The Project 'Buddy'

~25~

The three best friends entered the mall, its sliding doors opening widely. Cool air greeted the three and they headed over to the location of the ice rink.

"Hmm, I wondered who wanted to go there in the first place," Jake pondered out loud, searching for their friends.

"Maybe it's Heeseung hyung? That dude's good at everything," Sunoo suggested, and Jake nodded his head in consideration. They walked for a few more minutes before reaching the middle of the mall, where a huge ice rink was placed.

Not many people were ice skating, but most were watching and just hanging around there. They entered the area and spotted Jay and Heeseung putting on their ice skates at one bench. Heeseung looked up, and his eyes brightened when he saw the three.

Quickly strapping up the last strap, he stood up and greeted the three with a wave.

"Hey guys! Glad you could make it!" Heeseung cheered, as the staff spoke with Jake to confirm their shoe sizes. When she finally turned away, Heeseung approached Jake with a flirting grin and placed his face close to the latter's.

"Hey pup," he whispered and Jake jumped.

Jungwon and Sunoo rolled their eyes and headed somewhere far far away from the two, leaving them to have their moment. Jungwon could almost see the help Jake needed in his eyes but Jungwon pretended to ignore it. Jake glared at the both of them, and Sunoo giggled.

Beside them, Jay had finally finished putting his ice skates on, and was now standing next to Jungwon. He gave the younger a small smile and Jungwon blushed at the sudden action.

Sunoo looked between the two, then at Jake and Heeseung, back at Jungwon and Jay and made a face. He decided to break the silence with a question. "So who's idea was it to do ice skating?"

"Probably yours," Jake assumed, pointing a finger and Heeseung's chest, and the older looked down at him, confused.

"Me? Naur boy, this was all his idea," Heeseung corrected, jerking his chin towards a figure skating beautifully on the ice. Jungwon, along with Jake and Sunoo, turned their heads and saw Sunghoon, with figure skates and skating around the ice rink leisurely.

"Whoa," Jungwon commented, and Jake nodded his head in approval, his lips pursed. Sunoo, meanwhile, was in awe as his stare followed the older male on the ice, and his eyes really looked like he was falling deeper for Sunghoon.

"Here are your skates," the staff member interrupted the moment, handing each other their own pair. Quickly, Sunoo put his on and stood up, waddling to the ice.

"Yah, be patient!" Jake scolded but obviously the latter didn't hear it. Jake sighed, put on his own pair and headed for the ice rink too.

"Wait, what about Niki?" Jungwon asked, looking at where the entrance was, hoping to see the tall male show up. Jay placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him to the ice rink. "It'll be fine, he's a big boy. He can ask for his own skates," Jay assured and Jungwon agreed.

"Do you know how to skate?" Jungwon curiously asked, stepping onto the ice with one foot. Immediately, he held on to the small wall beside his on tried to keep his balance.

"Um, not really. I rarely do this, most of the time it's Heeseung hyung and Sunghoon," Jay admitted, gesturing to the two. Sunghoon was busy doing jumps and turns while Heeseung was racing Jake at one side of the rink. Jake had caught on pretty fast, and he was grinning from ear to ear playing around with Heeseung.

Jungwon smiled at the scene. Those two should really get together...

"Wanna try skating?" Jay's voice interrupted his thoughts. Jungwon looked at him doubtfully, raising an eyebrow.