By afternoon, Min introduced me to his friend Daesung. The 3 of us went ice skating. Daesung didn’t have much more luck on the ice, and Min struggled to get used to his new skates. My old, nicked-up blades glided like I’d attached kitchen forks to my feet. We were a dangerous trio. It didn’t take long for other skaters at the park to move out of our way when they saw us coming.

Eventually, despite protests from Min, I sat down and watched. I knew he needed to have fun with guys his own age without anybody between them. Min and Daesung met two other guys from his former school, and four of them became a squadron of planes that didn’t always know where they were flying. I let them skate and laugh and shout to the point of exhaustion, then drove the guys home, dropping Daesung off first.

When we arrived at Min’s house, he told me, “You’ve got to come in, Noona. I have a present for you.”

“I would even without a present.”

“You’ll like it,” he said as I trailed him up the walk. Min pushed open the front door and dropped his skates with a clatter. “I’m home!”

“No kidding,” Jae called from upstairs.

“Did you bring back both legs?” I recognized the voice as Junsu’s.

“Yeah, and Dara Noona too.”

I hung my coat over the banister and followed Min into the living room. “Let’s look at my gifts first,” he said, then showed them to me one by one, explaining how to use them. I kept missing the details, distracted by the presence of Jae in the house. When Min tried to explain some mixed-up rules for a gaming device, I had to focus as hard as I did in my Math class.

“Get it?” Min asked me. “Get it?”

I stared down at the small screen, listening to footsteps on the stairs. “Sort of.”

“Hey, Dara,” Junsu greeted me, coming into the living room. “Hi, Min. Hi, Jae.”

I wasn’t sure what I’d see in Jae’s eyes. The turbulent, angry look they held after we had danced on Christmas? Or shocked and worried expression because he saw me when he kissed my sister? “Did you give Dara your present yet?” Jae asked.

Nothing. There was nothing in his eyes, which was worse than what I’d imagined. I was just a person visiting his brother.

Min looked down under the tree, and handed me a box.

“Wow! Did you wrap this yourself?” I asked.

He nodded. The paper, which had basketball characters all over it, didn’t quite make it around one end of the box. A stick-on bow had been placed in the bare spot and another one on top. Guys! how typical.

“I taught him all my wrapping tricks,” Junsu said, grinning. He and Min stood next to me as I tore the paper. Jae kept his distance.

I lifted the lid and pulled back pieces of tissue. A hoodie with angel wings emerged.

“Wow!” I said, pulling them out. “These are…incredible.”

“You like it?”

“Of course!”

“I chose the Angel because it suits you, Dara Noona,” Min told me. “I was choosing between this and a stuff toy but Aunt Hyori said this one is better.”

“This one is much cooler,” I said, putting it on.

“Aunt Hyori said this would fit you.”

“These are perfect, Min!” I got up to model them for him, doing some fancy turns, then showing off my angel wings. “They feel real comfy,” I told him, sitting down again then took them off. “Thanks, Min!” I held out my arms and gave him a big, long hug. He squeezed me tight. Over Min’s shoulder I saw Jae watching, his face still expressionless but for a minute I saw something else. I’m not sure but he looked uncomfortable.

The phone rang, and Jae turned away to answer it. A moment later he said, “It’s for you, Min. Who’s Kevin?”

“A friend from my class last year. He was at the skating park. I’ll take it upstairs,” he added, in what I thought was Min’s imitation of Jae wanting his privacy.

When Min had disappeared, Jae said, “He saw some guys he knew at the skating park?”

“Yes, Kevin and hi