Unspoken Definites

07 Tongue-tied

"A... A... I'm Yuzuru Hanyu." The boy stammered in his heavily accented English. He looked at his tutor and gave a face. "Do I have to say my name backwards?" he said giving up and spoke in Japanese once again.

"Yes. That's how they do it in English." Yuna said.

Yuzuru slumped his head on the table. He was ready to sleep but Yuna pinched his cheeks pulling his head upwards.

"Awww! That hurts!"

"Don't you dare sleep on me, ice boy." She said. "Now repeat your introduction."

Yuzuru detached himself from the wooden study table inside Yuna's room and murmured the same line silently to himself. Today was the second day that Yuna taught him English. It was Sunday and there was no training for him. He finished all his school works in the morning and this afternoon, he went to Yuna's house to learn English. He would have his first competition outside the country in a few weeks so he had at least to learn the basics of the English language to communicate with foreigners.

Good thing, Yuna volunteered to help him, saving time. He needed not to attend a foreign language school anymore.

Yuna herself was not proficient in speaking English but she had little background about it, learning few phrases when an English woman once lived next to their apartment in Korea.

But of course, her little knowledge about it would not suffice. Recently, she had successfully convinced her parents to enrol in an online English tutorial classes. She stressed that learning the language would help her in preparing for University life but at the back of her head, it'm would also be a good opportunity to help Yuzu with the language struggle.

"Yuna Kim." He muttered after repeating his introduction for like 3 times.

"What?" She raised both of her eyebrows in acknowledgement, her eyes fixated on the next phrase she would teach him.

"That'll be your English name, right?"

She gazed at him only to find the boy looking at her too. They shared a stare for like an eternity before she spoke, "Yes. Now stop slacking. I won't let you go home without finishing these oral exercises."

His face dropped to the study table again and faced Yuna with a grudging look. She quickly squished his cheeks and he cried in pain sitting straight up again.

She laughed. "Now read this one," Yuna pointed to the English letters on the printed page. "Thank you very much." She caught Yuzu's eyes widened as she delivered the expression smoothly. She had spent the other night practicing for these lines while listening to downloaded podcasts.

"T-Thank you... Very... Very much." He stuttered. "Thank you very much." He scratched the back of his head after. "What does that mean?"

She told him the meaning of the word in Japanese and the boy beamed.

He grabbed her hand under the book cover and smiled at her widely, "Thank you very much, Yuna Kim."

He has always acted like this around her before but lately, the effect that he left her was far too lasting for her control. She slowly pulled her hand from his grip.

"Yeah, yeah! That's enough." She replied. She tried to focus back to what they were doing. "What's next? Let's see..."

"Why did they not include studying in English in primary school? It would have been easier."

Yuna tried not to laugh at his retort.
He had English back then but those were just few words enough for him to recognize the letters of the English alphabet. They aren't functional at all. Yuna had to agree.

Yuzuru pulled the book closer to him. He looked at the phrases printed in the English alphabet. He turned the page and tried reading one of the expressiona printed there.

"I.. I r-r... I love you." He said it casually. He obviously had no idea what he just said.

Yuna felt her cheeks flustered. She stood up that startled the bored Yuzu a bit.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ugh... No." She glanced at the clock. "I'll just get snacks downstairs." She said and left. Her heart pounding hard behind her ears.

Her mother gave her slices of sandwiches and two tall glasses of lemonade. Mrs. Kim was fond of the young man. She treated him like he was Japan's national treasure.

"Yuniah, make him eat everything. He has lost so much weight from all the practices."

Yuna knew that Yuzuru had been following a strict diet to control his weight gain, "Yes, Eomma."

Tightly holding the tray back to her room, she barged in and saw that the boy had been sleeping. She placed the tray of their snacks on the dresser and sat beside Yuzuru. His mushroom head pressed gently on the study table. He was breathing slowly, probably too tired from the things that kept him busy in the previous days. He looked so peaceful, as if the trainings and school were not bothering him at all.

How can a person sleep like this and still be as breathtaklingly ethereal as this angel?

Yuna did not bother to wake him up. She levelled her head to his, they were facing each other. She studied his face for a long time before falling into a deep sleep.

---

"You sure you brought everything you need?" Yuna asked Yuzuru.

The boy nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

She looked at him as though she didn't believe the word he said. She turned her back at him and proceeded in opening his bag for the third time now. They were at the rink, waiting for Yuzuru's coach to pick him up for the drive to the airport. Today, he would be leaving the country to compete in Hongkong. It was his first out of the country competition. His parents would send him off to the airport and invited Yuna. Yuna had something to do at school so she agreed to just come to the rink to send him off.

"Where's Pooh?" She panicked when she did not find the bear in his bag. It was actually a tissue holder her mother had brought for him. She thought that since she would not accompany Yuzuru in this trip, no one else would do errands for him.

"It's in the other luggage." He pointed at his trolley.

Yuna eyed the luggage malisciously. "Are you sure it's in there?"

Yuzuru laughed. "Yuna, will you please calm down? Pooh is in there. Mom packed it for me. Did you forget that you unpacked it and packed it again yourself last night?"

Yuna flushed and zipped his back pack before sitting beside Yuzuru. "I hope you don't think of other things aside from the match." She said with a sigh.

"I can handle myself. Don't worry."

Yuna shook her head and smirked. "You're the master inside the rink but you're a walking disaster outside. Stop lying to yourself, Yuzu." She knew he was clumsy. In the rink he defied gravity, in the ground he either tumbled or bent his knees.

Yuzuru had to smile at his friend's thoughtfulness. "You shall be rewarded by the Lord of the Blades for your dedication to me, Yuna."

Yuna's face wrinkled in disgust. "So full of yourself."

Yuzuru chuckled. "Come on, tell me what you want. I'll buy you a gift."

"Give me a gold medal." She challenged. "And don't get yourself injured."

"Piece of cake." He smiled confidently.

"Kids!" Mrs. Hanyu called. "The coaster is here."

It was time. Yuzuru stood and wore his backpack.

"I guess, I'll see you next week?"

"Yes."

He stooped down to hug her. She buried her face to his chest. She wasn't sure if it was Yuzuru's heart that she had been hearing pounding or hers.

"Take care while I'm away."

"I will." She whispered. "You do the same."

---

You are a strange oddity.
I am captivated.