-
Of all the places in the world, except for the stage Jaemin’s favorite would always be the skating rink. 

The coldness of the air kissing his pinkish cheeks, the sound of the sharp blades cutting through the smooth ice, the sensation of flying, and getting lost into your own world- Jaemin enjoys all of these. Ever since he was a kid, he always did enjoy these things. 

Before he became an smrookie, Jaemin was a figure skater first. He learned dancing even before he could learn how to walk, but ballet and figure skating got him by the hook. It gave him the satisfaction that other form of dances could never. 

And even though figure skating was the reason why he got his illness, he could never regret learning it. 

He looked around the empty rink, hands glazing over the chilled side railings while skating slowly around the whole area. He smiled as he reminisced all the moments he spent practicing in this one particular skating rink near ever since he was young. He missed it. 

The moment his parents found out about his back problems that was caused by figure skating, they made him stop coming to the rink. They made him stop practicing. It almost crushed Jaemin’s world, but they encouraged him that there are more types of dance that he could try and its for his sake so he listened to them without a word of protest. 

It’s a great thing that the rink was still running and the owner Mr. Yoo, an old man who’s the father of Jaemin’s grade school teacher, didn’t sell the place either. 

It’s been so long since he last stepped on that rink, at that moment, Jaemin felt like home. 

He carefully stepped his right foot forward to increase his speed a little bit more, taking a mental note of how polished the ice was. He smiled to himself as he glided towards the center of the rink. He may not be able to perform a routine or skate fully at the moment because of his injury, but being on top of the ice felt so refreshing. 

For a second, he forgot about the pain he was feeling, the misery that he was in, and that one specific boy his heart had never shut up about. 

“Don’t space out while skating, that’s too much danger.” an oddly familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. 

Looking around, he spotted two figures standing on the bleachers staring at him. He immediately felt a surge of happiness when he recognized who they were. 

“Donghyun hyung! Bominie!” He shouted in glee when he saw his childhood rink mates smiling and waving at him. He immediately neared them and walked out of the ice with caution. The two welcomed him with obvious joy in their faces. It’s been awhile since Jaemin saw these too. 

“Ahhh careful Nana! We have so much time we don’t need to rush.” Donghyun muttered softly while helping Jaemin take off his ice skates and giving him his shoes. “Teacher Yoo contacted us that Mr. Yoo’s favorite skater came back to skate today so we came here to see our little sunshine. How’s life bub?”

Jaemin beamed at the older before engulfing him into a bone-crushing hug. Soon enough, Bomin joined the two hugging them both with his long arms. Jaemin almost teared up, he missed his childhood friends. They untangled their bodies from each other after a few minutes, they got a lot of things to talk about. 

“Well, as you’ve heard I finally debuted. I’m just too unlucky my herniated disk attacked during promotions, it was a miracle I survived the whole course. It’s no problem now though, my doctor told me I’m almost done with my treatment. How about you two? Isn’t your debut coming soon?” He asked, willing away the sad atmosphere he created while narrating his whereabouts. 

Bomin nooded at him and gave a thumbs up which made Jaemin’s heart swell in remembrance. If you think no one could beat Jaemin’s smile, he’d say Bomin could. The kid who is 11 days younger than he is always had a soft spot on Jaemin’s heart. “We’re busy practicing now for our debut. We’ve been filming a lot too. I hope you could come to our showcase sunbae-nim!” Bomin teased Jaemin, earning a playful punch from the latter. 

They talked and laughed inside their childhood nest, the place where they all started their passion with dancing. They chattered about stuffs that happened in each other’s life, catching up with all they missed from the years that passed. Mr. Yoo, the old man who is the owner of the rink even came down form his office to greet them and join their conversation. 

“As expected, Mr. Yoo would always drop everything he’s doing just to see his rink’s sunshine, Na Jaemin. Such favoritism” Donghyun commented as Mr. Yoo embraced Jaemin and patted the younger’s hair. 

“Nana here, was always the one who helped me cleaning the bleachers before when you naughty kids kept leaving your candy wrappers. Ofcourse he’s my favorite skater!” Mr. Yoo retorted, laughing along with the kids. 

“Ahhh so unfair~!” Donghyun jokingly protested which made the rink owner chuckle. 

“Stop sulking now hyun-iee. You’re still Bomin’s favorite rink mate and skate partner!” He teased the two. 

Jaemin raised his eyebrow when Bomin’s face flushed deep red at Mr. Yoo’s words. Donghyun just giggled affectionately at how cute Bomin was before taking the younger’s hands in his. 

“Ahh young lo