[bright] time

(bright side)

After finishing the game and doing a brief visit, I took the train to Shinto's new apartment.

After leaving the station, there is a large-scale fresh food supermarket directly opposite the station. After taking the tram home from Qiyuan, he seems to buy vegetables here.

Although there are convenience stores near the apartment where he lives, the products are always not as complete as the supermarket and are more expensive, so he always likes to come here.

After walking for about 7 minutes, I came to a [-]-story building, entered the elevator and pressed the button for the [-]th floor.

This is Shinto's new home.

The house is [-] years old, but it has just been renovated recently, and it is still quite new overall.It takes about [-] minutes to get here by tram from Qiyuan. It is a bit far from the city, so it is quite quiet here.

Most of the nearby houses are individual residences or middle-rise apartments. This building should be regarded as the tallest building in the vicinity. You can even see the distant mountain view from the balcony.

When I first arrived at Shindo's house, I stood on the balcony and watched for a long time.Because the home is a Japanese-style building, this kind of scenery is very new to me.

…and then that same day, he handed me a backup key here.

"Come if you want, Taya.No need to ring the doorbell like today. 』

It's been almost a month since he moved, but I haven't used it yet.

If he is not there, I will not want to go to his house; if he is, I am used to ringing the bell, and he will answer the door anyway.

Every time he opened the door and saw me, he just smiled and told me to go in without saying anything...

Holding the key in my pocket, I began to consider whether I should try to use it today.

The elevator came to the designated floor and opened the door. I walked to the door on the side. There was [-] written on the door, and there was a door plate with the word "Jin Teng" on the wall.After watching the bell for a while, I finally decided to take out the key and open the door.

"excuse me."

After closing the door and hearing the sound of the door automatically locking, I found a pair of unfamiliar leather shoes in the entrance...

"Shinto, you are slow! The kimchi is almost burnt! The spiciness increases quickly──......"

It was Xiuying who opened the door from the living room and walked out, holding a spoon in her hand.

"...Taya...?"

Why... Xiuying is here...?

Just as the two of us were standing still in surprise, there was a sound of unlocking the door behind us.

"I'm back.──ㄟ?"

Shinto held a plastic bag in his hand, glanced at us standing at the door,

"You're here, Taya. Go in, don't stand here." Handing the bag to Xiuying,

"Xiuying, the spicy miso you want. I've been looking for it for a long time. It's not as common in Japan as it is in Korea. I went to several supermarkets!"

"Thank you for your hard work! Taya will stay and eat together, too? I'm cooking a special dish!"

Xiuying took the things and walked towards the kitchen with a smile.

I immediately grabbed Shinto's hand and asked in a low voice as much as possible,

"Why didn't you tell me Xiuying was at your house?"

"Ah? Didn't you see my email?" Shinto asked me in surprise.

"Post──..."... That's right... I haven't turned on the phone since I turned it off before, completely forgetting that I have a mobile phone.

"Didn't you see it?"

"Um…."

"That's right....But there's no need to be so surprised, right? Your face is turning blue." Shinto lifted my cheek and looked at my face.

How could I not turn blue?

Pulling his hand away, I said, "I just... used the backup key to open the door and come in."

"..."

"I didn't come back with you. I didn't ring the doorbell. I opened the door with the key and came in."

I actually have the key to enter Fuji's house... Xiuying should have discovered it, but there is no response...

"...It should be like this?...Didn't I always leave the key on the door before? Xiuying came here a few times before and read me. Just pretend it's the same this time, okay?

rest assured!It's fine.Do not think too much.Shall we go first?Standing here is rather strange.Walk! "

Then he pushed me into the living room.

Is he too optimistic or I think too pessimistic?

However, there is nothing else to do.Xiuying didn't ask anything, and we couldn't explain anything, because it would only get darker and darker.

***

After dinner, Xiuying invited me to play chess and reviewed a few chess records he brought from Korea. Xiuying felt very positive and enthusiastic, but nothing else changed, as if nothing had happened.

Maybe, as Shindo said, it's just that I'm thinking too much.

It was past ten o'clock, Xiuying went to take a shower, and I was going to go back, Shindo escorted me to the elevator entrance, and he started to say after entering the elevator,

"Afternoon, halfway through your game, Xiuying called. He said that he was in Japan and wanted to play a game of chess with me. By the way, let's see how I am doing recently.

When I picked him up at the station, I found that he didn't bring any luggage. I felt that everything was in a hurry. Maybe it was a temporary proposal?I just asked him to live here.I'm sorry, Taya. "

Shinto looked like he had done something wrong, maybe he wanted to apologize since just now?But Xiuying was there, so she endured it all the time.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"Aren't you shocked just now? ... I feel a little sorry."

"...You are really an idiot. I didn't read the email. Even if I have to apologize, it should be me, right? And you came here suddenly." He always blocked himself for everything.

Shindo gave me the feeling that he should be a more self-centered person, but after starting to date, I found that this is not the case.

No..., it should be said...he is indeed a dictatorial person...he pours his feelings on me dictatorially, as if he is afraid that I don't understand, that I can't feel it, or that I won't accept it..., all in one brain Give it to me.

On the first floor, Shinto walked out of the elevator with me, as if he wanted to see me to the station.

"Just get here. I'll go to the station by myself. Go up quickly."

"Huh? Why? Don't I usually take you home and take you to the station? Let me accompany you to the station. What's the matter?"

Here he is again.

What he said reminded me of a lot of things that I have been in contact with until now, but they have always made me feel very angry.

Staring at Shinto's unacceptable expression:

"Shindo Hikari. Do you treat me like a child? Or as a woman? Why are you so cautious and worried? I can protect myself and you don't have to worry about it!"

"What nonsense? When did I treat you as a woman and child? I want to send you off just to talk to you more and to be together for a longer time.... Well, there may be a little bit of worry, but isn't it normal? ? You are the one I like."

"But it's not normal for me! I don't like that you are so careful, as if you want to carry me on your back every day. I can walk well by myself without your worries!"

"...tsk, hoo~"

Being speechless by my words, Shinto ruffled his hair irritably,

"...I see..., I will change it....It's just that I didn't expect you to mind this...Hey...So it's like this..., So that's it...I see."

It was only then that I felt that I was being too strict, thinking that his mood had reached the bottom, but for some reason he laughed again.

"What are you laughing at?" It was really a weird person.

"It's nothing." Smiling and shaking his head, "It's just...it's been a long time since I saw your unforgiving expression, so I feel relieved."

"...?" What are you talking about?

"You guys are always fierce and strict as hell, and you won't back down if you say no.

But when facing someone you like, such as a teacher, Aunt Akiko, or Miss Shihe, etc., you are very tolerant and easily give in.

…But they are indeed very good people, and they are worthy of your treatment, so it's not that I don't understand your feelings.

It's just that after you started dating, you seem to have put that kind of "tolerance" on me? "

"No way."

"Yes.... You didn't want to have a mobile phone at first, right? You did it in the end. You didn't plan to attend the flower viewing festival, did you? In the end, you attended it. The same is true for my house keys... You didn't accept it at first, but you accepted it in the end. Are you still using it today?

..., I always feel that you are always giving in and cooperating with me, sometimes making me unable to see the real you. "

“…I never feel like I’m giving in.” Because those are things I want to do.

"I don't feel like I'm pampering you either." Shinto said it as a matter of course.

"…Yeah."

I think…,

We may all be so focused on looking at each other's faces that we ignore the expression reflected in each other's eyes.

I only want to treat the other party in the way I think is most suitable, but ignore whether the other party likes this way.We are all too careful,...too careful in caring for this hard-won relationship.

"..., I'm going back. Hurry up, Xiuying may have taken a bath."

"Hmm...Ah, Taya!"

"what?"

"At least call or email me when you get home?"

"..." Does he want to see my angry face so much?

"No! Slow down and get angry! Don't you still do this? Tell me to call and report to you when I get home or go on a business trip? I just told you to do the same thing, why are you so angry?"

"...That's because. For. You!! Always get involved in some inexplicable and strange incidents for no reason!

There was an air crash on a plane, and an accident on a train. Even the last time I just played chess with Ms. Sakurano, I could make it until Ms. Sakurano suddenly had severe labor pains and sent her to the delivery room!You tell me what strange incidents you haven't encountered! ? "

I remembered why I decided to get a mobile phone.

On his first day back in Japan, Shindo said that he would catch someone at the chess academy to play chess to pass the time, and wait for me to finish playing chess.

In the end, the person I was looking for was Ms. Sakurano who was on maternity leave and just came back to the chess academy to have a look.

After the game ended, I waited for three full hours in the lounge, but no one knew where he was going, and I couldn't contact anyone, which made me worry terribly.

Dare I suddenly change my mind about getting a mobile phone! ?It is clear that he is too unexpected!

"Miss Sakurano, that's a good thing, it can't be called a strange thing──."

"...." Shinto always had a lot of excuses at times like this.glared at him.

"ㄟ..., well... I admit that I still encounter strange events quite often... But this is beyond my control, you have to know that I am also──Hey! How can anyone listen to half of what is said!? "

"I'm going back. I don't want to hear your nonsense."

When I got out of the elevator and came to the lobby, the electric door opened automatically, and I left Shinto behind.

"Taya! Email me when you get home!"

"understood!"

***

(light side)

After watching Taya go back, I took the elevator back upstairs.

Last week, I received a call from that dead brat Chengxi, telling me that I finally beat Xiuying in the public match, and told me to wash my neck and wait for him to kill me.Hey, he's really a brat who only has arrogance and can't lose.

Whether the ebb is low or not, outsiders always judge by how much they win or lose.

But we are not. Of course winning or losing is very important, but how much inspiration, how much fun, and how much possibility each move contains is another criterion for judging. Of course, the judgment in this aspect is actually very abstract.

Although it is abstract, we as chess players can clearly feel,

"Play a game of chess and this guy will become very threatening."

The loss at this time can only be said to be the firing of guns at the starting point, guiding the path of evolution.

It's just... Whether it's from the outside world or the chess player's point of view, Xiuying's current chess... is undoubtedly at a low ebb.His chess lacks the most important fun.

I don't know if it's because of the imminent recruiting for military service, but he was too anxious to get the title so that he couldn't reach the level he should have.

Now Xiuying seems to be unable to break free from some unknown restraint, as if lost in the chessboard...

"Welcome back!"

After entering the house, Xiuying, who had taken a bath, poked her head out of the kitchen drinking water.

"Hey, I suddenly thought I was back in Seoul. I'm back."

Xiuying also smiled: "Oh, that's right. It would be great if Shindo stayed in Korea all the time! I don't have to travel all the way to Japan to find you to play chess, how inconvenient is that?"

"Hehe~, I'm sorry."

"Did Taya go back? Why didn't you stay? I wanted to sleep in the living room, so I let him sleep in the study."

"Ah, he has work tomorrow morning. I said, why are you pretending to be good? You just want to tie him here to play chess with you enough?"

"Heh...it's been seen..."

"Give me enough time. Your personality, which is determined to win, is really difficult to deal with. It really hasn't changed at all."

"... Heh... there's no way... I only have this... I've won others.... That's all..."

I was half-joking like before, but Xiuying's reaction was beyond my expectation, it was different from the interaction mode that should have before...Sooyoung feels vulnerable now.He has always been a person who becomes more courageous when frustrated. I have never seen such a powerless Xiuying. ...what the hell is wrong with this guy?

"...show──"

"Shindo! Do you remember the first time we met? Although I lost at the time,...but at the same time, I also regained the goal of playing chess and regained the confidence of chess pieces....I came to Japan this time to...get back the old self Own."

Xiuying was sitting in front of the chessboard, clenched her hands on her thighs, with a sad expression that was close to anger, she pulled herself together and said:

"Shinto, please! Can I stay here for a while?"

"Stupid Xiuying. Please say what? You can stay as long as you like!

Did you forget it?I was going to Korea but you invited me.In other words, I can play my own chess like I am now, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is because of your invitation? "

"...That matter. Heh~, to be honest, I was just talking casually at the time. After all, which current Japanese chess player would want to automatically downgrade and cut his salary to come to Korea as a contract chess player?

Who knew you really flew to Seoul with three letters of recommendation.I didn't know you were joking until I picked you up at the airport and saw you coming out of customs... "

"What? You kid!? So I've been tricked by you for so many years?"

"Oh... sorry.

But I'm really glad you came to Korea, and I'm glad to be a colleague with you.I mean it, Shinto. "

"Forget it. You were joking then, but I'm not now. I'm telling the truth. You can live as long as you like, Xiuying. Until you get back the confidence you want."

"...Thank you, Shinto..."

I have always been very grateful to Xiuying.

He told me that there is still a way to go by contracting chess players when I was most lost and at a loss.After arriving in Seoul, Xiuying helped me get used to life in Korea and taught me Korean.

Without Xiuying's invitation, I really don't know what I would be like now, and what would happen to me and Taya?

So this time, it was me who helped him.

I made up my mind when I saw Sooyoung's distraught look at the station.