NHL 72

A voice came from the end of the dark hallway. It was the room I had tidied up for Joeon. A small shadow stood in the doorway of the room, which still had nothing but a single bed left for guests.

“I must have fallen asleep because I was tired from moving the boxes and bags.”

“…Joeon.”

I hurried over and stood in front of Joeon. I reached out an arm to touch him, but I pulled my hand back and greeted him instead.

“Did I wake you? I’m sorry.”

“No. You don’t need to be sorry. It’s not that late, anyway.”

“I didn’t know you were… truly here.”

“You were the one who told me to come. Wasn’t the front door unlocked when you came in?”

Only then did I remember that the front door was locked when I returned. If Joeon hadn’t taken the key with him, there would have been no way for him to lock the door, so it should have been unlocked when I came back. The fact that it wasn’t meant that Joeon had locked it from the inside.

“Ah….”

Looking awkward, Joeon scratched his forehead and hesitated.

“Look, Dylan. You were right. I don’t think I had any room to breathe. I’ve had… so much stress lately. I’m truly sorry.”

A soft voice, a gentle tone—it was the Joeon I knew.

“It’s alright. That happens. I turn into a different person when I’m stressed, too. Haven’t you seen my games? I’m a complete split personality.”

Joeon laughed at my lame joke.

“If you’re okay with it, Dylan, let’s sign a contract tomorrow morning.”

“A contract?”

All sorts of thoughts raced through my head. I couldn’t understand why a contract would be necessary between the two of us.

Is it a contract to make sure we don’t cross the line while living as roommates?

“A lease agreement. Since I’m renting the room.”

“There’s no need for that. Joeon, I have no intention of taking rent from you.”

“I can’t do that.”

“I told you, I don’t want to.”

“Why? Maya is like that, and you are, too…. I feel more at ease if I do it that way.”

“Did Maya tell you not to pay rent, too?”

At my question, Joeon nodded. Because Maya and Tony had adamantly refused when he tried to give them money, he had felt quite uncomfortable during the week he stayed there. But now, even I was acting the same way.

“See? I told you there are many people who care about you.”

“…Ah.”

Realizing what I meant, Joeon lowered his head, looking embarrassed. It felt like he had been struck on the head. Why was he trying to ignore the obvious fact that all their actions stemmed from a desire to look after him?

“Then… when I find a job again, I’ll pay you the two months’ worth of back rent at once. Right now… I’m in a difficult spot for various reasons….”

He insisted on being my roommate even while admitting he didn’t have any money to spare right now.

“Do as you please. I’m not going to take it anyway.”

“What? What did you just say?”

Mumbling the last part so it couldn’t be heard, I quickly changed the subject.

“Nothing. By the way, may I ask what happened in Calgary?”

Joeon hesitated, debating whether to speak, but then slowly opened his mouth.

“I was an outsider… so I didn’t fit in well. They didn’t teach me how to do the work properly, and when I asked for tasks, they would ignore me without a reply and often let the deadlines pass on purpose. My supervisor was nice enough to me, but that alone wasn’t enough to survive at the company.”

“Did those bumpkins discriminate against you because you were from Ontario?”

Joeon couldn’t help but laugh at my uncharacteristically rough language.

“Yes. Among those bumpkins, there was one in particular who disliked me. Actually, they were all talking about hockey, so I tried to act like I knew a bit….”

I tensed up at the bad feeling.

“I think it started after I said I liked the Polar Bears.”

For some reason, it felt like all of this was my fault.

“No, did you say that because you said the Polar Bears would win this year?”

I burst into laughter. Joeon had said it lightly, but surely that wasn’t the whole story. It was obvious he had suffered far worse discrimination and harassment than just being an outsider. I couldn’t even begin to fathom how deep the wounds Joeon must have received in the process were.

I was overcome with the urge to cup Joeon’s cheeks right now and press my lips against his. If only that could make Joeon turn away from his emotional scars, I would gladly give my all to comfort and soothe him.

However, I couldn’t approach him right now, so I just hid my empty hand behind my back and fidgeted.

“Oh, right. It’s gotten quite late. I’m sorry for keeping you up when you must be tired. If it’s okay with you, Dylan, let’s talk again tomorrow.”

“Sure, Joeon. Thank you for telling me today.”

“Don’t mention it. Good night.”

“You too.”

Having finished our goodnight wishes by exchanging glances instead of kisses, we each went to our rooms and closed the doors.

🏒🥅

Tick-tock—it was a long silence, as if the nonexistent second hand was making a sound of its own. The two of us, sitting far apart on the long sectional sofa, hadn’t spoken for five minutes already.

Unable to stand Joeon staring quietly at the coffee table any longer, I spoke first.

“I didn’t know the rental market was that expensive.”

I was still frozen from hearing Joeon’s announcement a moment ago that he had done research on current rent prices. Of course, what surprised me wasn’t the price being higher than expected. I hadn’t known the market rates anyway.

The real estate I owned was managed by an agency that took a commission, so all I had to do was check that the statements and the money were coming in correctly without any delays. In truth, I didn’t even do that very diligently.

If there was anything surprising about the market rate Joeon mentioned, it was the question of where a person in such a desperate situation could even pull the living expenses from if they couldn’t afford that kind of rent.

“Yes, well….”

As if he had just remembered, I brought over my checkbook, scribbled some numbers on it at will, and signed it.

“I’m the one who owed you a debt. You couldn’t board the flight because of me. Here you go.”

Joeon scrutinized the check I handed him. Both the neatly written numbers and the spelled-out words represented an excessively large sum.

“It wasn’t this expensive.”

“How could I just give you the flight ticket money?”

Joeon tilted his head. Even if he calculated the collateral damage in money, the amount was five times that.

“I cannot accept this. This is excessive, Dylan.”

“Joeon. I also stole your passport. I’m a very dangerous and bad thief. Since you let that slide without reporting it to the police, I have to provide compensation for that. And that includes not selling it to the tabloids, too.”

“I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

My stern face, which had been spouting various reasons for compensation, melted like cotton candy in an instant. I asked playfully, with a subtle smile.

“Even if the tabloids offered ten times that?”

“No one would give a six-figure reward for such a trivial episode. Not even if it were the Prime Minister, let alone you.”

Unless it were paparazzi photos taken with a woman, perhaps.

“Hmm.”

Feeling awkward for no reason, I ran a hand through the back of my hair and cleared my throat.

“Anyway, it’s true that I acted coercively. I truly feel sorry about that. I wasn’t in my right mind at the time.”

Joeon looked at me intently, as if trying to verify the sincerity of my apology. The moment our eyes met, I unconsciously let my lips twitch and my face soften. I thought I had revealed my true feelings in my own way, but for some reason, Joeon narrowed his brows and furrowed his forehead, looking suspicious.

“You’ve apologized, so there’s no need for this. I’m sorry, but I would like it if you only gave me the flight ticket money.”

Then, he took out a phone that would be useless without Wi-Fi and started looking for the ticket price.

Joeon enlarged the amount and held it out to me.

“I would like you to make it exact.”

“…You are truly stubborn.”