“Wow! What a game!” Eun-Ae cried breathlessly as she flopped back into the stadium chair, her face sweaty and flushed from cheering so forcefully for the hockey team. Despite being neck-and-neck for pretty much the entirety of the game, their team had managed to come out on top. The entire stadium had erupted into deafening roars of applause, Eun-Ae's voice among them. “I can see why hockey is so popular. It's so riveting to watch!”

“Eun-Ae, you're just saying that because you enjoyed the brawl,” Jonghyun mused as he sipped at the last dregs of his soda. He shook the plastic cup with a slight frown when he found that only ice remained.

“That is not true! We all thoroughly enjoyed it, if I recall correctly,” she shot back with a smug smile. Indeed, when a fistfight had broken out among two players over a referee call, all of them had jumped up to cheer their home player on, punching the air and screaming encouragement. It had lasted a few minutes and the opposing team's player had ended up with a bloody nose, spattering the pristine white ice with red droplets as he slunk to the foul box while the crowd booed and jeered at him. Though it had been entertaining for sure, Eun-Ae had still enjoyed the entirety of the sporting event. “Really, though. I had a lot of fun watching it all!” she beamed brightly.

“Good. We came here so you could have fun,” Key smiled in his seat beside her and casually threw his arm around her shoulders, making her blush slightly. Key. My boyfriend, she thought once more, and could not contain a soft, girly giggle as she pressed as close as she could to him with the armrests separating them. He smiled softly as he gazed at her, making her heartbeat quicken tremendously. All he has to do is look at me, she thought in slight amazement. She found that their faces were migrating almost naturally toward each other. Before their lips could touch, the jumbo screen blazed to life, startling them so that they jumped apart and looked up at the large electronic device hanging over the top of the rink.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight! Tonight we have a special offer to celebrate tonight’s game- free ice skating for one hour after the game! Ice skates are in limited supply, so it's first come, first serve, folks!” the announcer chattered jovially over the loudspeaker. In response to the announcement, children jumped up and began begging their parents to take them down to the rink, while a few couples, both young and old, stared knowingly into each other's eyes before making their way down to the ice. Ice skating. I don't think that I have ever been, Eun-Ae thought as she watched a few of the game patrons plodding through the exiting crowd to get to the bottom floor. She blinked when Key suddenly took hold of her hand and stood, tugging on her arm and motioning to the ice rink.

“What?” she blinked in confusion, not understanding what his body language was insinuating.

“Let's go ice skating,” he answered matter-of-factly, and she shook her head sadly before glancing over at the heavy and clunky breathing machine resting on the concrete beside her seat.

“I can't. There’s no way I can skate with this thing,” she moped. Of course she had known at once when she had been told she needed the oxygen supplying medical equipment that she was now limited in her recreational options, but now was the first time it had actually affected her. I may have to rethink my bucket list, she thought as she chewed on her lip, then glanced up at Key and her friends. They all were wearing the same identical expressions of pity and remorse. I don't want them to look like that, she thought as her heart constricted with pain. She hated those looks. She wanted them to be happy, not sad for her. “It's okay! Really! There are plenty of other things I can do! Besides, I’ve never been ice skating before. I would only make a fool of myself,” she insisted with fake cheerfulness. They must had seen right through her, because without hesitation Jonghyun pushed through the group of boys to lift the heavy machinery into his arms.

“Come on, Eun-Ae. Don't make excuses for yourself,” he told her, somewhat firmly. “You said this illness wasn't going to hold you back from doing the things you wanted, right? Don't stop now. We'll help you,” she smiled gently at her.

“Uh-huh! The machine has wheels, right? It should be able to roll on the ice just fine!” Taemin agreed as he grabbed her hand to hold it in both of his.

“Most of us have only been once or twice, too. We'll all be making fools of ourselves,” Onew reassured her with a confident smile. “The last time we went, Minho busted his and couldn't sit properly for three days!” he cackled with laughter, earning a sharp elbow to the ribs from the idol in question.

“You had to hold onto the railing like a little girl!” Minho shot back before winking at her. “The point is, we're all in this together, right?”

“So what do you say, Eun-Ae?” Key asked gently and pulled on her hand once more. Eun-Ae's bottom lip quivered as she grew dangerously close to tears, overwhelmed with emotion at their encouragement. These guys… They're right. I can't let this stop me now. I’ve been doing so well so far! She thought determinedly and stood up, nodding firmly with a big smile.

“Okay! I’m ready!” she agreed, and the five of them let out a chorus of elated cheers before shoving their way into the crowd. Jonghyun led the way with the bulky equipment while Eun-Ae followed behind, taking the steps two at a time to keep the cord connecting the oxygen tank to her nose from growing too taut. Most of the crowd parted for the cancer-stricken girl and her entourage, making the descent far easier. Several times Eun-Ae had to stop as she grew winded, but she refused to rest for long lest all of the ice skates be claimed before they could reach the bottom. By the time they made it down, most of the other patrons had exited the stadium, and the ice rink was full of people gliding across the slick surface and edging their way along the railings. “Are we too late?” Eun-Ae puffed as they made it to the gate to the rink, which had been closed. She collapsed onto a bench while Jonghyun set the machine down beside her, panting with effort. Her lungs felt like they were in a vice grip, tightened and squeezing every ounce of air out of her. Just breathe, she thought while Key went off to investigate the status of the ice skates.

“I hope we didn't come down here for nothing,” Taemin frowned as he sat down beside her, rubbing her back reassuringly as the girl caught her breath. Eun-Ae was too tired to respond. Key was gone for several minutes, allowing her to recover more or less before he returning holding two pairs of ice skates.

“These are all they had left. I’m afraid some of us will have to stay behind, fellas,” he remarked as he crouched down in front of Eun-Ae and pulled the shoelaces of her tennis shoes. The boys all quietly pouted and mumbled about back luck, while Eun-Ae went pink as Key took off one of her shoes.

“I can put them on myself, you know,” she protested meekly, and he smirked up at her with that confident, heat-filled look that made her body heat up and her heart beat over one hundred miles an hour. Her skin tingled as he slipped the ice skate on and deftly tied the strings, and then he did the same with the other. “I’m not a little girl,” she whined as he straightened up to just laugh. She glared at him slightly as he sat down on the metal bench to pull his own ice skates on. He stood up unsteadily when he was finished, balancing himself before grabbing the handle of Eun-Ae's machine and holding out a hand for her.

“Shall we, then?” he smiled softly. Eun-Ae took the offered hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet, and she gasped as she immediately lost her balance and had to grab onto the wall to keep from falling clumsily to the ground. Key held her hand as he patiently guided her out onto the ice, and she clutched onto the railing for dear life as he rolled her breathing machine out into the ice.

“I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea!” she squeaked in fright as her feet slid out from underneath her and she fumbled for a minute to right herself. Key just laughed lightly and skated over to her, rolling the machine after him.

“Come on. It's not that hard. It's just like walking,” he chuckled as he reached out for her. She reached out, but as she let go of the rail she skidded unsteadily forward and crashed right into him. Somehow, Key managed to remain upright, and he held her securely while she somewhat regained her balance. She blushed darkly in embarrassment. She looked like a complete and utter fool. Despite the probably comical display, Key just smiled gently at her. She just huffed and spat a piece of her hair out of , and that made him chuckle a little. “You're just thinking too much. Here. I’ll guide you,” he told her before spinning her around. She wobbled precariously, but he held her upright by keeping his hands on her hips, making her blush further. Still, it felt nice, so she didn’t complain. She was too focused on keeping from falling roughly on her behind.

“Wh-whoa,” she gasped nervously as Key suddenly glided perfectly around her, moving his hands from her hips up her arms to where he was holding her hands. “You're really good at this!” she observed in slight disappointment. He smirked down at her smugly.

“I guess you could say I’m a natural,” he teased before letting go of one of her hands to grab the handle of the breathing machine. He then kicked off and began slowly skating backwards across the ice, pulling Eun-Ae along with him. She squeaked and tensed up as her skates began dragging, scoring deep Mark’s into the white surface. “Don't worry! I won't let you fall!” he laughed at her. “Just act like you're walking,” he instructed her gently, and so she swallowed her fear to begin trying to follow the motion of his own feet. After a few minutes of stumbling and sliding, she managed to pick it up, and soon they were gliding across the rink together.

“H-hey! It's not so hard!” she puffed with a wide grin, glancing up at him. He was smiling brightly at her.

“See? I told you that you could do it,” he smiled and turned so that he was skating beside her. Their hands were still locked together, hanging loosely between them as they skated around the rink. As Eun- Ae relaxed, she began to enjoy the slight wind ruffling her hair from the speed they were going and the feeling of the silver blades scoring across the ice and the feeling of Key's hand wrapped around her own. Feeling a bit bold, she pushed closer to Key so that their bodies brushed together. He glanced down at her with raised eyebrows and a smug look. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I just want to be close to you,” she admitted shyly and laced her fingers with his. “I just want to enjoy the time I have with you,” she added more quietly, looking down at her feet, sliding over the whitish-blue surface. I don't have much time left… Thirteen days. That's so short, but it's still plenty of time to spend with Key... I have to make the most of it. In response to her gloominess, Key let her hand go to slide her hand around her hips and pull her close. He sighed and leaned forward to press a kiss into her hair.

“I get it,” he mumbled, his voice muffled by the thick brown locks. “I want to enjoy the time we have left, too,” he smiled weakly as he pulled back, glanced down at her. They said nothing else, because everything else could go unsaid. Instead, they skated circles around the ice rink, pressed as close together as they could be because they knew that sooner or later they would be ripped apart.

Whether they were ready for it or not.