The Regressor's Ice Is Golden - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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051.

“What’s going on?”
Who on earth was shouting at the Ice Rink while Coach Park was away?
I looked back and forth between the two people—one Korean, one Japanese.
The angry one was Cha Jin-hee, but looking at Chizuru’s face, she seemed to be insisting on her own innocence just as firmly.
‘Christ, this is driving me insane.’
What is this nonsense on the first day?
I swallowed the longest string of curses and took a breath to calm myself.
So first… I needed to sort this out.
Honestly, I wanted to tell them both to get out, but I couldn’t just waste precious ice training time like this.
Chizuru had to stick to her schedule anyway, and we had to go home together later.
I pulled out the Mobile Phone Translator.
[We’re doing ten laps on the Speed Track each. Cha Jin-hee, you go first. After you’ve done half a lap, we’ll follow behind you.]
“What? Hey, you’re discriminating against—”
“Hey.”
I was trying to defuse this situation, and she was pushing back?
Fortunately, Cha Jin-hee seemed intimidated enough and backed down without another word.
I watched as Cha Jin-hee climbed up to the Speed Track with a restless Chizuru beside me.
That side didn’t have training since it was general public ice time.
There were ordinary people shuffling around, but I trusted they’d manage to get out of the way.
After Cha Jin-hee had gone about halfway around the track, Chizuru and I picked up the Mobile Phone Translator and headed up to the Speed Track as well.
For a while, we just skated in silence.
Even machines work better once they’ve cooled down—people aren’t any different.
So I asked Chizuru a question on the translator around the time we’d completed half a lap.
[What happened? It didn’t seem like you’d done anything wrong.]
Chizuru hesitated before fumbling with the translator.
[Why me first?]
[You looked lonely.]
Here she was, alone in a foreign land where even the language barely worked, and she needed someone in her corner so she wouldn’t run away again—or rather, so she’d have the strength to keep training.
[Anyway, what did she say to you?]
[It’s kind of a long story. Can you wait?]
[Take your time.]
It took a while for her to work through the translator.
I just waited quietly.
The ice scraped beneath my blades with a crisper, sharper sound than usual, and ice shavings kept clinging to them.
[She keeps asking about where my family lives. It scares me, but she keeps wanting to hear my answers.]
“Ah…”
[And since coming here, I’ve gotten so tired of talking about movies and classical music. I mean, we did decide to choreograph the Gala Show, but it feels like I’m being pushed too hard.]
In short, it sounded like she’d gotten spooked by the way I’d been coming on too strong.
By the end, Chizuru was even holding her phone and sniffling.
No wonder her speed had started to drop.
[Of course I want to get along since you introduced me to her. But it’s so difficult and hard.]
I watched the scene with a heavy heart before picking up my phone.
[I think it must have been really overwhelming for you. Let me apologize on my behalf first.]
“I-I-ee, son-nani…”
[That friend probably needs to understand this too, but if it’s hard for you, should I tell her directly?]
Chizuru waved her hands in protest but eventually gave her consent, and we resumed skating quietly.
The figure skaters in their shoes watched us as we moved along the Speed Track, and ordinary visitors occasionally glanced our way.
Over on the far side of the track, Cha Jin-hee was watching our movements intently.
After letting some time pass, I picked up the translator again.
[It seems like the problem comes from cultural differences and the situation. That kid is enthusiastic and a bit unusual, but she’s not a bad person.]
[I don’t think she is either… but I was too scared to be honest. It felt rude.]
[It’s okay. We can work things out while you’re here. But for that to happen, you need to be honest too, Chizuru. If something bothers you, tell me directly. At least between us, I won’t think you’re being rude.]
[But what if we fight again like today?]
[Then I’ll mediate again. Anyway, I think that kid wants to give you a good outcome.]
I can guarantee that much.
Fortunately, Chizuru seemed to accept it.
So I sent her ahead to the Figure Skating Rink first, then I stopped halfway.
Cha Jin-hee was trailing behind, sniffling audibly.
“Hey, sigh…….”
“Why are you crying? Come on, tell me what’s going on. God, it feels good not using that translator.”
Cha Jin-hee wiped her face dry and spoke petulantly.
“Why did you listen to her first?”
“Sister.”
“……her first.”
“She’s a foreigner, and I came to hear your side of things, so give me a break.”
Even though precious ice time was slipping away, it was obvious she’d burst if I didn’t listen now.
Fortunately, Cha Jin-hee started grumbling on her own without me having to press her.
“I mean, she said she came to train and make a new gala. But then she acts like she wants to be treated like a guest or something—just being vague and giving one-word answers.”
“Good grief.”
“And she supposedly wants to choreograph a new Gala Show, but she won’t even explain what kind of piece she’s after—just yeah-or-nays everything. Then she whines like I did something wrong.”
I began skating backward, pulling slightly ahead of her.
“But if you keep asking the skater all these questions, it seems like you want to do good work.”
“That should be obvious, right?! Yeah, you’re right. I’m being kind and saying I’ll work hard, so why won’t she cooperate? It’s not even her own gala.”
In short, what she was saying boiled down to: the choreographer isn’t that passionate about her actual job, her attitude is wishy-washy, so it’s frustrating and infuriating.
And since every single piece of work is precious to her right now, her irritation was understandable.
“I hear you, but what do you want to do about it?”
“Well, of course—I want us to get along. You went out of your way to bring in someone for me.”
That’s kind of touching, actually.
“But you saw it yourself—it’s just not clicking. The new Gala, whatever. If the choreography turns out half-baked, I feel like she’ll just call it quits and bail to Japan.”
“Yeah, I got that impression too.”
“Sigh…….”
Having vented all her frustrations, Cha Jin-hee glided over to me in her skates.
I stopped skating backward and matched her pace.
“First of all, your choreography isn’t anywhere near as bad as all that. Calm down. You made it to the Grand Prix Final with it.”
“……I guess that’s true.”
I stretched and looked back at the girl.
“Still, there are reasons to understand where she’s coming from.”
“What reasons……?”
“You’re desperate right now. She isn’t.”
Cha Jin-hee stared at me blankly for a moment, then her eyes widened.
‘Given her situation, every single commission is precious to Cha Jin-hee right now.’
If I had to guess, without something to drive her forward, she’d either end up going to study abroad or prepping for her GED after middle school graduation, only to be confined to a cram academy for a repeat year.
To avoid that worst-case scenario, she has to row hard while the tide is in.
But Chizuru isn’t in that position.
“She already has a program she uses for the Gala Show. You saw it at the Thailand competition, didn’t you.”
“Well, that…….”
From Chizuru’s perspective, creating a new Gala Show is nothing more than fan service.
Someone with a Junior Grand Prix Bronze Medal wouldn’t be looked down on domestically, but with such an overwhelming competitor around, trying to draw attention wouldn’t amount to much anyway.
In short, she has no reason to be desperate.
And while Cha Jin-hee was pushing everyone around her as hard as she was being pushed, the other girl had gotten spooked by it.
Understanding the full context, Cha Jin-hee looked down at the ice dejectedly.
Ah, if her motivation completely deflates now, that’ll be a problem too.
What kind of medicine should I administer here?
“Still, apologize to her later for yelling like you did.”
“……okay.”
Chizuru would be staying in Korea for three nights and four days, including today.
And her parents and coaches, perhaps overly trusting us, had asked if it was all right to let her stay at our house.
I mean, in a world like this, putting a girl alone in some random hotel would be strange too…….
‘Why didn’t you just come along?’
“What are you two doing over there at the Speed Track?”
“Ah, Coach.”
Coach Park, pale as a sheet with color barely returning to his face, looked us both up and down.
“Why is Chizuru practicing jumps alone? What happened while I was away?”
I smiled softly and gently placed a hand on the Coach’s shoulder.
“Coach, let’s just get through practice for now. I’ll explain the details later.”
“???”
In any case, the remaining practice session barely went forward as scheduled, and the two teenagers, drained and exhausted, fell asleep on the way home.
While Chizuru and Cha Jin-hee were dozing in the back seat, Coach Park—upon hearing the news—clutched the back of his neck.
As it happened, the fuel was also running low, so he pulled into a Rest Stop to take a brief break.
“Have some water and calm yourself.”
“Damn it….”
“They’re just kids. Please don’t swear.”
“The girl’s still in uniform and she’s got a sharp tongue?”
“Come on.”
I turned on my phone, gazing absently out the darkened window.
There was a reply to the text I’d sent that evening.
[Park Ji-ho: Lol, that’s your Japanese friend, right?]
[Park Ji-ho: Wait up—I’ll show you the full Korean middle school experience.]
To be honest, I wasn’t particularly talented at mediating disputes between kids who barely had their wits about them.
But I did happen to know someone who could pass the entertainment torch.
Whether it was adults or kids, they all bonded just fine while having a good time.

***

Monday morning broke bright.
Beep, beep~ beep-beep-beep~ beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beeeep-beep-beep~
Cha Jin-hee and I went to School while Chizuru headed off to train.
Incidentally, Cha Seo-hee remained unusually quiet at School as well.
She simply sat through class in silence, and even when the three of us worked on a group project, she cooperated without complaint.
“Hey, she totally crushed Cha Seo-hee back in Japan.”
“Really? Let me see the Gold Medal.”
“It was a Bronze Medal, actually.”
After sitting through class, eating lunch, watching the news, and ignoring every provocateur who wandered by looking for trouble—school finally ended.
“Haha, feels like it’s been forever since we’ve seen you!”
Park Ji-ho waved heartily.
Notably, he wasn’t alone.
“So, you’re her? Pretty cute, huh?”
“We’re really hanging out with the Japanese girl today, right? Is she gorgeous?”
“Yeah, we’re leaving without this guy.”
“Oh, come on!”
“Hey, this happened to me once too, haha!”
I swept a flat, cold gaze across Park Ji-ho’s circle.
There was a Female Senior with heavy makeup who was trash-talking her companion, and a Male Senior in a carelessly worn uniform who’d just caught a smack from Park Ji-ho.
The difference between a troublemaker and a social butterfly was paper-thin….
‘Is this really a good idea?’
One wrong move and we’d probably get dragged by international social media without recourse.
“Say hello—these are the kids we’re hanging out with today.”
“Hello.”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, lovely junior. I do hope we’ll have an enjoyable time together—ack!”
“This idiot is really doing this, hah.”
The Female Senior laughed at the Male Senior as he took another hit from Park Ji-ho.
My energy was already draining away.
“Well then… shall we go?”
I stepped forward, gazing toward distant mountains.
Chizuru’s Ice Rink practice was set to end at five-thirty.
The Returnee’s Ice Sheet in Gold – Episode 51
E-book publication date | 2026.06.05

Author | Korkaroli
Publisher | Heo Heung-beom, Park Geon-won
Published by | Potent

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Phone | 02-6320-8500
Fax | 02-6320-8585

UCI | G720:N+A101-20260514092.0051
Cover Price | 100 Won

ⓒ Corcoroli 2026

This e-book is protected under copyright law.
This e-book has been published by agreement with the author, and unauthorized reproduction, copying, distribution, or sharing without written consent from both parties is prohibited.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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