CHAPTER THIRTEEN
MULTICOLOURED lights were the first thing kihyun saw when he entered the unfamiliar arena.
it was much bigger than the one he worked in. seats surrounded the rink, it seemed like they went on for miles. loud music and people chattering filled kihyun's ears, making him feel a little uneasy. his eyes searched for changkyun and nayoung, almost desperately, wanting to get away from being swallowed by the crowd of people.
trying to spot navy-blue hair wasn't helping one bit, considering the colourful flashes of light made every person turn purple, then orange, then red, purple again, blue, orange, red—kihyun lowered his gaze to the floor, repeating in his head: don't panic. just breathe. glimpsing up, he saw a gap in the ocean of people and quickly walked past them to one side of the place. he leaned his back against the wall, feeling the coolness of it. reaching for his phone in his jacket pocket, kihyun pulled it out, searching for nayoung's number.
before he could send a message to the girl, he heard someone shout his name.
looking up, he couldn't spot the person who yelled out to him. everyone was blurry. when a hand tapped his shoulder, he turned his head to the left.
"kihyun," nayoung's smile was bright, but then it wasn't. "are you okay?"
kihyun noticed changkyun standing next to her. the boy had his head tilted a tiny bit, eyebrows slanted to the sides. he looked worried.
half-lying, he said, "i'm good."
"you sure?" the girl leaned closer, like she was expecting him to actually blurt his feelings to her.
talking about feelings was never easy for kihyun, so, he just forced an obviously fake smile and nodded, hoping she'd leave it and change the subject. which, thankfully, she inadvertently did. nayoung gasped, clicking her fingers together before hurriedly saying she only had thirty minutes to do the finishing touches to her makeup, telling changkyun and kihyun to find seats, whilst she rushed off.
changkyun's hand wrapped around kihyun's wrist. the boy explained he had chairs reserved for them.
eventually, they located their seats and sat down- it took ten minutes, maximum, just because kihyun really couldn't take directions well. the two were still holding hands, which normally, kihyun would had been totally fine with, but all he could focus on was how his hands started to sweat.
hesitantly, kihyun released his hold on the boy's hand, moving them to his own lap and wiped them on his jeans.
"kihyun?"
all the other could do was let out a restrained yeah in response.
changkyun asked, "why did you move your hand away?" voice stirred with confused, almost sounding hurt.
"it's... clammy," kihyun mumbled.
he felt embarrassed, wishing the earth would just consume him already.
"i didn't notice," changkyun shrugged and held onto kihyun's hand again. he then added, "and that stuff doesn't bother me, anyways."
okay, maybe, the earth could hold off from consuming kihyun whole. just for a little while longer. because changkyun was being so gentle and caring towards him, it made his entire body calm down and thoughts turn less loud.
suddenly, nayoung's name was announced, and a song way too familiar to kihyun and changkyun started flowing out of the speakers immediately. both of them turned their gaze in the direction of the rink. nayoung started her performance off with a few hip-hop moves before skating across the ice, doing a three-sixty jump into the air. once she landed, she did a couple more pirouettes. kihyun chanted the girl's name, changkyun clapped his hands along with the beat of the music.
when the music stopped, kihyun broke out into loud cheers. both him and changkyun clapped for the girl.
it was about an hour later, once everyone finished skating, and the two finally made their way back to the girl and her two other friends that were there. unfortunately, nayoung didn't win, only coming fifth place. but changkyun was so proud of her, he wouldn't stop hugging her, mumbling how she was amazing.
nayoung would roll her eyes, reply with how she wasn't that great, which only earned her whines and a pout from changkyun.
"you deserve first place," the boy would mutter, adding, "the scoring is rigged."
in the end, nayoung had to drag changkyun out of the arena because a skating judge happened to walk past at the exact moment he said those words, and the group didn't receive the kindest of looks from the older person. now, standing outside, the three girls were absorbed in their own conversation, while the other two stood together.
changkyun leaned into kihyun's side, breathing out a puff of air. "we were in the same hospital."
kihyun's lips parted.
"nayoung's friend." oh, right, now it made sense. he then continued, "her girlfriend used to bring hot chocolate to my room, even though nayoung wanted me to eat healthy."
he laughed, leaning away from kihyun after that. the heat between them evaporated almost instantly.
"i'm glad things turned out alright for those two," he looked away. "i wish it could've been the same for me."
kihyun thought he was talking about the blindness, but there was something else in his words, his eyes, that suggested otherwise. maybe, changkyun was with someone, and they left him because of his disability. kihyun couldn't understand why on earth someone could even do that to a person as brilliant as changkyun. there were horrible people in the world, he knew it; however, he was going to make sure the other would only feel loved when he was around him.
"one day," kihyun blurted.
changkyun furrowed his brows, tilting his head towards kihyun.
"things will be alright for you."
on impulse, the boy leaned back into kihyun's side. instinctively, the latter put an arm around changkyun's shoulders, holding him closer.
"i think they will be," was all that changkyun said, closing his eyes.
kihyun believed him.
—
a/n: i kno that sounds rly angsty but i promise it's NOT??2?
