NHL 2

Realizing there was no way out of it, Joeon hesitated before turning off his computer. He put on an awkward smile to hide his failed plan.

“Sure, why not.”

Joeon moved slowly, putting his laptop in his locker and taking out his bag. He didn’t forget the hat and gloves he had brought in the morning. He thought everyone would get tired of waiting and leave first, but they were still standing at the door waiting for him, so he had no choice but to hurry his movements.

“Tyler, are those your skates?”

At Jamie’s voice, who was standing in front of the elevator, everyone’s gaze shifted to Tyler at once. Tyler, who said he had played ice hockey in school, tapped a shopping bag that one would use for groceries. Inside was a pair of impressively thick skates.

“That’s right. They’re my babies.”

“Are those for ice hockey?”

“Yep. I was wearing these when we won the championship trophy.”

“Really?”

Tyler went on about winning the ice hockey championship in his school days like it was a heroic tale.

“I was even the captain. Want to see a picture?”

While riding the elevator down to the lobby, he rummaged through his phone and proudly showed a picture to the others. He, looking a decade younger than he did now, was drinking champagne from a trophy. The locker room was visible in the background.

“That’s amazing. Why’d you quit?”

When an employee who didn’t know Tyler’s history asked, Tyler answered nonchalantly.

“An injury. I broke my leg and had to have surgery. It took over a year just to recover.”

“Oh, dear.”

To still think of skating even after such a major surgery. Joeon shook his head with a stiff face. It was truly a dangerous sport, no question about it.

The department members walked through the street, which was covered in a soft layer of snow as the snowplow had not yet reached it, and finally came face to face with the ice rink.

It boasted a beautiful night view and an open vista, with the over 550-meter-tall CN Tower at its back and the nearly 19,000-square-kilometer lake before it.

During the day, the blue sky and the golden waves of the lake unfolded, and after the sun set, the brilliantly sparkling CN Tower and the runway lights of the Billy Bishop Airport on Centre Island were spread out. The blinking lights of the airplanes lining up for takeoff and landing for night flights were not as flashy as the CN Tower, but they too felt like a part of the city’s nightscape. Despite his initial reluctance, it wasn’t bad now that he was here.

“The skate rental is this way.”

Following Angela’s guidance, the group turned and flocked in that direction. The place where you could rent skates was on the first floor of a building attached to the side of the ice rink. The unadorned, rough interior consisted only of benches, coin lockers, an ATM, and the rental desk.

Behind the wide-open desk, shelves for storing skates were visible, packed to the brim by size. While two employees moved busily, the number of customers wanting to rent skates kept increasing, forming a long line in front of the desk.

People like Angela and Tyler, who brought their own skates, sat on the benches while the others rented skates, changed into their skates in advance, and stored their belongings in coin lockers.

“Hey, Joeon. Want to share a coin locker with me?”

As he sat on a bench with the skates he had just rented, Ivanna, from across the way, asked. She was an immigrant from Ukraine and a young employee of a similar age to Joeon.

“Sure.”

Joeon and Ivanna put their things in a locker and locked it with two coins. Joeon held the key and looked at Ivanna. There were two people, but only one key. Ivanna shrugged as if it were a bother and handed the key to Joeon.

“You hold on to it.”

“Okay.”

As he was putting the key in his pocket, Joeon suddenly asked.

“Ivanna, are you good at skating?”

“So-so.”

Judging by her confident answer, she didn’t seem to be a beginner like Joeon who was trying it for the first time.

“Are you going to skate for long?”

This was what Joeon was actually curious about. He wasn’t interested in other people’s skills. He was just planning to skate for about 30 minutes and then discreetly head home. Otherwise, he would surely get swept up by people suggesting a beer and be dragged to a pub.

“Of course. This is my first skate of the year, I have to enjoy it! What about you?”

Just as he thought. Joeon put on that awkward smile again.

“I was planning to do the same.”

The two of them followed the group out of the locker room. A pure white plain was right before their eyes. The ice, reflecting white under the lights, stretched out wide, and beyond it, the lake that held the pitch-black night was visible. Just then, a plane was lowering its altitude, in the middle of landing. A refreshing wind blew in.

“This is nice, huh? But there are quite a few people. Joeon, you come on too!”

Ivanna, who had been waddling in her skates, took her first cautious step onto the ice and then soon began to slowly pick up speed and move away.

His superiors, Tyler and Angela, were already inside the rink, gliding across the ice. They were so fast they seemed like beings from a completely different world than Joeon. Like Tinker Bell from a winter kingdom.

“Anyone here for the first time?”

Angela, who had circled the rink and returned to the entrance with the stairs, asked as she looked at the people standing awkwardly while holding onto the railing.

All of them raised their hands. It was only natural, as those who knew how to skate were already on the ice, showing off their skills and warming up. Only the small fry who couldn’t even walk were left, holding the railing and taking baby steps one by one.

“Oh dear. There are too many of you.”

Angela took one person at a time and started teaching them how to walk slowly. People who were not even part of their group also gathered around Angela and eavesdropped on her impromptu lesson. In the meantime, the motivated ones tried to walk along the railing, while the unmotivated Joeon… stood there blankly, admiring the scenery.

The air was clear since the snowstorm had completely passed. He took a deep breath of the winter air, which even felt refreshing, and his lungs felt invigorated. The movement of the plane flying far away, the stars in the night sky that must be twinkling behind the clouds, and the lively expressions of the people skating below were all nice to see.

‘Since I’m here, I might as well give it a try.’

Joeon took a step very carefully. It was difficult to balance with just the strength of his legs, but moving while holding onto the railing was manageable. After a few steps, he started to get a little ambitious and tried to slowly pick up speed.

Stopping was difficult, but he managed to walk forward okay. Occasionally, someone would whiz past him, and he would flinch, afraid of getting caught up in their path, but at times like that, he could just grab the railing and stop.

“Whoa, you’re pretty good for a first-timer.”

Tyler, who was passing by, winked and disappeared. His posture and speed were top-notch. Could he become like that with about ten years of practice? A desire to do well suddenly reared its head.

Joeon slowly loosened his grip on the railing he had been holding onto like a treasure. His form was a bit clumsy, but he was moving forward. On his first attempt, he made it halfway around by himself.

He hid the smile spreading across his lips under his scarf and picked up speed. He now had enough composure to skate without flapping his arms like a penguin. He tried adjusting his hat and zipping up his coat. As he was leisurely looking ahead and toddling along, a large man who was adjusting his hat a short distance away made eye contact and gave a brief smiling nod.

A dark winter mask covered half of his face, but the smiling greeting he offered with his eyes was clear, so Joeon also unconsciously ducked his head in greeting. Then he immediately realized. That was a very Korean-style greeting just now.

The blue eyes that took in his flushing, flustered face curved gently like crescent moons. As he pulled up his scarf to hide his awkward expression, the man tilted his head. Then, as if he had spotted something over Joeon’s shoulder, he suddenly skated toward Joeon at a high speed. He snatched Joeon’s hand, which had been fumbling in the air, and pulled him toward himself.

Ah! In an instant, Joeon was spun half a turn on the ice without realizing it, then dragged backward for 10 meters by the man before coming to a stop.

Scrape, the skate blades cut into the ice at a sharp angle. An artificial blizzard swirled around them. The man embraced and supported Joeon’s body, which had momentarily lost its balance and didn’t know what to do. The distance was excessively close.

“Hey, excuse me, what is this all of a sudden…”

Just as Joeon was about to push the other person away, a low voice came from above his head.

“Oh, you almost got hurt. Are you okay?”

As he tried to understand the situation, thump, the sound of someone falling loudly came from behind him. Along with it were the screams of startled people.

In the spot where Joeon had been standing just a moment ago, a man was sprawled out flat on his back. It was the person who had been recklessly speeding around without slowing down from earlier.

If the man in front of him hadn’t snatched Joeon and helped him get out of the way, Joeon might have collided with that speed demon and been seriously injured.

“Idiot.”

Startled by the icy voice he heard from above his head, Joeon jerked his head up. Fortunately, he was not looking at Joeon. At the end of his cold gaze was the man who was bleeding from his nose, having apparently hit something when he fell.

“Gasp, blood…”

Once he grasped the situation, a sense of relief and apology washed over him simultaneously. Right now, Joeon should be grateful to him. Startled, Joeon tried to pull his hand away from the man’s grasp and staggered.

“Whoa, be careful.”

The man, who was standing steadily even on the slippery ice, gently held onto Joeon. Scratching his flushed cheek with a gloved finger, Joeon bowed his head low.

“Thank you. You saved my life.”

“Don’t mention it.”

He placed a hand on Joeon’s shoulder and naturally guided him to the side.

“Have a seat here for a moment. Are you hurt anywhere?”

As Joeon sat down on the steps, using the man’s forearm as a railing, the man knelt on one knee in front of him, meeting his eye level.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I’m sorry for grabbing you so suddenly. A child fell behind you, and that man came rushing toward you to avoid the child, so I made a move. To be honest, I’d been keeping an eye on him because he was skating dangerously from the start.”

“I see. I’m okay. Thanks to you, I wasn’t hurt.”

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere? If not, that’s a relief.”

The man looked Joeon up and down, checking one more time. Having confirmed that there was nothing wrong, he erased his worried expression, pulled down the mask that had been covering his face, and said brightly. He was incredibly handsome.

“My name is Dylan.”

Joeon also pulled down the scarf that had been covering his face and introduced himself.

“I’m John.”

John…. Dylan’s gaze, as he murmured the name as if to himself, lingered on Joeon’s clear, bright face.