☆★
sunghoon stared at his phone screen, contemplating whether to text seola, who was running late for their meeting.
being late was a pet peeve of his, and he makes sure that the person late knows that he was wasting his precious time by being late.
but, he'll let it slide. for now.
the grasp on his crossbody bag tightened as he hesitated. "she'll arrive soon anyways," he said to himself, keeping his phone away.
he was currently waiting outside an indoor skating rink where they promised to meet. this was the same skating rink where he used to compete in when he was younger.
he looked around the area, feeling nostalgic with how similar everything was to the way he remembered the outside of the indoor skating rink he used to spend countless hours in. to the row of trees that were in front of the entrance, the narrow pathway with passers-by ranging from families with their children, couples both old and young, tourists, friend groups, and etc.
he glanced at his watch before glancing back to the front of the indoor skate rink, "i wonder if the inside hasn't changed much too," he mumbled, trying to kill the boredom by talking to himself.
"oi, park sunghoon!" he turned around to see seola in the distance bent down to her knees, panting.
he approached her and stood in front of her, "um, congratulations for being late?" he patted her shoulder awkwardly.
she looked up to grin at him, "thank you," she sarcastically said.
"you're welcome," he said before grabbing a water bottle from his bag and opening the cap. "here," he handed her the bottle.
she eyed him suspiciously, standing up still. "i refuse to believe you randomly have a water bottle in your bag for no apparent reason. there must be a sort of poison mixed in the water," he rolled his eyes, "just drink it."
she shrugged and took the bottle, still eyeing him suspiciously. she took sips of the now warmed up water while sunghoon was waiting for her to finish drinking.
although they were simply together for a sudden and not thoroughly planned meeting, she didn't miss with her outfit that was simple but lovely.
wearing light caramel colored baggy pants with an olive green long sleeved cardigan, it unintentionally matches what sunghoon was wearing : a simple white shirt tucked into his grey faded ripped pants together with a light brown denim jacket.
but, sunghoon supposed that he was the only one who noticed they were almost matching outfits as the lady didn't looked too bothered and continued drinking.
he noticed her short hair was loose and messy and didn't have any styling on it unlike when they had school. "you didn't fix your hair today?" he asked her while she finished drinking and placed back the cap of the water bottle.
"i was in a rush so i didn't get to style it," she explained and handed him back the almost half empty water bottle. sunghoon took the bottle and placed it back in his bag, he looked back to her staring at him.
"what?"
she shook her head and grinned at him, "nothing. let's go," she said and walked towards the entrance of the indoor skating rink. "she definitely has something to say," he scratched his head before shrugging it off and following her inside.
seola pushed the glass door to the entrance and was immediately greeted by the cold air conditioned air that she longed for after running in the warm weather.
she went towards the counter where a middle aged woman was reading a newspaper as classical music played in her mini speaker that was on her desk. "how many?" the woman said without looking up to the customer, startling seola.
seola glanced at the paper with the entrance fees written and scanned it. an hour costs 3,000 won per adult and 1,000 won for an additional hour.
"two adults please," she said. she was about to get the money from her wallet but was beaten by sunghoon.
he scowled at her. "i'm the one paying," she scoffed
"hey, i was here first so i'm paying," he insists.
"no. i'm paying because i'm late."
the woman got irritated by the noise they were creating and finally looked up from reading. "is it really required for youngsters like you to fight who's going to pay-" she instantly froze when she saw a familiar young man in front of him.
she placed a hand on her mouth, "oh my, is that you sunghoon?" sunghoon tilted his head, not recognizing her face. "do i know you.." his voice trailed quietly when he suddenly remembered who she was.
his eyes widened and he gestured at her with a shocked expression, "it's mrs kim!" seola stood beside him awkwardly, looking back and forth at the two.
the woman wore an offended face, "just because my face became wrinkly, i'm already unrecognizable," sunghoon apologetically smiled and turned back to seola, "this is mrs kim, one of my supporters, i guess?" he scratched his head as he introduced her.
mrs kim chuckled with his introduction of her, "don't be cocky about me being your supporter," she joked. she smiled at seola, "you must be this kid's girlfriend. must be tough."
seola shook her hands, "no, no, i'm not his girlfriend!" she said in a hurry. "my name is ahn seola, sunghoon's classmate. nice to meet you, mrs kim," she introduced herself briefly with a small smile on her lips.
"oh? my apologies, seola-ah, i thought you were this jerk's girlfriend," mrs kim whispered to seola and pointed back at sunghoon, who could hear what she was saying. "why am i a jerk?!" he asked, visibly upset.
"it's your fault for not visiting!" mrs.kim angrily hit him on his arm. sunghoon winced in pain as mrs kim took a key on her desk and went out to where sunghoon and seola were standing.
she ignored sunghoon and smiled at seola, " follow me, dear," seola nodded and followed mrs kim to another big glass door leading to the skating rink.
sunghoon watched the two women completely ignore him and going inside the skating rink while talking and laughing to each other.
"is this karma?"
☆★
s
eola watched sunghoon skate towards the center of the empty and enormous rink in one of the tiered seats where spectators would sit when they watch ice skating competitions.
mrs kim sat next to seola and relaxed her back on the hard chairs, "good things there aren't any visitors today," she said. "so, how did you force the boy into coming here?" seola turned her head to mrs.kim's direction, confused "huh?" she asked.
"sunghoon himself told me a couple years ago that he would quit skating for good, and he wasn't lying because he suddenly disappeared from the industry he was well-known in. but now, he's here about to skate for the first time in years."
she speechlessly looked away upon hearing her story of him quitting, "we just talked about it randomly and.. things happened? i suppose," she said unsurely, not really sure how to explain their situation to mrs kim.
"oh, he's starting," both ladies faced back at the rink as a song with a vibrant melody started playing.
she saw sunghoon looking at their way and she quickly gave him a thumbs up and a smile. she saw him nod at her and take a deep breathe before standing in a poised position.
sunghoon moved to the beat with small, graceful movements with his hands before taking small slides and turns in the rink. seola observed how he spun so smoothly that it made it hard for her to believe that it was his first time on the rink in years.
amidst the tension and nervousness he had before starting, his lips slowly creased up, the feeling of skating again that he didn't know he longed for, made him happy.
seola watched him with mesmerized eyes as they followed him with every movement and every turn he does. he was all alone in the fairly large rink, but he used the entire rink like a stage.
"look at him all smiley," mrs kim said with a proud smile on her face as she watched sunghoon with admiration. seola unconsciously nodded along what she was saying, still focused on his performance.
all she was able to think about was his eyes that were sparkling with joy when she was far away from the rink.
her eyes were glued to him. captivated at most. it was the middle of the day, he was wearing casual, not the most eye-catching clothes with neutral colors, but she can follow every movement of his even when she looks away to respond to mrs kim's questions.
he truely shone.
☆★
t
he two waved to mrs kim as they were about to part ways with her. sunghoon looked back at her with a smile, "thank you for letting us in," he bowed his head as sign of respect with seola side glancing at him before doing the same, "thank you, mrs.kim. i had a good time as well," seola added.
mrs kim chuckled and shook her head, "no worries. make sure to come here more often. right, sunghoon?"
sunghoon quietly smiled before laughing a little, "maybe. we'll see," mrs.kim immediately rolled her eyes, "just say you now want to practice skating more and will come here to practice for tournaments!" she scolded him angrily.
seola watched the two of them bickering adoringly, mrs kim patted her shoulder lightly, her mood changing to a 180.
"if he pisses you off, feel free to punch him in the face," mrs.kim winked at her which made seola laugh instantly.
"ah, please stop saying those things to her," sunghoon whined. mrs kim patted his shoulders next and smiled at him, "i'll be waiting for you," sunghoon snickered and waved goodbye to her.
they started walking home and as the two walked farther away from mrs kim without turning back, seola heard sniffling beside her. she glanced at sunghoon to see him tearing up. she looked at him, surprised, "are you crying-"
"yes, it's obvious that i'm crying so please don't ask me because it's making me cry more," he breathed in one go.
seola blinked twice and patted his shoulder awkwardly while they walked.
both ignored the stares they were gaining as they shared a silence. an idea suddenly popped on her head right when they reached a new street, "noodles are the answer to all your sorrows. so, let's eat some noodles. your treat because you're the one who should be comforted," she continued to pat his shoulder lightly.
he glared at her with teary eyes, "i hate you. but now i want noodles," seola laughed and grabbed his arm.
she looked back at him, "don't worry, i'll take you to a noodle shop enough to love me," she winked at him as she dragged him to go to her chosen restaurant.