Chapter 14

“Trust me and follow me; Forget everything, put it all down; Throw it all away except for me – Like the Sun”

Young K looked dubiously at the board.

“We really don’t have to do this you know,” he tried again.

“Of course we do. You work at ski centre, you must know how to ski, or at least, to snow board.”

It was Sunday, and they were off duty for the day.

“I can already slide a toboggan.”

“You are 22, no? Not 2,” Momo chided him.

“Why do people like these things, anyways,” Young K grumbled.

Young K can be considered as a genius. From being academically excellent, to vocally versatiled, to musically inclined to lyrically talented.

But sports was never in the list of the things Young K excelled in.

Unlike his little whirlwind.

She did not look the type, but Momo was very athletic, if winter sports were any benchmark.

He has seen her on skis and snowboards to know a skillful sporstman when he saw one. When they helped newbie customers put their gears on, Momo would normally demonstrate how to use one.

“Come on, it is not that difficult. Can you skateboard?”

“No, not really.”

“That’s ok. I teach you.”

So they spent almost three hours trying the sport, to an end that made Young K at least skillful enough to slide down a short hill without colliding into anyone or any trees.

The bruises he would keep for at least a week though.

The laughter and memories, he would keep a lifetime.

***

“Come on, just a little bit more,” Momo pulled him by his hand.

Dragging him up a snowy bank, in the dark.

It was another Sunday and she woke him way before sunrise to a trekking site about half hour away from their hostel.

If her earlier illegal truck drive did not already raise his alarm bells, the precarious slim treks around the mountain pathway, did.

He was not scared of heights, but the sharp drop by the mountain walkway terrains can be quite daunting in the dark.

“Here, we have arrived,” she announced once they reached a small clearing. “What do you think.”

“I think it's still dark.”

“Tsk… no imagination at all,” Momo huffed.

She took a water proof picnic mat from her back pack and spread it over the ground. She then took out some food items – some cut fruits, a container of handrolls and onigiri and two slightly lopsided cream puffs.

From the back pack she had made Young K earlier carry, she took out a flask of hot tea and her trusted bag of Japanese snacks.

Young K perked up immediately at the sight of the spread.

The sushi and fruits were painstakenly decorated, though he knew they were not Okasan’s handiwork.

“Did you make these?”

“Yes,” Momo answered, almost shy, “but I not good cook like Okasan.”

“Regardless, they look beautiful. I shall taste some then,” Young K asked for permission, somehow knowing she was anticipating his feedback on her cooking.

“Hait, dozo,” she let him.

“Oishi,” he said after a first mouthful of a basic salmon shushi, and he was not lying.

They were simple yet rightfully hitting his taste bud. The rice was in the right consistency with the precise amount of vinegar and salt.

“So ka?”

“Hait,” and he fed her with one.

“Itadakimasu,” she said belatedly with full.

“Good, huh?” he grinned. “You are a good cook, so don’t say that you’re not.”

“Hait.”

They munch silently, enjoying the peace until the sun crept slowly beyond the horizon.

“There,” Momo pointed out excitedly. “Sunrise.”

“Wow… Beautiful.”

And it was. The sight and the atmosphere made that dangerous hike worth it.

Brian was almost scared to say the word out loud, barely whispering it, so as not to disturb the serenity.

And as he looked at Momo’s wonderous face staring out in front of her, her cheeks pink from the long hike, he knew the word was not meant for the scenery alone.

***

“I put many thoughts on this,” Momo said excitedly, “I will save my money and go to the city and work as tour guide.”

The sun was barely up, easing away the cold mountain air, as they sat on the picnic mat. Or rather Momo sat as Young K laid back with his hands behind his head.

“That way I get to travel with the tour groups, but still have base in Tokyo,” she grinned down at him. “Best thing is that I get to promote my place as well and make money for the family.”

“And I want to show these places to people. Things you cannot find on normal tours,” Momo spread her arms, showing off the beautiful scenery in front of them. “If I cannot see other people’s world, I want other people to see mine.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Young K nodded, taking back his earlier worries of her shrivelling away in this little town. As much as it was quaint and beautiful, he somehow thought that Momo deserved more than just attending to other people.

And though being a tourist guide was also serving people, at least it was something that she liked and would have a sense of accomplishment with.

“With your English, I think you can have a headstart in the industry. I can teach you basic Korean too, if you want,” Young K said, echoing her enthusiasm.

She went went quiet all of a sudden.

“But the problem is, Okasan and Otosan will never let me go.”

“Why not?”

“They don't want what happened to Onii-chan to happen to me too.”

“Oh,” Young K turned to his side, getting a better look at her, “what happened to him?”

“Nothing really, only he went away to work and found a girl there.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“The girl does not want him to come home and visit much.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t know,” Momo shrugged, “but it is enough for my parents to be scared of losing me too.”

Momo followed his lead and lay down on the mat too.

“But it's ok to dream, no?” she smiled up to the sky, albeit a little sadly. “Also, I can just tour guide from here.”

“Yeah. Sure you can.”

Young K simply looked at her from his side.

He has dreamt for the longest time and was still struggling to reach that ultimate destination he hoped for.

That the band hoped for.

So, as simple as Momo’s dream was, he knew exactly how she felt.

And he would gladly give up his right arm to help her reach there too.