NHL 1

The wind is blowing.

The north wind circles the maze-like buildings and rushes toward the south-facing window with an angry sound. The wind is so strong that the window rattles noisily.

The wind, having climbed up the steel frame, made a gloomy sound like a funeral march all through the dawn. Thanks to this, Joeon spent the entire night tossing and turning. It was a night when the sound of the wind was particularly loud.

This is the fate of a city surrounded by a lake. As fierce as the wind is, the weather is equally fickle; there were times when we welcomed a blizzard today after spending a spring-like yesterday, and times when midsummer sunlight would suddenly visit during the season of vibrant autumn foliage. In the transition of seasons, that change is particularly dramatic.

The weather at this time, standing in the center of winter, is always sensitively on edge. There is no warmth to melt the parched and frozen ground, and the once-blue sky is covered in a murky gray color that resembles the ambiguous attitude of a jaded city dweller.

Passersby on the street each tighten their coat collars and hurry their steps. If someone tries to even start a conversation, they usually just wave a hand and pass by. Their eyes were as dry as their depleted composure.

Watching them from a height of 150m, their movements looked like mere dots. Irregular movements scatter in all directions. As I lifted my head, the city, blurred by whitish breath, came into view at a glance.

The tall buildings situated on a plain without mountains are clustered along the straight-extending Yonge Street. The further away one goes from there, the wider the sky becomes and the more colorful the scenery gets. The neighborhoods—filled with cozy houses that go no higher than two stories at most, each with a yard where green grass sprouts in the front and back—were decorated with flowers in spring, lawn chairs in summer, pumpkin ornaments in autumn, and red-and-green lights in winter.

Neighbors who seem indifferent and distant toward each other share warm greetings and small talk as if nothing were wrong the moment their eyes meet. People who seemed like thorough individualists naturally enter the windows of others’ hearts as if they had been waiting, once those windows are opened just a little.

Joeon also once lived in such a neighborhood overflowing with affection and ease. Even though he is now driven to the center of the hustle and bustle.

From the high-rise condo built on an empty field, one could enjoy a panoramic view with a 10km radius. On clear days, if you stood on the balcony, you could see as far as Lake Ontario.

It is called a lake, but the water surface, so vast that it is hard to fathom where it ends, touches the sky. A young Joeon, who witnessed this for the first time, saw the endlessly unfolding lake and mistook it for the sea.

Today, the horizon is not clearly visible. Perhaps it will happen as the forecast said, that it would snow again. Since whitish clouds have not only filled the space over the lake but have covered even the city center. At this rate, it should snow within an hour. The sun hasn’t even risen yet, but I have already started to worry about the day.

Joeon turned his back on the cold wind that pierced his cheeks. It is already time to leave the house. He finished fully armoring up by putting on a thick padded jacket, wearing snow boots, and even putting on gloves.

After neatly taking off his slippers in front of the entryway and looking back at the unlit interior for a moment, he saw his dark nest because of the dark clouds that were about to scatter snow.

It is silent.

Joeon took his keys and left the cold house behind.

Click. The door locked with the key rattled and shook to verify it, and his footsteps heading toward the elevator echoed quietly in the hallway.

Beep, beep, beep.

As soon as he left the condo, an industrial vehicle cleaning the snow that had piled up on the road overnight passed by. The car moved around the city making a loud warning sound. Only a smooth trail remains where it passed. As people’s messy footprints were imprinted on top of it, the street soon became dirty. The footprints all headed in the same direction. People each going to their workplaces. Soon, the subway station was bustling with people.

‘SOUTH.’

The moment he turned in the direction of the sign at the crossroads, the train rushed toward the platform with its yellow eyes shining.

The air inside is already stuffy from the people it carried while passing through six stations starting from the terminal. Unlike the outside, people of all kinds were mingled together in the train, which had a sense of warmth.

People reading books, people closing their eyes and dozing, people paying attention to the announcements and electronic display boards every time a station passes, and even people greeting neighbors they see often because their commuting hours overlap.

Joeon, who had been blankly staring into space, took off his gloves out of stuffiness and took out his phone. His finger, having opened the mailbox, pressed the message left at the very top.

The work email, written in a casual tone, did not contain content related to work, but rather content about all the department members gathering together immediately after getting off work to build camaraderie and have fun.

The date is today, and the time is five o’clock in the afternoon when work ends.

It is an ambiguous event to call a company dinner. This is because it is not an event for which the company officially provides a budget.

It would be different if it were a case like last week, where the company purchased group tickets and everyone went to watch an ice hockey game together. Even that was good welfare only for someone with a lot of interest in sports, but to Joeon, who is not, it is useless welfare.

Because he is uncoordinated and lacks athletic ability, he didn’t like watching sports, let alone participating in them. The players’ skills did look amazing. To move so freely on the ice, where even standing still was difficult for him. When watching the game, one would even forget the fact that the floor was ice. However, that was the extent of the impression.

He didn’t know the rules well, and it was difficult to follow the speed of the game where the flow changes in the blink of an eye and the fast movement of the puck, and the rough physical fights of the big players felt quite threatening.

With players who were at least well over 6 feet tall wearing large, hard protective gear, the feeling of pressure was immense. It reminded him of the groups of boys who often picked fights with Joeon during his school days.

I almost recalled bad memories for no reason. Joeon lowered his gaze back to his phone. The email stated that those who wish to participate should bring their own equipment or prepare money to rent it on-site. His gaze lingered on the bottom of the email for a long time.

Location : Harbourfront Centre Ice Rink

A public ice rink that can be reached within 10 minutes on foot from the company. In other words, it is an outdoor facility without a ceiling to block snow and rain, so it is difficult to use if the weather is bad.

It started snowing since the morning, so will it really open? Perhaps if I make an excuse that isn’t really an excuse, it might be canceled by the power of nature without me having to miss it.

Joeon decided to hold onto a glimmer of hope.

🏒🥅

“Who is going skating today?”

Around the time the morning meeting was wrapping up, Peter, the team leader, asked. Almost all the team members raised their hands. Joeon read the room and then furtively spread his palm in front of his chest. Peter looked at the only team member who did not raise his hand and asked.

“Daniel, are you not going?”

“Oh, I don’t go anywhere near ice. I once tried skating before and suffered an arm injury. I had a metal pin inserted.”

Daniel tapped his left arm with an expression of regret.

“Ugh….”

The team members made faces as if it were horrific. Daniel laughed.

“It was my first attempt, and because I fell incorrectly and caught myself on the ice, I broke a bone. That incident became a trauma, so I couldn’t wear skates.”

So, you have to have that much of an excuse if you don’t want to go. Joeon folded his palm without making it obvious.

“John. Do you know how to skate?”

At the sudden calling of his name, Joeon lifted his head toward Peter. In fact, he already knows that Joeon cannot skate.

A while ago, when they talked about ice hockey as small talk during their one-on-one meeting, Joeon mentioned the fact that he had never tried skating.

“No. I’ve never ridden it once. I don’t think I’d even be able to stand straight on the ice. Angela did say she would teach me today.”

“That’s good. Angie used to do figure skating back in the day. She’s really good at it. Go learn how to dance coolly.”

“Yeah….”

Joeon tilted the corners of his mouth askew. If he had been talented enough to become a figure skater after learning it for the first time, he wouldn’t be doing such a pedantic job of staring at a computer all day long by now.