{Chapter 13}

Youngwon was trying to stifle his giggles, but he was finding that harder than he would have expected. “Ice skating…” he managed to choke out in between breaths. “That’s so…”

“Nice,” Inati finished, refusing to let Youngwon finish his sentence.

Day Day took a gulp of water and looked up at Inati, searching Inati’s face for any trace of sarcasm.

“I’m serious,” Inati defended himself, sensing why Day Day was glaring at him so intensely. “Youngwon’s just being stupid.” For emphasis, Inati threw the towel he had been using to keep the sweat off of his face over at Youngwon, who, after a second of registering what it was and what it had been used for, squealed and jumped out of his seat, throwing the towel to the ground in the process.

Day Day and Inati laughed, watching Youngwon’s reaction.

“That’s gross, you guys,” Youngwon told them through his teeth, wiping off the front of his shirt, as though he could somehow keep the sweat from Inati’s towel from mixing with his own sweat after their workout.

Inati shrugged. “You were being annoying.”

“Maybe Youngwon’s right, though,” Day Day mumbled, taking another gulp of water from his water bottle. “Maybe ice skating is a bit too cliché.”

“It is,” Inati said simply, sitting on the bench across from Day Day and taking a sip of his own water bottle.

Day Day groaned and slumped forward. “She was probably thinking that the whole time, too.”

“I’d doubt it,” Inati tried to sooth Day Day. “It may be a cliché by itself, but there’s a reason it’s overdone. Ice skating, for whatever reason, is a distinct couple or family activity. It’s fun; it brings people together—”

“It makes all the single people watching barf,” Youngwon interjected. He had lied down on the floor between Inati and Day Day, and was tossing a tennis ball—from who knew where—up and the air and catching it repeatedly.

Inati poked Youngwon’s side with his foot, and Day Day couldn’t tell if he had done it out of annoyance at being interrupted or because he didn’t agree with

Youngwon in the first place.

“I bet whatever happened yesterday at the rink will be cute and couple-like,” Inati reassured Day Day, who scoffed.

Inati sent Day Day a questioning look.

“She used to skate competitively,” Day Day explained with a sigh.

Youngwon couldn’t contain himself at all. He started to laugh so hard that he forgot about the tennis ball, which, as expected, came back to Earth. More precisely, it landed on Youngwon’s nose.

Both Inati and Day Day laughed as Youngwon let out a yelp of surprise and pain before sitting up, rubbing his nose. “Ow,” he whined. “That really hurt,” he told

Inati and Day Day, who were still beside themselves with laughter.

“You sort of deserved it though,” Day Day said, still chuckling.

Youngwon made a face at Day Day, but didn’t argue further.

Inati, once he had stopped laughing himself, asked, “So she had been skating quite a few times before, then? What type of skating did she do?”

“Short track speed skating.”

Both Inati and Youngwon were silent for a few seconds. Inati looked surprised, Youngwon blinked a few times and looked up at Day Day, clearly confused.

“It’s this sport where four or five skaters skate around a track that is considerably shorter than the long track speed skating track,” Day Day explained slowly to Youngwon.

“I know what short track speed skating is!” Youngwon insisted loudly, earning him a hiss from Inati. There were other people using the gym, and they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. “I’m just confused as to how someone as small and…delicate-looking like Livia could have ever been a short track skater.

“It’s been a while since she’s skated,” Day Day said. “She said that yesterday was her first time since she had to stop.”

“Why’d she stop?” Inati asked, clearly hooked on the story.

“Watch the show next week. You’ll find out,” Day Day answered with a smile.

“Jerk,” both Youngwon and Inati spat.

-           -           -           -

“What size is he?” Nattie asked.

Livia shrugged. “No idea. But I figure since he’s a rapper, he wouldn’t mind a little bagginess.”

Nattie giggled a little, making Livia peer over the clothes rack at her younger sister. “What?” she asked curiously.

“Sorry,” Nattie said, waving Livia off. It’s just weird to think about the fact that my sister is dating a rapper. Of all people, I would have suspected a rapper to be one of the last people you’d end up with.”

“It’s just a show, Nattie,” Livia sighed. Her sister, as the days passed in her fake marriage with Day Day, seemed to be falling into the same trap that some fans did; the thought that what they saw between her and Day Day was real.

She knew that she liked Day Day as a friend, and that he and his band—and their Dalmatian—were good people, but she wasn’t anywhere close to feeling like she and Day Day should be married for real like some people seemed to already think.

“I know it’s not real,” Nattie said. “But I know you have a crush on him.”

“I don’t,” Livia answered, keeping calm. Throughout her life, if Nattie suggested that she had a crush on someone, Livia got extremely nervous, even if she truly didn’t like the guy.

She heard Nattie giggle lightly. “You may be able to kid yourself, big sister, but I’ve known you my whole life. I know your mannerisms better than you do.”

Livia didn’t really like what Nattie was insinuating. She was afraid that Nattie’s statements would make her feel awkward with Day Day again.

Instead, Livia refocused her attention to the clothes in front of her. She had decided to get Day Day a jacket of some kind, and as silly as that seemed as first, it had turned into an interesting scavenger hunt. She had found herself in stores and areas that she hadn’t even known existed. Like the vintage store she and Nattie were in now. Initially, the idea of a vintage store in Korea had made her nervous at first, not really sure what she would find.

But, to her surprise and delight, the store was a lot like those she used to go to in the States; with the same type of bags, hats, sunglasses, and other pieces of clothing.

What type of jacket she was looking for, Livia didn’t know, but she knew she wanted something a little ragged. Before the move to Korea, she had been known for the vintage clothes she would wear, and the next “mission” the producers had given them was to find two pieces of clothing (one for her to give to Day Day and one for Day Day to give to her) that combined their styles.

Usually, Livia didn’t like shopping at all. It was actually one of the reasons she would shop at vintage clothing stores; cheap but lasting. It was rare that she knew immediately that she would pay whatever amount that was asked for a piece of clothing. But the second her hands touched a particular jacket on the clothing rack, she knew it was perfect.

It was an old letterman’s jacket, which was something she hadn’t seen since leaving the States. It was probably from the seventies or so, but it was in really good condition. The best part for Livia was that it looked to be larger than Day Day’s size, but it wasn’t over-sized.

“Nattie, what do you think of this?” Livia asked, holding the jacet up so her sister on the other side of the rack could see.

“That’s seriously perfect, Liv!” Nattie gasped. “How much is it?”

“I don’t know,” Livia admitted. “But I don’t care; I’m getting it.”

Nattie laughed and followed Livia to the cashier.

It wasn’t until the girl was hanging it in a garment bag that Nattie gasped and slapped Livia on the arm. “It even has ‘L’ on the front!”

“So?”

“Livia. L. Livia. L,” Nattie repeated, looking at her older sister as though she had suddenly gone crazy.

“Oh…L…for Livia…” Livia mumbled.

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