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Mingled Fatum [Hiatus]
“Noona!” the voice desperately repeated.
Her eyebrows arched. She couldn’t wake up. Its coldness was boring itself through her hand.
“Noona!”
Her eyebrows twitched again. The muffled noise was becoming louder now and those eyes deeper. Nicole’s lips moved.
“Jung Nicole!” the thundering at the door became more fierce.
Her eyes flipped open and her legs immediately shot up running for the door.
“Goodness! What took you so long?!” Taemin questioned upset.
Nicole grabbed his arm, “Take a look around. There’s no one here, right?”
He stared at her with a crazy expression. Running out of patience at his quiet response she tugged him in and spun him around so that he was facing the small hallway between the kitchen and the living room.
“What do you want me to look for?” Taemin asked confused.
With hands at his back she pushed him forward.
“No? Nothing?” she asked.
“I don’t see even a hair,” he replied before turning to her. “Is something wrong?”
Sighing frustrated she put her hand up to her forehead.
“It was probably just a bizarre dream,” she told before walking into the living room.
He chased after her, grabbed her wrist, and led her into the kitchen.
“I brought some take-out,” he told setting the food on the table.
“I already had two different sets of dinner,” Nicole mumbled sitting down.
“This is what they call the fourth meal - the meal between dinner and breakfast,” he introduced spreading his arms wide.
Nicole stared up at him and watched him place the food before her.
Sitting down he started, “Lets go to the skating rink tomorrow.”
“I was planning to finish some work, if you didn’t notice,” Nicole gestured her head toward the living room.
Taemin glanced out at the stack of papers she was re-editing, “Leave that for Sunday, a day where you don’t go out. Come on, noona. It’ll be fun tomorrow.”
“What’s the occasion?” Nicole wonder poking at her cold noodles.
Taemin looked at her, “I thought you knew.”
She raised her eyebrows in question.
“Key hyung, he said you ok’d it.”
Nicole felt fall open in disbelief that she’d actually said something she probably didn’t mean. The conversation from earlier was still so clear in her mind.
“Lets meet up some time, the three of us,” he suggested.
Nicole focused herself on unbuckling her seat belt, “Sure.”
“Then…I’ll call him and figure out a time,” Key told.
“Really, Nicole? Really?” she quietly asking herself suddenly forgetting her nightmare just a few minutes ago.
Going out tomorrow with Taemin and Key seemed to be the more important factor at hand than some kind of horrid dream she’d just had.
Taemin seemed to hesitate with her being so quiet then swallowed the food in his mouth.
“I heard you two met up today,” Taemin told half troubled with the fact that he knew everything that happened between the two 5 years ago and that he had to also act as if he knew nothing about it. “It’s just an old friend’s gathering.”
Nicole leaned back in her seat unsure of how to get herself out of the situation, “Ok, we go, but I’m not doing anything else.”
The next morning she found herself standing in front of the skating center with Taemin sleep still engraved on her face. She was still half upset that he’d woken her up so early so they could grab something to eat along the way. Since that nightmare she’d only slept a few hours nodding on and off uncomfortably in the living room. Feeling so fatigued she could on divert all her angry emotions toward glaring at him.
Footsteps approached from their right and they turned to see Key walking toward them comfortably dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweater zipped up halfway. Anybody would have mistaken him for a university student. Nicole averted her gaze when he walked up to them and left the talking to Taemin, who was fully aware that she wasn’t in a good mood.
“Hey, hyung! You invited us, but how come you’re last to arrive?” Taemin joked.
“Did you two have a good sleep?”
“Of course!” when would Taemin stop sounding so happy in front of his hyung?
Nicole rolled her eyes and turned to look at Key when she realized they were waiting for her to answer.
Pressing her lips together and turning her gaze away she replied, “It was fine.”
:/:/:/:/:/
Of course, what had he expected that morning? For Nicole to suddenly start acting as if they’d gone 5 years back? He had to be kidding himself.
It was a little chilly inside the rink compared to all the people that were there. Small restaurants and cafes had been built around the outer edge in case people got cold and needed a warm drink. People were already up and about moving elegantly inside the icy rink.
Still pulling the laces through the holes in his skates at a bench he watched as Taemin went back and forth pushing and pulling at Nicole who had trouble skating. If Key recalled correctly, Nicole had always had a bad sense of balance. Seeing them get along so well made him wonder how exactly Taemin had succeeded at becoming so close to her when they both rarely conversed 5 years back.
“Yah!” he heard Nicole shriek when Taemin’s scare caused her to fall down.
He almost got up to help her up, but Taemin circled back and pulled her up to her feet easily. The scene continued onto one where Nicole started hitting him before forcing him to give her a train ride.
Stepping into the ice rink he stared as the two passed without noticing him. The laughter coming from them gave him much envy. Key would have categorized his feelings as jealousy just yet, but he admired the way Nicole reached out to Taemin, her dongsaeng, as a friend so comfortably.
“Hyung!” Taemin waved coming toward him. “Whew! I’m getting cold already.”
“I had trouble with my skates,” Key pointed toward his skates.
“I’m going to get us some hot chocolate, I’ll be back,” he suggested before stepping out of the rink, which left Key standing there with Nicole.
Nicole stared back at him pressing her lips firmly into a line before turning around. His eyes followed her as she made her way around gripping onto the wall unsteadily. After a second he took off after her and spun around so that he was in front of her.
“Hey,” he greeted.
She stared back blankly as if him being there or not didn’t matter at all.
“Still don’t know how to skate?”
“This is skating for me,” she replied.
He held out both his hands gesturing for her to take them, “I’ll give you a simple lesson. How about it?”
She seemed reluctant. It was all over her face. Yet, he waited silently for her to grasp his hands. Nicole seemed to waver for a long time before taking her grip off the wall, but before she placed her hands into his her unsteady feet faltered beneath her and she began to fall back. In an attempt to keep her from falling back and getting hurt he swung his arms around her holding her back up. And in another second as Nicole’s upper body swung back up she found her face inches away from his, their noses barely touching.
The air became that of a nervously awkward one where they could hear their hearts almost beating in unison. Key gulped aware of their fluctuating feelings. He loosened his hands meaning to take a step back, but even before he could Nicole’s bad balance caused her feet to skid sideways. In a split second he found himself sprawled onto his back as the pain sent shrills through his body like waves.
“Ugh…” he muttered looking up at Nicole who stared down at him wide eyed.
Another moment of long silence penetrated the area around them even as the passersby curiously glanced at them wondering if they were a flirting couple. The woosh-woosh sounds from their skates against the ice echoed in the air as he lay there still. He’d wanted to avoid it, but when his eyes crossed hers his heart began pounding wildly as it had that night when he had thought he…
Her grip on his shoulder loosened as she sat up and took off her skates before making a run in her socks out of the rink. Key sat up feeling his world spin and got to his feet to make a run after her.
:/:/:/:/:/
Service was soooo slooow. Taemin turned around once or twice glad to see that it seemed like Nicole and Key were talking. But the next time he turned around the two of them were gone from sight.
“Here you go. Sorry for the wait,” the woman apologized.
Taemin nodded with a smile and grabbed the two cups of hot chocolate making his way back toward the ice rink to call his two friends. However, on the way there he didn’t miss Nicole who’d suddenly rushed pass him and toward the front doors. Confused he quickly followed her out without noticing that Key was behind him.
“Noona!” he called out.
Nicole paused by the curb and Taemin caught up to her.
“What’s going on? Why’d you suddenly rush out?” Taemin worriedly interrogated.
Nicole took a breather and ran a hand through her loose hair as if something extraordinary had just happened and she’d become shocked. Shoving the other cup of hot chocolate into his other arm he reached up to wipe the sweat on her forehead with his arm. A silly smile appeared on his face as she stared at him dazed.
“Are you embarrassed cause you don’t know how to skate?” he teased.
Putting an arm on her shoulder he turned her around to find Key standing somewhat behind them. The expression on his face was unreadable.
“Hyung,” Taemin called out.
He seemed to press his lips together.
“I’m going to go sit in the car for a moment,” Nicole told then held out her hand, “give me your keys.”
Taemin turned to look at Nicole then reached into his pocket and gave them to her as well as one cup of the hot chocolate he’d bought.
“Don’t stay there too long,” he told before she walked off.
“Taemin, lets talk.”
Taemin turned to gaze at Key wondering what had happened between the two.
Back inside the building he sat across from Key at one of the circular rest tables continuously sipping on his cup of hot chocolate.
“Why do you look so serious, hyung?” Taemin questioned.
“Nicole…she…you two…how are you so close?”
It seemed hard for Key to voice out the words and Taemin felt like laughing at him.
“Is that all?” Taemin asked with a laugh. “You made it seem like I did something you were angry about. You shouldn’t be so serious all the time, it makes others think wrongly of you.”
Key smiled childishly in return still waiting for Taemin’s answer, which seemed to matter the most at the moment. The view of Taemin wiping Nicole’s forehead softly remained still in his mind, or had it been the way he’d wiped the sweat off her forehead that clawed at him? Had it somehow…made him uncomfortable? Key pressed his lips together and gulped.
“When I started college we started hanging out,” Taemin replied eyeing him as if he was suspicious of something, “didn’t you also ask me to befriend her?”
Key seemed to turn away as if what Taemin had last said somehow disturbed him.
“Is there something that bothers you?” Taemin questioned attentively.
“No,” Key was quick to deny.
“Ah…” Taemin nodded, “then what about your fiancée? When can I meet her?”
“Soon,” Key smiled.
“Is she pretty? Hyung, you should tell me how you two met.” Taemin urged.
Key held his smile before Taemin’s phone started ringing.
“Hold on,” Taemin told then answered, “hello?”
A moment of silence passed by and Taemin was sure he could hear voices in the background except he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.
“Noona?”
Key perked up in his seat.
“Noona, what’s wrong?” a bewildered expression overcame Taemin’s face. “Noona, why are you crying?”
The crying got louder, harsher, and began sounding like that of someone being tortured. Getting up from his seat Taemin left the building and ran into the lot to search for his car. His heart raced wildly in worry and panic. Nicole had never called him once crying.
He skidded to a stop and glanced around wondering why there were so many cars today and why he couldn’t manage to find his.
“Taemin, what’s wrong?” Key’s voice came from behind, but Taemin had no time to reply.
Hurrying on he crossed over to the next lane and came to another stop before spotting his car. Rushing over to the driver’s side he noticed Nicole sitting with eyes closed in the driver’s seat.
“Noona!” Taemin screamed pounding on the window when he found that the door had been locked. “Noona! Open the door!”
He pounded again and again and started worrying about whether Nicole was really asleep or not. A second later her eyes fluttered open and she looked surprised to see him there. Scrolling down the window she frowned.
“What?” she asked.
Without a word Taemin reached a hand in and unlocked the car pulling the door open before dragging her out.
“What happened?!” he demanded to know.
Nicole stared at him shocked, “What are you talking about?”
“You called me crying!” Taemin raised his voice then quieted when he realized that he’d done so.
Nicole stared at him concerned, “Are you sick?”
“Noona!”
Nicole laughed amused by his behavior and said, “I never called you. I don’t even have my phone on me because you rushed me this morning.”
“Wha…” Taemin’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Yah…that can’t be…”
Nicole’s amused expression dropped and she reached for his arm, “Are you ok?”
***when his eyes crossed hers his heart began pounding wildly as it had that night when he had thought he… -- Finish the sentence
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