[EXO] One-Shot Collection

[Lay] Skating

You walked around the lively city as you looked at the well-decorated stores and the bright Christmas lights everywhere. The season seemed to be very lively this year, but why did it felt empty for you? Oh right. Because you had no family to celebrate it with.

Sighing, you decided to find some bench or something to rest.

“Mommy I wanna go ice-skating!” You heard a little girl squeal from behind you. Then she passed by while pulling her mom’s hand, pointing at somewhere ahead in the process. Your eyebrow raised. There’s a skating rink here? Curious, you decided to follow them, and you felt the air grow colder and colder as you got nearer the rink. There were a lot of kids skating around, some with their parents, while some only had their parents watching them, taking pictures. You smiled to yourself and leaned on the metal bar as you watched a certain girl with a brown haired boy holding her.

“But I’m scared...”

“It’s ok, just hold on to me.” He held onto the little girl’s arms and slowly but carefully moved her along with him. He seemed to be in his young 20’s, but he seemed to be handling children really well. Your head tilted to the side as you tried to catch a glimpse of his face, but he spent most of his time looking down and his back to you as he handled different children.

You were suddenly reminded of that time you wanted to go skating with your father when you were still little. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen because you twisted your ankle a few days before Christmas when you tripped on the Christmas tree out of clumsiness. You never had the chance to ask him to skate again.

When you snapped out of your little reminiscing, you realized that most of the people were gone, and you were the only spectator around the rink. You glanced at your phone to check the time. Oh, right. It’s almost 12 a.m. Gift opening time. You could only laugh at your sad reality, knowing that you don’t have anything to do for this Christmas Eve.

“Hey,” your head shot up at a man’s voice, and realized that the brown-haired man you’ve been looking at earlier was staring directly at you from the rink.

“Oh, hey...” You managed a smile, though you had a moment of shock as you finally saw his face. He was... handsome. He had these warm eyes, making you forget about the cold weather for a moment. He swiftly skated closer as he looked around.

“It’s almost midnight. Why are you still here?”

“I... kind of have nothing to do for Christmas Eve.” You looked down and chuckled bitterly. “How about you? You don’t have children to care for anymore.”

“I kind of have nothing else to do as well than skate around.” He stretched and looked around at the empty rink once again. Then he whipped his head back to you with this eureka face. “Oh, I know! If you don’t have anything to do, you can join me here.”

“What?” You instinctively backed away, eyes wide. “Oh no, I don’t have money...”

“Oh come on. It’s Christmas,” he rolled his eyes, laughing. “Everything can be free on Christmas Eve.”

He crossed his arms, waiting for you to agree. You blinked a few times and bowed your head to hide your embarrassed face.

“I... I don’t really know how to skate...”

“Just hold onto me, and you’ll be okay.” He winked when you looked up, making you laugh a little. Though still hesitating, you walked towards the entrance, and he waited for you with a pair of skates in hand. As soon as you changed into them, you tried to stand up without turning your legs to jelly and thankfully, he grabbed your hand to prevent you from falling to your butt. Gawd, how could he be so steady when wearing these vertical steel blades?!!

“I’m Lay by the way.”

“I-I’m ____,” you stuttered, still highly concentrating on your feet. Your heart was kind of ruining your concentration too. It’s like a dubstep party going on in your chest.

“It’s ok. You can slide a little.” He spoke softly, and your attention was pried away from your feet a little when you looked up at him. He was smiling. His eyes were even more beautiful up close. Slightly in a daze, you nodded, and dared to slide one foot forward. But then your ankles shook and you almost fell backwards. Thankfully, Lay swiftly grabbed you by the waist. You had a little staring moment with him as you tried to take in the extreme closeness. He smelled... nice.

OMG no keep your head together gurl! Clearing your throat, you quickly stood upright, but then forgot that you had to keep holding onto him for dear life and stumbled when you let go. He grabbed your arms faster than lightning and pulled you back into his arms.

“I suppose I’m more terrible than I initially thought.” You laughed awkwardly, afraid to look at him now. This is sooooo embarrassing on many levels. The big clock of the city suddenly chimed, indicating that midnight has struck. Then fireworks started decorating the sky from the north, immediately putting you into a trance. You watched the different colors explode in the sky with sparkling eyes. It’s so beautiful. If only Mum and Dad were here to watch it with you. It’s like reliving a moment from years ago that you failed to make come true. The fireworks stopped after a few minutes, and the sky was left empty again.

“Did you see that?” You suddenly heard Lay’s voice, and you realized that he was on your right, leaning on the railing as well. He had this sparkle in his eyes. “You skated by yourself from there,” he pointed to the middle of the rink, then to your feet. “To there.”

“How...?” Your brows furrowed. How did you get to here? When? Was it when...

“The fireworks must have been so beautiful that you wanted to go to it.” He chuckled and looked up at the sky. You must have unconsciously skated while in your fireworks-watching trance. “I guess that’s the only gift I can have for Christmas. The fireworks, I mean. Too bad I can’t keep it in a box and display on my shelf forever.”

Your expression softened at his remark. His family must be away too. Come to think of it, he’s also out here, alone, having nothing to do just like you. You only have each other. Gathering your courage, you grabbed his hand and looked straight into his eyes.

“I’ll learn how to skate for you. Maybe that can be my gift.” You smiled and tried to lead the way, but then stumbled once again, being the graceful creature you are. He caught you by the waist once again but this time, you were able to laugh at the situation.

It’s feels good to be able to make someone happy on Christmas. It may only take one night, but the happiness can last forever.

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