"Love in the Ice" 

~Winter Special~

"Hakyeon-ah, you're still up?" Taekwoon noticed his friend hanging around the kitchen in the middle of the night, scrummaging through the refrigerator.

"Yeah... I can't sleep for some reason. I think it's because it's too cold," Hakyeon nodded as he drank some warm hot milk.

"Is the heater in your room still broken?" 

"No but whenever I turn it on, my room gets too dry as well and it feels uncomfortable to sleep," Hakyeon sighed. "And now I'm wide awake."

"Hmm... then do you want to go somewhere with me?" 

"Where? At this hour?"

"Somewhere. Trust me, it'll be fun. Plus..." Taekwoon bit his lips a bit nervously," we haven't gone out together for awhile."

"But we just went out last night for dinner with the others?" the latter tilted his head.

"No, I mean, just the two of us."

"Oh."

Hakyeon looked at Taekwoon's face who felt shy right after inviting the leader and Hakyeon couldn't help but feel a small tingle of happiness while looking at Taekwoon's face. He smiled happily. 

"Alright! Let's go out. The two of us," Hakyeon said.

Both Hakyeon and Taekwoon got changed into warm clothes, perfect for the extremely cold weather in Seoul. Especially in the middle of the night, it was much colder. Hakyeon couldn't help but even shiver during their ride in the taxi to wherever Taekwoon had in mind. 

After they got out of the taxi, all Hakyeon could do was rely on Taekwoon and followed the latter behind. 

As they went into an empty building, Hakyeon noticed that there was no one around and had an obvious 'closed' sign by the door. 

Guess we're going home, Hakyeon felt a bit disappointed but Taekwoon took out a key and opened one of the doors. 

"Why do you have keys?" Hakyeon was surprised.

"This is one of my relative's place. He lent me the keys because I've been using his place to get practice," Taekwoon said.

"Practice? For what?"

"You'll see," Taekwoon held onto Hakyeon's hands and led him further inside. 

As they approached, Hakyeon felt a cold breeze within the building. Taekwoon went to turn on the lights and in a moment, Hakyeon felt as if his jaws were going to drop.

It was an ice skating rink.

"We're going to skate?" Hakyeon asked in confusion.

"Yup. Maybe a little exercise will help you sleep better later," Taekwoon said and gave Hakyeon a pair of skates, knowing exactly the leader's size. "I've been coming here a lot to practice for my musical."

"Oh right! You have some skating scenes in it, right?"

"Mhmm."

"Sorry I couldn't attend. I um... have been busy," Hakyeon felt a bit guilty for never attending to any of his lifelong friend's musicals. But then again, nor did Taekwoon.

It's not that he wasn't interested but it's more so that he was afraid of certain scenes that he didn't think he'd be able to handle watching...

"Come," Taekwoon offered his hands to Hakyeon into the rink.

"Just to let you know, I haven't skated in ages! I'm not really good."

"It's okay. I'm still learning too. Let's just have fun."

"Hehe. Okay!"

It took a few warm ups, a bit of stumbling and a few falls until Hakyeon got used to ice skating again. He wasn't very fond of the cold and especially in Seoul, the winters were extreme. So, he often hid himself at home and he would've if the heater in his room wasn't so annoying.

But Hakyeon didn't mind the skating at all. In fact, he was having a lot of fun. It wasn't just that, but it's because he was finally able to hang out with his lifelong friend in a very long time.

Taekwoon usually never invites him out and Hakyeon was hesitant about asking Taekwoon out as well since he knows that Taekwoon liked to hang out with the younger members instead. Just with that thought though, Hakyeon felt a bit sad. It's been so long since he's gotten to have any alone time with Taekwoon that he's no longer able to read what's in the vocalist's mind. 

"Hakyeon-ah?" Taekwoon noticed Hakyeon slowed down behind and looked a bit sad," are you tired? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, sorry. I was just thinking too much," Hakyeon sighed and smiled awkwardly.

Taekwoon skated back towards Hakyeon and held Hakyeon's hands suddenly. Surprising the leader with his sudden skinship. 

"T-taekwoon?" 

"If there's anything on your mind that's troubling you, you can tell me. You know that right? We're friends aren't we?"

"Friends..." 

Somehow the word friend didn't sound so nice anymore. Hakyeon felt as if his heart was breaking a bit inside as those words rung through his head. 

"Are we just friends?" Hakyeon asked to confirm, unable to smile anymore or hide his feelings.

"We're not?" Taekwoon questioned Hakyeon's sudden question and looking rather serious yet sad.

"We can't be anything more than just being friends?"

"We're lifelong friends aren't we? You said so yourself."

"Yeah, I said that but... we don't even do many things friends actually do. Like when was the last time we've gone out to the movies together or even have dinner?" Hakyeon questioned. "We've never really had any deep talks or any talk to be honest because you're always clinging onto the others. You've also been really obsessed with Hyogi lately... so how are we even friends? Do we even qualify as being friends when we don't do anything friend-like?"

"Hakyeon-ah... I-... " Taekwoon found himself hesitating and stuttering. Confused and unable to answer the leader's questions because there are some truth in what Hakyeon said. 

When was the last time they've sat down face-to-face to even talk about what's going on?

But Taekwoon didn't run away from the question like he used to. He's changed. He's different now.

"Listen to me," Taekwoon held on tightly to Hakyeon's hands. "It doesn't matter whether or not we do anything friend-like. I'm here for you whenever you need me and I'll never give up on you. You use to nag and cling onto me when we were younger. You were persistent even when I tried to push you away. What happened to that Cha Hakyeon that never gave up on me?"

"That was- that's different. We've grown up now and you said you didn't like it... so I didn't want to bother you and do the things you don't like. I..." Hakyeon felt nervous, weak and depressed as he bit his lips. "I didn't.. I didn't want you to hate me."

"Hakyeon-ah... " Taekwoon noticed the latter with teary eyes and looking down on the floor. It almost broke his heart to see the leader suddenly growing so small and timid. "Look at me. I will never hate you. There's no way I'll do that. You're my friend and I really like you."

"But I don't like just being friends!" Hakyeon suddenly lashed out without thinking.

"What?"

Hakyeon realized what he said and wanted to escape immediately. He felt as if his heart was going to burst at any minute when he realized what he shouldn't have said.

"I-I'm going home," he decided to run away.

But Taekwoon held him back with all his might. 

"Let go," Hakyeon found himself struggling to get out of Taekwoon's grasp.

"No. What do you mean by not wanting to be friends? Do you hate me now?" Taekwoon looked hurt as he asked those questions.

"No! I don't hate you! I can never hate you. I- " Hakyeon bit his lips in hesitation, debating whether to say those words or not but he felt as if his heart was going to explode if he kept them inside. "I like you. I really really like you! So much that it hurts to just be friends!"

"Hakyeon-ah..." Taekwoon froze from the sudden confession and was completely speechless.

Hakyeon flung away the latter's hands and escaped as fast as he could. His face was beet red and his body was heating up from the embarrassment. But just before he could get out of the rink though, Taekwoon raced after him and held him tightly from behind.

"T-taekwoon?"

"Do you really like me? Not as friends but... like... as lovers?"

Hakyeon nodded. It's not like there was any used in hiding it anymore. 

"Hakyeon-ah," Taekwoon tightened his grasp and suddenly kissed Hakyeon from the back of his nape. "Can I accept your confession?"

"W-what?" the latter felt so nervous from Taekwoon's skinship and kiss that he was at a lost for words.

"If we can't be friends than can we be lovers instead?" Taekwoon turned Hakyeon around to face him.

He caressed the leader's cheeks which were red and heated. It was adorable. He couldn't resist kissing them.

And as he did, Hakyeon felt as if his heart was really going to burst at any moment.

"It's not fair Cha Hakyeon," Taekwoon said.

"Huh?"

"You said the words that I've been wanting to say all this time before I could."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I mean, I love you. More than just friends and even more than just lifelong ones. Do you know how long I've been trying to hold back? All this time?"

"Liar," Hakyeon found it almost hard to believe."You always act so indifferent when you're with me."

"That's because I was nervous... I get so nervous and anxious whenever you're around. I always feel like I won't be able to hold back when you're near me. I was worried that I'd break our friendship and then there'd be nothing else left between us."

"Really?" Hakyeon looked at Taekwoon earnestly and curiously for confirmation.

Taekwoon nodded and finally, his face grew a rosy pink. Proving that he was just as nervous as Hakyeon was.

Hakyeon finally smiled and tip-toed a bit to give Taekwoon a peck on the lips. It took Taekwoon by surprise by the sudden attack.

"Well? Do you like it?" Hakyeon asked once more just in case. 

Taekwoon leaned in and kissed Hakyeon back.

"Mhmm. I love it."

A/N: Ending the AllN Winter Specials with NEO's confession on the ice~ It took me awhile to think of the perfect story to end this though. I hope you all didn't explode from the fluffy though XD