Chapter 29: A Visit to the Shirne
Translator: Doris
Anyway, I went to the hill behind the hotel with my dad.
Before going out, he asked the hotel staff for directions and the details of the shrine.
The hotel staff told us that it would take us twenty minutes to walk to the foot of the hill and another twenty minutes to reach the top of the hill. If we wanted to make wishes, we’d better hurry up.
Hearing that, he tried to borrow a car from the hotel.
As a result, the hotel staff said that we could only drive the car to the foot of the hill, for the hill road was made of stone steps, so we couldn’t drive the car to the top. Also, the hotel staff didn’t want their car to be left unattended at the foot of the hill.
I said to my dad, “Forget it. We can walk faster. And we don’t have to make wishes, just taking a look.”
He ignored me and asked, “Do you have a motorcycle?”
The young girl (who was the hotel staff mentioned before) said: “We have one. But do you have the license?”
He said: “Yes. Can it carry others?”
Hearing it, I felt a bit astonished, staring at him with disbelief.
The young girl replied naively and cutely, “Of course. It’s the best for the couples to ride!”
... What the hell?
So, my dad rode that only motorcycle with me and set out.
This motorcycle was a little small, equivalent to a larger bicycle. So I sat in the back as if I was on the backseat of a bicycle.
Sitting there, I felt uncomfortable all over, I didn’t even know what to do with my hands and feet.
He said: “We were in a hurry. So I will drive faster. Take it easy.”
I: “...Ok.”
Certainly, he drove fast.
I had read the girls’ comic, so I knew that in this case, it was time to hug him from back. I wondered what he was thinking. When I almost held him, he suddenly slammed the brakes on. I found that we had reached a corner of a slope and a car galloped down the slope.
The car almost hit us!
Then the car left without any “guilt” about scaring us two foreigners... Although the driver may not regard us as foreigners.
At this time, he said: “Hold me tightly.”
Being still recovering from the shock, I asked: “What?”
He said, “We are gonna ride for upslope. Hold me, or you will fall down.”
I: “... Do you think I am still a child?”
He giggled, just saying, “Come on! Don’t be shy!”
I was not shy.
So I held him with my hands.
Then, I asked myself about why I didn’t hug him earlier. Why did I hesitate and waste the precious time before?
Did you remember what it was like to hug someone you liked for the first time? As for me, it was like a dream. How could he be so warm? His waist, his back, even the air around him were warm.
When I put my arms around him, instinctively I wanted to hold him tighter.
How should I describe it?
When I was so close to him, I realized that I indeed liked him deeply.
I recalled the plan that A spoke of on the plane that he would choose a special moment to kiss his husband at the Fireworks Show, so that they would freeze-frame the most wonderful moment, which would be an eternal memory in their life.
When I was holding my dad in my arms, I fully agreed with such a sappy statement.
—Yes, I had a dangerous idea now.
—It was nothing to put my cards on the table.
—Well, I should kiss him when the fireworks were in full bloom.
That was what Ms. XXXX meant, I guessed!
While, my dad didn’t know yet that I had come up with such a good plan without telling him.
How wonderful!
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I took a shower just now. Now I was gonna go to bed after finishing telling you about the trip to the shrine.
For my dad said he was gonna get up early tomorrow. He would go fishing with the president of XX Animation Club...What the hell? The Japanese treated the guests so specially that they would go fishing with the guests on their first meet-up.
When we arrived at the shrine, it was gonna be closed in seven minutes. But the staff was going to close it early, because it was not a tourist attraction, so they could open and close the shrine as the staff liked.
The door was already half closed.
I said, “Forget it. We can walk around. Don’t bother others.”
My dad didn’t agree. He asked the man who was closing the door: “Could we go in and make a wish? It takes us a whole day to come here. We have set out since sunrise.”
This was my literal translation. In fact, he sang a haiku on the spot.
If expressed in Chinese, it probably meant:
With the sun light, we came from afar;
After the twilight, we saw the mountain;
Telling our yearning for this place.
...The man was astonished by what my dad said and let us in.
The famous wishing tree was in the courtyard, on which many wooden and paper divination sticks were hung. That man said, “The wooden stick was used to pray for being together forever, while the paper one for achieving the wish quickly.”
Looking at them, he said, “Come on. Make the wish!”
I felt confused. All of us knew that this shrine was famous for blessing a happy marriage. Now he asked me to make a wish without any hesitation, which could be interpreted in two ways, I guessed.
First, he didn’t care whom my wish was related to.
Second, he was sure that my wish had something to do with him.
I certainly didn’t hope that it was due to the former. But if it was due to the latter, I would think I was like a lamb to be slaughtered.
So, during this trip, was it I who had subtle mentality or was it he who had foresight?
But anyway, he was right. Now that we came here, why not make a wish? So I took a wooden stick to make a wish. He saw me finishing my wish, then he took a wooden stick too.
When he made his wish, he turned his back on me and bowed his head.
Looking at him, I found the setting sun in the evening shining on him, which made him especially gentle and warm. There was a strange feeling in my mind, as if I had known his minds and we didn’t have to talk about it elaborately.
—In fact, if you liked someone, or someone around you liked you, you could feel it.
Wasn’t it that the reason why I had written my confusion for tens thousands of words was I felt that he had feelings for me?
So, similarly, how could he not understand that I like him?
Therefore, it was obvious that we couldn’t continue to keep the father-son relationship any more. Others could figure it out, but we were still thinking about how to deal with the change between us.
Alas.
That was it! After fishing, I would tell my dad my feelings for him.