(no subject)
012
Koyama often still wondered about the mystery behind Shige's trip to Germany. The latter was always so quiet whenever around the house, and he never failed to show any signs of wavering (except for that one accidental night, but that was more than expected for a man of respect and dignity). In fact, this was Shige all throughout his stay in Berlin.
One day Koyama caught him sitting at his desk, his elbows on the edge of the wooden finish and his fingers through his hair. A piece of paper sat right in front of him, blank and still waiting to be written on. Koyama tried to disturb the silence.
"Would you like anything to eat?" he asked politely, resting a hand on his shoulder, careful not to startle him with any motion or spur of the moment thoughts. Shige turned his neck to look at him over the shoulder then proceeded back to his writing, or lack thereof. "No, thank you."
There was nothing interesting in his room, Koyama thought as he stood in it for the first time since it was last occupied by a guest. The wallpaper was slowly peeling off, the floorboards creaked when he walked across the room, the desk was empty, and there sat a dull picture of Shige and a young lady. There were no traces of memory in the photograph, no sense of telling secrets.
"Who is she?"
Shige dropped his pen on the desk and rested back on the chair. "...my fiancee."
Koyama kept quiet. Blood rushed to his face and stayed there.
"She ran away before we were supposed to get married. She said she didn't love me; I couldn't do anything."
Koyama wondered how it seemed so easy for Shige to tell him all these things now, now when he saw fatigue in his face, stress under his eyes and the fit of melancholy on his lips. "She left you?"
"For another man," Shige turned to face him. "That's why I came here."
Shige ran away from matrimony. He ran away, because he had no other choice. She didn't want this to happen, and she didn't want to let it happen. They might as well have said that it was both their plan, but.
Koyama still wondered, his stomach churning and twisting. "Did you love her?"
Shige looked back at the blank sheet of paper sitting on his desk. Words were yet to be written. "I have."
Koyama often still wondered about the mystery behind Shige's trip to Germany. The latter was always so quiet whenever around the house, and he never failed to show any signs of wavering (except for that one accidental night, but that was more than expected for a man of respect and dignity). In fact, this was Shige all throughout his stay in Berlin.
One day Koyama caught him sitting at his desk, his elbows on the edge of the wooden finish and his fingers through his hair. A piece of paper sat right in front of him, blank and still waiting to be written on. Koyama tried to disturb the silence.
"Would you like anything to eat?" he asked politely, resting a hand on his shoulder, careful not to startle him with any motion or spur of the moment thoughts. Shige turned his neck to look at him over the shoulder then proceeded back to his writing, or lack thereof. "No, thank you."
There was nothing interesting in his room, Koyama thought as he stood in it for the first time since it was last occupied by a guest. The wallpaper was slowly peeling off, the floorboards creaked when he walked across the room, the desk was empty, and there sat a dull picture of Shige and a young lady. There were no traces of memory in the photograph, no sense of telling secrets.
"Who is she?"
Shige dropped his pen on the desk and rested back on the chair. "...my fiancee."
Koyama kept quiet. Blood rushed to his face and stayed there.
"She ran away before we were supposed to get married. She said she didn't love me; I couldn't do anything."
Koyama wondered how it seemed so easy for Shige to tell him all these things now, now when he saw fatigue in his face, stress under his eyes and the fit of melancholy on his lips. "She left you?"
"For another man," Shige turned to face him. "That's why I came here."
Shige ran away from matrimony. He ran away, because he had no other choice. She didn't want this to happen, and she didn't want to let it happen. They might as well have said that it was both their plan, but.
Koyama still wondered, his stomach churning and twisting. "Did you love her?"
Shige looked back at the blank sheet of paper sitting on his desk. Words were yet to be written. "I have."