Krystal Jung shifted her position on the couch, tucking her feet underneath her crossed legs, as she intently watched the match between two South Korean major ice hockey leagues. All by herself in the spacious living room of their L.A. apartment, watching television, she clapped and cheered and hollered at the team she was betting on.

She was supposed to cheer on for the team representing the place they live in when they were in Korea, which is Seoul, but instead, she was cheering for the opposing team; that of Incheon’s.

She grinned when the first 20 minutes of the game is over and Incheon was leading, even only by one. Her heart skipped a beat and unaware, she hunched herself forward to the direction of the television as Incheon’s star hockey player came into view without his helmet on. He was being interviewed during the 10-minute intermission and at the sight of him, Krystal couldn’t help feeling giddy. Her grin widened, her face all aglow.

She knew she was infatuated with the 21-year old ice hockey star, Choi Minho the first time she has seen him in television. He was so good with his sport, leading his team to win several times against its fiercest opponent, the team from Seoul. It was what drew Krystal in the first place, Minho dominating the ice as if he was born with skates and has been skating all his life.

Meeting him would be so cool, Krystal thought. But that seemed like a faraway dream for now. Who knows, maybe someday?

She began to wonder, as was always, if he already has a girlfriend. For certain, he does. She felt a small pinch on her chest at the thought.

Ugh, you don’t even know the guy personally, she reprimanded herself. So what if he has a girlfriend? You still have the right to admire him. It’s not like you would steal him from her or anything.

She sighed as the screen switched into something else-a commercial. So much for fangirling.

She was harboring these thoughts when she heard footsteps toward her, and a form caught her peripheral vision.

She doesn’t have to look to know that it was her sister, Jessica, but it rather surprised her that Jessica has decided to go out of her bedroom after months of secluding herself.

Maybe she finally got bored.

Krystal watched as Jessica made her way toward the couch where she was seated, the limp on her gait less visible than it was months ago.

“Unnie!” Krystal got to her feet and ran toward Jessica. She held her sister by her arms to assist her with walking but Jessica shrugged her hands away.

“Stop treating me like I’m some kind of a handicapped, will you?” Jessica snapped.

She shuffled on toward the couch, Krystal right behind her.

It was after Jessica had dropped herself on the seat that she turned apologetic eyes to Krystal.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you like that, Jungie. I know you’re just trying to help but I just don’t like to be helped…” she trailed off and sighed. “I can manage.”

Krystal nodded, seating herself next to Jessica on the couch. “Of course you can, unnie. Don’t worry, I understand.”

Jessica smiled and put her hand above her sister’s hand, patting it. “Thank you.”

Krystal beamed, her eyes lighting up. “I’m so glad you finally decided to come out of your cave!”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I got bored. I wish this limp would go away soon so that you and I could go shopping again. I have been telling my physical therapist to hurry with her program with me so that I can walk properly again and my rehab would be over."

Krystal giggled, happy to see her sister a little more like her old self again. "Take it easy, unnie."

“So, what are you watching? I can hear your shouts in my bedroom,” Jessica’s eyes turned to the television screen.

Krystal followed her sister’s gaze. The second 20 minutes of the game has just started.

“Uh…that’s ice hockey,” Krystal answered, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. She wasn’t sure if all that ice-skating on the TV screen would depress her sister. It wasn’t figure skating after all but men’s ice hockey. Still…

She looked at Jessica and worry came over her as she noted her sister’s sorrowful expression.

“How can they continue to skate when I cannot?” Jessica said softly after a while, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“Oh, unnie, you don’t have to watch it. I’ll change the channel,” Krystal reached for the remote control but she stopped when Jessica propped herself up and out of the couch.

“I’ll be in my room,” Jessica said before turning away.

Krystal watched as her sister limped away. She didn’t make any attempt to call her back or cheer her up for she knew, nothing will do right at that moment.

Since the accident during one of the figure skating competitions in Korea where her sister constantly participates, Jessica had never been the same. The bubbly, crazy girl she once knew retreated in her shell the moment she knew her tibial fracture would be causing her to abandon skating for life.

Skating was Jessica’s ultimate passion; it had been her life. She had dreamed of being an internationally renowned figure skater who represents South Korea (thus, she enters competitions mostly in her country and a few in the US).

Krystal watched the ice hockey game absent-mindedly. Her thoughts were far from it now.

She and Jessica actually have the same passion when they were younger, and it was ice skating. At an early age their father had arranged for them to be trained, and according to their first trainer, Krystal was more promising than Jessica.

Not one to be overshadowed by her younger sister, when she was fifteen and Krystal was ten, Jessica had selfishly asked her sister to give up on ice skating as she claims to have more passion for it than Krystal ever has.

Krystal had always looked up to her elder sister but she told Jessica that she would not give up skating altogether.

“But don’t worry, unnie. I won’t participate in competitions so that you wouldn’t have to go against me,” she had said to her sister, and she had made good in that promise until now, seven years later.

The insistent ringing of the phone by the side table grabbed Krystal away from her thoughts.

She picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Krys?”

“Oh, hey, Aiden,” she immediately recognized the voice of her sister’s boyfriend, Aiden Lee.

“How are you?”

Krystal rolled her eyes even if Aiden couldn’t see her. “You can skip the pleasantries, you know. My sister went out of her bedroom today.”

“Really?” she could note an excitement and happiness in Aiden’s voice and she hated to squash it.

“Yeah, but she got depressed and went back inside minutes later when she saw an ice hockey game on TV,” Krystal continued.

From the other end of the line, she heard Aiden sigh.

“No wonder she wouldn’t answer her phone. This is one of those days again.”

Yeah, it’s one of those days when she wouldn’t talk to anyone, not to me or our parents, or her best girlfriend Steph, or to you.

But Krystal never said her thoughts aloud to Aiden, not wanting to hurt him further by stressing the obvious.

“Um, Aiden? You want to come over?” she offered, though she knew it would be of little use.

He knew it too.

“Never mind, Krys. I’ll come over once she’s feeling better. Take care, bye.”

“I’m sorry, Aiden. Bye.”

Krystal put the phone back on the side table. Even Aiden couldn’t cheer up Jessica. The accident had also put a strain in their relationship, and Krystal thought Aiden a saint for being there still, waiting for her sister to come around. But for how long would he stick around? Krystal was afraid he would grow tired, fall out of love with her sister and find someone else, which may further depress Jessica.

But however could I cheer her up?

………………………………

The crowd cheered and grew wild as the final 20-minute stretch of the game ended, favoring Incheon.

Yoo Ah In kicked on the ice in frustration as he and his team mates walked back toward their benches, shoulders hanging low in defeat.

“There’s still next time, bro. We’re going to kick their asses next time,” their team’s goalie, Im Seulong, patted his back as he walked behind him.

“They just have the advantage of the home court, dude,” Yoon Dojoon, one of their defenders, added, clamping Ah In’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” he answered, almost inaudibly.

Though he knew it would further annoy him, he looked back to the winning team’s side.

His eyes immediately found Choi Minho. He was flanked by his team mates, though closest to him, standing by his side, he saw the one reason why he hated Minho more. Kwon Yuri was smiling, gazing up adoringly at Minho while he was cheering and shouting with their victory.

Then Yuri was scanning the crowd briefly, her face aglow.

Suddenly, her eyes met Ah In’s.

In those seconds, the corner of Ah In’s lips twisted in a smirk. He winked at Yuri and blew a kiss from across the rink, but not without a hint of mockery.

Yuri’s face instantly hardened, the smile gone from her lips.

I’ll drive your arrogant boyfriend to the ground next time, babe, he wanted to shout at her.

But he didn’t. Instead, he turned away and laughed loudly, to the astonishment of his team mates.

Annoying the hell out of Kwon Yuri has somehow made his day.

……………………………………….

Yuri seethed as she stood beside Minho, the happiness she felt earlier seeping away.

Arrogant pig, she thought as she averted her eyes from the other team’s captain across the rink. She brought her gaze back to her boyfriend’s beaming face, willing some of the victorious feeling to come back.

She wrapped an arm around Minho’s waist.

“Congratulations, chagiya,” she said, a little louder than normal, so that she could be heard amidst the howls of the boys around her.

Minho looked down at her and put an arm around her shoulder. “Thank you. You’re my inspiration, you know.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet I want to puke,” Kim Jonghyun, one of the defenders who was right behind them and overheard the exchange, joked.

Yuri giggled and turned her body slightly so that she could face Jonghyun and playfully push him away.

“Hey, guys, victory party at Nichkhun’s house tonight, yeah?” Lee Junho, one of the team’s forwards suddenly hollered and the other boys cheered their agreement.

Yuri’s smile faded once again and she looked at Minho warily. “You’re not going, aren’t you?”

Minho’s brows furrowed. Then it smoothened and he gave out a little chuckle. “What are you talking about, Yul? Of course, I’m going, it’s my team’s victory party.”

“But you know I can’t go!” Yuri hissed. “I can’t go out in the evenings because I’m grounded!”

Minho’s forehead creased once again. Why is it always been like that? He couldn’t go to any parties when Yuri couldn’t. They should go together. That’s her rule. He supposed it was fine with the other parties, but this one? Not going to his own team’s victory party?

He sighed. “Yul, don’t you worry, it’s just me and the guys. No girlfriends or other girls would be there, I guarantee you that,” well, it wasn't exactly true for he knew the others would be bringing dates or their girlfriends, not to mention friends whoo would get invited to the party by the other boys.

Yuri let go of his waist and glared up at him. “No, Minho. When I said you’re not going, you’re not going. I mean it. Let’s just stop seeing each other if you couldn’t even learn to obey me!”

Obey her? She might be older than him, two years to be exact, but who’s the man in this relationship? It’s not like she is his older sister. She’s his girlfriend!

“Yah, Yuri-ah!” he shouted as she turned and walked away from them.

She didn’t turn around.

Annoyed, he didn’t try chasing after her.

“Aish!” he heaved a sigh of frustration.

“What happened, hyung?” Taemin, the youngest in the team, asked.

He shrugged. “She’s being a brat again.”

He wanted to think she was just stressed, with the major figure-skating competitions getting closer, that’s why she was being difficult. But even then it hadn’t been this way. Their fights over small things are getting more frequent and whether he admits it or not, the excitement and thrill of being with Yuri is slowly diminishing.

He shook his head. No. He must not think of it that way. Two years is a long time for a relationship to be just thrown away.

He put his mobile phone against his ear after dialing her number. She wasn’t picking up.

……………………………..

KrystalJung: What? You don’t have a girlfriend until now? Maybe you’re gay, oppa. LOL

Krystal hurriedly typed the message in Korean and pressed send. She chuckled.

A second later, a message popped on her screen.

YongChoding: Maybe. Have some hot guys there to introduce to me, Jungie?

Krystal laughed loudly this time.

KrystalJung: Ew, you’re so gross oppa.

Though she didn’t believe for one moment that her cousin, the one closest to her, is gay. She knew he had a girlfriend once.

YongChoding: That’s so mean of you. It doesn’t help with the hurt I’m feeling right now.

Krystal stared at the screen for a while, her brows furrowed, wondering if it’s one of Yonghwa’s jokes again or if he was serious this time.

KrystalJung: Why? What happened?

It was moments before he replied.

YongChoding: I got some lashing from a girl.

KrystalJung: Who? Hyoyeon unnie?

Kim Hyoyeon is Yonghwa’s partner in figure skating.

YongChoding: I’d take it if it’s just Hyoyeon. No, it was someone else. Someone Hyoyeon and I met while practicing in the rink this morning. You should have seen her, Jungie. She looks like an angel but when she screeched at me I nearly got a heart attack and died.

KrystalJung: LOL. You’re exaggerating again, oppa. How can a girl be mean to you? You’re the sweetest, funniest guy I ever knew.

YongChoding: Awww, thank you, baby. But this one is just a meanie no matter what. It’s in her nature. She sticks her nose arrogantly in the air and glides like a fairy. And I must admit it suits her because she looks like a fairy, too.

Krystal laughed once again.

KrystalJung: Waaa…oppa is having a crush on a mean girl! What’s her name?

It took another minute for Yonghwa to reply.

YongChoding: What are you talking about, Jungie? She’s not my type. In fact, I forgot her name.

KrystalJung: Liar. Oh, sorry, I forgot, your type is a guy and not a girl. LOL

Suddenly a knock on the door made Krystal whirl, taking her attention away from her laptop.

“Soojung? Are you still awake? May I talk to you?”

It was Jessica’s voice.

Krystal hurriedly typed a message for Yonghwa before turning toward the door.

KrystalJung: Hold on, oppa. Sica unnie wants to talk to me.

She got up from the chair and made her way to the door. She immediately saw Jessica standing outside in her nightgown as she pulled the door open.

“Are you busy? About to sleep?” Jessica asked, peering inside Krystal’s bedroom.

Krystal shook her head and stepped aside to let her sister in. “No. I was just chatting with Yonghwa oppa.”

Something passed across Jessica’s eyes at the mention of Yonghwa’s name. She had been pretty close to him, too. He had helped her with her ice-skating practice, whenever her trainer is not around.

“How is he?” Jessica asked as she perched at the edge of Krystal’s bed.

Krystal shrugged and gave her sister a half-smile.

“Still goofy. I think he’s smitten by some girl but he doesn’t want to admit it to me.”

Jessica smiled back. “Good for him.”

Silence passed between them. Krystal leaned her hip on the edge of her study desk and watched Jessica, waiting for her to say something.

But maybe there’s nothing she really wants to talk about. Maybe she’s just feeling lonely and she wants company this time.

Then, Jessica spoke of a topic she has never spoken of for almost a year.

“Is Yonghwa…is Yonghwa preparing for the figure skating competitions now?”

Krystal eyed her sister sadly. She didn’t know if it’s a good topic to venture into. But she answered Jessica nonetheless. “I think so. He mentioned meeting some mean girl in the skating rink today.”

Jessica nodded, her expression unreadable. “The season will be starting sometime soon.”

Krystal said nothing.

Then Jessica rose from the edge of the bed and stepped toward Krystal with her slight limp. Something akin to a look of determination shone in her eyes.

She looked at Krystal squarely and held Krystal’s hand in hers.

“Jungie, I have given this much thought and I want to ask a favor from you,” Jessica said softly.

“Anything to make you happy again, unnie,” she answered, though she swallowed nervously. What would Jessica ask of her? She hoped it would be within her ability. She hoped she could say yes to it. But what if it’s a huge sacrifice? What if she doesn’t want to do it?

“Really, Soojung?” Jessica’s eyes were filled with tears. She gripped Krystal’s hands tighter.

“Then will you sign up for the regionals and compete, Soojung? Are you willing to leave L.A. for Korea for it? Will you do that for me?”

For a moment Krystal felt relieved. So it’s about ice skating? Of course, she can do it. But a second later, hung open and her heart began to beat furiously as she realized how much of a sacrifice Jessica was asking.

“B-but…but unnie…”

Leaving L.A.? Leaving her friends and the life she had been accustomed to? And then there’s another thing that starts bugging her.

“But unnie, I’ve never competed before.”

Note: Ice hockey leagues and teams in this story are made up. I don't know if Seoul and Incheon has one each.

Thank you for reading and I hope you'd share your thoughts on the first chapter.