Chapter 19

“Good bye; Since yesterday you were frozen in me - Winter is gone”

“Hey, Mochi, go get your laptop.”

The name stuck despite her earlier distaste for it.

“Ok.”

Momo did not know what he was up to then, but she was game for whatever he had in mind.

If she thought he was particularly attentive towards her yesterday, he was more so today.

He has been glued to her from the start of their visit to the shrine.

Helping her with her chores at the hostel.

Eating with her and her parents.

Holding her hand every chance he got.

Not to mention how his eyes nearly popped at the sight of her in a kimono.

Not that she was complaining.

She was savouring every moment she could get from him.

As Momo ran in to get her computer, Young K took out a small Japanese table from his room.

One that required no chairs.

Once, Momo came out with her PC, they settled in with their legs blanketed under the table.

“What’s that anime you love so much?”

“Kimi no na wa?”

“Hait, that one. Let’s watch that. I haven’t seen it.”

“Ok.”

And they spent the next an hour and a half enjoying the movie on Kissanime.

Munching on Japanese snacks instead of popcorn, and green tea instead of cola.

Halfway through the movie, Young K stretched his arms and tried to casually rest one on her shoulder.

“Is this a physical version of that mochi pick up line?” Momo asked with her eye brows lifted high.

Making Young K drop his hands like hot coals.

He kind of miss the old Momo with the stilted English and limited vocabulary.

At his embarrassed face, Momo smiled and offered her hand instead.

And leaned her head against his shoulder.

Young K looked at her in surprise but smiled gratefullly.

Enveloping her tiny hand in his huge ones, he in turn, rested his head on hers.

And they continued watching anime comfortably.

It was close to 1.00am by the time they finished the movie.

“That was really good,” Young K acknowledged. “Kinda sad but good.”

“Yes,” Momo replied. “But it has a good happy ending, no?”

“Yeah, thank god. I’m not in the mood for sad stories tonight.”

“Why? Did something happen? Back home?”

“No, everything’s fine,” Young K reassurred her, yet not really meeting her eye.

Momo started to feel uneasy.

Has the the people who wanted to do ill upon him, striked again?

He has been fairly mum about it; and she did not prod either.

The lovely month that passed by has made her forget how Brian initiatlly ended at her place.

“So, that was our second date to be exact,” he said, pulling her back to the present.

His hands was still laced with hers.

“It was, wasn’t it?” Momo replied, looking up at him.

He was a head taller than her, even when sitting down.

She did not know why, but she wanted to virtually imprint his face at that moment.

They were sitting in the dark.

But the lights from the yonder ski slope spotlights and from her laptop, casted an ethereal glow on him.

“Thank you,” she said.

“What for? The cheap date?” he chuckled.

“No, for being my friend.”

Young K shook his head, finding it funny that she would want to thank him.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he looked at her seriously. “I should be the one to say thank you. To you and your parents. Even the guys at the ski centre. You don’t know what it means to me… to have someone take me in, at no conditions at all. No questions at all.”

Momo did not like the way the conversation was flowing.

It sounded like the beginning of a good bye to her.

So, she cleared and brushed the uneasy feeling.

“You are our mongrel-boy, a stray we just had to rescue,” she said jokingly, turning his hated word for Naoki into something so ultimately sweet.

So sweet it was tearing his heart apart.

Young K looked at Momo, memorising every part of her face.

From the smatter of freckles on her nose to the dimples at either side of her cheeks to the full natural redness of her lips.

“You’re such a breath of fresh air,” he said. “If we were in another lifetime, I would keep you. Tuck you beside me and never let you go. I’d spend endless days stacking toboggans and climbing hills with you, and endless nights singing to you. I would let you make me fat with your yummy sushis and spend weekends long on anime marathons.”

Young K paused to tuck a stray hair behind her ear.

“I’d make you mine and let you make me yours.”

He smiled softly at her, almost a little sadly.

“Unfortunately, we are in this lifetime, and I have to go back to my world. A world that is definitely not for likes of your innocence.”

It was a heartfelt speech.

Spoken with as much love as it was with wistful regret.

Alas, Momo did not fathom a single word he said.

As Young K spoke in full Korean.

He did not really mean for her to understand anyways, it was more of him barring his soul to the first girl who really captured his heart.

Momo cocked her head, not understanding what he said yet realising its graveness.

“Are you leaving?” She asked in panic.

He simply smiled.

She was always a smart girl, but he felt compelled to lie.

“No, how can I? I’d lose my way again, if I do.”

Momo sighed in relief, “sugoi…”

He smiled at her word.

Cool. He will always marvel at the inappropriateness of her words in the gravity of situations.

Without asking for permission, Young K took her in his arms, enveloping her in his warmth.

He rocked her slowly in the same beat of the cold wind.

“I really love sitting here with you,” he said in stilted Japanese, honouring her by speaking in her mother tongue.

She smiled.

“Me too.”

“I think we’ve shared quite a lot here, don’t you think?”

“Yes, you have taught me a lot.”

“No, I haven’t,” he protested, back in English, looking down at her.

“Yes, you have.”

“Amuteun,” he continued to hold her, pulling her hands to wrap them around his waist. “I really love our chats and fights. They make me sleep better at night. Much better than One Piece.”

She laughed at his declaration, flattered than he chose her for top spot instead of his favourite anime.

And I’m going to miss them so damn much. Miss you so damn much, he said. But this time only in his heart.

They stayed that way for quite a bit before Young K reluctantly pushed Momo away.

“Go on,” he said, “time to sleep. You have school tomorrow.”

“Ok,” Momo said, feeling sad all of a sudden.

After putting their stuff away, they met again to bid good night.

“I see you tomorrow, Brian-san?”

It was more of a question instead of a statement

At which, his answer was a long lingering stare.

He bend towards her and slowly touch his warm lips to hers.

It was a kiss of innocence. Of friendship. Of gratitude.

Young K lingered long enough to make Momo close her eyes to savour the kiss.

Long enough for him to have a hint of her sweetness.

Long enough for her to forget her earlier question.

He pulled away from her slowly and started to prompt her towards her door again.

Standing still as he watched her move in daze towards its threshold.

“By the way,” he called out, making her stop midway, “its Kang. My name is Brian Kang Younghyun.”

His words snapped her out of her daydream immediately.

She looked towards him in wonder.

Not really understanding the significance of his declaration, but guessing its importance.

“Thank you,” she frowned and smiled at the same time. “For giving me your name at last.”

***

Young K stood outside her door, knowing she was already asleep.

The household was dark and quiet.

He felt like prick leaving without saying a proper goodbye.

But he knew it was better that way.

“Chajata!”

He received a private mail that morning.

“I found you,” the mail said.

This time accompanied by various pictures of him and Momo working and playing around the ski centre.

And in town - the day before.

“I’m sending this only to you this time. Just so you’ll know we’re not done yet.”

The mail prompted him to call his Manager straight away and asked to be picked up in the middle of the night.

Leaving a full day of saying goodbye to Momo and her family before that.

Yet he could not really leave them.

Not empty handed, anyways.

So, he quietly slipped an envelope of money for his food and lodgings, under Momo's door.

And took off the only prized possession he had at that moment.

The silver chain around his neck.

He looked down at the necklace in his palm, and then stared at her door as if he could see her sleeping behind it.

Return this to me Mochi, he called out to her silently.

If you’re smart and I know you are, come find me.

I’ll be waiting for you.

And he hung the chain around her door knob and quietly left the building to the awaiting vehicle down the road.

Foxi's Notes - Kimi no Nawa is basically the infomal / shorten version of 'Ki mi no na ma e wa' (君の名前は) meaning What is you name? or May I ask your name? So I thought our two guys watching the anime Kimi No Wa (a multiple award winning 2016 Japanese animated drama film written and directed by Makoto Shinkai) and Young K finally revealing his name (& himself in a way) was kinda apt. Loved the anime and loved the OST Zen Zen Zense even more.