as it turns out, controlling a pair of ice skates is a lot harder than controlling a car.
“on your left, on your left —” a streak of blonde flies past an unsuspecting couple, accompanied by a quick MY BAD! he has half a mind to turn back around to check on them, but there are bigger problems ahead. “whoa, whoa, WHOA!”
hansol catches himself on the rails, his breath knocked right out with a puff of air. and of course, all of this happens right beside the cutest girl he’s seen today.
his demeanor switches with a blink of an eye. hansol spins himself around and leans back against the rails, chill. “hey, sweetheart.” he breaks into his most charming grin, totally ignoring the fact that he almost singlehandedly produced the second season of crash landing on you. “you come here often?”
jaesung can't help but laugh to himself as he is trying the laces on his skates. he can remember during their time at the beach together that he suggested they go icy skating once it was colder and it all seemed to come together. things have changed a bit but he hopes he gets to hang out with noel more like this. sure they'll both be busy but he's crossing his fingers.
"ready to go out on the ice?" he gives a soft smile towards the taller male. "be prepared to catch me if i fall. it's been way too long since i've gotten to ice skate. too used to the beach back home." he laughs a bit before steadying himself to stand on the skates. he stumbles a bit but straightens up. he can't fall here. well he doesn't want to fall at all but he say what will happen once trying to skate around the rink.
yuji tilts her head to the side, watching ria finish tying the laces on her skates with a hum. she stands on her own pair, hand gripping the handrail carefully as she gets her footing in order. she slides over carefully, extending a hand out for the other girl to grab.
"here," she offers quietly, a small smile on her face. getting up and on the ice always feels a little daunting. yuji herself hasn't been in some time, so it felt a bit like a chore to finally get her so called ice feet in gear.
"you've tried it before at least once, right?" yuji asks, glancing over at the ice. it's not going to be an awful experience even if it is ria's first time, but she'd like to know what she's working with, at least. "once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad."
the christmas concert is all excitement and adrenaline and a dash of organized chaos. once it is all over he feels free.
and maybe a little stupid. optimistic, if you want to be nice about it. it's an almost-manic energy that overcomes him and compels him to think wandering around lotte world on his own after the performances would be fun.
to his credit, he has done worse thanks to the lingering adrenaline from being on stage, but it still turns out to be a bad decision.
eventually the joy fades and he is alone. he has nearly a week off of training now for the holidays and he is alone. he wasn't really thinking about the fact that the last two times he was here, it was with jinyoung. he was thinking about how he used to work here, and it would be fun to enjoy the winter festivities as someone in a far better place, allegedly.
he knows that objectively, he is still in a better place than he was this time two years ago. he is thankful, even now. he just isn't feeling the best. everywhere he looks is a memory with jinyoung – something simple he was fascinated by the first time joomi took him here, or some kind of backdrop to their slightly dysfunctional love story.
then there are the families. children with face paint and overpriced amusement park food, hand-in-hand with their loving parents with camera rolls full of pictures of them giggling on the carousel joomi used to run or screeching on the swing tree. it stopped bothering him for a while, when he had pleasant memories and a tentative promise of someone to accompany him in this theme park built for dates and family outings.
now it is once again a reminder that in a few days, these families will exchange gifts and probably have a cute little tree in their homes that they will gleefully wake up to on christmas morning. joomi has nearly a week off of training and he does not really know what he's going to do other than be alone.
he has a few lingering friends who might also have nothing better to do. in the past, he might've done something with ren and dohyun, but dohyun is gone. last year he went to the christmas market with yejun, but he's gone. he would've loved to enjoy time away from training with jinyoung and have his first good christmas, but he's gone. this year comes with a unique emptiness joomi has never felt before – emptiness like holes, or missing pieces. emptiness where something once was.
it's not like regrets anything. he wouldn't take loving any of them back. he is now of the mind that it's better to love and lose than never love at all, but it is a mentality that opens you up for more pain.
it's okay. he is strong, and he has survived worse. he will survive this too. maybe he'll have better luck next christmas, and maybe on his 24th birthday he will have more to celebrate than grieve. it's okay that it's not this year. it's okay.
this year, he'll just sit on a bench in the middle of lotte world on a saturday night and dissociate.
the most joyful season of the year has come, wannabes!
as it goes during this festive season, the holiday market is beginning to boom, behind lotte world mall in jamsil. with beautiful festive displays and many christmas-themed shows, and a variety of decorated locations perfect for photos with the family! jam packed with an array of booths that can easily capture your attention with all the goodies that they’re selling. street foods, kpop merchandise, make-up, jewelry, everything’s on the list! better yet, there’s a special discount on all the price tags! isn’t it the best time to cash-in on a few impulsive purchases?
there’s even a festive garden, a working carousel, and a wish wall for you to place your wishes onto. write them down and stick them on, maybe they’ll come true the following year!
not only that, there’s a free outdoor ice skating rink for anyone to try! never tried ice skating before? don’t fret, there’s an instructor there more than willing to help you out! don’t have any skating shoes? easy, they can lend you a pair as long as it isn’t too crowded! during the evening weekends, you might even catch a special show of trained figure skaters: christmas on ice!
there’s also the biggest surprise of all: the axis labels charity christmas concert! being held at lotte world, you might as well catch a glimpse of the hardworking future idols while enjoying the indoor theme park (it’s included in the holiday pass after all)! in fact, if you’re lucky, you might win a free ticket to the concert if you spend enough in the holiday market, the department stores—or if you win a lottery!
[OOC]
this event is for all muses and will run until january 15 at 11:59pm EST. any threads or solos posted after the deadline will not count toward points. please send in your points submission before this deadline.
please use the hashtag #BE:XMASONICE2024 for all posts relating to this event.
FOR +5 PERFORMANCE SKILLS OR ANCILLARY POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH please write a 4-post thread or 300+ words solo attending the market, trying out the outdoor ice rink, watching the christmas concert, or any of the christmas activity above. this can be claimed up to two times.
FOR +5 PERFORMANCE SKILLS OR ANCILLARY POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH please write a 200+ words headcanon post or solo about your muse’s wishes for next year in any context. this can only be claimed once.
when you’ve completed all options that you’d like to participate in, please sent the following form to our points submission blog:
SUBMISSION TITLE: MUSE NAME - CHRISTMAS ON ICE 2024
activity: +5 points to distribute to any skills [ link to thread ]
activity: +5 points to distribute to any skills [ link to thread ]
year-end wish: +5 points to distribute to any skills [ link to solo ]
"do you want to go to the holiday market with me?"
in retrospect, yinuo realizes she should have been more clear with her intentions. a date, like a romantic, hand holding, hopefully kissing, maybe take you home with me at the end of the night date. that's what she meant to ask of yuji, hoping to finally clear the air of the is she? isn't she? question always lingering in the air when yinuo finds herself charmed by the company of another woman. are we friends? are we only ever going to be friends? she doesn't know, and she's not sure what yuji believes their relationship is either, but at this point how does she ask? it's not like yinuo is usually very shy when it comes to her intentions. she was just off her game this time, the presence of a beautiful woman distracting her from nailing down the important details. but maybe she can nail me later? yinuo is hopeless.
ah, in any case, yinuo will enjoy the time spent with the other woman. yuji is gorgeous, of course, but she's endlessly talented, funny in her own way, and possesses this quiet inner strength that absolutely mesmerizes yinuo whenever she catches a rare glimpse of it. "my hand's cold, can you hold it for me?" she grins at her own lame line as she offers her hand to the other woman. alas, this still means nothing in the is yuji into me or into me? conundrum even if their fingers are locked together, braving the cold just for a little skin to skin contact. straight girls do this all the time, as yinuo is well aware.
"do you know how to skate?" she asks suddenly, already imagining the perfect princess charming moments on the ice; saving a damsel in distress from slipping and falling (yinuo is more likely to be the damsel in distress, alas). "my hometown is by the coastline so, like, it'd get cold and all but it didn't snow much, and i don't think the ocean is capable of freezing over. at least not anymore, global warming and all."
she had a great call with her mother the other day. it's too easy to feel melancholic during the holidays away from family. even if things with yuji are a little ambiguous, she's happy for the distraction and to get out and do something instead of sitting alone at home.
her schedule already jam-packed as it is, the amount of time she has to scrounge through the christmas discounts is already dwindling. during the holidays, sua would make this a sort of sport-- now, she has to shove everything she wants to look at in one day or a matter of hours.
and now? she can't find her wallet.
"i swear it was in here, i'm so sorry," sua's words leave her in a rush, the expecting eyes of the cashier waiting for her to pay. sua's digging aggressively through her bag after patting down her whole body for her wallet; her panic is obvious and her stress is apparent from the way it's etched over her face. where the fuck is it? "i'm so sorry, please, one second--" it was in here. sua knows it was-- she swears it was.
the term shopping until you dropped was literally made for jueun because when she came out on a shopping spree, she made sure to spend all day getting what she wanted. that's why the end of the year was her favorite because there were so many sales that caught her eye.
she found herself at lotte mall again during this time of the year. however, she needed a break from all the shopping she's already done. her arms felt like they were about to fall off. taking a seat at one of the benches, she hadn't realized who she sat next to until the giant mascot head caught her attention as it sat between her and the stranger.
jueun could only assume the other girl was on a break or something, but she looked terribly exhausted. she could only imagine how tiring it was to work in the mall at this time of the year. "we all need a break, don't we?" she offered before handing the stranger an unopened water bottle she had on her. "here. you look like you need it more than me."
