Ice Cold- Park Sunghoon

nine

A little more than one month had passed since this whole chaos in Soojin's, as well as Sunghoon's life started. It was odd how much changed in their lifes just from meeting each other.

Truth be told, Sunghoon had never really taken any serious interest in a girl. His parents had long assumed he was gay, to the point where he almost believed that. In fact, he was still pretty sure that he had a crush on one of his ex-classmates Jake, but that was in the past. 

He would've never imagined himself feeling this way around a girl. Such an annoying one as well. He would've never imagined feeling this way for anyone. The figure skater was almost certain that he was going to die alone, or at least not have a partner until he had retired. Practice was just so time-consuming. 

But now, he had someone by his side all day. And the way that made him feel just couldn't be put in words. 

"Good luck", he whispered and placed a soft kiss on the younger's cheek, before almost pushing her onto the ice. Of course, she nearly slipped but was able to catch herself in time. The principal and his wife were already waiting, slightly laughing at the sight of the silly girl. 

The whole sight of her was pretty funny actually. She was wearing thick clothing, three pairs of tights over each other, just to prevent any more bruises on her already massacred knees and a huge beanie to save her head at least a little. Two days ago, they started practising the double jumps. At least one of them to start with. 

Soojin lost track of how often she fell, but she was ready to present an ugly version for the director and his wife. Not because she wanted them to see her fall, but because she wanted to show them that she indeed needed the time to practise. 

Then the music started, leaving her no time to think about the kiss Sunghoon gave her. 

*

"I have decided to give you the time off of school", the director let Soojin know, who immediately had the reflex to run to the director and hug him, which she regretted just as quickly. 

"thank you", she awkwardly muttered as she was stepping back to Sunghoon, who grinned at her weird behaviour. He liked it. He liked her. 

"We thought you needed the time honey", the woman in front of them smiled, thinking back at the 4 different attempts for a simple Waltz Jump. 

Sunghoon laughed at that comment. 

Soojin hit him for that. 

"Whatever it is for, I'm thankful", she smiled. "It's because you suck", Sunghoon teased. Soojin just smiled through that comment, knowing well enough he was going to regret it later on. 

"Well. We'll see you at the competition then. I have been informed that Min Jiyoo will be there as well, so I wish you both good luck and hope one of you will bring back the trophy for our school", the director smiled politely before leaving the ice rink with his wife. 

Sunghoon noticed that at the mention of her former best friend, Soojin's smile dropped. He still felt pretty awful, it was kinda his fault they weren't friends anymore. 70% his fault. 

Maybe 80%. 

"Cheer up baby! Cheer up baby!" the boy sang as he grabbed the girls arms and made them follow the moves of the song. Soojin just smiled at that before squeezing the elder's face. 

"ouch." 

"And that's what you get for telling me I suck- "

"dick." 

Following that joke was a pretty long, awkward silence. 

"Let's just forget about that joke and practise, shall we?" Soojin asked and Sunghoon nodded, trying to hold back his laughter from his amazing joke. He was so clever sometimes. 

"You know what? I think we're making slow but steady progress", the girl let the other know, while she was trying to keep her balance after landing a double toe loop. 

"We're sadly just rushing through the things you have to perform. If you are still interested in figure skating after that, and you give it a year or two time, you could actually have a future in it. You are not naturally gifted but you work hard, so I guess with enough practise you could achieve great things." 

"So you are saying that I still can't figure skate, even if I win the competition?" 

"Basically, yeah. You can't master something as difficult and complex as figure skating in the span of a few months. People dedicate their lifetimes to it and still are far from perfect. But isn't that the fun of it? The progress of learning and improving. Reaching your goal so easily would be boring." 

"You're not wrong", Soojin mumbled, carefully thinking about his words. Once again she was surprised at the way he expressed himself. You could just hear the passion in his words. She loved it. 

"Tell me more about it. About your goal and your dreams."

Sunghoon thought about it, as he watched the girl doing the double toe loop once again, this time not landing it and falling onto the ground. Instead of getting up, she just sat there, waiting for his answer. 

"Let's take a break. I will tell you everything you want to know." 

And so he did. They sat next to the ice rink, happily chatting, drinking hot chocolate and smiling like idiots. At this time, there were a few other skaters on the ice, but neither of them paid attention to them. They were immersed in each other and no one else seemed important. 

"... So yeah, I don't really have a goal. Just be happy, do the things that make me happy and all the bullshit", Sunghoon laughed as he finished his story.

 "And what makes you happy?"

To be honest, Soojin expected some sort of cheesy answer like 'you' or something like that, but reality was a bitch. 

"Figure skating. Food. I also like Penguins a lot, they are cute."

"Well thank you-" 

"Just like you", he added to his sentence, before pinching the younger's cheek. 

Soojin just nervously giggled at that.