Page 41 of Melt His Heart

“You can do it. Do you want me to teach you? Just you and me?” I smile down at him.

“Wait, really?!” He jumps up happily, wobbling a little. I catch him before he falls over and laugh.

“Yeah, you’ll get it.” I hold his hand as we walk out onto the ice.

He’s still somewhat unstable just standing on the slippery surface, so I start with that. I keep hold of his little hand while we do a few laps until he’s more stable.

“I’m going to let go, ok?” I say softly. He still looks a bit scared, but he nods.

I let go of his hand slowly, but stay close by in case he falls just like when I learned how to skate with my dad. When I would fall, he would always catch me and try his best to hide his laugh, but we’d end up laughing together anyway.

“I think I’m doing it!” He yelps excitedly. And he really is doing it. I grin as he makes his first lap all by himself. Feeling Carson’s gaze on us, I look over to see him smiling. I bite my lip, my ears warming as I look away quickly.

“You’re the best, thanks for helping me.” He says, trying to turn around and hug me, but he stumbles into my legs.

“Of course. You’re a pro already.” I smile, hugging him back.

“What’s your name again?” He asks, as we skate slowly together around the outer edge of the ice.

“Ju-yeon. What’s yours?”

“Joo-yeoon, that’s a nice name.” He repeats my name with a nod, and I laugh at his attempt. He’s too cute, “my name’s Aaron.” He adds.

“You’ve got a cool name too, Aaron,” I say, and he giggles. We do a few more laps together before he gets tired, and we go back to the bench to rest while Carson teaches both groups.

It’s quiet for a while, save for the other children gliding melodically around the ice, “I try to make friends, but I don’t know how.” He says, playing with his shirt sleeve.

“Same,” I say, and we both laugh.

“Yeah, but you’re so cool, you’ll get friends easy!” He says.

“You’re cool too. I’ll be your friend.” I tell him, and he grins at me. He reminds me of myself when I was younger.

“I’d like that!” Aaron says, grinning.

I think I really like teaching children to skate. I never thought I would enjoy something like this. We join Carson and the rest of the group to finish out the lesson collectively now that Aaron can skate on his own.

He’s actually rather good at it. I hope he feels better about his skating after today. It was fun seeing him get better and better the more resolute he became in himself.

Chapter 13

The event comes to an end eventually, and I feel a sense of impending doom as I walk into the locker room knowing that Carson is not far behind me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I can only hope this goes well and he’s not too upset. He’s just finishing up signing for the children when he enters and sits down on the bench in front of me.

“Carson…” I start, looking down at the ground, “I’m so sorry.” I say softly.

I shouldn’t cry, that wouldn’t be fair.

“Julian,” he says, trying to look me in the eye, but my head is still facing the ground. I can’t seem to look at him just yet. I feel so stupid and embarrassed.

“You don’t have to avoid me, you know.” He grabs my hand gently, “We can talk about…anything.”

“I know,” I whisper, half-heartedly, not sure if I believe I’m even capable of doing that yet. No, I definitely don’t believe that.

“So why do you keep doing this? You can’t just avoid things because they make you feel uncomfortable, Julian.” He says more firmly, and this time I look him directly in the eyes. His brows are furrowed, but his eyes still soft.

“I’m not sure.” I mumble, caressing his hand lightly with my thumb, “Juyeon?” My name sounds even more divine when it comes from his lips. I hum in response, allured by his deep voice.

“I like you.” Carson declares.