The Project 'Buddy'

~26~

For the next hour or so, the seven men were enjoying their time at the ice rink. Heeseung and Jake got tired of racing and were playfully shoving each other around the ice.

Niki and Sunoo had gotten more comfortable with each other, and now Niki was guiding Sunoo around the ice rink by holding his hands. Every now and then, they would make eye contact, and it was clear as day that you could see Sunoo blushing while Niki tried not to smile.

Meanwhile, Jay was busy chasing Jungwon and the latter was skating so fast the adrenaline in his veins felt like bursting.

"HYUNG STOP!" Jungwon yelled, and he could hear the evil laugh of the older. Not even a minute later, Jay had caught up on Jungwon and tackled him from behind. Jungwon tripped over his skates and fell onto the ice, along with Jay and they two of them slid across the ice on their butts.

When they stopped, they were on the other side of the ice rink, laughing their heads off.

"What the actual heck," Heeseung, from above Jungwon, commented. He tilted his head in amusement and Jake spat out a laugh.

"How did you guys even-" Jake started, but got cut off when his laugh couldn't be contained. Jay was grinning widely as Jungwon threw back his head, laughing.

"Ow-okay my stomach," Jungwon giggled, and breathed in and out to calm down.

Jay stood up and reached out to help Jungwon up. A little hesitant at first, Jungwon reconsidered taking his hand, but thought again and took it.

"Thanks," he told Jay and smiled.

Jay smiled back, but Jungwon thought he saw a light blush on his cheeks. He just shrugged off the thought and turned to face forward, where he spotted Niki and Sunoo.

Sunoo was skating better now, but Niki still lingered by his side while the older took tiny steps and occasionally strided. Jungwon grinned like a fanboy and watched the two squabble but also entertain each other.

"Those two are seriously so cute-NISHIMURA CONFESS THAT DELULU ASS OF YOURS ALREADY!" Jake exaggerated at the side, gesturing big gestures towards the two oblivious men.

"Hey, deal with your own problems before you become some matchmaker, hyung," Jungwon defended, smirking when Jake looked away and scoffed, but there was no doubt he knew Jungwon was right. Heeseung grinned at Jungwon and mouthed a 'thanks', before attending to a beet red Jake.

"Ah, my legs hurt," Jay suddenly said, bending forward like an old man, rubbing his knee.

"Hurt? Hyung, you're 21!" Jungwon joked, smacking Jay's back, and the older made a weird sound that sounded like an 'ack!' After that, he took revenge by grabbing Jungwon's wrists and trying to tickle his waist. The younger shrieked and tried pushing Jay away, his wrists still in Jay's grasp.

Then there must've been some chipped ice on the floor because Jungwon lost his balance and if it were not for Jay, he would be having a big bruise in the middle of his face.

Jay managed to catch him just in time, by pulling him up by the his wrists, which ended them being chest to chest in the cold mall, filled with blasting aircorn.

That all seemed to vanish when Jungwon slid so close to Jay. He was able to catch a whiff of his scent. The familiar vanilla and cinnamon filled his nose and he almost lost his balance again. The warmth between them almost made Jungwon lean into Jay, but he restrained himself from doing so.
His face was so close to Jay's chest, and he could almost hear the older's heartbeat.

He looked up and saw a surprised Jay, and when their eyes met, they both blushed after realising the position their in. Jungwon's arms were up against Jay's chest and Jay almost had his arms around the younger's waist, to stop him from falling backwards.

Romantic indeed.

Jungwon cleared his throat, signalling he couldn't step back unless Jay allowed him, and the latter quickly put his arms behind him.

"Thanks..." Jungwon mumbled and Jay nodded in response. Both their faces were so red, you could almost assume they were sunburnt in a fully aircornditioned space. Neither one was looking at each other, and Jungwon didn't know what to do next, considering how close he was to his crush.

Thankfully, his saviour Sunoo came bounding towards him, grabbing him by the shoulder and hiding behind the younger. Bemused, Jungwon gave Sunoo a look and the older gigged while pointing towards a speeding Niki.

The youngest was reaching out and would have almost tackled Jungwon if he hadn't dodged it. Jungwon almost screamed and Sunoo was busy clinging onto his shoulders, laughing while Niki tried grabbing the older.

"EXCUSE ME I'M NOT YOUR SHEILD!" Jungwon yelled, and Sunoo continued laughing, clearly ignore the younger. Jungwon managed to shake him off and skate far far away from the scene. He shook his head upon seeing the two dodging each other's attacks.

"This is why they are meant to be," he said out loud, and he heard snickering behind him.

He turned around and saw Sunghoon watching the same scene, a smile on his face. Jungwon raised an eyebrow, and Sunghoon caught it.

"Yeah, I know about his crush on me," he simply stated, looking back at Niki and Sunoo.

Jungwon now turned around and folded his arms, giving him a motherly look. Sunghoon moved backwards a bit, palming the air in the universal, 'hold up,' gesture.

"Look, before you go all, 'protective bestie on me', I knew all along about his crush on me, but I also knew about Niki's big FAT crush on Sunoo! So..." Sunghoon explained, signalling for Jungwon to piece it together.

Jungwon knew what Sunghoon was saying, but he still challenged the older to continue. Sunghoon sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"So, I rejected him but like, I honestly really wasn't feeling anything! Like, he was cute, but it wasn't the same attraction I felt when I met..." he trailed off, peeking over his shoulder and looked at where Gen was standing, scrolling through her phone.

Jungwon sighed and patted his shoulder. "I get it. You're just not interested. But at least you were honest about it, and didn't lead him on just so he would be hurt even more," Jungwon said, smiling warmly at Sunghoon.

Sunghoon did the same. He ruffled the younger's hair and chuckled, "You're such a good friend."

"Mhm. I know," Jungwon sassed, flipping his head. Just then, they heard a shriek from Sunoo, and both of them turned to face the side. Niki had finally got Sunoo and was head locking the older while the poor Sunoo was squirming in his grasp. They wrestled and bickered, but two big goofy grins could be seen on their faces.

Sunghoon laughed. "Those two really should do something," he suggested.

Jungwon glanced to his side and met Sunghoon's eyes. Then, ever so cautiously, he asked.

"Team Sunki?"

Sunghoon grinned until his little fangs showed.

"Team Sunki." :)