet, Samuel. Everyone has a little black swan in them, it's just a matter of when you let it out," He heard his coach say, quoting a line from the movie they all adored.

"O-of course... then, shall I begin?" Samuel asked, heart thumping inside his chest, jaws clenched as he tried to remember one of the most complex ballet pieces he had learnt in his early years, trying to incorporate some of it in his skating.

*Now Playing: Perfection : Black Swan*

The young skater then presented himself with his chin held high, arms spread out like a pompous swan, closing his eyes to numb all his senses. He then pictured himself dressed in black feathers adorned by sparkles and diamonds; lifting his whole weight on his feet, defying gravity as he moved.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

One, two, three.

He then stopped counting, letting his own body take over his mind. Now skating on full muscle memory, Samuel allowed himself to go dark, all while pretending to be pure white. His movements then flowed freely, going clean and precise, lips involuntarily curling to a smirk as he continued to skate with finesse and gratification.

Samuel had not practiced this routine in months, but it didn't matter, for he was sure he had all the steps memorised that were taught to him in his ballet classes.

He flipped fast, barely even feeling the ice touching the blades of his skates as he covered the whole rink. Then he leapt off the surface, swinging his right leg around to vault himself off the ice and then did two full rotations in the air to complete a double axel.

This is good.

Everything was going well and perfect as it should. The song was about to end and Samuel was getting ready to breathe freely again—that is, until he felt a hand wrap around his waist, making him open his eyes, shooting up a glare. Hah! It's Justin fucking Wong again.

"Go on. I asked him to join." Hamilton shrugged.

"Just so you know, I have no idea what I'm doing here, actually. He just asked me to step in," Justin whispered against Samuel's ear as he guided the latter to spin.

"You better not mess this up. I don't have any room to cater your fancy tricks, Wong. J-just follow me." Samuel gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"Mhm... I'll try—but no promises, okay?" Justin replied cheekily, spinning on his side, letting go of Samuel's hand to launch the latter.

Samuel then started shaking, lowering his speed as he suddenly remembered the last time they had to perform an act on Swan Lake back in tenth grade. Justin was a guard—and he even messed that up.

"Shit." Samuel hissed, for here came probably the most difficult part of this routine.

"Go for it." Justin nodded his head, signalling Samuel to do a quadruple jump.

"Stay fucking still, Wong. I'm warning you." Samuel took another deep breath before leaping into air. Just count to four and you're done.

One. Two. Three. Fou-

Samuel then gasped as Justin suddenly grabbed him by the waist, raising him up in a quick lift which was never in the choreography, then guided him down, forcing Samuel to immediately improvise. Bending his whole torso back, Samuel let himself fall onto Justin as the latter held him tight, bringing him back up just in time as the music came to a complete stop.

"So pretty. Good job, Odile," Justin whispered to the panting boy, a smug smile on his lips. With his arms still wrapped around Samuel's waist, both of them stared at each other while catching their breaths.

"Fuck you... I told you—"

"Nice! Very nice! Well, it's not perfect, but for an unrehearsed performance, you two really did the job. Now, you—" Hamilton got on his feet, pointing at Rose on his side, while Justin and Samuel broke apart, now standing side by side. "—and you. You. You, join Justin and Samuel in the middle, please." Hamilton pointed at Kate, Nathan and Yuna, thus completing the six.

"Rosalina Natten and Nathan Bennett for classical short program. Yuna Kim and Katherine Mendes for ladies' solos and Justin Wong and Samuel Jeon— our last pair for Ice Dance. The rest of the categories are already filled by the seniors. So I guess that's a wrap?" Mark Hamilton said, making Samuel glance on his side, meeting Justin's equally shocked expression as his.

Fuck.

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"No, I'm not saying that I'll withdraw my position, ma'am. All I'm asking is for you to reconsider my partner! Why can't it be Kate? Or Rose? Or even Nathan, I can work with him—but Justin? Hah! It won't work. The chemistry's just not there... I-"

"Believe me, it will work, Mr. Jeon. Mr Wong's a wonderful skater, and so are you. We need to give them something crisp; something new—something they haven't seen before. I strongly believe that your dynamics will bring us gold," Nadia Allen, director of Boston University's School of Arts said, when Samuel barged in her office to express his dismay.

"Fine, I get the fresh and new part—that is if you want us—me in particular to look like a fool for everyone to see! It's Ice Dance for God's sake, Ms. Allen! Not even Free Skating can tame Justin! Then you're gonna let him dance? You're basically giving him crack when he's already so high up with his head in the a-"

"Language, Mr. Jeon. Mark Hamilton already made his pick, and I stand with him on this. It's final. Now excuse me, I've a meeting to attend." The director got up from her chair, patting Samuel's shoulder before walking out and away.

"Oh God, have mercy on me!" Samuel sighed in defeat as he left the room. He'd been waiting for so long to participate in the upcoming Figure Skating Championship, now the same competition might cause him his whole career. 

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"So... how did it go? Did you convince her to reconsider?" Samuel's eyes then shot up to a glare as soon as he stepped out of the office and found Justin there with Rose and Kate.

"You! This is all your fault! If you hadn't interrupted me earlier, then Hamilton wouldn't even dare think that it's a good idea to pair us both! Now—now I'm gonna be ruined, all because of you!" Samuel lashed out at Justin, charging forward, only for Kate to hold him back.

"Sammy! Calm down—"

"Hah! How was it my fault when Hamilton was the one who asked me to join you? I just obeyed like the good guy I am! Who knows, if I hadn't then maybe your performance might have bored him to death?" Justin hit back, making the latter squirm out of Kate's hold, now tackling him to the floor, straddling his waist.

"Sammy!" Kate exclaimed, holding both of Samuel's wrists up, for if she didn't, it looked like they'd be cleaning a dead body by the end of the day.

"Stop it, you two!" Rose then joined in, crouching down to grab both of Justin's arms in case the latter decided to fight back.

Justin then tried to shake off Rose's hold on him, looking angry as well, but then he met Samuel's gaze and saw something else.

Something that was just not anger.

Something like fear.

Samuel looked like he was afraid of him.

"Kate, let me go I really can't stand this fucker!" Samuel continued to lash out, scourging undirected punches in the air. Justin then managed to pull his arms out of Rose's hold, hands circling around Samuel's waist as he sat up, keeping Samuel locked in his arms.

"Just so you know, I can't fucking stand you too—but calm down Sammy." Justin looked into Samuel's eyes with a piercing gaze, immediately stopping the latter's floundering. "I won silver at the Junior Nationals two years ago, second to you who won the gold. Won bronze at grand prix back in highschool while you again took home gold."

Justin's hand reached from Samuel's waist to his arms, holding them on the floor. "I got silver again at the Novice Junior when we were fifteen while you won the gold. Do you get my point, Samuel Jeon?"

Justin paused, removing his hand off Samuel's to cup his face. "Do you get the fucking point? If there's anyone here who can definitely keep up with you, it's me... I hate you too, but I want that gold—and I know you want it too. So it's either you suck it up and stick with me, or drop out. Pick a side. Y'know, I'll be fine with anyone and anything," Justin said, eyes glaring mad, gritting his teeth as he spoke. With their position, Samuel could feel his rapid heartbeat.

"Drop out? Are you fucking crazy? My mother's judging the Nationals! Do you really think I can afford to drop out?" Samuel yelled in heavy takes of breath, grabbing Justin's collar; oblivious to both Kate and Rose standing there at the side.

"H-hah... then it's settled—truce, princess. You're stuck with me now." Justin huffed out a lungful of air, leaning close to Samuel's face, smirking as he completely ignored their proximity.

"Tch, just kiss and make up you two, will ya?" The two men broke apart at the sound of Kate's exhausted groan, while Rose laughed, collapsing on the ground dramatically.

"Shit! G-get off me, fucker!" Samuel hissed, pushing Justin back as he stood up.

"Says you? You're the one who jumped on me, princess—"

"Woah, woah... don't start again now, you too. C'mon Justin, let it go. We all had a long day today. Give it a rest, yeah?" Rose helped Justin up as the latter brushed non-existent dust off his shirt. Kate wrapped her arms around Samuel's frame in case Samuel tweaked and attacked him again.

"Rose, take that shit away, please. I can't fucking stand him being here." Samuel removed Kate's hold on him as he turned away, walking towards the exit.

"Shit? Me? You're the shit!" Justin scoffed, offended at the tone Samuel used.

"No, you are!" He heard Samuel snap back, his voice now distant.

"Stop. Stop now Justin, c'mon... let's get you home." Rose dragged Justin towards the other exit, leading him out as well.

"Oh God... these two, really." Kate collapsed on the floor, breathing freely now since the ruckus was finally over.

______________________

"Seriously, Justin? Did you really have to say all that?" Rose asked as the two neighbors were now walking to their respective homes.

"What? I got him to shut up, didn't I? Besides, he's the one who attacked me first. I still don't get what his problem is with me—Does he like me or something?" Justin shrugged, swinging his arms along with Rose.

"Hah, like you? I'm pretty sure Sammy was about to kill you there."

"As if he can! Tch, with arms like that? There's just no way—"

"He always beats you though?" Rose cut Justin off, making the latter breathe out a scoff.

"In a fight, dumb ass! I'm not talking about skating this time!"

"Seriously though, do you think you two can work together? I haven't seen you two interact with each other since like what? Sixth or seventh grade?" Rose sighed, looking at him with worried eyes. "Why did you do it? Mark Hamilton didn't ask you to step in—you basically volunteered."

"Well let's just say I've got scores to settle, Rose. So I'll do my best. I always do, anyway," Justin said, wearing a determined look on his face.