August, Tokyo Japan

If I told you all about my life, you wouldn’t believe a single word. And I wouldn’t blame you. After all, if someone were to share what I am about to with you, I wouldn’t believe it either. This isn’t the movies; this is reality and this is my real life.

See that boy over there? The one pushing the trolley. OK, so he’s no longer a boy but a full-grown man. In fact, he’s a whole two years older than me, although in my eyes and mind, he will always be a child. His behaviour is still like a kid, especially when he’s trying to sneak some candy into the trolley, thinking no one’s looking.

“Kris Wu! Put that back now!” I called out from the produce section. My harsh tone earned me disapproving looks from the other shoppers. Sighing inwardly, I chased Kris, who was making his getaway. I placed a firm hand on the trolley and removed the box of sweets. “What do you think you are doing? You have loads of candy back home and we only have another week in Japan. Are you sure you can finish everything by then?” I spoke softer, switching from Japanese to Mandarin.

“Aww Am, you’re such a wet blanket,” He grumbled under his breath but didn’t fight it. Once I got all Mum on him, Kris knew there was no messing around.

I had my victory but kept my stoic face on, steering the trolley towards the checkout. As we walked through the snack food aisle, I saw Kris glance longingly at the rows of candy. Behind stood, two schoolgirls giggling with their eyes on us. Or rather on Kris. Even in a foreign land, Kris stood out from the crowd, with his enviable height and looks straight from a manga comic. I muttered under my breath, “Kris Wu Fan, breaking hearts since 1990.”

He must have heard me, for he glanced round and noticed his admirer. Flashing a grin towards them, he said, “I can’t help it if they find me dashing.” If there was something that Kris didn’t lack, it was confidence. Who would have guessed that only 10 years ago, he was painfully shy?

We unloaded the groceries onto the conveyor belt, moving in sync. The cashier commented while scanning the items, “Ah, it’s always nice to see two young people in love.”

I caught a glimpse of our reflection in the mirror – the buffoon and I did appear like a couple, albeit mismatched since Kris was way prettier than I was. And in a way, we were a couple. Actually, more than that.

Before I could put her straight, Kris beat me to it. With another blinding smile, he told her in perfect Japanese, “Thank you. I’m so lucky to have her as my wife.”

The well-meaning obasan couldn’t hide her surprise. “Wow, both of you are really young to be married.”

Without skipping a beat, the man next to me nodded as he packed the cloth bags with our purchases. “Well, since I’ve found the one, I can’t let her go.”

I rolled my eyes. There was no point flipping out on Kris right here, I would end up getting a long lecture about how a young wife is supposed to be submissive to her husband from the cashier. This was the way the Japanese society portrayed marriage to be, at least on the surface. Gritting my teeth, I dipped my head in respect to the older lady, as I muttered in Mandarin so she could not understand me, “Kris Wu, can you stop misleading people?”

Kris sniggered, he could tell I was struggling to pretend I was docile. “Relax. No one knows us in Japan.” He spoke in Mandarin again. I just ignored him and toted a bag off, making my way out of the supermarket. I trotted briskly along the sidewalk. Kris leisurely followed behind, talking away, oblivious.

“Anyway, sooner or later, you will be my wife.” Kris stated matter-of-factly.

At this reminder, I slowed down. Kris came up to my right and linked arms with me. He already had his sunglasses on and hugged his bag of groceries against his chest as though it weighed nothing.

Believe it or not, I had been betrothed to this boy, no man, when we were toddlers. Yes, as bizarre as it sounds, our marriage had been arranged when I was four and Kris six, and no, this wasn’t the ‘60s. It just happened to be the way Kris’ father, who I call Uncle Wu, repay his debt to my father.

They were bes