Reminder: bold dialogue is in English.

{Chapter 12}

Livia was turning a steady shade of pink, well aware of the cameras catching this moment.

She had hoped that she could get around it by requesting it when the cameras were off or everyone was busy doing something else, but even before Livia could finish asking, the cameras were pointed right at her and Day Day, and she knew that this part would end up on the show.

How could it not, really? If Livia had been a witness to this instead of a partaker, she would have thought it was cute as well.

Why had she always had trouble tying skates?

Why had Day Day noticed?

And why did he insist on sitting on the floor in front of her and tying her skates for her?

Livia was definitely grateful, as if he hadn’t, and Livia had gotten on the ice, her skates would have been too loose, and she probably would have ended up breaking an ankle. But why did he have to do it? She was going to ask a producer or cameraman to help, under the hope that they wouldn’t simply tell her to ask her husband, but Day Day had seen her struggling before she could stop anyone.

“Is that too tight?” Day Day asked, looking up at Livia, who shook her head.

“You sure?”

Livia nodded. “They feel good. For rental skates, at least.” She tried making a small joke to make herself feel a little less awkward, and even thought Day Day chuckled, she could still feel the cameras’ lenses on her, catching every flicker of emotion on their faces.

“Alright,” Day Day groaned getting to his feet. “I think we’re ready, then.” He held out his hand for Livia to take, and she did, but only after hesitating for a split second. She knew that the mission, “getting to know each other,” meant that the show’s producersand viewers wanted more skinship between the two, as they had sent them to the one place where couples would always find a way to touch: an ice rink.

Day Day and Livia wobbled over to the entrance to the actual ice, closely followed by cameramen who would get on the ice with them, hoping that their shoes were non-slip, though that was some camera work Livia would pay to see if they fell.

Day Day stepped on the ice first. It took him a second for him to find his footing, but Livia could already tell he had the legs to stay upright most of the time. Livia, when she stepped on, did so tentatively. Day Day held out his hand for her, but she politely refused, wanting to do this herself.

Once on the ice, Day Day took a few small steps, looking back at Livia, signaling her to follow. Livia couldn’t help but smile a little. No one had ever bothered to ask if she had been skating before. In fact, because of her trouble with the skate laces, she was pretty positive most people watching her thought that this was her first time on the ice.

In reality, it wasn’t.

It wasn’t by a long shot.

She pushed off for her first , and instantly, she was reveling in the feel of the movement. Something she hadn’t felt in years.

She easily glided by Day Day, who was still taking small steps, going further and further towards the center of the ice.

When she passed, he looked up, startled. “What—you skate?” he asked, too shocked to bother with Korean.

“I started skating when I was old enough to walk. My biological father was a speed skater, and I was too until I was ten.”

Day Day, finally finding his groove—one considerably slower than Livia’s, caught up to her, and she slowed her pace a little. “So you skate a lot, then,” Day Day said.

Livia sighed. “I used to.”

“What happened?” Day Day asked, sensing that there was a story behind Livia’s answer.

“I was in an accident when I was ten. It was my fault, really. I was going faster than I was used to going, and I lost control. I ended up slicing my hand open and hurting my left knee so bad it had to be replaced.”

Day Day in his breath. “Ow.”

“Yeah. After that, I haven’t been skating. Today’s the first day since then.”

“But you skate so well now…” Day Day tod her, slipping a little himself as she spoke. She reached out and grabbed his arm. Her intent was to make sure he didn’t fall backwards, as that way was probably the hardest to break, but after she had caught him, she realized that the producers had finally gotten what they had wanted: skinship.

So after righting Day Day, instead of letting him go, she wrapped her arm around his. This way, the show got what they wanted, and Livia could make sure Day Day didn’t fall and hurt himself, which would possibly lead to quite a few emotional fans and band members.

Day Day didn’t make any movements that let Livia know that he thought what she did was odd; in fact, he subtly brought her closer to him. She knew that his action probably wasn’t caught by a camera; he had done it for her; he was trying to make her a little more comfortable.

They skated around the rink for a little, not really saying too much as they tried to find their legs and figure out what the best way to skate was with both of them holding on to each other.

“How fast could you go?” Day Day asked suddenly, after a few turns.

“Almost forty miles per hour,” Livia answered, knowing what Day Day was asking about immediately.

“And you were ten?”

Livia nodded. “I miss it.”

“You do?”

Livia nodded again, with more conviction than before. “The feeling you get when you skate like that…it’s like flying. Especially just after the ice has been smoothed out by a Zamboni. You forget your feet are touching ground, it’s so smooth.”

“If you tried today, how fast do you think you could go?” Day Day asked curiously, almost slipping a little. Livia could always tell when he had caught himself from falling; his grip would tighten slightly on her arm.

“Hm…” Livia thought for a second. “Given the ice conditions, my knee, the shape my body’s in, and the skates…probably not very fast.”

“What do you mean by ‘the shape your body’s in’ and ‘the skates’?” Day Day asked. “Everything seems fine to me.”

Livia tossed her head back and laughed at Day Day’s subtle compliment. “Thank you,” she said after she recovered, “But speed skating requires a very specific condition for your body. Do you know who Kwak Yoon Gi is? Or Lee Ho Suk?”

Day Day shook his head.

“Did you watch the Winter Olympics in Vancouver? The relay in short track speed skating?”

“Oh, yeah. A friend of mine and I watched it since Korea was in the finals. I only remember because when Korea was presented the bronze, one of the skaters got on the podium and did the ‘Abracadabra’ dance.”

Livia laughed and pointed at Day Day. “That was Kwak Yoon Gi.”

“Oh…”

“He has what’s considered the ‘ideal’ body for male speed skaters. Slightly—or in his case—quite short, slim overall figure with strong thighs.”

“You were checking out his thighs?” Day Day cried, feigning anger, making Livia chuckle.

“Hey, when you speed skate, your power comes from your thighs. They’re pretty important,” she said.

“No more watching speed skating for Livia,” Day Day sang, slipping out of livia’s grip and skating ahead.

“That’s what you think!” Livia taunted back.

“That’s what I say,” Day Day corrected her. “And I’m going to take away all your electronics just to make sure you aren’t spending your time away from me watching Kwak Yoon Gi’s thighs.”

Livia started skating faster, trying to catch up with her husband. “No you won’t! You’re too nice.”

Day Day spun around—very cleanly, Livia noticed—and said, “Want to bet on that?” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. One that looked suspiciously like Livia’s.

With a gasp, Livia reached into the jacket pocket she knew she had had her phone in. Of course, it wasn’t there. Livia looked back up at a smirking Day Day. “Give that back,” she said, a smile on her face. So he wants to play, she thought.

“Come get it, speed skater,” Day Day taunted, holding the phone out.

Livia quickly calculated how quickly she could get to him. He was probably thirty feet in front of her, but he still had to turn around and skate to get away from her.

Putting on a sudden burst of speed, Livia tried to get her muscles to remember what they had done almost sixteen years before.

Obviously, she didn’t go as fast as she used to, but she did catch up with Day Day very quickly. But as she reached out to grab her phone, Day Day grabbed her outreached arm, and she was suddenly off balance. She began to fall, and tried to cling to Day Day, but all she ended up doing was pulling Day Day to the ice with her.

They hit the ice laughing already. 

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AN: Kwak Yoon Gi and Lee Ho Suk are real people, and the Kwak Yoon Gi's "Abracadabra" dance did happen.

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