NHL 3

“Is this your first time skating?”

“Yes. Is it that obvious?”

A laugh burst out of Dylan, and the tip of his tongue slowly licked his dry lips.

“Judging by the way you waddle like a penguin. Yes.”

His eyes, staring intently at Joeon’s, readily offered a hand.

“Shall I help you?”

Surprised by the unexpected offer, Joeon raised his head. Pupils as blue as a midday lake glittered under the lights. He couldn’t see his hair because he was wearing a hat, but Joeon guessed it would be a light brown, close to blond. He thought it would go well with the man’s eye color.

His nose was straight, and his lips were reddish. He had no interest in foreign dramas or movies, so he didn’t recognize who he was, but he was handsome enough to make one casually assume he might be a model or an actor.

Joeon hesitated with the man’s hand in front of him. Perhaps because of his not-so-outgoing personality, this kind of favor felt a little unfamiliar.

“I’m good at it.”

His confident demeanor urged Joeon to take his hand.

Refusing would seem rude. Besides, if he really was a celebrity, he wanted to take a picture with him to post on Instastar later.

Finding it difficult to refuse the favor, Joeon took Dylan’s hand after a brief hesitation.

“Well, then I would be grateful.”

Dylan glanced behind him and then stood up. Then, while holding Joeon’s hand, he began to slowly move backward. Joeon, who got up in an awkward posture and was being pulled along by him, asked.

“Are you going to skate backward?”

“Yes. Could you watch for people for me? I’ll entrust my back to you, John. Try to walk slowly.”

Dylan said in a nonchalant voice. Joeon’s hand, clasped with his, squeezed tight. As if sensing his tension, Dylan soothed Joeon in a light tone.

“Don’t worry.”

In truth, Dylan was skilled enough to check behind him at his leisure and move adeptly without Joeon’s help. He was like someone with eyes on the back of his head.

“Try to point your toes outward. But instead of lifting your feet quickly like when you walk, push off for a long time. We’re on ice right now.”

Joeon moved his feet as Dylan instructed. Compliments poured out unceasingly.

“Like this?”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re doing great. Very good. You’re following along well.”

His ears turned red with embarrassment from the endless praise. Anyway, the teaching methods of the people in this country are good, but… he never quite got used to it, even after all this time.

“You’re doing really well. You’re like a genius.”

“There’s no way…”

Just like the book title that says compliments can make a whale dance, Dylan’s repeated praise made Joeon feel elated. He felt a bit like a well-behaved dog, but it wasn’t a bad feeling. He started getting his hopes up, as if he had really discovered a hidden talent.

“Very good. Now, shall we stop looking at the ground and lift our heads a little to look forward? Because I might run into someone else.”

When he raised his head, their clasped hands came into view. Whether it was because he was wearing gloves or he was just born that way, his hands were truly large.

His gaze slowly moved upward until it reached Dylan’s face, who was checking behind him quite seriously. The speed gradually increased. As if he had noticed Joeon secretly observing him, Dylan glanced at Joeon and smiled with his eyes.

Momentarily flustered by the smile, his steps got tangled, and he lost his balance. Dylan dug his skate blades hard into the ice and came to a stop.

“Make your back foot horizontal. That will slow you down. That’s the easiest way for a beginner to stop. Your front foot should be pointing forward. That way, you won’t turn off course and…”

“How? W-w-w-wait, ugh…!”

Before his body could put into practice the words he heard, Joeon’s nose first collided with his solid shoulder. In the meantime, Joeon’s skates slid out from between Dylan’s legs. With their hands clasped, his skates slipped between his legs, causing his center of gravity to shift backward. His butt fell onto the cold ice, and Joeon’s face hit an unexpected place.

It was a pose that looked like it belonged in an ice dance. Except for the fact that he had buried his forehead between someone else’s legs. It would have been better to have just passed right through his legs.

Dylan held back a laugh and asked.

“Oh dear, are you okay?”

As he slowly moved back to create some distance, the unfamiliar crotch that had filled his vision moved away. Joeon grumbled in displeasure.

“No. Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

“I’m fine. Are you hurt?”

He was so out of it that he didn’t even have time to feel any pain. Joeon quickly shook his head.

“No, this is nothing…. I was trying to do as you told me, but my body isn’t moving as I want it to. I think it’s because I’m worried about falling.”

“That can happen.”

“I guess I just don’t have a talent for it.”

Dylan, with one skate blade dug into the ice, bent down and offered his hand to Joeon again.

“Make your blade horizontal like my skate and get up. I’ll hold you. Come on.”

Joeon did as he was told without a word. It was partly thanks to Dylan holding him, but in any case, by following his instructions, his skates didn’t move around wildly like a compass that had lost its direction.

Dylan, who was watching, tightened his grip on their clasped arms and pulled Joeon’s stumbling body up with a jerk.

“Ugh, thank you.”

Joeon, who had managed to get up, sighed as he brushed off his bottom. Ice powder fell from his clothes, fluttering like snow.

As Joeon became sullen, Dylan tapped his shoulder as if he had discovered something amazing, drawing his attention.

“John. Look behind you.”

Thinking there might be another person speeding around without any manners, he quickly turned around, and a tower, shining brilliantly in red and green like a Christmas tree, came into view all at once.

“It’s pretty.”

As he muttered nonchalantly, Dylan said with a smile.

“Right? And, look. We’ve already gone around once.”

“What?”

Joeon finally looked around. As Dylan said, the two of them had returned to the spot where they had first started skating.

“It’s thanks to you pulling me along.”

Joeon readily admitted it and expressed his gratitude. He would never have been able to skate alone. However, Dylan humbly shook his head and gave all the credit to Joeon.

“No. John, you’re the one who made the effort.”

“But I just fell.”

“Falling doesn’t make your effort disappear. Failure is all a part of learning. Be proud.”

The words that were about to come out petulantly stopped at the continued encouragement. Joeon was not such a pathetic adult as to deliberately brush off his praise, which was brimming with positive energy.

“Is… that so?”

“Of course. You learned a lot today.”

Joeon’s fist lightly bumped against the one Dylan held out.

“Thank you, teacher.”

Scrape, along with the sound of ice being skated on, a long shadow appeared beside them.

“Looks like someone found a very good teacher.”

There stood Tyler, smiling broadly from between his short mustache and wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh, Tyler. Are you having a good time?”

“Of course. But this person is…”

“A friend? Hello. I’m Dylan.”

Dylan greeted Tyler first.

“My name’s Tyler. I’m Joeon’s coworker.”

Dylan nodded, saying, “Ah, a coworker…” His eyes, which had widened slightly, moved as if in surprise. But he quickly hid his surprise and joked.

“I’m John’s new coach. We’re in the middle of some very rigorous training right now.”

Tyler stared at Dylan for a moment before asking.

“Joeon needs a strict coach. But you look very familiar. You… do you play ice hockey by any chance?”

The smile on Dylan’s lips did not disappear, but he did not give an immediate answer. Then, he tilted his head slightly and affirmed. It left the impression that he didn’t want to reveal the truth.

“I played for a long time.”

As soon as Dylan affirmed it, Tyler’s eyes lit up as if he knew it.

“I knew it! Joeon, do you know who you’re learning to skate from? My goodness! This man is a total pro. He’s not someone who should be teaching you here.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

Dylan looked to be in his mid-20s at most, similar to Joeon. If so, wouldn’t he be someone who was a little famous in a college league or had just debuted as a pro? Joeon, indifferent to sports, guessed roughly. Still, it was true that he was very good at skating.

But what was even more surprising was the fact that he wasn’t an actor. No matter how he looked at it, it was a waste of a face, to the point where he casually thought he should change his career right now.

His round eyes intently observed Dylan’s face. He was handsome, but not a familiar face. Even if he really were a professional athlete, he wouldn’t be able to recognize him anyway. It was natural since he didn’t watch sports.

Besides, since they wear helmets in ice hockey, you wouldn’t even see a player’s real face unless you specifically looked up their name, right? It might be different for a sports fanatic like Tyler, but for Joeon, it was a story from another world.

Joeon looked back and forth between Dylan and Tyler, then answered without much emotion.

“…Is that so?”

“It is!”

“I see.”

Tyler looked at Dylan and pointed at Joeon as if he were pathetic.

“This kid doesn’t know the great sport of hockey.”

“It’s okay. It happens.”