Chapter 2

The friends were also wearing coats and scarves to protect themselves from the cold, and since it was a couple's outing, Lucy laughed when Noah approached and held hands with a completely unknown girl to her.

"What took you so long?" Kuan grumbled but held hands with Daniel, and Kimi held Jerry's hand. "Shall we go?"

"Wait," Noah grumbled and laughed, approaching with the girl who had just arrived with the four of them. "This is Emi Saito, she's my..." Noah looked at her and laughed. "Friend... She came from Japan to spend the end of the year here with us. Is it okay if she joins us?"

Lucy laughed and nodded. "Of course."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Emi said. Her Korean was slow and somewhat broken, but it only made her cuter.

"I'm Lucy. This is Ryeon," Lucy pointed to the boy beside her, and then to the couple ahead. "Those are Jaesun and Mark."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Jaesun waved, and Mark laughed.

"Now we can go," Noah said, holding Emi's hand more tightly, and receiving the girl's smile in response.

"They look like a couple," Ryeon whispered in Lucy's ear as they started walking, now towards the subway. "Nice, isn't it?"

Lucy looked at him and nodded. She was fully aware that a part of that joy was pure jealousy, but she couldn't deny that it was indeed nice. Noah seemed very happy, talking and whispering ahead with Emi.

"I talked to your dad about coming back a little later, but he didn't give me an answer..."

"He said we can come back at dawn, but he'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Keeping an eye on me?" Ryeon touched his own chest and nervously laughed.

"Yeah, but it's only you, which means I can do whatever I want..."

Lucy loved teasing Ryeon. They had reached a level of intimacy that their years of friendship had brought them, but now they were developing a deeper level of intimacy, which was quite enjoyable. Lucy felt the desire to provoke Ryeon and see him looking at her with those suggestive eyes and a teasing smile. But she also knew that this allowed Ryeon to feel comfortable developing that intimacy with her as well. As much as she liked it, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed and consequently blush like a tomato.

And that's exactly how she felt when Ryeon approached her and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her so close that their steps seemed synchronized.

"I have a gift for you, but I left it at home, specifically on my bed," Ryeon whispered in her ear.

"Is that your way of inviting a girl to your bed?" Lucy teased.

"Usually, I use the tactic of watching old movies like the 2000s 'Charlie's Angels' and eating popcorn, but since it's Christmas today, I... um... decided to change it up a bit. I hope I can take my girl to bed this way."

"You silly!" Lucy playfully slapped his chest, which made him burst into laughter.

Their friends didn't mind; the level of bromance they had reached was no longer surprising; it had become more normal than other things. But Emi, being new, looked at them and smiled softly when she saw Ryeon whispering to Lucy again, while she still had rosy cheeks and laughed.

"Are they a couple?" Emi asked Noah. The boy looked at them and nodded. "They look beautiful together."

"Yeah," Noah smiled at her and lingered as he looked at how Emi's honey-colored eyes sparkled in the night.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Emi smiled, noticing how Noah was looking at her.

"No... Every year, I ask the same girl to be my girlfriend, and she always says no. I even tried to fall in love this year, but it didn't work out. So, in a little while, I'll be asking the same girl to be my girlfriend again, and she'll say no. All because we live in different countries... Oh, cruel life!"

"What drama," Emi laughed. "But what if that girl has to come to Korea because she wants to learn the language?"

Noah's eyes widened.

"Is that true?"

"It could happen," Emi shrugged.

"Then..." Noah suddenly stopped and made the others stop too, looking at him without understanding why. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Emi laughed, but when she looked around, she shrank with embarrassment. Noah also looked around and waved his hand for everyone to start walking again, so he could get his answer.

"I ship it!" Kuan shouted from the front, his body being pulled away by Daniel.

"Sorry, I didn't think, I just stopped and asked... It's just that we've known each other for so many years, and I like you, you know, but that's why I..."

"I accept, Noah," Emi said before silencing him with a kiss.

The boy remained with his eyes wide open and startled for the first few seconds. He felt Emi embrace him around the waist, and only then did he understand that the girl he had been asking out for years had accepted. And better yet, she was kissing him.

Emi leaned closer, and Noah closed his eyes, holding her cheeks and enjoying the kiss.

"See? That's great!" Ryeon exclaimed, incredibly happy with the kiss.

Lucy laughed and hugged Ryeon around the waist. Everyone watched the kiss as if it were a movie, but it didn't matter if they were being intrusive. Noah was finally making progress, and it deserved a celebration.

That's why Kuan clapped and shouted things like "Yeah!" or "It finally happened." Everyone applauded as well, laughing when the couple separated and their blushing cheeks became apparent.

"Now let's go, damn it," Kuan said, pulling everyone to walk back.

The now official couple laughed. They resumed walking and stayed together with the group.

Soon they arrived at the subway and organized themselves as a group since there were no seats available. It was crowded, with many couples. Lucy looked at it with shining eyes, never imagining that she would be with her group and Ryeon in that way, celebrating in a romantic setting.

When they got off at the central station, the crowd was even bigger. The lights illuminated the surroundings with brilliance, covering the shops and trees. The couples there were dressed in matching outfits, mostly shirts or coats. Ryeon reached for Lucy's hand and intertwined their fingers. Their friends were also with their partners and seemed excited.

Daniel pointed at the lights and showed them to Kuan, but it was funny how the boy's eyes always focused on the smile his boyfriend gave when he saw them.

"The entrance fee is 20,000 won," Jaesun said. They all searched for their wallets, and Lucy did the same, of course, but Ryeon stopped her from continuing.

"I'll pay for yours."

"No need, I brought enough money."

"But I insist..."

Lucy didn't like feeling as if the man always had to pay for everything. She had developed this fear because of everything her mother had tried to teach her, and she always wanted to go against it. However, if it weren't for Ryeon's pleading eyes fixed on her and his hand gently stroking hers, she would have been more resistant.

"Fine, but it's just the entrance fee, okay?"

"Okay," he smiled and pulled her with the others to enter the rink.

They still had to wait in line for about twenty-five minutes. About twenty people were allowed in at a time, and with the entrance ticket, they had twenty minutes of skating.

"You promise to hold onto me, right?" Jaesun asked Mark, seeing his boyfriend nod eagerly. "Do you really promise?" Jaesun extended his pinky finger, making Mark laugh but nod once again, intertwining their pinkies and placing a kiss on the joint.

"I promise."

"What's the skate size for the lady?" the man behind the counter, where the skates were kept, asked Ryeon, pointing his chin at Lucy. Although it was silly, hearing a stranger referring to herself in the feminine made her smile widely.

"Size thirty-nine," Lucy replied.

"The same for me," Ryeon said, looking at the attendant.

The man nodded and fetched two pairs of skates of the same color, handing them to Ryeon. Ryeon thanked him and brought the skates over to where Lucy was. He sat beside her and waited for her to take off the boots she was wearing, leaving only her socks.

"You heard, oppa?" Lucy whispered to Ryeon. "He called me 'lady.'"

Ryeon looked at her up close, seeing the little smile that revealed her bunny teeth, and still enchanted, he nodded.

"That's what you are."

"That's what I am."

One by one, they left the area where they were getting ready and entered the rink. Jaesun was the first, with Mark right behind, holding onto his waist tightly. The boy wobbled and tried to maintain balance, which amused the group.

Lucy entered right after Mark. Even though she had never skated on ice before, she had experience with regular roller skates, so she didn't feel much difference. She took a small spin and turned around, seeing Ryeon twirling and laughing at the end, approaching her to hold her hand and skate together.

Noah entered with Emi, and Kimi with Jerry. They seemed to balance well on their skates and were soon skating together like Lucy and Ryeon.

Meanwhile, Kuan was in the same position as Mark, holding onto Daniel's waist tightly while Daniel skated uncertainly and cautiously.

"You won't fall, sweetheart. I'm holding you," Kuan assured him, but Daniel didn't trust it too much, so he preferred to stay in the same position until he had enough courage to skate faster.

Lucy smiled at her friends but got lost in the sensations that skating brought her. She had always enjoyed skating, even when her father gave her a pair of skates at the age of seven, and she fell twenty-eight times on the first day. But the accomplishment came when, on the same day, she managed to skate the whole street with good balance.

She had never skated with Ryeon before, not even with regular roller skates. They had only ridden bicycles together, and that had already been a lot of fun. But Lucy also looked at Ryeon, so confident while skating and so beautiful with his red hair swaying... She looked at him for too long, so long that Ryeon couldn't warn her in time, and Mark couldn't hold or avoid colliding with Jaesun. They bumped into each other, trying to hold onto one another, but only finding the slippery ice rink as support.

Lucy burst into laughter, while Jaesun complained. But in the end, the boy laughed and was quickly and skillfully pulled up by his boyfriend, while Lucy continued to laugh and Ryeon struggled to lift her up.

Kimi passed by her when she was finally standing, twirling three times without falling. Lucy laughed even more, accepting her friend's hand when it was extended to her and following her, skating side by side and watching the boys right behind them.

"You were looking at him all lovey-dovey," Kimi said, laughing and going around the rink with Lucy beside her. "You really like him, don't you?"

"I really do," Lucy laughed, looking at Ryeon who still stayed behind her, along with Jerry who was by her side. "I'm really in love, I can't deny it."

"So why haven't you accepted his proposal yet? I heard he's so persistent, almost like a Brazilian."

Lucy laughed at Kimi's silly remark but shrugged. "I'm leaving, I don't know what might happen. I don't want to disappoint Ryeon. That's the last thing I want."

"So, you're just letting him go? You know there's Sun and-"

Lucy tapped Kimi on the shoulder and laughed as she quickly backed away, also laughing. She hurried back to her side and said, "I really don't feel insecure with Sun."

"That's good to know because I was just joking. Ryeon oppa only has eyes for you."

"I just don't want to keep him tied to something uncertain. I know how amazing Ryeon is, but if I can't reciprocate or, worse, if I can't make him happy or do things that couples do... he'll be sad and keep it to himself because I know he wouldn't speak up, afraid of hurting me."

"So you need to talk about all of this. Couples don't have to conform to standards to be happy. You and he can find happiness in your differences."

Lucy laughed and nodded. She felt a pair of hands on her waist and got startled, but when she looked over her shoulder, she saw Ryeon's smile. The boy planted a kiss on her shoulder, and Lucy saw Jerry doing the same with Kimi, pulling her away to skate together while Ryeon and Lucy slowed down their pace and continued together.