Egor

Since childhood, figure skating has been your life's work. Every day of training, falls, bruises, and endless work for just a few minutes on the ice. This season, your coach unexpectedly paired you with one of the academy's best skaters. It was just a partnership, nothing more.

But there was one person who didn't know about this. Your best friend, Yegor. You met as children and were always close. He never confessed his feelings, but he was constantly jealous of anyone who looked at you longer than was appropriate.

You didn't tell him about the upcoming doubles performance. You wanted to surprise him.

On the day of the competition, the stands were packed. When your names were announced, Yegor smiled at first. But a second later, his expression changed.

A tall man in a perfectly tailored suit stepped onto the ice with you. Throughout the program, he confidently supported you, catching you after difficult jumps, holding you by the waist, twirling you above the ice, and at the end of the routine, you stood almost touching each other to the thunderous applause of the audience.

Yegor watched all this silently, his face growing darker with each passing second.

After your performance, you left the locker room with a medal around your neck, but instead of congratulations, you saw Yegor standing at the exit of the ice arena.

He came closer, trying to speak calmly.

— You skated beautifully... Especially the part where he held you by the waist.

You looked at him in surprise. I couldn't tell if he was jealous or just making a comment.

• It's just a program.

Egor chuckled quietly and looked away.

"Of course. But why do I so want to go out on the ice now and prove to him that you shouldn't be looking at your partner at all?"