Those Unheard Are Sweeter (one shot in three parts)
Title: Those Unheard Are Sweeter
Pairing: Yama
Rating: Up to NC-17
Genre: Romance
Count of Words:
Warning: None
Summary: Sho returned to his hometown in Yamanashi to take care of his family's grape farm after his father fell sick. Six months passed since he came back and that was when he met the owner of the Grace Wine production house - the only consumer who frequently bought the grapes from Sho's farm. However, Sho found his business partner rather weird and intimidating or perhaps rather charming?Originally written for shoexchange 2017 and a gift fic for berrybuttboy
A bunch of thanks to the Mod and Beta Reader
The daylight had changed into slight darkness when the sun set on the western sky. Sho slowly walked towards the lodge which was located at the end of the grape farm. Today was a particularly tiring day for him; there were two groups of visitors who kept him busy. They kept on asking unimportant questions regarding the grapes, some of them even asked him unrelated things which were rather private, like why he decided to become a farmer or if he had a girlfriend or if it wouldn't be better for him to choose a profession which suited his looks.
Sho wasn’t a very patient person; sometimes he would ignore the questions and explain about the grapes instead. Like, when the best time to grow them was, how many kinds they did have or how they were proceeded to become wine. He knew that some of the visitors (or most of them, like Jun told him) came to the farm just to flirt with him. Since he came here three months ago, the amount of female visitors had increased rapidly. Sho didn’t know whether he should be glad or annoyed about that.
He used to be in Tokyo for all this time, until his father’s health didn’t permit him to continue his work at the farm. Sho’s younger brother was still in university and his sister had just married a man from another prefecture which meant that Sho had to take the responsibility to continue their family business.
His mother begged him to come back to Yamanashi to run their farm and after a lot of arguments and despite the unwillingness to leave his current job, Sho finally agreed to come back. It wasn’t easy for Sho to adapt to the work at the farm; it was too different compared to his work at the office building. He learnt everything about grapes, but how things really were on the fields wasn't written in any books.
Sho spent the whole month to grasp everything he needed to know how to run a farm. His father used the old-style management which Sho had to change in order to adjust to the current development, particularly in promoting the farm effectively. His father’s most trusted employee, Matsumoto Jun was there to help him. Sho had known Jun since they were children. Unlike Sho who went to the university in Tokyo and started working there afterwards, Jun chose to stay in Yamanashi and worked at Sho’s father's farm after he graduated from high school.
Six months had passed and without him realizing it, Sho began to enjoy his new profession as a farmer little by little. Still, he missed his life in Tokyo, he missed the concrete jungle, he missed the pubs, and he missed the night life. Sometimes, he wondered whether there would be a time he could go back to the life he used to have in that city.
Sho continued his steps towards the lodge at the front end of the farm. When he got closer, he saw Jun’s figure at the veranda. Sho paused his steps and looked back at the farm which was almost hidden in the darkness. The harvest time had approached and according to Jun, their main customer from the wine production house would come in a couple of days to inspect the situation.
The grapes they sold to the wine production house were the best ones; the farm itself was separated from the usual farm which they opened for visitors. Sho’s father's only consumer was the company named Grace Wine. The company was well known as one of the best wine producers in Japan. It would be Sho’s first encounter with them since he had started running the farm.
“Sho-kun, would you like a cup of tea?” Jun asked from the veranda of the lodge.
Jun was a fine 33-year-old man, he was tall and muscular. He had a pair of thick eyebrows and big eyes. He gained weight recently, which made his cheeks look rather full, so different from the Jun a few years ago who was skinny and looked unhealthy.
“No, I’m heading straight home and have dinner,” Sho answered, entering the lodge to take his stuff and put everything into his rucksack.
Jun was sitting in a wooden chair with a mug in his hands. He gave Sho a weak smile as he joined him on the chair.
“It’s quite a tiring day,” Sho said, wiping the sweat on his forehead with a towel.
“We are understaffed,” Jun answered. “I think we should open job vacancy for young men and women.”
“It’s not easy to find new employees, the work at the farm isn’t something for youngsters these days,” Sho shook his head, glancing at Jun.
“Well, maybe we haven’t tried our best,” Jun mumbled an answer.
“Good luck then,” Sho said, leaning his head against the chair. “I never imagined myself working at this farm. Sometimes, I really want to go back to Tokyo.”
“I understand,” Jun replied. “I would have thought the same thing if I were you. Will you go back there when your father gets better?”
“I don’t know,” Sho shook his head. “My father always wanted me to take care of this farm. He was disappointed when I decided to work in Tokyo. But in the end, I’ve returned here. I think he’s happy now.” Sho remembered his father's sad look when he announced that he was accepted to work at one of the biggest construction companies in Japan. He was just promoted as a supervisor when his mother came to his apartment, bursting in tears and begging him to come back home.
“I think it’s healthier to work here,” Jun said. “I mean, we are surrounded by nature and there is no need to commute in a full-packed subway every morning.”
“You’re right,” Sho answered. He glanced at his watch and told Jun that he would go back home.
Jun handed him the planner for the next day and bid him goodbye.
Sho lived in one of the different houses belonging to the farm, separated from his parents who lived in another one". They had three houses nearby the farm and the one in which Sho lived was the largest. It was an old Japanese-styled house. The floor was made from wood, and there were too many windows which Sho sometimes forgot to close. There were cherry blossom trees in the backyard and a few chickens which used to wake Sho up more effective than his alarm in the mornings. During the first month of his stay, Sho couldn’t sleep well. The place was too quiet for his liking and sometimes he thought he heard someone inside the house. He hated the ghost stories and always pretended that they didn't exist, but it was hard to ignore it here.
Sho drove their old Mitsubishi truck towards his house, which was located 10 minutes from the farm. The street was empty, and there was only one convenient store at the end of the street which closed at nine in the evening. Sho admired himself for surviving in this place without much complaining. He usually bought lunch and dinner at the same convenient store. The shopkeeper was someone Sho knew from high school. He was surprised when Sho told him that he returned to take care of the farm.
He parked his truck ing the garage and closed the door. Sho mumbled ‘I’m home’ to the empty house and turned on the lights. He slumped on the tatami floor and slid out the planner Jun had given to him. Someone named Ninomiya Kazunari had called their farm today, informing that the owner of Grace Wine Company would come within the next two days for the grapes they would purchase. Jun had given some notes on who this Ninomiya Kazunari was. He was the secretary of the wine production house owner, an old man named Ohno Mamoru.
Sho had met Ohno Mamoru a few times when he was still in college. The old man was a great person,so no wonder everyone respected him and loved doing business with him. He often sent a couple bottles of the finished wine to Sho’s father or invited them for dinner.
Sho copied the schedule to his phone as a reminder and made another note for the upcoming weeks which included a group visit from high school students. Sho yawned widely; he was extremely exhausted today and needed a long bath. He put down his phone and headed to the bathroom, perhaps he would skip dinner again and go to bed straightly.
***
“Sho, it’s for you,” Jun said, handing him the phone.
Sho took it and attached the receiver to his ear. “Sakurai here, how may I help you?”
“Sakurai-san,” the voice on the other side replied, Sho could tell that it was the one of a young man. “This is Ninomiya speaking, we’ve met a few times before. I’m so surprised that you agreed to replace your father at the farm. By the way, I would like to inform you that Ohno-san will come to your farm tomorrow afternoon. Is it fine for you?”
“Sure, we’ve been expecting him to come,” Sho answered, glancing at the calendar on the wall. He had handed the other visitors to Jun that day, so he could focus to handle the business meeting with Ohno.
“Good,” Ninomiya said. “We’ll see you tomorrow. Have a nice day, Sakurai-san.”
“Thank you. You too,” Sho said and ended the call.
He clutched the phone for minutes before handing it back to Jun. It would be Sho’s first meeting with Ohno Mamoru since he started running the farm. Somehow, it made him nervous.
“Sho, do you have a minute?” Jun asked. “There’s something I need to talk to you about,” he continued.
“Sure,” Sho said, following Jun towards the veranda of the lodge.
Jun had made two cups of coffee for them, a box of biscuit accompanied. Sho sipped his coffee carefully and took one of the biscuits. He watched Jun as the man spread a bundle of papers on the table.
“Someone applied to work here,” Jun said, handing him a piece of paper from the piles.
Sho took it and read it quickly. The person who applied for the job was a man in his thirties. Sho read the kanji characters ‘Aiba Masaki’, he came from a nearby village and loved farming. He was looking for a new job since the farm he used to work for went bankrupt. Sho looked at the man’s photo which was attached on the top right of the paper, he was quite handsome with thick black hair and a pair of pretty eyes.
“You can call him to come tomorrow,” Sho said. “We are lacking of employees after all.”
“Don’t you want to interview him first?” Jun asked.
“You’re better at it,” Sho replied. “You’re here longer than me. I leave it to you.”
Jun gave him an amusing look and nodded. It was rare to get an application from a young man and perhaps it was a good sign. They needed more energetic people to work at the farm and with Aiba’s good looks, Sho was sure that they would get even more female visitors.
Sho and Jun continued their work at the farm for the day, cleaned the falling leaves, checked the ripe grapes, counted the sick ones and got rid of the dead grape plants. It was near
dinner time when they finished.
Both of them headed towards the lodge and had dinner consisting of some remaining onigiri from their lunch, which Jun usually made by himself.
“It’s much better than buying random dinner at the convenient store,” Jun said, smiling at Sho.
“Thanks,” Sho replied, eating the onigiri gratefully.
Sho had never been a cook, he always relied on the convenient store lunch boxes, which were awful, but they were still better than his cooking.
They stayed for another two hours before bidding good bye to each other. Jun’s house was located about 20 minutes away from the farm, he lived alone there after his parents moved to Hokkaido. He chose to stay because he didn’t like cold places. The two men almost never talked about things aside from work, despite Sho having known Jun for a long time already. Both of them had reached their thirties; Sho himself was 34 years old and still single. He simply had no time to think of a romantic life when he lived in Tokyo. His days were all about work; he went drinking with his friends, but he wasn’t in the mood to look for a partner. He slept with a few men for one-night stands and joined sex parties once in a while but that was it.
The first thing his mother asked him when he came back to Yamanashi was whether he was dating someone or not. He wasn’t in a hurry, though. Having a love life wasn’t his priority for now, he still had plenty of time.
Sho was wearing a polo shirt on the next day, the name of the farm printed on its back. He thought that he had to dress up to welcome Ohno to his farm. He drove his truck towards the farm and found Jun with the new guy - Aiba Masaki - on the lodge veranda. Aiba bowed at him when Sho approached the lodge.
“Good morning, Sakurai-san. My name is Aiba Masaki,” he said.
“Good morning, Aiba-san. Please continue your interview with Matsumoto-san, we’re looking forward to working with you,” Sho said while entering the lodge.
The clock pointed to ten in the morning when he heard the car arriving at the front part of the farm. Sho walked outside and was ready to welcome Ohno Mamoru, but the old man was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the man who exited the car after the secretary Ninomiya, was a man who seemed to be at the same age with Sho.
“Sakurai-san, it’s good to see you,” Ninomiya said, extending his hand to Sho to offer a handshake.
“Welcome to our humble farm, Ninomiya-san and…,” Sho glanced at the man who stood still behind Ninomiya. He didn’t take off his sunglasses which looked too big for his face.
“This is Ohno Mamoru’s son, Ohno Satoshi. He has just returned from France after finishing his journey to learn everything about wine. He’s in charge now for the wine production house after his father decided to retire,” Ninomiya explained.
Sho shifted his gaze to the young Ohno and tried not to stare. Was it a pure coincidence that Ohno Mamoru decided to retire at the same time as Sho’s father? This Ohno resembled his father, except for his ignorance since he still looked away towards the farm instead of Sho. He had no choice than approaching the man first.
“Nice to meet you, Ohno-san,” Sho extended his hand to shake Ohno’s. “I’m Sakurai Sho,” he introduced himself.
The man finally took off his sunglasses and gave Sho a slight smile which made him look like having a toothache.
“Ohno Satoshi,” he mumbled. “How are you, Sho-kun?”
“Fine, thanks,” Sho answered, feeling uncomfortable as Ohno scanned him from his head to toes.
Ohno was shorter than him, his skin was sun tanned, his hair was dyed light brown and he was wearing a sleepy look. He was dressed in a simple navy-blue shirt combined with a pair of black trousers, the shirt rolled up to his elbows, and a watch decorated his left wrist. He looked like one of the young professionals Sho used to meet in Tokyo frequently. Somehow, Ohno’s outfit seemed out of place here at the farm, however, all of a sudden, Sho felt stupid in his ugly polo shirt compared to the finely dressed up man. Why the hell didn’t Ninomiya inform him that the one who came was the good-looking son of Ohno Mamoru.
“Shall we go now? I don't have much time,” Ohno said while glancing at his watch.
The straightforward, almost impolite statement left Sho speechless, he rarely met this kind of man in Japan, especially when they were doing business. He glanced at Ninomiya who shrugged and grinned at him.
“This way, please,” Sho guided the way.
Ohno and Ninomiya followed behind him. They talked about Ohno’s next appointments according to his schedule and argued whether he still had time to attend the wedding ceremony of an old friend. The conversation reminded Sho of his days in Tokyo where he always had been chased by deadlines and a tight schedule. Those days seemed far away, a life that seemed to belong to someone else.
“Your polo shirt design is horrible,” Ohno suddenly said in a plain tone as if mocking someone’s outfit wasn’t a big deal.
Sho ignored him. There would be nothing good if he replied to Ohno. Ninomiya approached him and whispered something to him.
“He doesn’t mean to mock you.”
Sho didn’t answer; instead, he gave a weak nod at Ninomiya and continued walking ahead of them.
“These are the special grapes we’ve been providing for your wine production,” Sho said as they arrived at the special farm.
Ohno extended his hands to touch the fruits with his long fingers which looked almost unnatural. Somehow, they reminded Sho of the main villain in Harry Potter - Lord Voldemort. Those long fingers touched the grapes lightly as if making sure they were real.
“We need these grapes by the end of this week,” Ohno said, turning at Sho.
“It’s no problem for us,” Sho replied, trying to offer a smile, but all he could provide was a stiff grin. “I’ll have my employees deliver them to you as soon as possible.”
“Very well then,” Ohno nodded. “I’ll give you a phone call if there’s a change,” he continued.
“That would be great,” Sho answered.
“You’d better wear something else next time, Sho-kun,” Ohno said.
Sho tried to keep his voice neutral when he answered. “I’ll keep that in mind, Ohno-san, and thank you for your advice.”
Sho had met many business men during his time in Tokyo, and he had learnt how to keep the clients happy, nonetheless, Ohno’s plain critics left an unpleasant impression for him personally.
They walked back towards the lodge while Ohno was talking on the phone all the time in fluent French. He would glance back at Sho once in a while to make sure that he was still there. Ninomiya was beside him, walking in silence. Sho felt sorry for the young man, working under someone like Ohno must be very tough.
Ohno shook Sho’s hand with a strong grip and told him that they would meet again very soon as they parted. Sho hoped the word ‘soon’ meant next month or something even further away since he thought he couldn’t stand meeting someone like Ohno too often.
However, sometimes life offered something of the exact opposite from what he wished for.
***
“How was it?” Jun asked when Sho returned to the lodge after telling the employees to harvest the grapes for the Grace Wine production house. He had noted Ohno’s detailed request on how to pack the grapes and that he would only accept fruits freshly picked in the morning.
“That young Ohno is awful,” Sho shook his head. “He probably can do business, but he doesn’t have any social skills. I mean, what kind of people would criticize somebody’s polo shirt when they first meet?”
Jun laughed when he heard that.
“Do you think my polo shirt is horrible?”
“Frankly speaking, yes,” Jun said, trying to suppress his amused expression. “By the way, that Aiba guy is good. He has enough working experience at a farm, I think we should accept him.”
“Alright, if you said so,” Sho answered.
“Ah, and you got an invitation from the wine production association of Yamanashi,” Jun searched for something among the piles of paper on his desk and handed it to Sho. “It’s a working dinner.”
Sho took the invitation; his name was printed in a golden letters. The official dinner would take place in a hotel at the centre of the city on Saturday night. It had been a while for Sho to attend something official like this; it was kind of exciting since he would meet another farmers and wine makers.
“Thanks,” Sho said to Jun.
He headed towards his working desk and switched his laptop on. He felt isolated since he came to Yamanashi. He used to work on deadlines; met clients every now and then and attended many work lunch and dinner meetings. Toma sent him an e-mail the night before, telling him that the office was in a chaos since Sho left. Toma wasn’t the only one who was disappointed by Sho’s decision. Sho's superior, Nagase Tomoya, let Sho go with a heavy heart and told him that he could come back anytime if he felt the farm job wasn’t his cup of tea.
Sho opened his new e-mails one by one, most of them were about appointments from people who wanted to pick grapes. He forwarded the new ones to Jun and asked him to reply, meanwhile he browsed for the Yamanashi Wine Maker Association. Sho had heard of them, but he didn’t really know what they were doing.
He found his father’s photos on the album of their activities from a year ago; the man was standing next to Ohno senior. Sho wondered whether he and Ohno Satoshi could do the same. Their first encounter didn’t leave a good impression. Ohno’s complaint about his polo shirt resounded in Sho's head. He sighed deeply, perhaps it was really awful.
***
Sho decided to buy a new tie and a pair of shoes for the working dinner. He went to the nearest shopping centre which - of course - was quite small compared to the malls in Tokyo. It was around eight in the evening, the shopping centre was not that crowded, and the men’s clothes section was almost empty.
The man walked towards the necktie section and chose some of them. He should have dragged Jun with him to get his advice. Sho was about to put back the dark red tie when he almost bumped someone’s shoulder.
“Sorry, I didn’t…,” he stopped halfway when he recognized Ohno before him.
Ohno looked completely different in his casual attire. He was wearing a pair of knee length pants, a plain T-shirt and a blue cardigan above it.
“Sho-kun,” Ohno said, glancing at the dark red object in Sho’s hand. “You’re buying a new tie, I presume.”
“I haven’t decided,” Sho replied.
Why on earth did he have to meet Ohno here? He was the last man on earth he wanted to meet right now. Sho clearly hadn’t recovered from his shock of Ohno’s insult during their first encounter. He was about to say that he had something else to do and needed to hurry when Ohno spoke up.
“I’m here to look for a new tie too, maybe we can choose some together.”
“No,” Sho said without thinking any further. “I mean, it’s not a bad idea,” he continued, biting his lower lip.
Ohno looked at him with the same gaze like he did on the day they first met. He scowled like a kid but then grinned when he saw Sho’s stiff expression.
“Dark red suits you,” he said.
“I don’t think so,” Sho replied.
“I’m serious, it’s way better than this disgusting strip,” Ohno pointed at the tie which Sho planned to try on, glad that he didn’t touch it yet.
“Aren’t you too busy to choose a tie by yourself?” Sho asked before he could control himself from asking the question.
“I told Nino to clear my schedule until next week. I need time to taste the wine and check the grapes you’ve sent me,” Ohno answered.
Sho felt stupid for asking Ohno about his schedule, it was none of his business if Ohno was too busy, he wouldn’t care if the man even had no time to take a damn shower. Besides, he didn’t like the way Ohno looked at him, it was some kind of underestimating gaze.
He chose the dark red tie and excused himself from Ohno, telling him that he needed to go to the hospital to visit his father. It was a lie since his father had already returned home. Ohno bid good bye to him and said that he was looking forward to the working dinner of the Yamanashi wine production association.
Sho drove his car away from the shopping centre, glancing hopelessly at the box with his new tie on the passenger seat. He sighed, considering that he would never ever wear that thing, unless it was the last tie on earth. His mood was in a chaos for no reason after his brief meeting with Ohno. Perhaps that man carried a bad omen with him which could make people fall into a gloomy mood.
Sho wrote an e-mail to Toma, telling him about his meeting with Ohno and how the man didn’t act like a businessman, but more like a critic who was looking down on other people.
‘None of our clients act like him, it’s unbelievable,’ Sho wrote.
The clock was pointing to eleven in the evening when he finished writing his e-mail to Toma. Sho yawned and lazily walked to the bathroom. He didn’t remember that he turned on the lamp in the bathroom, but maybe he forgot since he had been thinking of Ohno too much.
***
Part 2
Part 3
Pairing: Yama
Rating: Up to NC-17
Genre: Romance
Count of Words:
Warning: None
Summary: Sho returned to his hometown in Yamanashi to take care of his family's grape farm after his father fell sick. Six months passed since he came back and that was when he met the owner of the Grace Wine production house - the only consumer who frequently bought the grapes from Sho's farm. However, Sho found his business partner rather weird and intimidating or perhaps rather charming?Originally written for shoexchange 2017 and a gift fic for berrybuttboy
A bunch of thanks to the Mod and Beta Reader
The daylight had changed into slight darkness when the sun set on the western sky. Sho slowly walked towards the lodge which was located at the end of the grape farm. Today was a particularly tiring day for him; there were two groups of visitors who kept him busy. They kept on asking unimportant questions regarding the grapes, some of them even asked him unrelated things which were rather private, like why he decided to become a farmer or if he had a girlfriend or if it wouldn't be better for him to choose a profession which suited his looks.
Sho wasn’t a very patient person; sometimes he would ignore the questions and explain about the grapes instead. Like, when the best time to grow them was, how many kinds they did have or how they were proceeded to become wine. He knew that some of the visitors (or most of them, like Jun told him) came to the farm just to flirt with him. Since he came here three months ago, the amount of female visitors had increased rapidly. Sho didn’t know whether he should be glad or annoyed about that.
He used to be in Tokyo for all this time, until his father’s health didn’t permit him to continue his work at the farm. Sho’s younger brother was still in university and his sister had just married a man from another prefecture which meant that Sho had to take the responsibility to continue their family business.
His mother begged him to come back to Yamanashi to run their farm and after a lot of arguments and despite the unwillingness to leave his current job, Sho finally agreed to come back. It wasn’t easy for Sho to adapt to the work at the farm; it was too different compared to his work at the office building. He learnt everything about grapes, but how things really were on the fields wasn't written in any books.
Sho spent the whole month to grasp everything he needed to know how to run a farm. His father used the old-style management which Sho had to change in order to adjust to the current development, particularly in promoting the farm effectively. His father’s most trusted employee, Matsumoto Jun was there to help him. Sho had known Jun since they were children. Unlike Sho who went to the university in Tokyo and started working there afterwards, Jun chose to stay in Yamanashi and worked at Sho’s father's farm after he graduated from high school.
Six months had passed and without him realizing it, Sho began to enjoy his new profession as a farmer little by little. Still, he missed his life in Tokyo, he missed the concrete jungle, he missed the pubs, and he missed the night life. Sometimes, he wondered whether there would be a time he could go back to the life he used to have in that city.
Sho continued his steps towards the lodge at the front end of the farm. When he got closer, he saw Jun’s figure at the veranda. Sho paused his steps and looked back at the farm which was almost hidden in the darkness. The harvest time had approached and according to Jun, their main customer from the wine production house would come in a couple of days to inspect the situation.
The grapes they sold to the wine production house were the best ones; the farm itself was separated from the usual farm which they opened for visitors. Sho’s father's only consumer was the company named Grace Wine. The company was well known as one of the best wine producers in Japan. It would be Sho’s first encounter with them since he had started running the farm.
“Sho-kun, would you like a cup of tea?” Jun asked from the veranda of the lodge.
Jun was a fine 33-year-old man, he was tall and muscular. He had a pair of thick eyebrows and big eyes. He gained weight recently, which made his cheeks look rather full, so different from the Jun a few years ago who was skinny and looked unhealthy.
“No, I’m heading straight home and have dinner,” Sho answered, entering the lodge to take his stuff and put everything into his rucksack.
Jun was sitting in a wooden chair with a mug in his hands. He gave Sho a weak smile as he joined him on the chair.
“It’s quite a tiring day,” Sho said, wiping the sweat on his forehead with a towel.
“We are understaffed,” Jun answered. “I think we should open job vacancy for young men and women.”
“It’s not easy to find new employees, the work at the farm isn’t something for youngsters these days,” Sho shook his head, glancing at Jun.
“Well, maybe we haven’t tried our best,” Jun mumbled an answer.
“Good luck then,” Sho said, leaning his head against the chair. “I never imagined myself working at this farm. Sometimes, I really want to go back to Tokyo.”
“I understand,” Jun replied. “I would have thought the same thing if I were you. Will you go back there when your father gets better?”
“I don’t know,” Sho shook his head. “My father always wanted me to take care of this farm. He was disappointed when I decided to work in Tokyo. But in the end, I’ve returned here. I think he’s happy now.” Sho remembered his father's sad look when he announced that he was accepted to work at one of the biggest construction companies in Japan. He was just promoted as a supervisor when his mother came to his apartment, bursting in tears and begging him to come back home.
“I think it’s healthier to work here,” Jun said. “I mean, we are surrounded by nature and there is no need to commute in a full-packed subway every morning.”
“You’re right,” Sho answered. He glanced at his watch and told Jun that he would go back home.
Jun handed him the planner for the next day and bid him goodbye.
Sho lived in one of the different houses belonging to the farm, separated from his parents who lived in another one". They had three houses nearby the farm and the one in which Sho lived was the largest. It was an old Japanese-styled house. The floor was made from wood, and there were too many windows which Sho sometimes forgot to close. There were cherry blossom trees in the backyard and a few chickens which used to wake Sho up more effective than his alarm in the mornings. During the first month of his stay, Sho couldn’t sleep well. The place was too quiet for his liking and sometimes he thought he heard someone inside the house. He hated the ghost stories and always pretended that they didn't exist, but it was hard to ignore it here.
Sho drove their old Mitsubishi truck towards his house, which was located 10 minutes from the farm. The street was empty, and there was only one convenient store at the end of the street which closed at nine in the evening. Sho admired himself for surviving in this place without much complaining. He usually bought lunch and dinner at the same convenient store. The shopkeeper was someone Sho knew from high school. He was surprised when Sho told him that he returned to take care of the farm.
He parked his truck ing the garage and closed the door. Sho mumbled ‘I’m home’ to the empty house and turned on the lights. He slumped on the tatami floor and slid out the planner Jun had given to him. Someone named Ninomiya Kazunari had called their farm today, informing that the owner of Grace Wine Company would come within the next two days for the grapes they would purchase. Jun had given some notes on who this Ninomiya Kazunari was. He was the secretary of the wine production house owner, an old man named Ohno Mamoru.
Sho had met Ohno Mamoru a few times when he was still in college. The old man was a great person,so no wonder everyone respected him and loved doing business with him. He often sent a couple bottles of the finished wine to Sho’s father or invited them for dinner.
Sho copied the schedule to his phone as a reminder and made another note for the upcoming weeks which included a group visit from high school students. Sho yawned widely; he was extremely exhausted today and needed a long bath. He put down his phone and headed to the bathroom, perhaps he would skip dinner again and go to bed straightly.
***
“Sho, it’s for you,” Jun said, handing him the phone.
Sho took it and attached the receiver to his ear. “Sakurai here, how may I help you?”
“Sakurai-san,” the voice on the other side replied, Sho could tell that it was the one of a young man. “This is Ninomiya speaking, we’ve met a few times before. I’m so surprised that you agreed to replace your father at the farm. By the way, I would like to inform you that Ohno-san will come to your farm tomorrow afternoon. Is it fine for you?”
“Sure, we’ve been expecting him to come,” Sho answered, glancing at the calendar on the wall. He had handed the other visitors to Jun that day, so he could focus to handle the business meeting with Ohno.
“Good,” Ninomiya said. “We’ll see you tomorrow. Have a nice day, Sakurai-san.”
“Thank you. You too,” Sho said and ended the call.
He clutched the phone for minutes before handing it back to Jun. It would be Sho’s first meeting with Ohno Mamoru since he started running the farm. Somehow, it made him nervous.
“Sho, do you have a minute?” Jun asked. “There’s something I need to talk to you about,” he continued.
“Sure,” Sho said, following Jun towards the veranda of the lodge.
Jun had made two cups of coffee for them, a box of biscuit accompanied. Sho sipped his coffee carefully and took one of the biscuits. He watched Jun as the man spread a bundle of papers on the table.
“Someone applied to work here,” Jun said, handing him a piece of paper from the piles.
Sho took it and read it quickly. The person who applied for the job was a man in his thirties. Sho read the kanji characters ‘Aiba Masaki’, he came from a nearby village and loved farming. He was looking for a new job since the farm he used to work for went bankrupt. Sho looked at the man’s photo which was attached on the top right of the paper, he was quite handsome with thick black hair and a pair of pretty eyes.
“You can call him to come tomorrow,” Sho said. “We are lacking of employees after all.”
“Don’t you want to interview him first?” Jun asked.
“You’re better at it,” Sho replied. “You’re here longer than me. I leave it to you.”
Jun gave him an amusing look and nodded. It was rare to get an application from a young man and perhaps it was a good sign. They needed more energetic people to work at the farm and with Aiba’s good looks, Sho was sure that they would get even more female visitors.
Sho and Jun continued their work at the farm for the day, cleaned the falling leaves, checked the ripe grapes, counted the sick ones and got rid of the dead grape plants. It was near
dinner time when they finished.
Both of them headed towards the lodge and had dinner consisting of some remaining onigiri from their lunch, which Jun usually made by himself.
“It’s much better than buying random dinner at the convenient store,” Jun said, smiling at Sho.
“Thanks,” Sho replied, eating the onigiri gratefully.
Sho had never been a cook, he always relied on the convenient store lunch boxes, which were awful, but they were still better than his cooking.
They stayed for another two hours before bidding good bye to each other. Jun’s house was located about 20 minutes away from the farm, he lived alone there after his parents moved to Hokkaido. He chose to stay because he didn’t like cold places. The two men almost never talked about things aside from work, despite Sho having known Jun for a long time already. Both of them had reached their thirties; Sho himself was 34 years old and still single. He simply had no time to think of a romantic life when he lived in Tokyo. His days were all about work; he went drinking with his friends, but he wasn’t in the mood to look for a partner. He slept with a few men for one-night stands and joined sex parties once in a while but that was it.
The first thing his mother asked him when he came back to Yamanashi was whether he was dating someone or not. He wasn’t in a hurry, though. Having a love life wasn’t his priority for now, he still had plenty of time.
Sho was wearing a polo shirt on the next day, the name of the farm printed on its back. He thought that he had to dress up to welcome Ohno to his farm. He drove his truck towards the farm and found Jun with the new guy - Aiba Masaki - on the lodge veranda. Aiba bowed at him when Sho approached the lodge.
“Good morning, Sakurai-san. My name is Aiba Masaki,” he said.
“Good morning, Aiba-san. Please continue your interview with Matsumoto-san, we’re looking forward to working with you,” Sho said while entering the lodge.
The clock pointed to ten in the morning when he heard the car arriving at the front part of the farm. Sho walked outside and was ready to welcome Ohno Mamoru, but the old man was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the man who exited the car after the secretary Ninomiya, was a man who seemed to be at the same age with Sho.
“Sakurai-san, it’s good to see you,” Ninomiya said, extending his hand to Sho to offer a handshake.
“Welcome to our humble farm, Ninomiya-san and…,” Sho glanced at the man who stood still behind Ninomiya. He didn’t take off his sunglasses which looked too big for his face.
“This is Ohno Mamoru’s son, Ohno Satoshi. He has just returned from France after finishing his journey to learn everything about wine. He’s in charge now for the wine production house after his father decided to retire,” Ninomiya explained.
Sho shifted his gaze to the young Ohno and tried not to stare. Was it a pure coincidence that Ohno Mamoru decided to retire at the same time as Sho’s father? This Ohno resembled his father, except for his ignorance since he still looked away towards the farm instead of Sho. He had no choice than approaching the man first.
“Nice to meet you, Ohno-san,” Sho extended his hand to shake Ohno’s. “I’m Sakurai Sho,” he introduced himself.
The man finally took off his sunglasses and gave Sho a slight smile which made him look like having a toothache.
“Ohno Satoshi,” he mumbled. “How are you, Sho-kun?”
“Fine, thanks,” Sho answered, feeling uncomfortable as Ohno scanned him from his head to toes.
Ohno was shorter than him, his skin was sun tanned, his hair was dyed light brown and he was wearing a sleepy look. He was dressed in a simple navy-blue shirt combined with a pair of black trousers, the shirt rolled up to his elbows, and a watch decorated his left wrist. He looked like one of the young professionals Sho used to meet in Tokyo frequently. Somehow, Ohno’s outfit seemed out of place here at the farm, however, all of a sudden, Sho felt stupid in his ugly polo shirt compared to the finely dressed up man. Why the hell didn’t Ninomiya inform him that the one who came was the good-looking son of Ohno Mamoru.
“Shall we go now? I don't have much time,” Ohno said while glancing at his watch.
The straightforward, almost impolite statement left Sho speechless, he rarely met this kind of man in Japan, especially when they were doing business. He glanced at Ninomiya who shrugged and grinned at him.
“This way, please,” Sho guided the way.
Ohno and Ninomiya followed behind him. They talked about Ohno’s next appointments according to his schedule and argued whether he still had time to attend the wedding ceremony of an old friend. The conversation reminded Sho of his days in Tokyo where he always had been chased by deadlines and a tight schedule. Those days seemed far away, a life that seemed to belong to someone else.
“Your polo shirt design is horrible,” Ohno suddenly said in a plain tone as if mocking someone’s outfit wasn’t a big deal.
Sho ignored him. There would be nothing good if he replied to Ohno. Ninomiya approached him and whispered something to him.
“He doesn’t mean to mock you.”
Sho didn’t answer; instead, he gave a weak nod at Ninomiya and continued walking ahead of them.
“These are the special grapes we’ve been providing for your wine production,” Sho said as they arrived at the special farm.
Ohno extended his hands to touch the fruits with his long fingers which looked almost unnatural. Somehow, they reminded Sho of the main villain in Harry Potter - Lord Voldemort. Those long fingers touched the grapes lightly as if making sure they were real.
“We need these grapes by the end of this week,” Ohno said, turning at Sho.
“It’s no problem for us,” Sho replied, trying to offer a smile, but all he could provide was a stiff grin. “I’ll have my employees deliver them to you as soon as possible.”
“Very well then,” Ohno nodded. “I’ll give you a phone call if there’s a change,” he continued.
“That would be great,” Sho answered.
“You’d better wear something else next time, Sho-kun,” Ohno said.
Sho tried to keep his voice neutral when he answered. “I’ll keep that in mind, Ohno-san, and thank you for your advice.”
Sho had met many business men during his time in Tokyo, and he had learnt how to keep the clients happy, nonetheless, Ohno’s plain critics left an unpleasant impression for him personally.
They walked back towards the lodge while Ohno was talking on the phone all the time in fluent French. He would glance back at Sho once in a while to make sure that he was still there. Ninomiya was beside him, walking in silence. Sho felt sorry for the young man, working under someone like Ohno must be very tough.
Ohno shook Sho’s hand with a strong grip and told him that they would meet again very soon as they parted. Sho hoped the word ‘soon’ meant next month or something even further away since he thought he couldn’t stand meeting someone like Ohno too often.
However, sometimes life offered something of the exact opposite from what he wished for.
***
“How was it?” Jun asked when Sho returned to the lodge after telling the employees to harvest the grapes for the Grace Wine production house. He had noted Ohno’s detailed request on how to pack the grapes and that he would only accept fruits freshly picked in the morning.
“That young Ohno is awful,” Sho shook his head. “He probably can do business, but he doesn’t have any social skills. I mean, what kind of people would criticize somebody’s polo shirt when they first meet?”
Jun laughed when he heard that.
“Do you think my polo shirt is horrible?”
“Frankly speaking, yes,” Jun said, trying to suppress his amused expression. “By the way, that Aiba guy is good. He has enough working experience at a farm, I think we should accept him.”
“Alright, if you said so,” Sho answered.
“Ah, and you got an invitation from the wine production association of Yamanashi,” Jun searched for something among the piles of paper on his desk and handed it to Sho. “It’s a working dinner.”
Sho took the invitation; his name was printed in a golden letters. The official dinner would take place in a hotel at the centre of the city on Saturday night. It had been a while for Sho to attend something official like this; it was kind of exciting since he would meet another farmers and wine makers.
“Thanks,” Sho said to Jun.
He headed towards his working desk and switched his laptop on. He felt isolated since he came to Yamanashi. He used to work on deadlines; met clients every now and then and attended many work lunch and dinner meetings. Toma sent him an e-mail the night before, telling him that the office was in a chaos since Sho left. Toma wasn’t the only one who was disappointed by Sho’s decision. Sho's superior, Nagase Tomoya, let Sho go with a heavy heart and told him that he could come back anytime if he felt the farm job wasn’t his cup of tea.
Sho opened his new e-mails one by one, most of them were about appointments from people who wanted to pick grapes. He forwarded the new ones to Jun and asked him to reply, meanwhile he browsed for the Yamanashi Wine Maker Association. Sho had heard of them, but he didn’t really know what they were doing.
He found his father’s photos on the album of their activities from a year ago; the man was standing next to Ohno senior. Sho wondered whether he and Ohno Satoshi could do the same. Their first encounter didn’t leave a good impression. Ohno’s complaint about his polo shirt resounded in Sho's head. He sighed deeply, perhaps it was really awful.
***
Sho decided to buy a new tie and a pair of shoes for the working dinner. He went to the nearest shopping centre which - of course - was quite small compared to the malls in Tokyo. It was around eight in the evening, the shopping centre was not that crowded, and the men’s clothes section was almost empty.
The man walked towards the necktie section and chose some of them. He should have dragged Jun with him to get his advice. Sho was about to put back the dark red tie when he almost bumped someone’s shoulder.
“Sorry, I didn’t…,” he stopped halfway when he recognized Ohno before him.
Ohno looked completely different in his casual attire. He was wearing a pair of knee length pants, a plain T-shirt and a blue cardigan above it.
“Sho-kun,” Ohno said, glancing at the dark red object in Sho’s hand. “You’re buying a new tie, I presume.”
“I haven’t decided,” Sho replied.
Why on earth did he have to meet Ohno here? He was the last man on earth he wanted to meet right now. Sho clearly hadn’t recovered from his shock of Ohno’s insult during their first encounter. He was about to say that he had something else to do and needed to hurry when Ohno spoke up.
“I’m here to look for a new tie too, maybe we can choose some together.”
“No,” Sho said without thinking any further. “I mean, it’s not a bad idea,” he continued, biting his lower lip.
Ohno looked at him with the same gaze like he did on the day they first met. He scowled like a kid but then grinned when he saw Sho’s stiff expression.
“Dark red suits you,” he said.
“I don’t think so,” Sho replied.
“I’m serious, it’s way better than this disgusting strip,” Ohno pointed at the tie which Sho planned to try on, glad that he didn’t touch it yet.
“Aren’t you too busy to choose a tie by yourself?” Sho asked before he could control himself from asking the question.
“I told Nino to clear my schedule until next week. I need time to taste the wine and check the grapes you’ve sent me,” Ohno answered.
Sho felt stupid for asking Ohno about his schedule, it was none of his business if Ohno was too busy, he wouldn’t care if the man even had no time to take a damn shower. Besides, he didn’t like the way Ohno looked at him, it was some kind of underestimating gaze.
He chose the dark red tie and excused himself from Ohno, telling him that he needed to go to the hospital to visit his father. It was a lie since his father had already returned home. Ohno bid good bye to him and said that he was looking forward to the working dinner of the Yamanashi wine production association.
Sho drove his car away from the shopping centre, glancing hopelessly at the box with his new tie on the passenger seat. He sighed, considering that he would never ever wear that thing, unless it was the last tie on earth. His mood was in a chaos for no reason after his brief meeting with Ohno. Perhaps that man carried a bad omen with him which could make people fall into a gloomy mood.
Sho wrote an e-mail to Toma, telling him about his meeting with Ohno and how the man didn’t act like a businessman, but more like a critic who was looking down on other people.
‘None of our clients act like him, it’s unbelievable,’ Sho wrote.
The clock was pointing to eleven in the evening when he finished writing his e-mail to Toma. Sho yawned and lazily walked to the bathroom. He didn’t remember that he turned on the lamp in the bathroom, but maybe he forgot since he had been thinking of Ohno too much.
***
Part 2
Part 3