Chapter 3

"Are you hungry?" Ryeon asked.

Lucy nodded, diverting her eyes to the timer in the center of the rink, which indicated how many minutes were left.

"What do you want to eat?" Ryeon asked.

"Gun-Mandu," Lucy said, laughing, and Ryeon nodded. "But I'll pay!"

"You pay for yours, and I'll pay for mine."

"I'll pay for both of us," Lucy said, resuming her slow skating, still facing him. "And there's no point in saying anything else."

The boy rolled his eyes but accepted both of the girl's hands to follow her. Lucy noticed that there were still four minutes left, so she turned around and held onto Ryeon with just one hand. She also saw Jaesun and Daniel skating a bit better, with their partners celebrating as if it were something memorable.

Ryeon pulled her towards the center of the rink, and Dua Lipa's "Levitating" played from the speakers scattered in the corners of the venue. It only took that lively touch to make them smile knowingly again, while they listened to laughter and voices around them.

As he sang the chorus while looking at her, Ryeon felt the butterflies in his stomach fluttering even more strongly, all because of the ever-growing smile she returned to him.

He syllabicated while looking at her, "You want me, I want you, baby," which made the girl bite her lower lip and lean in just to hold him gently by the shirt and seal their lips in a kiss.

Once the song ended, the signal indicating the end of their time on the ice rink sounded. They were still close and had the desire to kiss more and more, but they followed the others off the rink and still saw all their friends laughing foolishly, with Kuan occasionally mentioning the times Daniel almost fell.

They returned the skates at the counter, retrieved their shoes, and soon they were back on the streets of Busan, still grouped together, talking loudly and laughing. Ryeon pointed in the direction of the food stalls, and everyone followed. And as they stopped in front of the Mandu stall, Lucy quickly took out her wallet and went there, preventing Ryeon from thinking about paying for it as well.

She placed an order for two servings and saw some of their friends spreading out to the neighboring stalls.

Jaesun and Mark opted to eat Dakkkochi, Kimi and Jerry, along with Noah and Emi, went to the Odeng stall, and Kuan and Daniel went to the Hweori Gamja stall.

Lucy returned and sat next to Ryeon, handing him his portion and a pair of disposable chopsticks.

The group soon noticed that they wouldn't find a large enough table for all of them there. Everything was really crowded, so it was Noah's idea for them to sit on a long concrete bench below a tree adorned with lights.

Lucy had the first Mandu between her chopsticks and was about to bring it to her mouth when a cellphone camera flash caught her by surprise.

"Ryeon!" she complained with her mouth full, but laughed. Ryeon just laughed and aimed the camera to take a selfie of them together.

"Our first Christmas as almost a couple," he said while taking a picture and then another. "I'll print these and stick them on the ceiling of my room, so I can sleep looking at my sweetheart."

"You're a cheesy romantic," the girl laughed.

Ryeon shrugged and set the phone aside, picking up his chopsticks to finally eat the first Mandu.

"It's all your fault for breaking my tough and bad boy image, you know?"

"You never had a bad boy image, dummy," Kuan laughed.

"And look who's talking, sweetheart?" Jerry laughed along with Daniel, while the boy just rolled his eyes.

"It's the way a smitten bad boy acts, got it?"

"I see," Ryeon agreed, and resumed eating peacefully. "A bad boy when his heart is captured, that's how it is, what can we do?"

They still took their time eating there, as Lucy and the others wanted to eat a little more. This time, Ryeon insisted on splitting the bill, since she refused to let him pay for everything.

They walked around for almost an hour, looking at all the decorations. There were small groups of people gathered in the center, singing Christmas carols. While the group stopped to listen to that, Lucy felt her phone vibrating in her pocket, and when she took it out, she saw that it was her mother.

She moved away from the noise, answering the call shortly after.

"Are you not at home?" Sun-ha asked. "Where is all that noise coming from?"

"I'm not at home, Mom."

"So your father is alone, then?"

Lucy sighed and moved further away.

"You left him alone, Mom."

"I didn't want to leave, I just..." the girl heard her mother sigh, and she waited. "He wants me to apologize to you."

"You don't have to, I..."

"But I don't want to. I can't..." the woman interrupted her daughter. "I didn't do any of that to harm you. I just want you here, in Busan. With me and him, your family."

"I'll still be part of the family, Mom. But I need to study, I need to do what I want."

"But, Woojin..." Lucy rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I'm scared."

"I know you are, and Dad probably is too, and believe me, I am too," Lucy spotted a smaller and more secluded bench, so she went over and sat there. "But Mom... I need to go. I really need to. Would you try to understand if you gave me a chance to explain?"

"I try to understand, Woojin, but I can't."

"Don't just try, Mom... If you did, you would know that my name is not Woojin. I didn't want to be the disappointment I am to you, but that's what I am. I am Lucy, a girl, and your daughter."

"You don't understand... Imagine raising a child. An only child and devoting yourself entirely to them, but when they're almost becoming an adult, they tell you that they're actually a girl..."

"I can imagine. I imagined it for seventeen long years, and that's why it took me so long to finally tell you. I just didn't want you to find out that way, I didn't want anything between us to be like this. I love you, you know that, but I need to love myself too."

"You're talking like an adult now..."

"I'm almost one," Lucy laughed, curling up and crossing her legs. She saw Ryeon in the distance, and he was looking at her, but he seemed to know that the call was necessary and kept his distance. "Please, just try to understand me, and don't blame Dad, he doesn't deserve that, Mom."

The woman remained silent for long minutes. Lucy waited calmly, listening to her breathing and internally hoping that her mother would soften a bit. It was all too tiring, but she didn't want to leave and leave things unresolved. It all depended on Sun-ha.

"Are you coming back home?" the woman's voice echoed after the long silence. It was low and choked. "I'll only come home at dawn."

"Your father..."

"He needs you with him, Mom. Please, come back."

Once again, silence settled in, but it wasn't as long as before. Sun-ha seemed to sniffle softly, perhaps not wanting to show it through the call, so Lucy waited quietly until she heard her mother's voice again.

"Alright."

Lucy smiled, small and melancholic, but she smiled.

"Alright," she repeated.

"Take care of yourself, then."

"You too."

The woman took a while to end the call. Lucy actually thought the apology would come to an end, but she heard the sound indicating the call was finished and moved the phone away from her ear, watching the screen go blank.