"Do you promise my fingers won't get cut off?", Sehun struggled to withhold the tremor from his voice.

"I promise. Just stick near the edges if you're worried, you can hold onto the edge for support", Jongin smiled.

Sehun looked around the room wearily before sighing, "Alright, but if my fingers do get cut off, you're going to be my personal slave forever. Okay?".

Jongin gave his friend a dramatic nod, "Okay".

They reached the ice-rink before any further deals could be made. 

"It's cold!", Sehun exclaimed not long after the chill of the air reached him. As he began rubbing his hands on his arms in an attempt to warm up, he took another look around. There were around 20 people of varying ages already in the rink and skating to their hearts desires. Seeing children managing to skate without any apparent difficulty made Sehun feel embarrassed; the most he'd ever done was see figure skaters on TV.

"We'll warm up when we're in there", Jongin spoke, calling his attention back to him. He handed the now-focused Sehun a pair of skates and went to sit down to put on his own, Sehun followed him uncertainly.

It didn't help Sehun feel any better that Jongin had to help him put on the stupid shoes.

One he was all laced up, Sehun stood and began to waddle to the rink, arms outstretched.

"This feels so strange", he almost laughed.

"You look so strange", Jongin quipped back at him, earning him a sarcastic smile.

Sehun took his first step onto the ice rink and his eyes widened, "Jongin help me I'm falling!", his arms flailed and Jongin rolled his eyes.

"You only have one foot in the rink, idiot". But Jongin grabbed his arm nonetheless and pulled him out of the rink.

"I'll get in first, then I'll help you in, okay?".

Sehun nodded and watched as Jongin walked into the rink as though he wasn't wearing shoes that relied on balance.

The ice felt familiar under Jongin's feet; he twisted his foot to keep from sliding and held out a hand to Sehun.

The boy took his hand and tentatively stepped into the rink once more. When both of his feet were on the ice, his legs locked and his arms outstretched like an aeroplane once more, "Jongin! Look! Look! I'm doing it!".

Jongin took a moment to look at Sehun, slowly, slowly sliding across the ice. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you laughing at me?", Sehun twisted his neck to look at his offender but slipped in the process. Jongin dashed forward and caught his friend before he fell to the floor; he had no desire to be Sehun's slave for his entire life.

"Me? Laugh? Never", Jongin flashed a bright smile at Sehun and guided him to the edge of the rink. "Stick to the edge until you get used to the feel of the ice, I'm right here, you'll be okay".

Sehun smiled in thanks and slowly pulled himself along using the edge of the rink. Eventually, he moved around via his feet, not his arms. He felt proud of himself for his progress. Take that kids, I'll be better than you in no time.

"Looking good!", Jongin applauded his friend then motioned to the centre of the rink, "You've gotten the hang of it now, I'm going to skate around a bit. If you need me, call me". Sehun looked around the rink and saw everyone else in their own conversations and skate paths. It didn't look chaotic, and Jongin would be able to hear him if he called.

"That's fine, go and show them what an adept dancer can do on the ice". Jongin gave Sehun a thumbs up and skated off. Sehun didn't waste any time getting back to moving around again.

He'd lost count of the amount of laps he'd done of the rink. Should I go through the middle? It looks clear. Before Sehun talked himself out of it, he pushed himself from the edge and skated right through the middle of the rink, successfully. I did it! He congratulated himself. Slowly, he gravitated away from the edge and began to mingle with the other skaters. Jongin was somewhere in the small crowd, keeping his eye on Sehun.

After Sehun had gotten the hang of the whole skating business, and had lapped someone else twice - it wasn't a competition until he won - he began to enjoy this day out. Not that his father would approve, but right now Sehun was feeling carefree enough that he couldn't bring himself to worry.

In the midst of his prideful speed increase, a smaller guy came hurtling towards him, knocking him off his course and making him lose his balance. Both Sehun and the stranger skidded on the ice, but the stranger fell first. His hands reached out for something, anything, to keep him upright. It was just to the misfortune of Sehun that the something this man grabbed was nothing other than his jeans, pulling them down swiftly in the process. Next to fall was Sehun.

The shock of the cold upon his bare legs was the first thing Sehun felt, next was the shock of what had happened. His palms hit the floor and stung with the contact before they darted to cover his pants. He could already feel his cheeks warming and the future bruises on his . 

It took him a second to process, but it wasn't long before Sehun spluttered and looked over at the man next to him, "Wh-what are you doing?".

The man lying on the floor with a pair of jeans bunched in his fist looked up in horror, "I didn't- I didn't mean to!". He quickly let go of Sehun's jeans and scrambled to get up, almost resembling a calf trying to walk for the first time.

If Sehun was cold at first, he certainly wasn't now. Embarrassment continued to flash through him and he couldn't pull his jeans up fast enough.

It seemed as though luck wasn't on Sehun's side as when he looked up to see if anyone had witnessed what had happened, his gaze was met with more than one pair of eyes. Sehun looked away and glared at the man who had humiliated him, who was now on his feet. The offending man held out his hand to help Sehun up but Sehun knocked it away, slipping and sliding while trying to get up himself.

Jongin reached him then, his body shaking with contained laughter. "Don't you dare", Sehun growled at him, outstretching his arm and demanding help. Jongin grabbed his arm and pulled him up, sliding along the ice an inch as he did so.

"I am so sorry", the smaller man looked strained. The look Sehun gave him was one of disgust.

"Sehun, he didn't mean it", Jongin placed a hand on Sehun's back and gauged his reaction.

His hand was shaken off as Sehun, on trembling legs, left the rink.

"I'm sorry", the man murmured quietly once more.

"It's okay, it was an accident", Jongin answered for his friend before raising a hand in farewell and joining Sehun outside the rink.

"You okay?", Jongin asked Sehun, who in question was trying to remove his skates with forceful movements.

"Some guy just pulled down my trousers".

Jongin nodded and sat down next to his friend. He began to take his own skates off too.

"Next time, bring Kyungsoo with you", Sehun said, annoyance still fresh in his voice.

He didn't reply. Sehun placed the skates next to Jongin and walked off, presumably to get in the car.

When Jongin handed the skates over to the worker at the desk, he noticed a smear of blood on one of the laces. Is that Sehun's?

He jogged to the car and looked at Sehun as soon as he got in the drivers seat, "Are you hurt?".

Sehun shook his head.

"Come on Sehun, don't lie to me", Jongin sighed with exasperation, reaching for Sehun's hands.

A small stream of blood ran down Sehun's finger and he pulled it from Jongin's grasp, "I'm fine, it's just a cut".

Jongin reached in the glove-box anyway, pulling out a tissue and pressing it firmly into Sehun's uninjured hand.

Wordlessly, Sehun wrapped the tissue around his finger and Jongin started the car.

"I'm serious. It's just a small cut. You've gotten out of slave duties this time", Sehun said after a few minutes once he'd closed his eyes and leant back onto the leather seat. He sounded weary, but there was a lighter tone to his voice.

Jongin's lips twitched into a smile.

"I'm pretty sure that lady with the pink scarf had a nice time".

One eye opened, "Lady with a pink scarf?".

Jongin nodded, "She couldn't keep her eyes off of you".

Sehun snorted in amusement.

"Ah, if I ever see that little punk again I'm going to get revenge", he vowed.

Jongin's laughter filled the car and Sehun chuckled under his breath.

"Other than that, it was fun. Thank you".

Sehun heard the smile in Jongin's voice, "You're welcome, sorry it wasn't fun throughout".

"It wasn't your fault. But seriously, next time, bring Kyungsoo".

Jongin chuckled and nodded, "Alright, I got it".

* * *

"Baekhyun, did you do that on purpose?", Jongdae bit his lip to keep from laughing.

His friend whirled upon him with wide eyes, "You think I did that on purpose?".

"Well, you were checking him out earlier. I thought maybe you'd gotten a bit too curious".

Baekhyun spluttered wordlessly, yet it only reminded him of the encounter he'd just had.

"It was an accident", he murmured.

"Uh-huh. You're not called Byun Baekhyun for nothing", Jongdae sniggered. Baekhyun glared.

 * * *

 "What happened to your hand?", Yixing asked Sehun when they got back, looking up from his book.

Jongin laughed quietly to himself.

Yixing's lips curved up into a smile; this was going to be an interesting story.

"Nothing", Sehun wiggled his fingers and smiled, "I'm good".

Yixing raised an eyebrow and looked at Jongin. He shook his head.

"I'm not saying anything", Jongin stood up to leave the room, stopping just short of it, "Well, other than that I've never seen Sehun meet a guy and have his trousers down as fast as that". Jongin winked at Sehun and left the room. Yixing's eyes widened and he smiled, "You've met someone?".

Sehun sighed and ran a hand through his mussed hair, "It's not like that".

"Oh", Yixing said, "I see. It's like that". He nodded knowingly and went back to reading his book.

Sehun stared at him for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief, too tired to explain.

I'll definitely get revenge on that guy if I ever see him again, he swore to himself.

Somewhere, however far away, Baekhyun felt a chill overtake him. He wrapped his arms around his body and murmured, "That's eerie".