*Kallang Ice World wasn't just an ice rink.

It was a small world of its own.

Figure skaters and hockey players shared the same sheet of ice, somehow becoming one big, chaotic family. Everyone knew everyone. News travelled faster than people skated, inside jokes lasted for months, and nobody could get away with anything without someone else finding out.

Your closest friends were usually easy to spot.

Shermaine—the one who had introduced you to Nathan—was one of the people you spent the most time with. Alyssa, quiet and introverted, was never the loudest person in the group but was always there. Stephanie was usually caught somewhere in the middle of the conversations, while Anika, the group's Indian ray of sunshine, somehow managed to keep everyone together whenever plans were made. Then there was Pablo, the loud, extroverted football player who somehow became part of an ice rink friend group despite barely knowing how to skate.

Around the rink were even more familiar faces. Uncle Bernard looked after everyone like the rink's unofficial father. Coach Kaylee kept your figure skating in line, while Wei Hong occasionally returned from army to visit. The hockey boys—Nathan, Jaden, Jarrett, Adrian, and Sebastian—were almost always together, and Alyssara, with her Thai, Chinese, and English heritage, was one of the kindest people you'd ever met.

Out of everyone, though...

Nathan was different.

Originally from Java, Indonesia, he moved to Singapore to attend an international school. His family was well-off, but he never carried himself like someone who wanted attention. He was simply polite—a gentleman without trying to be one.

Whenever you stopped at the boards during training, he'd somehow end up beside you. At the end of sessions, before you even reached your bag, he'd already be handing you your skate guards or passing over your belongings as if it were second nature. You never asked him to.

He just did.

Eventually, everyone else noticed too.

"There goes your work husband."

"Your rink husband is here."

Nathan would immediately insist he was straight, which somehow only encouraged everyone to tease him even more. You'd roll your eyes, tell everyone to stop being ridiculous, and the conversation would move on—until the next session, when he'd be standing beside you again without either of you thinking twice.

Maybe he was just being a gentleman.

Maybe your friends were reading too much into it.

Or maybe...

Kallang Ice World had a way of seeing stories before the people living them ever did.*