Seducing The Ice Queen

In an about turn of the somber atmosphere, the group of boys and one lone woman were soon immersed in playing games and had turned boisterous and loud, true to their competitive forms.. In the beginning, K, Alice and Gyeom were the only players with Alice and Gyeom teaming up in their bid to defeat Adam who was somehow the king of monopoly with Apollo and I.M chiming in with their comments and suggestions for both sides. Felix, who was not allowed to talk but also was usually the quiet one simply kept on observing the people around him.

At first, he had his own thoughts about Alice Faye but seeing her now, the way she had seamlessly merged with them, made him recognize that Alice Faye was not what he had imagined. And somehow, she seemed to be a perfect fit for K. For any of them to be in a relationship and successfully stay connected with the band, they would need a spouse who would not complicate things and be able to gel with them all. Someone who was too clingy or someone who had too much time on hand would not be suitable. Observing Alice it seemed that it was K who would have to cling to the busy woman. 

Soon, the monopoly game was at an end with I.M and Apollo having drifted closer and limped forward to play the next game. UNO. Though Felix was left out, he felt happier as he observed them tease and frown at the winning and losing hands. His gaze strayed to I.M who was sitting next to Alice and a wishful frown creased his forehead. The one good thing to come out of this blasted accident was that K could now openly be in a relationship. If only he could be that lucky. Felix snorted at his desirous thoughts. Even if K could not enter a relationship now, he could have done so in the future. But for him, the road was too long. And the destination next to impossible. His bitter eyes met K's over everyone's head and they each recognized what the other had to say. K was proud of his woman while Felix's gaze taunted him for being a coward and not grabbing the woman who was within his reach before Felix looked back to the group and specifically Alice and I.M

Alice and I.M who were both arguing about a rule in the game, felt the gaze directed their way and turned their heads in unison towards Felix, who had already turned away. Both the people stared for a minute before turning back the game as Felix had already turned away his head.. After UNO, everyone munched on snacks and soon Felix was also playing the game of 'The falling monkeys." where everyone tried to sabotage the other person and made so much noise that they could shake the ground. But in the end Felix won without making a sound much to the consternation of everyone else. This ensued into a discussion about how Felix could focus in any noisy environment and from then they drifted to other games.

Many hours later, Alice finally bid goodbye to everyone with a smile on her face. Once again, she wondered how these boys were so successful and yet so humble. They were fiercely competitive in all the games and yet they lost gracefully. They gloated when they won and then fought for penalties when they lost. Even Alice had been made to do the penalty of going round like an elephant with one arm extended and the other holding her nose. This feeling of having friends and innocence was new and unique to Alice. 

As they drove towards the airport, K could not help throwing glances at the radiant person who sat beside him. He had always known that Alice could easily mix up with all of them but today had shown him just how well she gelled with everyone. Everyone had thoroughly and genuinely enjoyed themselves.

When she noticed him throwing another look at her, Alice could not help herself as she asked," Why do you keep looking at me? Do I have horns on my head?"

"More like wings sweetheart."

At the quick reply, Alice felt her mouth drop open and she stared at him," You, really are something, Adam! Stop staring at me and stop trying to flirt with me! You sweet talker."

But Adam let that pass and this time commented, " You always surprise me. When we were going there, your mood was as if I was taking you to the gallows but then you mixed up so well and really had a lot of fun. I was prepared to make an excuse and whisk you away after a while but instead the time flew by."

Alice smiled at this and agreed," Yes. You are all easy to talk to and get along. I must say, it is no wonder that all of you have done so well. Your genuineness, gentleness and innocence is very refreshing."

"Ha! Gentleness. Next time when there is a choreography, I will show you who is gently. I.M is the demon king! And when one of us makes a mistake in pitch, you can see Felix staring at us as if he would like to cut us up and eat us."

"Hey! Of course that is to be expected. You do know that I am known as the Ice Queen!"

"And you are proud of it."

"Of course I am."

Alice looked like a little girl who was proud of herself and had been praised. This time, Adam was unable to stop himself. Slowing the car down, he brought it to a stop at the side.

When Alice looked at him in question, he sighed and quickly held her hand.

"Alice, I am honored that you have treated me as your friend. But I.. I want you to know something. I have never hidden the fact that I am attracted to you. But I have not dared to pursue you because I did not wish to hide any relationship. But this accident had opened the doors for the possibility of me being able to date you openly."

At this moment, Alice felt an uncertain feeling in her heart. She knew that he was going to confess. She wanted to listen to it and accept it. But she was also scared of listening to it. She wanted to run away. She raised her hand to his mouth to stop him but he caught her wrist and placed a scorching kiss on her palm. "Alice. I am not asking for anything in return. I just want you to know that I like you. More than anyone in this world. I want you to know that I am your person from the time we met. Even though I wish that you would agree to be my person, I know that such feelings cannot be forced. But any feeling, if hidden for too long turns toxic and I don't want that for myself. The next time we meet, you will have two options. If you think you are willing to give us a chance, then we will meet as more than friends. If you feel that we can not be anything more than friends, then I will not bring up this matter again. But Alice, please think with an open heart. I don't want an answer now."

And to stop her from saying anything more, Adam placed his lips gently against hers. The kiss that started out gently, soon took a different turn as the two people clung to each other. It was a long while later, that the two gently separated and Adam drove to the airport without a word.

As he helped Alice grab her bags from the trunk and the way she avoided looking at him, he knew that he had pushed her into a corner. But he knew that he could not wait anymore. He wanted to announce to the world that she was his and he was hers but could not do so without her permission. And this time when they were separating again, he did not want to torture himself like these past few months.

As Alice bid goodbye, Adam grabbed her hand, uncaring of the people around him and made her look up at him before hugging her. Alice closed her eyes and hugged him back not letting herself think much as she tried to live in this moment. But the hug was too short lived and K had already stepped back, by the time Alice could gather herself, Adam had already walked away.

Standing alone, Alice watched his receding back and suddenly wanted to call him back. This feeling made her scared and she stopped herself but the feeling of loss was not stopped.. Her aching heart only stopped when Adam paused and turned back to look at her and wave goodbye.