The first thing that would greet him when he opened his eyes were the pale beige ceiling and walls. Silence would accompany his morning routines as Jungkook prepared for classes. His parents always worked abroad, going from country to country, leaving him to his own company.

As he stared at the empty walls, he wondered how cozy they could look if they were decorated in something. Then maybe he would not feel so alone in the huge house.

Just then, his phone was bombed with messages from a group chat that asked where everyone was and if they were coming already. A laugh escaped his lips and he read his friends' chats before replying that he was leaving.

His eyes lingered on Eunsook's messages before flying to the blank walls and a thought came.

As soon as he arrived at the ice rink Saejin invited him to, he immediately found Eunsook and jogged towards her with a pumping heart.

"Hey, Eunsook."

The girl whirled around and chimed, "Oh hey, Jungkook!"

"Hey! What about me?" Jimin butted in with a frown.

"About that favor from you," Jungkook said, focused on Eunsook.

She tilted her head, wracking her head and finally remembering. "Ah yes. Did you think about what you want?"

He nodded with pleading eyes. "Can you, um... Do you think... I want you to... I mean, will you be okay with painting my walls?"

While she took a moment to understand what he was trying to ask, Jimin burst into laughter behind her, making Saejin confused about what was so funny. It made Eunsook's mind stray but she was not going there.

"You mean your home walls?" She asked, earning a nod from Jungkook. Her heart swelled and picked up its pace. "If that's what you want, I can do it. But I'm afraid I might ruin it... I'm not that good."

"No, you won't ruin it. I believe you will only make those dull walls better," Jungkook rushed to assure her, hands moving back and forth on his sides, wanting to hold hers. "Then it's settled?"

She nodded with her eyes on the ground. It was definitely a daunting task but she was dying to do it. Her paintings covering his home? She was on the clouds just imagining, her lips twitching to grin as wide as possible.

"Hey, are you doing something here?"

The four of them turned to the one who suddenly appeared. Sunghoon greeted them and his manager bowed as well from behind him.

"We're here to hangout," Saejin cheered. "And it's free because my dad owns this place!"

Sunghoon chuckled with his hands in his pockets. "Are you flexing? I'm telling your dad."

Jimin felt uneasy with how casually he expressed his closeness with her father. It gave off an illusion of distance between Saejin and himself.

"Everyone, this is my bestie, Sunghoon," Saejin introduced the tall lean man who waved at them with his shyness hidden under a calm expression. "He uses this rink for his practices because he's a professional figure skater. But his practice should be over by now, right?"

"Ah, it ended just now, but maybe I'll stay longer with you-"

"Nope!" Sunghoon's manager interrupted him. "You need to rest now. You've been pushing yourself way too much lately."

Sunghoon turned around to glare at him with an expression mixture of disagreeing and pouting. Saejin told him to leave already and ushered the other three to the ice rink, leaving him no choice. Jimin, Jungkook and Eunsook put on the skates that Saejin prepared for them in advance.

While Eunsook was doing that, Saejin scooted closer to her with a rather bashful look with her lips pursed, making the purple haired girl look at her in confusion.

"Eunsook... I wanted to ask you something." She tilted her head, looking up at Eunsook with round eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Well, you see, my dad hosts charity events now and then... and this time, he's looking to offer art pieces. And I kind of... told him about how I liked your paintings and so, um... I was just wondering if you might be interested in putting up your paintings for the next event." Saejin spoke so softly that Eunsook was leaning closer and closer to her side to pick up her words and jumped backwards with wide eyes when she suddenly burst out saying, "Basically, I want your paintings to be known!"

Eunsook chuckled after recovering. Although she was touched by her earnest request, it felt a too heavy responsibility. "It feels nice to hear that, but are you sure? I'm only a student and I'm not sure if my paintings are good enough for auctions or... Are they for auctions?"

"Ah, I'm sorry if I'm burdening you, but it's because I really really liked your paintings that I wanted others to see, too. I can feel the emotions and feelings you put in when I see them, so I was hoping... Ah, yes! It's for auctioning. You'll get paid handsomely!"

Saejin watched her mull over her offer in silence with her head hanging low and felt the need to retract her words, but her determination was deeply rooted. "Even one painting is enough. I really want to see your painting on display." She placed her hand on Eunsook's shoulder and gave her a supportive smile which the other returned with a thanks.

"Then I'll give it a try. It's a huge offer."

"Does everyone know how to skate?" Jimin asked them, earning their attention.

"It's been a long while since I've skated," Jungkook said and offered a hand to Eunsook to help her stand up. "Can you skate?"

"I wouldn't have come if I couldn't," she said and they all moved onto the vast ice, spreading out to their own freedom, stretching their legs.

Having the whole rink to themselves, they freely moved around, flying in all directions with their blades cutting through the clear frozen ground. Smiles lighting up their faces, wind blowing their hair into disarray, arms reaching out to each other as they passed, and laughters erupting every now and then when someone tried to do figure skating movements. A time of relaxing and having fun was something they needed, and in the distance, in the spectators' seat, a blue haired woman was watching them with eyes filled with sorrow.

All of a sudden, blood dripped from skin being torn by the sharp blades onto the crystal ice as Saejin cut her arm with her skates on accident. She yelped and fell to the floor, clutching her arm, making Jimin sharply turn to her from the noise in concern but accidentally twist his ankle in the process and fall himself.

"Saejin!" He called out with his heart hammering and eyesight distorting, and pushed himself to rush towards her who was writhing in pain.

Jungkook took long strides to reach her quickly and Eunsook gasped and rushed as well, but somehow lost her balance when her legs grew numb from fear at the sight. She slipped and fell on her head, hitting the hard ice and lost consciousness.

"Domino effect, huh," Temperance whispered to herself, watching everything unfold horribly.

"Is that your doing?"

She turned to the voice and locked eyes with the man before sighing. "What if it was? What if it wasn't? What are you going to do?"

The man hummed. "Who knows? I can never know what goes on in your head. Even at this sight, what are you even thinking..."

She calmly stood up and ignored his words. "I'm the only one who does what needs to be done."

"If I were you, I would rather be spending my free time beside a beach." He eyed her movements. "Isn't it cold here?"

"I already have my own beach." She gave him a token smile. "You can come by anytime."

At the hospital, Jimin and Sunghoon stayed beside Saejin who had her arm stitched, and Jungkook stayed with Eunsook who had her brain examined for concussion.

"Don't call my parents, I'm okay," Eunsook told him, but he was still worried even if the results came out normal. The fear he felt when she did not wake up was still chilling his bones. His mind was in disarray while she was more worried about Saejin.

Bada watched them in silence. Her forlorn eyes lingered on them a little longer as she dreaded the oncoming misfortunes that could break them. With heaviness weighing on her soul, she had to bear with her choices and leave them to tend to her duties.

┗━━━━━━༻♔༺━━━━━━┛

Dropping by in between my schedules 🥰🫶
(This book is like an itch I need to scratch and finish)