Love Him...Forever

Good Start...Hopefully

"...I can't speak English that well," Yuzuru admitted with a laugh.

"I'm not bragging, but I'm quite multilingual," Shine said proudly.

"Right, Hana. I heard you know five languages?" Yuzuru asked playfully, clearly wanting a sample.

"¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? Watashi wa Hana desu. Nan-eun receptionist imnida. Please take good care of me. Merci!"
Shine introduced herself again in every language she knew.

"Impressive," Yuzuru clapped lightly. "But why did you need to learn so many languages?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm Korean. I grew up there for eight years, so I naturally picked up the language. My parents are Koreans too. And English is universal. Spain and France are places we visit a lot, so I learned their languages as well. Japanese... I learned because I thought it would be useful someday. And I guess I was right."
Shine laughed softly as she delivered her fabricated story.

"I see... As for me, if I could just speak English well, that would be enough," Yuzuru said honestly.

"If you want, I can help you. I can tutor you... for free, if you want. I don't really need the money," Shine offered.

"Really?" Yuzuru looked unexpectedly excited.

Shine nodded.

"Right, I heard you're rich. But why are you working at the club again?" he asked, still curious.

"My parents are rich, not me. And it feels better to spend money you actually work for," she answered with a smile.

Yuzuru smiled back, visibly impressed.

"So, when do we start? Next week?" Shine asked suddenly, making him blink.

"Huh?" he said, snapping back to the moment.

"What are you thinking?" her inner self questioned him.

"I said, when are we starting the tutoring? Next week?"

"Oh... I'm not coming back to Toronto with you guys yet. I'm staying in Japan for two weeks. To rest... maybe. After that, I'll go back to Canada to prepare for World Team Trophy," Yuzuru said, sounding a little sad.

"I thought the last competition was Worlds?" Shine asked.

"It is for most skaters. But Nam and I will do WTT," he said, a bit proudly.

"Nam too?" Shine asked in surprise.

Yuzuru nodded.

Suddenly, Shine's phone vibrated—Allen was calling.

"Excuse me, I have to answer this," she said, standing up.

"Allen? He must be worried. Go on, take it," Yuzuru said with a gentle smile.

Shine smiled back and stepped away—though not far enough for Yuzuru not to hear her tone.

She exhaled before answering.

"Hello."

"Where are you?" Allen asked, voice tight with worry.

"I'm fine. Don't worry," Shine said calmly.

"Is Yuzuru with you?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'm coming there," Allen said, sounding even more worried.

"It's fine. I have everything under control," Shine tried to assure him.

"I'm still coming. Where are you?" Allen said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"The last room in the right wing... but seriously, you don't need to worry," she gave in.

Allen hung up.

Shine returned to her seat.

"Allen can't last a minute without seeing you, huh?" Yuzuru said teasingly as she sat.

Shine shrugged.
"He's very protective of me."

"How long have you known Allen?" Yuzuru asked—a topic they'd never really discussed. Shine found it easier to lie now.

"Actually, I saw him before at a convention my parents were invited to, but we only really... got to know each other recently," Shine lied.

"I see... It just seems like you've known each other for a long time," Yuzuru said thoughtfully.

"I guess when you like someone, time doesn't really matter," Shine said, avoiding his eyes.

"Ah... yes," Yuzuru agreed hesitantly.

Knock. Knock.

Someone was pounding loudly at the door.

"That must be Allen." Shine stood, and Yuzuru did too.

"Hana, open up!" Allen called, his voice full of panic and command.

Shine hurried over, and the moment she opened the door, Allen pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Allen, I'm okay!" Shine said, surprised.

Allen released her and immediately scanned her from head to toe.

"Allen! I'm okay. Relax," Shine said, cupping his face to stop him from checking her over like a lost child.

She glanced at Yuzuru and gave him a small smile, then looked back at Allen.

"Yuzuru would never harm me. Right, Yuzuru?"

"Yes," Yuzuru said firmly.

"Let's go downstairs... you too, Yuzuru. People are probably looking for you," Shine said.
When she looked at him, she caught something in his eyes—
jealousy...?

But she wasn't sure.