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Kim Dokja finished tightening his skates, rolling his ankles to make sure they weren’t too tight or too loose. Once he was sure they felt okay, he stood up and waddled over to the entrance of the rink. He shifted nervously, watching Yoo Sangah glide effortlessly across the surface of the ice.
He had known Yoo Sangah had taken figure skating lessons as a child, so when their friend group decided to go ice skating together, Kim Dokja had shyly asked her to teach him beforehand.
Kim Dokja had never been particularly good at sports. As soon as the idea had been brought up, he was already dreading how he'd embarrass himself. The thought of gliding across the ice seemed fun, but his lack of core strength and balance made that sound impossible.
It was just his luck that, in addition to possibly being one of the worst people at sports, he was dating someone who seemed to excel at everything, including athletics. He could already envision Yoo Joonghyuk effortlessly skating circles around him while he repeatedly fell on his backside.
As Kim Dokja carefully placed his blade on the ice, a knot formed in his stomach. The surface was slick, and the step was slightly higher than the ground. A misstep could easily send him sprawling backward before he even got inside the rink.
“Here, take my hand,” Yoo Sangah said, gliding over to him. “Don’t worry. This part is tricky for anyone starting out. You get used to it.”
With a resigned sigh, Kim Dokja nodded, taking a deep breath as he grasped her hand and carefully brought his other skate onto the ice. The glassy surface felt foreign beneath his feet, his legs wobbling as he tried to find his footing. Yoo Sangah stood firm, steadying him, and he felt a bit more secure.
“See? Not so bad,” she smiled. Once she made sure he was stable, she added, “Do you think you can try balancing on your own?”
Kim Dokja shot her a fearful look. He had only managed to stay upright with her support. But he was here to learn so... “I can try...”
She released her grip on his hand, and to his surprise, he didn't fall or even stumble. He had managed to find his balance, at least for standing still.
Yoo Sangah dug her blades into the ice to push herself a small distance away. Kim Dokja was pretty sure he would fall immediately if he even attempted something like that.
“Okay, you’re doing great. Now, just shift your weight from one foot to the other. Like this,” she demonstrated, gliding smoothly past him.
Kim Dokja looked at her like she’d just performed a feat of magic.
Yoo Sangah laughed a little and held out her arms. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you lose your balance.”
“Right, shift my weight,” he muttered, trying to mimic her movements. He looked down, took a shaky step, then another, but instead of gliding, he stumbled, flailing his arms to regain his balance.
Just as he thought he was about to fall, Yoo Sangah was right there to help him steady himself. He probably looked ridiculous, but she didn’t laugh. “Try not looking down. It might be messing with your balance.”
“That sounds even scarier...” he whined.
“I promise it gets easier,” she said, her smile unwavering. “When I skated for the first time, I fell so badly I almost quit.”
It was hard to imagine Yoo Sangah failing at anything, as she always seemed to excel at everything since Kim Dokja had first met her. Even so, knowing that she had struggled too, despite how effortless she appeared now, was reassuring.
He carefully adjusted his posture, avoiding looking down while ensuring he didn’t lean back too far to risk falling. Surprisingly, it did seem to help.
As they moved around the rink, Kim Dokja felt his muscles protesting. It was more tiring on his legs than he had anticipated, but he could feel himself improving, even if just a little.
Outside the rink, Han Sooyoung sat on a bench, her laptop balanced on her knees, fingers flying across the keyboard. She glanced up occasionally, raising her eyebrows as she observed Yoo Sangah’s patient coaching.
Eventually, Kim Dokja grew tired, and Yoo Sangah guided him to the barrier to lean on and rest. As he caught his breath, he noticed Yoo Sangah seemed a bit restless standing still.
“You go ahead if you want. I’ll catch up to you when I'm ready,” he reassured her.
Yoo Sangah flashed him a grateful smile before taking off. With no one else around at this time of day, she could enjoy the entire rink to herself.
The sound of a clicking keyboard caught Kim Dokja’s attention, and he turned back to Han Sooyoung.
“Aren’t you going to practice too?” Kim Dokja called out to her. “Or did your girlfriend already teach you?”
“Hmph, I don’t need to practice. Unlike you, I have great balance,” she replied, confidently pointing to herself with her thumb. Kim Dokja stuck his tongue out at her, and she mirrored the gesture before dropping the act and returning her gaze to the screen.
Yoo Sangah glided around the rink, shifting her weight effortlessly, turning by balancing on the edge of one blade while crossing over with the other foot. Kim Dokja truly couldn’t understand how it was possible to balance like that, as if gravity worked differently on those that knew how to figure skate.
“Show off!” Han Sooyoung called out, as Yoo Sangah executed a small spin in the middle of the rink.
The crisp winter air enveloped Kim Dokja as he stood at the edge of the ice rink, his breath visible in the chilly atmosphere. It was colder now than it had been the last time they visited during the day.
His hands were freezing despite the gloves he was wearing, but he recalled Yoo Sangah telling him never to put his hands in his pockets while ice skating, as he wouldn’t be able to catch himself in time if he fell.
Taking a deep breath he pushed off away from the barrier and tried to remember everything Yoo Sangah taught him. But he found that he didn’t have to, since it seemed he’d practiced enough that he could just let himself go off muscle memory.
Of course, he wasn’t gliding like a figure skater like Yoo Sangah. He was really only skating like a regular person. But compared to the other unsteady skaters on the rink, he looked much more stable. He couldn’t help but beam at that. Kim Dokja had always been the worst at any physical activity, so the fact that he was actually doing better than others at something like this was a feeling he’d never experienced before.
Turns were still challenging, and he hadn’t quite mastered the crossover technique Yoo Sangah had demonstrated, despite her best efforts to teach him. Instead, he managed to navigate the turns by slowing down and shifting his weight just enough to pivot slowly.
Stopping was also a little difficult, but he managed that a little better. He couldn’t replicate the flashy stop Yoo Sangah executed, where she dug her weight into the ice, bits of shaved ice flying off her blades. For now, he was content with simply slowing down enough to come to a stop, like a plane gliding into a landing.
Even better if the barrier was close by and he could slow down near it and grab onto it to stop himself completely like now. Kim Dokja leaned against the barrier, panting slightly from his efforts. He caught sight of Yoo Joonghyuk watching him from the sidelines, arms crossed.
To Kim Dokja’s dismay, when they’d arrived Yoo Joonghyuk had declared he wasn’t good at ice skating and refused to join in, no matter how hard he tried to convince him.
“Come on, are you seriously not coming in?” Kim Dokja called out to him.
Yoo Joonghyuk approached the barrier slowly, taking Kim Dokja’s gloved hands in his as if to appease him. “I’m watching you from here.”
Kim Dokja’s hands were still cold, so he appreciated the warmth from Yoo Joonghyuk’s hands, but he still pouted.
“I wanted to skate with you. I practiced for this, you know…”
Yoo Joonghyuk regarded him for a moment, and Kim Dokja thought he saw a flicker of a smile before the other leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek. The sudden gesture sent Kim Dokja’s heart racing. His eyes went impossibly wide as he instinctively brought his gloved hand up to touch the spot where Yoo Joonghyuk had kissed him.
“Yoo Joonghyuk! We’re in public!” he reprimanded, his cheeks flushing. Yoo Joonghyuk merely exhaled a light laugh through his nose and walked away, leaving Kim Dokja momentarily flustered.
He quickly glanced around to see if anyone had seen them, but no one seemed to be paying attention. Even his friends were absorbed in their own activities.
Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung were doing laps around the rink while holding hands, slightly wobbly but otherwise doing well. On the other side, Han Sooyoung clung to the barrier like a drenched cat clinging to the edge of a bathtub, while a calm and patient Yoo Sangah coaxed her to let go and take her hand.
Kim Dokja watched them for a while, taking a moment to rest before resuming his laps around the rink. Just then, he heard someone call his name from behind.
“Kim Dokja.”
He turned back to see Yoo Joonghyuk wearing a pair of skates, clutching onto the sides of the entrance as he struggled to enter the ring.
A smile spread across Kim Dokja’s face as he skated over to offer his support.
Once Yoo Joonghyuk stepped onto the ice, he swayed slightly. Kim Dokja quickly extended another hand to help stabilize him.
Yoo Joonghyuk attempted to balance on his own but soon began to flail. Fortunately, the barrier was close by, and he grabbed it to stop his fall.
A part of him felt the urge to laugh a little. The image of someone as stoic and put together as Yoo Joonghyuk flailing like this was admittedly very funny. But he didn’t let himself. Yoo Joonghyuk was doing this for him, and he didn’t want to scare him out of it. Not wanting him to remain stuck holding the wall, Kim Dokja held out his arms.
“Okay okay, just hold on to me,” he said, not mentioning that it hadn’t been long since he’d had to hold onto someone else for balance as well.
Yoo Joonghyuk regarded him skeptically but placed his hands on Kim Dokja’s forearms anyway, allowing him to guide him further into the rink, struggling to keep his balance the whole time. Kim Dokja was grateful that Yoo Sangah had taught him to skate backwards, as it made guiding Yoo Joonghyuk much easier. He’d been scared to try at first but had found it surprisingly easy once he’d understood how to do it.
Kim Dokja felt a bit of pride that he’d improved enough that he could handle steadying someone much larger than himself.
“Wow, you really do suck at this,” Kim Dokja laughed. “Finally, something Yoo Joonghyuk is bad at.”
Yoo Joonghyuk shot him a glare, then quickly returned his gaze to the ice.
Kim Dokja remembered what Yoo Sangah had told him. “Don’t look down, it’ll mess up your balance.”
Yoo Joonghyuk complied, meeting his eyes. A slight fluster washed over Kim Dokja. It wasn’t uncommon for Yoo Joonghyuk to look at him like this. If anything he seemed to love staring at him, despite how much it flustered Kim Dokja, or perhaps because of it. Even so, he never fully gotten used to meeting his eyes like this, especially when the gaze returned to him was so intense.
This time he couldn’t even look down or away lest he lose his balance. Oh well, his cheeks were likely already red from the cold anyway.
He tried to shake off his shyness by sharing Yoo Sangah’s advice with Yoo Joonghyuk.
Yoo Joonghyuk was always a fast learner, so Kim Dokja didn’t get to enjoy the amusing image of someone as big and fit as Yoo Joonghyuk stumbling on the ice like a baby deer.
Before long, he was getting pretty good himself and could skate on his own, but he still reached for Kim Dokja’s hand.
Kim Dokja hesitated before taking it. “Other people might stare…”
“Why? I’m just relying on you for balance, aren’t I?” Yoo Joonghyuk replied.
Kim Dokja huffed a laugh and relented, skating with Yoo Joonghyuk, hand in hand.
Once they were finished removing their skates Kim Dokja felt the chill of the evening seep into his bones. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself in a futile attempt to ward off the cold, only for a pair of arms to pull him in against a sturdy chest and hide him inside his coat.
“Joonghyuk-” he began to protest, but Yoo Joonghyuk only wrapped his coat around him more snugly, strong arms wrapping around him.
“There’s no one around,” Yoo Joonghyuk murmured, his voice low and soothing.
Kim Dokja turned to look around as best as he could and sure enough there wasn’t anyone around at the moment. The few people that had been here had already left as it was getting quite late. So Kim Dokja relented and tucked himself in against Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest, wrapping his arms around his back.
His face was the only part of him that hadn’t been covered, so his skin was beginning to sting from the icy cold. It was nice to rest his cheek against the warmth of Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest. Yoo Joonghyuk leaned down, pressing soft kisses against his forehead. Kim Dokja closed his eyes at the feeling.
“Are you hungry?” Yoo Joonghyuk asked quietly.
“Mmm,” Kim Dokja replied, his stomach rumbling in agreement. “What do you want to eat?”
“Dumplings.”
Kim Dokja laughed softly. “You always want dumplings. Don’t you want something warmer, like soup?”
“Dumpling soup then,” Yoo Joonghyuk said, tone final.
He couldn't help but laugh even harder this time. When he looked up at Yoo Joonghyuk's face, a small smile had crept up on his lips.
This time it was Kim Dokja who placed a quick kiss on his cheek, "Alright, dumpling soup then."