Chapter 3 The Kiss

Lukas didn't say anything, he simply avoided eye contact and sighed deeply. He looked at the place Viktor was resting and Viktor had started moving closer.

"What's up with you? Huh? Lukas!"

He dived right to it with no hesitation and Lukas let out a quiet breath, turning fully now to face him but almost backed down. The resemblance was worse. It wasn't just his face, it was in the way he stood and the way he pouted at him like he expected something... like a child. He kept acting like they were close and that irritated him more than anything else he had done since he joined the team.

"What's your problem?!" Lukas shot back, the wind blowing up his hair. "Why are you talking like that?"

Viktor frowned. "Like what?!"

"Like we're friends!"

The word hit him like the punch he received to the face and there was a brief pause as Viktor studied him for a second, like he was trying to understand what exactly set him off, but Lukas didn't give him the chance to.

"Whatever you think you're doing," Lukas continued, voice steady, "it's not working, get lost."

Viktor didn't interrupt or argue, he just listened.

"Our relationship," Lukas went on. "Starts and ends on the ice. I'm your trainer and you're my trainee, that's it."

The words were clean and he didn't leave space for anything else. Then, almost like respect, he added, "If you'd excuse me." And turned away.

He didn't want to stay there any longer... and he didn't want to keep looking at the face who left him in the dark alone. It was easier to keep things simple.

He had already taken a few steps when-

"I'm sorry."

Lukas stopped just for a second. It wasn't loud or dramatic .If anything, it was so quiet in a way that didn't match Viktor at all.

Lukas didn't turn back or respond... but something in his head reacted anyway before he kept walking.

Training started that same day and Lukas made sure to keep things exactly the way he said they would be. Strictly professional and nothing more.

Viktor didn't complain. If anything, he adapted faster than expected, picking up on instructions without much repetition. He was already good... Lukas could tell that much. There were little things he needed to fix.

But Lukas didn't take it easy on him.

"Your stance is off!" he said at one point, circling him slightly. "You're putting too much weight on your right side!"

Viktor adjusted immediately without a word.

"Better," Lukas muttered, though his tone didn't carry praise.

At another point, Lukas stepped in closer, reaching out to correct his posture himself. His hand pressed briefly against Viktor's shoulder, guiding it back into place, then down along his arm to adjust his grip.

The contact was brief and cold, nothing underneath. Well at least, that's what Lukas told himself and Viktor didn't react much to it, but there was a slight pause in his movement every time Lukas touched him, like he enjoyed it... even when he pretended he didn't.

The sessions continued like that. Day after day. Short instructions, minimal conversation and no unnecessary interaction. Lukas kept his distance as much as he could and Viktor just watched.

****

Weeks passed but nothing changed or at least, that's how it looked from outside Lukas' head.

Lukas stayed consistent and Viktor stopped trying to push conversations, settling into the routine instead.

One evening after training, Lukas finished training and moved his bag on the edge of the ice, his movements practiced and precise. The others had already left, their voices fading down the hallway, leaving him behind while Viktor was still there

Of course he was.

He had been saying something about practice, about adjustments, about improving his timing but Lukas paid no attention to him. He gave short responses when necessary, but nothing that encouraged the conversation to go further.

Eventually, he zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Reiner!" Viktor called out and Lukas ignored him, continuing to walk toward the exit without looking back.

"Lukas!"

And that made him pause but not fully. Just enough to turn his head slightly.

"What?" he asked, impatient and he barely saw it coming. Viktor closed the space in a few quick steps, tiptoed and kissed him!

He leaned in slightly and then it deepened as a grunt slipped out of Lukas' mouth as he pulled Viktor's waist.

Viktor's hands trailed down his back and just like that he ended it, pulling back like nothing happened, like it didn't mean anything, like the most normal thing in the world had just happened.

He didn't wait for a reaction or say a word, he just turned and walked out of the room. Leaving Lukas exactly where he was.

Lukas' mind couldn't catch up immediately and couldn't process it the way it should have. All he could feel was the faint reminder that his lips were once pressed against Viktor's and his arms grabbed him like a rare gem. His fingers tightened slightly around the strap of his bag.

"...what the hell?"

The words came out under his breath, quiet and disbelieving because nothing that had happened in these past weeks made any sense.