"on your marks!", donghyuck exclaimed epically but giggled afterwards, "haha marks."

"hurry up, hyuck", jeno demanded and rolled his eyes in annoyance while mark who was next to him laughed loudly, finding his joke genuinely funny.

"patience babe", the purple haired boy responded smirking and gave him a wink, "alright, you guys ready for the race?"

mark and jeno nodded as the rest of the drama club members stood aside, watching them in anticipation.

the friend group had gathered at the local ice skating rink. they were extremely hyped to be reunited again and to skate together for the very first time. particularly jaemin's arrival let the hype rise as everyone had missed him (and vice versa).

now, jeno and mark wanted to race against each other. the older one challenged the blond haired boy, he wanted to see who could reach faster the other end of the rink.

jeno protested at first as he described himself as an 'average skater' but let me tell you, he was clearly above.

the blond haired boy was a skilled and fast skater and thus, stole everyone's show and attention. his warm up was already a whole performance.

mark was also a talented skater. unlike haewon, he could move smoothly and quickly on ice — leaving everyone to be stunned by his skating.

the canadian wanted to battle with his friend — not only to compete against each other for fun but also to show that jeno was an excellent skater. the younger boy was a bit too humble about his skills, underestimating himself when he was more than he thought.

mark and jeno placed a bet and wanted to challenge each other by holding a race. the loser had to buy lunch for the winner for a week after winter break.

donghyuck inhaled before announcing the most important words. "ready, set, go!", he shouted dramatically and raised his arm, giving a sign for them to start.

jeno and mark practically sprinted on ice. the thrill increased immensely as all eyes were glued on them.

the senior's start was fast and intense, making him lead in the race. mark was confident that he was going to win as a little smirk appeared on his lips.

however, jeno quickly caught up with his pace and flashed his famous eye smile to the older boy.

they were now skating next to each other, keeping up with the same pace and narrowing the targeted railing of the other side of the rink.

the black haired boy gave his all and accelerated his pace, almost touching the railing.

nevertheless, it was all in vain as jeno managed to be faster than him and closed the gap between him and the railing. his hand was resting on it while heavy breaths escaped his lips.

seconds later, mark reached the end too. he held onto the railing while trying to catch his breath.

"congrats jen, you did it", he commented exhaustedly but sweetly, glancing at him before chuckling gently.

"thanks bro", jeno responded shyly, having calmed down by now, "i haven't expected to win to be honest..."

"aw, come on. dude, you can't be serious", mark teased laughing and let go of the railing, punching playfully his friend on his arm.

"you don't need to be humble about your strengths. you are an awesome skater, dude", the canadian added grinning, "be confident. embrace your strengths and believe in yourself!"

jeno laughed quietly as he pulled down his beanie to hide his embarrassed face. mark snickered at his action as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled his beanie up to reveal his face again.

"be proud of yourself, winner. you get free food for a week", the senior highlighted laughing, "oh man, i hope i'm not ending up broke."

"jeno, you were insane!!", jaemin praised smiling and skated towards them, followed by the rest of the group (more or less, some of them were struggling and were a bit behind to get to the racers).

"i think you were lying about the average part", renjun stated skeptically and raised his eyebrow.

" 'average' my ass. it's like when chenle refers his house as 'slightly bigger than an average house' even though it's a big ass mansion", donghyuck mentioned teasingly, offending the chinese boy.

"hey, leave my house out of your mouth!", the orange haired male yelled and gave him an offensive side-eye. "either my home stays away from your mouth or you stay away from my home", chenle retorted savagely, causing the purple haired boy to gasp in disbelief.

"anyways jeno, i'm proud of you for defeating mark", haewon remarked grinning, wanting to skate to him but almost tumbled.

"then defeat me now, mary sue", mark challenged provocatively and gave her a mischievous smile before skating away.

"YOU ASSHOLE", haewon shouted and was ready to follow and fight him, nonetheless, she was a rather terrible skater and couldn't keep up with him.

well, she tried but tripped anyways.

however, she pulled accidentally jieun with her to the ground when the younger girl wanted to catch her from falling.

haewon laid on ice on her back while jieun laid on her body, having suffered less pain from the tumble thanks to the older one.

"ouch- my back hu- oh my god", the senior groaned in pain, however, she forgot about her pain when she saw jieun on her body.

heat shot up her cheeks as she froze in place. her heart was acting up, it was beating crazily — haewon was scared that the younger girl could hear her quickened heartbeat.

she didn't know how to react in such a situation and neither did jieun. the female junior couldn't process the situation as everything happened in a span of a few seconds.

she looked up to face haewon. she glanced at her confusedly before admiring her beautiful features. they held eye contact for some seconds and remained silent until realisation hit her.

jieun's face became all flushed and her eyes widened in shock when she realised in what position they currently were. despite the cold, she felt utterly hot.

"oh god! haewon! i'm sorry", jieun quickly stood up before looking down and reaching out her hand to her.

"are you okay?? do you need anything??", the female junior asked concernedly, her eyes displayed the worries she had.

haewon couldn't help but smile sweetly at her, finding the younger one super adorable the way she cared about her.

"i'm fine, you don't need to worry", she reassured her calmly and took her hand to get up.

"but you fell!", jieun exclaimed in worry, seeing the senior smirk cheekily.

"yup, i fell for you", haewon blurted out with a grin on her face, watching the junior blush intensely. the older one enjoyed the sight of her being flustered, grinning from ear to ear.

"aww, just kidding. no need to feel shy", haewon teased in delight, however, no one could tell if she was joking around about the 'falling for her' part — neither could she.

"ew, get a room", donghyuck gagged jokingly and interrupted the two of them. haewon sent him a death glare, ready to throw hands.

the purple haired boy laughed mischievously before quickly skating away, taking advantage of haewon's bad ice skating skills.

donghyuck escaped to sooyun who was currently talking to jeno and mark. "hey guys, what's up?", he joined the conversation, standing between the two blondes.

"we've been discussing about sooyun's hair", jeno explained, making his best friend frown.

"the fuck what-", the purple haired boy responded flabbergasted, totally taken aback by that statement.

"long story", the blond haired boy commented amusedly and laughed at his friend's reaction.

"how come you are talking about that out of all topics in the world?", hyuck questioned curiously, finding the situation hilarious.

"well, mark mentioned that he liked my blonde hair but it seemed so unrealistic for him like a wig", sooyun explained sighing, shaking her head in disappointment.

"dude, hear me out", the canadian began, ready to defend himself, "your blonde hair looks so insane... like no way you have died it. it seems flawless and healthy even after dying it. like how?? wouldn't your hair normally be damaged?? i don't get it. things aren't adding up? you sure you are not wearing a wig??"

sooyun let out another tired sigh and facepalmed at his words. "i have actually died my hair blonde for the tenth thousand time, i'm NOT wearing a wig", she clarified and was so done with him.

"the majority of the drama club members have died their hair and no one is wearing a wig!", the girl added.

"but it just doesn't make sense?? like you have died and bleached your WHOLE hair blonde. how did you survive that? how did your hair survive??", mark asked in disbelief and confusion.

"correct hair treatment, suitable conditioner and shampoos and survival skills when bleaching, mark!!", sooyun declared.

donghyuck and jeno bursted out in laughter, feeling entertained by the conversation.

in the meanwhile, chenle and jisung were in their own little bubble. the chinese boy taught his best friend the basics as it was his first time ice skating.

"ji, you have made progress!", the orange haired male praised when the younger one finally let go of the railing and skated freely but cautiously on ice.

"i really did!", jisung exclaimed happily with a beaming face. "but lele, can you please hold my hand? i still feel insecure", he requested softly, causing his older friend to crack a smile.

"of course, ji!", chenle agreed sweetly and stood next to him, offering his hand. jisung took his hand in his and felt reassured.

"now let's speed up the pace, shall we?", the chinese boy suggested mischievously, resulting the younger one's eyes to widen.

"oh hell no, we will not be doing that, lele."

"oh hell yes, we will be doing that, ji."

before jisung could do anything against it, his friend took the lead and dragged him with him on ice in a quicker pace than before.

jisung saw his life flashing and held onto chenle's hand like his life depended on it, shouting in fear.

"YOU ARE A TERRIBLE FRIEND, LELE."

"HAHAHAH LOVE YOU TOO, JI."

while jisung was fighting for his life, yejoon and renjun tried to survive on ice too as both of them weren't the best skaters either.

the sophomore was worse than the chinese boy. renjun was just insecure about ice skating but could skate somehow while yejoon didn't even let go of the railing, holding onto it like his life depended on it.

"i know we both suck at ice skating but will you ever free yourself from the poor railing?", renjun inquired with a raised eyebrow, crossing his arms. there was a little distance between them as renjun had moved and skated a bit in contrast to his friend who got stuck in the same spot.

"uh, well... i can't... the railing has attachment issues. can't be helped", yejoon made up a silly excuse and flashed him an apologetic smile.

the two-toned haired boy let out a loud, tired sigh and shook his head. "i can't with this boy", he muttered and was so done with his friend.

"who is getting on your nerves?", a voice sounded gently next to him, startling the chinese boy and almost making him trip — if that person hadn't caught him right in time.

renjun glanced into jaemin's brown, beautiful eyes, admiring them for a moment while being safely and tightly held by him.

"woah– renjun, are you alright??", the pink haired boy asked caringly, looking at him in worry before studying his little facial features.

the older male nodded briefly and gave him a little, soft smile. "yeah, i'm okay thanks to you", he answered calmly, however, his heart was the complete opposite of calm when he had realised the proximity between them.

"i'm relieved", jaemin mirrored his smile, feeling his own heart beating quickly while butterflies were fluttering in his stomach.

"sorry, i didn't mean to startle you", he added apologetically but admired secretly his face for one more moment.

he stole a glance at his pink, pretty lips, however, his gaze quickly averted them again as he realised what he had just done.

"why did i glance at his lips and why do they look so soft? why do i wanna... oh god, jaemin, get a hold of yourself! what's going on with yourself?!", jaemin thought to himself and scolded himself internally.

he felt his heartbeat increasing while his cheeks turned pink. the pink turned into a darker shade when he reminded himself in what position they had been and how close they were.

that's why jaemin helped renjun to get back safely and securely on ice, feeling his face becoming more flushed as he recalled the previous moments.

"it's fine", renjun commented and chuckled softly. "but next time, you should warn me and not spawn out of nowhere with no noise", he added grinning, observing the younger boy getting embarassed.

"will keep that in mind", jaemin replied sheepishly and laughed embarrassedly.

"oh and to answer your very first question: yejoon is getting on my nerves", renjun mentioned and pointed at his friend who was glued on the railing and fought verbally with his shoes and ice, "he isn't letting go. elsa would be disappointed."

the pink haired boy snickered at his comments before glancing at the younger boy who seemed to be doomed on ice.

"guess i should help him out", jaemin smirked before skating towards him, "yejoon!"

the curly brown haired boy turned to him and flashed him a bright smile. "cotton candy boy!", he exclaimed, beaming joyfully at his appearance.

"aww, does someone need a little help?", jaemin asked teasingly while wearing a playful grin.

yejoon's cheeks became pink while his heartbeat sped up. "why is he an attractive tease wtf unfair", he thought, pouting a bit.

"yeah, i need help. ice skating is my biggest enemy", yejoon admitted whining.

jaemin giggled amusedly at his comment as he approached him. "give me your hand, i will support you and stay by your side", the pink haired boy offered sweetly and reached out for his hand.

yejoon gave in and felt how jaemin took his hand in his. "let's skate now, shall we?", the male junior asked softly, giving him a sweet smile while holding his hand so gently – it drove him crazy, his heart beat crazily.

"sure", the younger boy agreed quietly and smiled back at him. his face became all flushed, however, he wasn't the only one with pink cheeks.

jaemin was internally not okay due to holding his hand. why was he feeling like that?

when he held hands with his best friends, it felt normal, sweet and friendly but nothing more.

why did it feel different when jaemin held yejoon's hand? his hand was tingling at the touch of his hand and a strange feeling lingered on him. quite odd, wasn't it?

the two of them skated slowly while holding hands. jaemin had asked renjun to join them too as yejoon told him that the chinese felt insecure as well.

the two-toned haired boy couldn't decline his offer, especially with the adorable smile of jaemin's when he had asked to join them. besides, a little help wouldn't hurt, right?

now, jaemin was holding their hands on each side, leading the two of them in a steady and slow pace.

his hands kept on feeling tingly while the strange feelings continued lingering in the air. neither his heart nor his mind could rest any second as jaemin felt overwhelmed with his new and confusing feelings.

butterflies were fluttering in his stomach while holding the hands of the two boys. he couldn't explain why he felt like that but he couldn't deny that he enjoyed it.

except for the trio and chenji, jieun and haewon held hands as well since jieun helped haewon to skate better and kept guiding and supporting her.

the girls were a flushed mess too. while jieun was still feeling shy about the fact that they were holding hands while skating, haewon quickly got used to it and felt totally comfortable with it. she was visibly fond of it as she wore a bright grin on her face. there was her confident side again.

in the meanwhile, jeno was chasing donghyuck on ice as the younger one was cheeky and mischievous once again (not surprised anymore).

the younger one laughed at first, however, his laughter turned into a scream as he had underestimated jeno's speed. (that boy didn't pay a lot of attention to that detail in mark's and jeno's battle rip.)

the blonde haired boy was on his heels, almost catching him. hyuck was fearing for his life and looked ahead, not daring to look back. he felt like a player in a horror game where he was chased by the murderer (he's exaggerating it but let him be delusional).

donghyuck spotted mark not far away from him, coming up with an idea. "MARK, MY GUY!! BACK ME UP!!", he shouted, seeing the older boy turn around to face him.

the canadian was extremely confused but nodded, watching his friend quickly approaching him.

the black haired boy noticed that jeno was following donghyuck, understanding why the younger boy had said that.

"get behind me, i gotchu hyuck!", he exclaimed, motioning him to hide behind his back.

the purple haired boy did as told, trying to catch his breath. "mark, protect me please. jeno is a beast", he muttered.

mark looked over his shoulder to see the younger boy, finding it hilarious but adorable the way he acted.

"sure thing", he added gently and gave him a soft smile before jeno approached them.

mark stretched out one arm to block the blond haired boy from attacking donghyuck.

"sorry dude, i'm hyuck's bodyguard", the male senior mentioned grinning, seeing jeno raise an eyebrow.

"damn, princess hyuck receives protection?", the blond haired boy asked laughing, earning a glare from his best friend.

"shut up. i'm not a fucking princess, jeno cena", donghyuck hissed and gave him an offensive side-eye.

jeno scoffed playfully before smirking. "well, you are. you receive special princess treatment from your bodyguard", he added teasingly before looking at the older boy, "yo mark. it's sweet of you to protect hyuck but i have some business to do with that devil."

"sorry to disappoint you, dude, but not today", mark declined and gave him an apologetic smile, "as his bodyguard, i can't let it happen."

"let's make a deal", he suggested, "since i've lost the race, i have to buy you lunch for a week after winter break. let's add little treats to your lunch. what do you think about it?"

donghyuck was surprised that the older boy was ready to negotiate with jeno to protect him. he didn't expect him to take the back-up that serious, nonetheless, hyuck found that really sweet and kind of mark.

jeno seemed persuaded by the offer and grinned in satisfaction. "alright, deal", the blond haired boy agreed and shook hands with mark to seal the deal.

after they let go, the junior turned to the purple haired boy. "damn, you're lucky that mark has your back this time", jeno mentioned and shifted his attention back to the canadian.

"i mean, how could i say no to you, my bro. especially with your friendly and generous offer? thanks homie", he added and patted the shoulder of mark. "you're welcome, dude. thanks for negotiating with me", the canadian grinned.

"well, you got away with that, hyuck", jeno commented amusedly. "but next time, i will get you", he gave his best friend a confident smirk before skating away.

"bitch, you wish!", donghyuck yelled after him, giving his bestie a playful glare and receiving a middle finger from him.

afterwards, mark and hyuck bursted out in laughter about the whole situation. the older boy turned around to face him, seeing him beaming joyfully.

"damn, mark. you're a real one. thanks for sacrificing your money for me", the purple haired boy thanked sincerely, "i didn't expect you to take the protection that far but it's sweet of you."

"i told you that i got you. i always got your back", mark responded sweetly and gave him a sheepish grin.

the junior gave him a bright, genuine smile before hugging him tightly. "you're so cute, my guy. love you, bro", he added happily.

mark was taken aback as he didn't expect that from the younger boy.

the older boy felt the genuine gratitude, love and warmth coming from hyuck. his heart warmed up as mark cracked a little smile.

he wrapped his arms around donghyuck, hugging him back and feeling flustered.

"love you too... bro, haha..."

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ author's note ]
HELPPP sorry that the chapter is so long, i just had to include all these moments 😞

woah but listening to forever only by jaehyun at night while writing the renjun and jaemin ice skating scene got me smiling and kicking my feet AAAA

also, listening to teddy bear by nct dream while writing romantic scenes >>>

btw thank you so much for 5k reads <3
i love you all and thank you for your unwavering support 🩷
i hope you all have a wonderful day filled with lots of joy!! ♡