It was supposed to be freezing.

And yet, she was standing on top of ice, surrounded by the gentle fall of snowflakes, which rested on the waves of her black hair, feeling like she couldn’t melt any quicker.

A pair of hands gently held her own, reassuring her that they wouldn’t let her fall.

“Okay… are you ready?”

Joohyun followed the sound of the voice as her gaze travelled from the joined hands to a familiar pair of brown eyes dear to her heart.

She nodded.

“I… I think so.”

“I won’t let you fall. I promise.’’

“I trust you’’, Joohyun grinned, ‘’don’t you dare break my trust Miss Son Seungwan.”

The blonde slightly tilted her head backwards as she let out a laugh.

“Never in a million years Miss Bae Joohyun”, she winked.

The older girl bit her lip, her eyes darting everywhere and her cheeks burning.

“Alright, the first thing you need to do is be-”

“YERI, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”

Joohyun slightly jumped at the sudden loud voice, her brains barely processing a figure swiftly passing them by.

“Wow look at how scaaaaared I am!”

“YOU. ARE. DEAD. MEAT.”

“Well this dead meat is still breathing!”, Yeri stuck her tongue out before taking long strides in order to increase her speed.

The black-haired girl’s mouth dropped in astonishment as she observed how Yeri took a sharp curve without ever losing her balance. As if her skates were a part of her, making it seem easier than it actually was.

Struggling to catch on, was an angered Sooyoung who seemed to have a red circular spot on her cheek.

“YERI, I WILL SHOVE THIS SNOWBALL IN YOUR THROAT!”

“Wow Sooyoung, I didn’t know you had it in you to be this ’’, Yeri shrugged, “but I don’t judge!”

Joohyun tried to suppress a laugh as she looked at a startled Seungwan.

The latter pursed her lips.

“You know what? I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything… and wish for Sooyoung to kick her .”

“Don’t we all sometimes?”, Joohyun chuckled.

“More like most of the time’’, the blonde smirked. “alright, let’s teach you some ice-skating. It’s less difficult than it looks like.”

The older girl observed their surroundings, spotting a boy, not older than 16, stumbling backwards and falling on the ground with a loud smack.

Joohyun visibly flinched.

“Yea… looks like an easy thing to do… you know what? Maybe I should just get one of those chairs, just in case.”

Seungwan tilted her head slightly to the right.

“Bu-”

“JOOHYUN! DON’T BE A COWARD!”

Both girls jolted at the sudden yelling, coming from what seemed like the other side of the ice rink.

“Does Yeri have ears anywhere?”, Joohyun’s eyes widened.

“Yea, that was kind of creepy”, Seungwan frowned before shrugging it off. “Listen, I promise you I won’t let you fall. If you do, you can hit me as hard.”

Joohyun smiled.

“Deal.”

“Wow, that convinced you quickly. I might be slightly scared right now.’’

“There is no reason to if you keep your promise”, Joohyun wiggled her eyebrows.

“Point taken’’, the blonde smiled. “Alright, let’s teach you some ice-skating for real now. First, you have to bend your knees a little.”

Joohyun did as she was told.

“Like this?”

“Yes, perfect! Now lean a bit forward and just push yourself towards me, by gliding on just one foot. Push the flat part of the blades against the ice. Can you do that?”

The older girl could feel her heartbeat in at the thought of a wrong move on the ice. Yet, she tried to follow what Seungwan was saying.

She pushed herself slightly forward…

…which almost ended up in her falling on the cold floor, as she felt herself slip due to her lack of balance.

Almost.

However, the blonde proved to have quick reflexes as she quickly held the older girl’s arm with one hand and held her waist with her other.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you. Are you okay?”, Seungwan whispered.

Joohyun swallowed a big chunk of breath at the realization of the position she was in.  She could feel the blonde’s breath caressing her cheek, burning like blue flames.

“Y-yea…”

“That’s good…”, the blonde distanced herself from the older girl, once again joining their hands. Joohyun shivered at the sudden lack of warmth.

“Wait, let’s try something else”, Seungwan suggested. Her grip on Joohyun’s hands tightened, and she slowly started skating backwards while carefully pulling the older girl. “Keep your knees slightly bent and stay still.”

“S-Seungwan, why are you doing?”, Joohyun stuttered, her heartbeat accelerating, ‘’y-y-you can’t see anything!”

“Don’t worry, I’m a master at this. It’s one of my skills”, the blonde winked.

“Wan, I’m not so sure abou-”

Before she could finish her sentence, Seungwan sped up a little more, resulting in a shrieking Joohyun.

“Don’t think too much”, the blonde smirked, obviously enjoying the teasing.

“Ohhhh I don’t think that’s possible”, Joohyun quickly shook her head.

“Sure it is! I’ll show you. Let’s see if we can catch up to Sooyoung and Yeri.”

The older girl’s eyes widened as she repeatedly shook her head.

“No. No no no, don’t you dare Son Seungwan!”

“Oh, but I will”, her smirk grew wider as she started speeding up.

Joohyun’s screams could be heard throughout the entire ice-skating rink, overpowering Sooyoung’s anger and Yeri’s loud laughter.

***

It was Seulgi who came to the rescue as she skated from across the rink to their side.

“Holy , that line was all the way from here to the centre of the earth. I almost fell asleep while waiting…but I’ve got hot chocolate! The cups are waiting for us on that table there!”, she her lips at the thought of the delicious liquid.

“I was just in need for that!”, Seungwan’s smile grew. “How about you, Hyun?”

Joohyun didn’t know what she wanted to focus on; the lack of energy in her body due to a huge amount of stress and adrenaline, which made it necessary for her to lean on the railing, or the fact that the blonde’s use of her nickname sounded like a sweet melody in her ears.

“Yea… yea, I definitely need to sit down.”

Seungwan chuckled. “Sorry, you must really hate me right now.”

The older girl quickly shook her head. “I could never.”

The blonde’s eyes seemed to soften upon hearing the raven’s reply.

“Alright, let’s get you to safety then.”

As their hands were about to join once again, a pair of other hands took over Joohyun’s.

“My turn”, Seulgi smirked, as she started to pull her best friend with her without a single warning.

“Wait, Seulgi no!”, Joohyun shrieked.

“Oh, Seulgi