Daehyun’s POV

I was pouring myself a cup of coffee while frowning, trying to remember the girl from my dream . . . again. I was still in dazed, having just woken up which was why I was taking my coffee, but the girl’s face was still fresh in my mind. I don’t even know who she was, or why I’ve been dreaming about her for the past two weeks, ever since my accident.

I just remember her face: oval-shaped, cute button nose, faint pink lips, and a tiny scar on her left cheek. She had light brown hair that was short and layered, and her smile — it was so dazzling and it was the kind of smile where you can’t help but smile back.

That was what I could get from her. If I’d seen her before, I was sure I would’ve remembered her. I don’t know. Maybe she was one of the fans who came to see my competitions.

Ah, speaking of competitions . . .

My coach, Yongguk, came in, holding the newspapers with today’s headlines: SEOUL’S TOP ICE-SKATER JUNG DAEHYUN RETIRED DUE TO ACCIDENT TWO MONTHS AGO.

I sighed heavily, taking a sip of my coffee, a feeling so desolation washing over me with that terrible news.

I was the number one champion skater, until I decided to be really stupid and sprain my ankle, twisting it almost 180 degrees, as well as breaking my right hand. How did that happened? I tried to do a twist in the air but I jumped a little too fast, and my landing was off-balance, thus causing me to slip on the ice and fall.

At first the doctors said that I would only have to wear a cast for three months and then I’ll be fine if I give it a little rest after taking it out. But last week when I went for my test scans before I could take the cast out, the doctors suddenly told me that if I ever so tried to skate again, I could permanently break my leg and might even have to amputate it.

Of course Yongguk, being my manager and holding the responsibilities over me, told me that I had no choice but to retire, even though I was only twenty! Soon he began making press conference, telling all my disappointed fans that I was never to compete in any other competitions in case I would make my injury worse. I found that really unfair.

I mean, I was top skater for our country, and I’ve won so many medals, making many achievements at such a young age; I was only starting to live and this has to happen! Of course, I had no one to blame but myself.

But still . . . wouldn’t you be upset and find it unfair that you’re not able to do the one thing that you loved to do for the rest of your life? If I was thirty, maybe I’d understand. But I just reached my twentieth birthday, for goodness sake!

But I digress.

I really do wonder who that girl could be. I tapped my chin thoughtfully, trying to place a name to the face.

Yongguk glanced at me. “You need help?”

I nodded and he came over to me and lifted me up in his strong arms. He carried me off the stool and carried me back to my wheelchair. My ankle was fine and I can walk by myself, wobbling a bit, but Yongguk sometimes acted like my mother and liked to fuss me about sometimes so he bought a wheelchair for me to move around in my house with. I also said that crutches would have been better; it’ll help me work on my feet to be able to at least walk properly again but he dismissed that suggestion and did his own things to his own likings.

And having a cast on my right arm was tiring; the cast was starting to get a little itchy and really uncomfortable.

As Yongguk wheeled me over to the living room and carried me up to place me down on the sofas, fluffing my pillows while he was at it. I rolled my eyes, taking another sip of my coffee. “Calm down, hyung, I’m fine,” I insisted.

“How do you feel about this whole thing?”

“Like I want to prove the doctors wrong and get on the rink again.”

He frowned. “And this is why I told you not to rush things so fast! If you had listened, you wouldn’t be in this mess; you’d probably be practicing for the upcoming competition to win another gold medal! But no, you had to be stubborn and —”

“I get it, Mom,” I snapped, irritated. I wanted to be left alone in peace and think about that girl. Why does she keep popping into my dream? And it would always be that same dream — the day of the accident.

In my dream, I would be skating, like how I was before the accident, and then I would take that leap, smiling at myself for feeling like I was flying. Then I would slowly fall, realizing I was losing my grip. But in my dreams, and unlike what actually happened, before I fall, I would see the girl standing outside the rink, watching me, always with that same smile, as if she was cheering me on. Then I’d fall and wake up.

That was how my dream would go almost every night for almost two weeks now — exactly how long my accident had been.

“You’re not thinking about that girl again, are you?” Yongguk asked. He knew about the girl that had been appearing in my mind.

“Hyung, I don’t know what is going on. She’s driving me crazy and I don’t even know her! What does this mean?” I scratched my head and sighed. Then I felt an itch behind my back and struggled to reach the spot since it was on my right side — and my right arm was broken.

Yongguk watched me struggle. “I’m not scratching your back for you,” he said after awhile. Then his eyes lit up. “Maybe it’s a sign!”

“What sign?” I growled, desperately using my left hand to reach that spot.

“A sign of why you’ve been dreaming about her! I was thinking about getting a nurse for you, to help you, to take care of you and all. Maybe the reason why you’ve been dreaming of her is because she’s the one who’s going to help you!”

I stared incredulously at him. “You’re joking.”

He shook his head. “Nope, I’m not.”

I sighed, giving up. No matter how much I argue with him, he’s going to do it anyway. Now that I’m retired, he could actually just walk out — but it’s a bit hard because not only is he my trainer, but he’s my coach instead.

I reached for my pocket and pulled out a fan mail I’d gotten today, from my loyal fan who never failed to send me a letter every day, signing her name with Pikachu. She always seemed to make me smile with her sweet letters.

 

I cried for a week when I heard about your accident, Daehyun-sshi. I hope you’ll recover soon. I’ll always be your number one fan! Hwaiting, Daehyun-sshi! -Pikachu

 

I smiled. Whoever this fan is, she sure is very sweet. She always called me Daehyun-sshi, instead of Oppa like how the other girls call me in my fan mails.

“Come on,” Yongguk said cheerfully once I finished my coffee and I quickly stuffed the letter back in my pocket. “We’re going shopping. We’re running low on food supplies.”

“Grocery store, yippee,” I muttered sarcastically, as he pushed me out of the house.

 

Yun Joo’s POV

“Can you stop fussing about that silly ice-skater’s misfortunate and actually start doing some work to earn money to help me pay for our rent?!” my best friend and housemate, Haneul, scolded me.

I snapped out of my daydream and pouted. “I still can’t believe what was on today’s headline. I mean, he’s only twenty! . . . But he’s so cute and dreamy . . .” Jung Daehyun . . .

She shook her head in disgust and used a price-tag gun on me. My forehead was now for sale. “Yah, stop daydreaming and get to work!” she said, flailing her arms. But then she calmed down when a customer was approaching the cashier to pay for their items.

I twirled the price-tag gun in my hand, frowning. I wanted to cry over the fact that Daehyun, our country’s top ice-skater could no longer compete in any competitions. I heard it was due to an accident he had over practice. That was such a shame because he was really good, being so young yet winning so many medals.

Jung Daehyun was flawless.

Take it from someone who is a HUGE fan of him ever since he started out at the age of sixteen. With his honey-blonde hair, his oval-shaped face, slim body and graceful figure . . . even his name was dreamy. He won so many gold medals that I’ve lost count of it, always awing the judges and audience with complicated moves like the butterfly jump, cantilever and so many more. The jump Daehyun was trying to do was the quadruple axel jump, which I heard was very hard to do.

Haneul always made fun of me because of my obsession of him. Think posters on walls, every CD of his competitions, follower of his official twitter and Facebook page, his name in my notebook all the time, his picture as my phone’s wallpaper, etc. When I first heard about the accident, I cried for a week.

And when I read the headlines today, I could not stop complaining and to Haneul about it even though we were at work. I hate work, anyway. We worked in the local grocery mart, where she was a cashier and I was . . . well, I was given miscellaneous jobs. Maybe that was why I didn’t like my work: I get stuff doing things no one likes doing. But we were late in paying for our rent, so I had to work.

“Yun Joo, enough of gushing to me about this Dae-whatever guy. I don’t even keep up,” she said. “Now get going and tag those items; boss is looking. And I really need you to help me with the rent.”

Sighing, I took my gun and walked off. She has no appreciation for Jung Daehyun, my future husband.

I twirled the gun in my hand as I walked down to Aisle Four, when my uncoordinated hands decided to mess with me and I somehow ended up smacking myself in the face with the gun. Don’t ask me how that happened, it just did. And the blade of the gun grazed my left cheek.

“Ah!” I gasped at the pain and hurried back to Haneul. “Do you have any plaster?” I asked her, my eyes wide with fear. I flailed my arms at my face. “Omo, it hurts! It hurts!”

“No, but I have tissues. Press it against your cheek to stop the blood.” Haneul just sighed as she dipped her hand into her working vest’s pocket and pulled out a packet of tissue. She handed it to me and I quickly took one out to tab my cheek, where it was already bleeding. “You stupid person,” she chided. “I can’t believe you’re so clumsy until you cut yourself in the face with a price-tag.”

“It hates me,” I mumbled as I walked back to Aisle Four, careful not to cut myself again. I sighed and stuffed the tissue inside my jeans pocket. I grabbed the nearest item in my hands and I began to tag it with the gun. “Stupid job,” I grumbled to no one in particular, ignoring the peculiar looks I was getting from the shoppers on the aisle. “If I one day work my way up until I meet Jung Daehyun and end up being his wife, I’m going to laugh at everyone’s face.”

My boss came over and frowned. “What are you doing?” he asked. He handed me a pail of water. “Someone spilled soy sauce in Aisle Six; go clean it up and stop playing around or I’m not paying you.”

I got up and grudgingly went to Aisle Six. I sighed when I saw the mess all over the floor. “This is the pits.” I kneeled down and began cleaning the floor. When I was done, I stood up. I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I touched my cheek and cringed. The gun had permanently scarred my face. Great.

I took a step forward and slipped on the wet floor. My hands flailed, my legs losing its balance, and I fell backwards. “Nooo!” I cried, waiting for the impact to come on my .

Instead I landed on something soft, ending up in a sitting position. My pail of dirty water, however, wasn’t so lucky. It landed on the floor with a loud bang, water spilling all over, sloshing on my rescuer’s shoes.

“Are you okay?” my rescuer asked me.

I turned slightly and gasped when I found myself face to face — with Jung Daehyun!

Kyaaaahhh!

I quickly stood up and bowed, blushing furiously when I realized where I had landed on. Errhmaaegeerrdd, I landed on Jung Daehyun’s laps! My face was hot, flushed. I bowed a lot of times. “Joesonghamnida, Jung Daehyun-sshi,” I apologized, bowing a lot more. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. And your shoes! Omo, I’m so sorry, I’ll find a way to pay for it somehow.” I refused to meet my idol’s eyes, letting my fringe to cover my face so he wouldn’t recognize such a stupid, clumsy fan like me. Oh, why must this be how we meet?!

“Those shoes are very expensive,” a gruff voice said, and I presumed that was his coach, Bang Yongguk. “You’re going to have to pay for that. It cost a thousand USD!”

I gawked, finally looking. “A thousand USD?!” I squeaked. How the hell am I ever going to be able to pay for it when I can’t even pay for my own rent?!

Daehyun gasped when he looked at me. “Hyung, it’s her,” he murmured softly. He turned to him, his eyes wide. “That’s the girl!” he exclaimed.

 

Daehyun’s POV

I can’t believe this. She looked exactly like the girl in my dream — oval-shaped, cute button nose, faint pink lips, and a tiny scar on her left cheek. She had light brown hair that was short and layered. This is her, I know it was.

She stood there, awkward. “Err . . .”

I turned to her and smiled and she blinked before she blushed and looked down. I smirked. Cute. “Do you know who I am?” I asked her.

Just then another girl came in and walked over to her. “Yah, Yun Joo, boss said — omo! Is this the guy you’ve had a crush on for years?” she asked, noticing that I was here.

I raised an eyebrow as the girl, Yun Joo, blushed furiously.

Her friend smiled at me. “This girl is a huge fan of yours,” she said, “following your twitter page, Facebook, with your picture as her phone wallpaper, signing her fan letters as Pikachu everyday —”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Yun Joo said, cutting her off. She tried to be stern but I could tell that she was embarrassed.

“So you’re Pikachu,” I mused. I smiled warmly at her. “Thanks, I really appreciate your letters. They’re somewhat a joy to read every day.”

Her face grew pink.

“This is really the girl you’ve been dreaming about?” Yongguk asked, eyeing her. I could tell he didn’t like her — only because she ruined his shoes.

I nodded.

“Dreaming?” her friend wanted to know.

I turned to look at them. “I’ve been having this dream about a girl . . . that looks exactly like you.” I shook my head. “It was always the same dream, the day of the accident. But before I fall, I would see you . . . smiling, cheering me on.”

Her friend chortled and whacked her on her arm. “What do you know; your future husband has been dreaming about you! Maybe it’s a sign.”

“Shut up,” she blushed but I thought it was cute. She was cute.

“That’s what I said, about the sign, I mean,” Yongguk spoke up and all eyes turned to him. “I was telling Daehyun here that I was looking for someone who can look after him and such because I can’t do that, with my other students to coach.”

I rolled my eyes. But then I smiled brightly at Yun Joo. “Would you like that to take that job?” I asked. I mean, there must be a reason why I kept dreaming about her, right?

She gaped at me.

“We’ll pay you,” Yongguk went on, and told her how much he was willing to pay. “I’m not sure for how long, but that’ll be your weekly pay, if you’re interested.”

Her friend gasped. “That’s thrice the amount we both make a week,” she said. She punched Yun Joo on the shoulder before she smiled at us. “She’ll take it!”

“I — you —!” Yun Joo stuttered.

“Great, that’s settled,” Yongguk said, and handed a card over to her friend. “That’s our address.” He glanced at Yun Joo. “Please report to work tomorrow morning at eight o’clock sharp. I do not tolerate tardiness. Good day.” He nodded and wheeled me out.

Yun Joo . . . I’ve finally met you.

 

Yun Joo’s POV

I whacked Haneul’s shoulders as soon as they were gone. “Ohmaigawd! Ohmaigawd! Ohmaigawd! I am going to be his personal maid!” I squealed. “I can’t believe this.” I grabbed her arms and the both of us jumped up and down, squealing, me at being close to my idol, her at being able to pay off the rents.

She laughed and hugged me. “I bet you’re going to have so much fun, eh?”

I frowned. “But his coach scares me.”

She shrugged. “Who cares? You get to spend close and personal time with your future husband!”

I glowered at her. “That didn’t mean you had to tease me about it.”

She gave me a mock salute. “Sorry boss! Anyway, I gotta get back to work. You should enjoy your last day here.” With a wink, she scurried back to the cashier.

 

The next day, I gulped nervously as I rang the doorbell of Daehyun’s house, reporting for my first day of work. Would he think I’m pretty in my simple blouse and jeans? I had let my hair flow down, too. Would I be able to impress him? Or what if I find out that I don’t like him?

Yongguk answered and the door and I took another gulp. He looked at me and scanned my outfit before he nodded approvingly as if I’d passed a test or something. He stepped aside and I came inside. He handed me a list. “These are the things you need to know,” he said. I scanned the list and bit back my lip, not wanting to tell him that I already knew all of these (just call me Stalker). “I have to go to work now. You better not do anything funny with him or I will sue you.” He glowered menacingly at me before he walked out of the house. “I’ll be back around six in the evening. He’s in his bed, sleeping.” He closed the door behind him and I flinched.

I took a deep breath and entered the house. It was huge, like really huge, and it was posh. The moment I stepped inside the house, I was already looking at the living room and the dining table at one end of the corner. I walked inside the kitchen to see its classy layout.

Then I decided I should go check up on him.

I walked inside the bedroom and found him fast asleep. Even the bedroom was so nice. I shook my head, feeling a little bit inferior. That was, until I saw Daehyun sleeping peacefully in his bed. It made me smile. He was so innocent.

I walked over to him and squatted down. His eyes fluttered opened and he smiled when he saw me. “Hyung left already?” he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his face.

I nodded and he sat up. I saw he had a little bit of trouble so I quickly helped him up. He groaned and hung his head. “Stupid hand and leg,” he muttered. “Stupid me.”

“It wasn’t really your fault, you couldn’t help it,” I quickly reassured him.

“Yes, it was. I should’ve listened to hyung when he told me to slow down. I was just too cocky, thinking I could do it. I guess this is what happens when I don’t listen.” He winced. “Ah, my leg’s feeling a little stiff. Could you massage it for me, please?” He gave me this pitiful look and I giggled.

“Sure,” I said, my heart racing as I pulled the blanket to show his long, slim legs. I took a deep breath to calm my squealing self down as I slowly massaged his leg. “How is this?”

“Ah,” he said, giving a satisfied sigh, “yeah, it feels nice.”

I blushed as I massaged him from his knee and down. I didn’t dare to massage any further in case he might get the wrong idea. I looked at him. “What would you like for breakfast?”

He pointed to his wheelchair. “I may not be able to do a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I’m incapable of making breakfast for myself. I can do it. Just help me up to my wheelchair,” he said. He sounded a little frustrated.

I smiled softly as I brought his wheelchair close and helped him get up, letting his arm sling around my neck, one of my arm around his back to support him as he hobbled over. “You must not like it when your coach treats you like a kid, huh?” I asked sympathetically. “It must really to have your moves restricted — not because you can’t do it, but because you’re not allowed to.”

He nodded and sighed. “Hyung can be really protective,” he muttered.

I pushed him out to the kitchen and he helped himself around the kitchen. He was even kind enough to make breakfast for me. As we sat on the counter to enjoy our breakfast and each other’s companies, he asked me a lot of questions about myself and I actually felt comfortable telling him about it. I usually shy away from topics like these because I was ashamed to say I came from a poor background and such, especially to people who were rich like him, but Daehyun never made me feel inferior of who I am and where I came from. In fact, even when I took him out of the garden for him to do some stretches (which I’m pretty sure Yongguk wouldn’t let but he insisted), we continued to talk, never running out of things to talk about.

In fact, he was really sweet.

It made me fall for him more.

Every day I looked forward into going to his house. Even Yongguk admitted that Daehyun was a lot happier whenever I was around. Sometimes Yongguk would stay and keep an eye on things, but he never found a reason to hate me and eventually forgave me for ruining his shoes, and Daehyun and I became close friends. Haneul teased me about it every night when I came home, even more when she found out that Daehyun and I texted each other often in the night. She said it couldn’t be normal, but I just ignored him.

He’d never fall for someone like me anyway.

 

Daehyun’s POV

Yun Joo was a nice, sweet girl, and I really liked her. I wasn’t sure exactly how much I liked her, but I did enjoy her company, and I was really glad she didn’t treat me like a famous person but rather as a normal human being. She allowed me to stand up and try to walk around the garden until I was able to walk a couple of steps properly again, even though we were sure Yongguk would never allow me to do that. She would massage my ankle and help me with all the things I needed help with, like answering my fan mails and letters, or scratching my bag (of course she’d be blushing when she did so). Bath times used to be a problem, but we solved that easily by me stripping down only in my boxers and then she would help me wash my back.

I was really glad when I heard that she was able to pay off her rents about a month later after working for me because of the job but I could tell she didn’t take the job because she needed the money — it was because I was her idol. I have to admit at first I was worried that maybe she would try something on me, especially since I would have nowhere to run — I can’t even run properly. But I was thankful she didn’t.

One day when she was over at my house, we were sort of bored, wondering what we should do. Yongguk had to leave town for a couple of days to help his other students in their competitions, so she offered to stay later than usual to help me around the place. It was only two in the afternoon, after we had taken our lunch.

Then I had a crazy idea. “Yun Joo, I want to go to the skating rink.”

She tensed up. “That’s somewhere Yongguk sunbae specifically said you can’t go to.”

“He’s not here,” I replied stubbornly.

“I can’t.”

“Pleaaaasssseeee?” I begged, using my aegyo on her. “Besides, you’re supposed to be listening to me, not him.”

“He’s your coach. He should know what’s best for you.”

“Oh pleeaassee!” I whined. “I’m getting better! In fact, I can actually walk now! My cast is off!”

“Your hand cast isn’t.”

“I’m taking it off tomorrow.”

“The doctor said you need to rest.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Is the famous Jung Daehyun really whining?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

“You’re mean,” I pouted.

She cringed, wavering. “Aish, fine!” she cried and buried her head in shame. “But if anything happens to you, it’s your fault.”

I just hugged her. “Thanks.”

She froze and blushed when she realized I was hugging her. I realized what I was doing and quickly let go of her, blushing as well. Why on earth did I hug her like that for? I shook my head and smiled at her. She sighed.

We both walked to her car, slowly, and soon she drove me to the skating rink. When we got there, I smiled at the familiar sight. I had missed it so much that I quickly put my skates on and Yun Joo had to remind me to take it slowly, especially since I just recovered and I was going to take my hand cast off tomorrow.

But I was aching to go back in the rink that I didn’t listen to her.

Once I stepped inside the rink, I felt like I was in my game again. I felt like I never had my accident. Of course, for her sake, I decided to take it slow and just skated around the rink. I wanted to do more but she had a worried expression on her face so after an hour or so, I skated back to her.

“Let’s go home,” I told her. “I’ve had enough for the day.” Honestly, I wanted to stay a bit longer but I didn’t want to worry her.

We drove home and I chatted away excitedly about how much fun it was to be back in the rink. She just smiled and told me she was relieved that I didn’t hurt myself. She stayed with me until after dinner before she headed back.

Before she left, I told her, “I want you to be there when I take my cast off.”

She replied with a simple, “How else are you going to get there?”

“I also want to go to the rink afterward.”

She twitched her lips but sighed and nodded. “But no funny business,” she said. She meant that I can’t try pulling any skating moves.

I nodded.

 

Yun Joo’s POV

The next day after his cast was off, the doctor said that it might feel a little weird since he was used to it being in a cast and that he should take care of himself before he tried to do anything with his hand just yet. He nodded and promised he would.

Then we went to the skating rink where, like he had yesterday, he just skated around the rink. I could see the happy glow in his eyes as he skated around the place. I knew he must have missed it while being away from it for so long. I relaxed a little bit.

Day by day, we would come and I’d watch him skate. He tried doing simple moves that the doctor said it was okay for him to do. Yongguk found out about it but since Daehyun promised him that he wouldn’t try doing anything stupid, he relented and allowed him to. Since he was better, I was technically not supposed to work for him anymore, but Daehyun continued to request for me, saying that he wanted me to be there to watch him.

Yongguk wasn’t too happy with that idea but he nodded and I kept going back to take care of him. Each day he grew stronger and managed to get back his strength in both his ankle and right hand. And we were still very good friends.

I still had a crush on him but that would be the fan girl side of me. I don’t know how he felt about me, if he even felt that way about me, but I do know that he liked me enough as a friend to want to hang out with me.

One day, Yongguk went out to attend to his students, so he asked me to watch over Daehyun at the skating rink. I watched as Daehyun gracefully skated across the rink, doing those simple moves. Then he came over to me and held his hand out. “Skate with me,” he said. “Please.”

I blushed but took it. I wasn’t a bad skater myself, despite me being really clumsy, and soon the two of us were skating and laughing around the rink, holding hands. I could feel the heat radiating through the gloves and it made me blush to think that we were holding hands.

When we stopped so that I could rest (I wasn’t used to skating for long like he was, you see), he came out to rest with me even though he wasn’t tired.

“Yun Joo, how much do you like me?” he wanted to know.

I blinked. “A lot. You heard from Haneul.”

He looked at me. Then he leaned in and kissed me softly on my lips. “You know something?” he said softly as I looked at him, stunned. Did he just kiss me on my lips? “When I first dreamt of you, I wasn’t sure why. All I knew was that I wanted a miracle to be able to skate like I could again. And when I saw you that day at the grocery mart, I knew that you were part of it. And guess what?” He pressed his lips to mine again. “You are my miracle.”

“Daehyun —” Before I could process what was happening, he was already back in the skating rink. With trembling hands, I realized what he was trying to do as he skated around, looking determined.

He was going to try the quadruple axel jump.

 

Daehyun’s POV

I don’t know why, but after kissing her, I felt this new strength in me. So I got up and skated around the rink, feeling the determination growing. I knew what I had to do. Finally I stopped at one end of the rink, at the opposite end of where she was. She was frozen by the entrance, and I knew she knew what I wanted to do.

“Don’t try to stop me,” I murmured even though she probably couldn’t hear.

“Daehyun Oppa, hwaiting!” she called out.

I smiled as I began to skate forward, trying to time myself properly. When I felt that it was the right time, I jumped. I spun around once . . . twice . . . thrice . . . four times.

Then I started to fall.

And I was reminded of my dream, of where I was falling, and falling, and like my dream, I found myself losing my balance. I looked up to see Yun Joo at the entrance of the rink. She had her fist high in the air, cheering me on, encouraging me.

I felt my skate’s blades landing on the ice and I lost my balance. I started to fall backward and closed my eyes, waiting to hit the cool ice.

But then I heard the wind wheezing by and I landed on something soft. I opened my eyes to see Yun Joo underneath me. She had cushioned my fall in time. “Yun Joo!” I gasped and quickly got off her when I saw her wincing.

“You pabo,” she said affectionately. She threw her arms around me. “You nearly did it!”

I nodded, my face flushed with excitement. “Do you think I could do it for real this time?” I asked her.

“Do you think you can?”

I nodded.

She kissed me. Even though it was only for a brief moment that our lips had touched, her lips were soft and tender. “Then do it,” she encouraged.

I nodded and skated back to the other end. I took a deep breath as she cheered for me again. This was my dream, it actually happened, but this time it’s going to end differently. I skated forward, I jumped, and I spun around four times— I landed perfectly!

Squealing, Yun Joo rushed to my side and hugged me. I hugged her back, laughing.

I cupped her face and looked into her eyes. “You’re my miracle,” I told her. “Don’t tell Yongguk about this just yet.”

She nodded and we kissed.

 

That was three years ago.

Ever since that day, I got back on my feet and I started to train for competitions again. Yongguk soon found out about it and instead of scolding Yun Joo for being so reckless, he actually thanked her and I was entering competitions and winning gold medals again. Because of my busy schedule, I could not see her so often. But I knew she was cheering for me. She changed her names in her fan mails and letters from Pikachu to Miracle.

In fact I moved houses and had to fly overseas a lot of times that I was hardly ever home. But when I came back for a competition that was held at home, I was actually hoping that I would get to see her. But she wasn’t there. I saw a banner that read ‘A Miracle Can Happen!’ and my heart leaped—but it was Haneul and her boyfriend. Yun Joo was nowhere in sight.

Even though I won the competition, I was unhappy. Why wasn’t she here?

I rushed out of the rink after receiving my gold medal. I went to the only place where I had a feeling she would be at: the local grocery mart.

I rushed to Aisle Six and frowned when I saw an old lady there. She was looking at the soy sauce section. I sighed, dejected, and turned around until I heard the shattering of glass and turned to see that she had accidentally dropped the bottle and it broke, spilling the soy sauce all over the place. Then an elderly man came and kindly ushered her out before rudely calling one of his staff to come clean it.

I smiled, knowing who the staff was — until I saw that the staff was a boy. I frowned and sighed, walking out.

I needed to buy some batteries for Yongguk anyway, so since I was here, I might as well buy it. I sighed, walking over to the cashier. I paid for my purchase and began walking out of the grocery mart, feeling a little bit upset. But then something told me to go back inside. So inside I went and walked back to an empty Aisle Six.

Just then someone wrapped their arms around my waist and I heard a familiar giggle behind me. I instantly smiled and turned to see Yun Joo. “Hey, Miracle,” I said and leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. I could feel her heart beating against mine.

She hugged me. “I was at the competition, but you left so fast before I could even approach you. But I had a feeling you’d be here.”

I laughed and we kissed again.

Who ever thought I would find my miracle at aisle six at the local grocery mart?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ehehehe. (: