The morning finally settled over Aibek's house beneath a gray sky that refused to clear up completely. Even though the heavy rain from the previous night had stopped, the atmosphere inside the building continued to feel dense, with a simulated calm that could break into another whirlwind at any moment—which was not far from happening.
After a breakfast that left everyone with a bitter taste in their mouths, the routine of a forced vacation began to settle in grudgingly. In a house filled with high-level figure skaters accustomed to rigid schedules, marked timetables, and endless hours on the ice, having an entire day without training was almost a punishment. The accumulated energy had nowhere to go, and that made the daily friction much more evident.
