Teenage love is like a cancelled TV show.

Back then, I might have been so infatuated that I couldn't see anything else around me.

I met her at a school festival at an all-girls school.

The school festival at my friend's all-girls school was by invitation only, so you couldn't get in unless you knew someone.

I remember finally getting him to take me after treating him to meals at a family restaurant many times.

According to that friend, guys look 30% more attractive at an all-girls school, so

"You're seriously going to be treated like a hunk," he said.

"You're just exaggerating, right?"

That's what I thought.

……But it was true.

Just by walking with my friend,

"Is that your boyfriend?"

"Wow! He's so cool!"

Voices like that were flying at us from everywhere.

Thinking back on it now, for that one day, I felt like I had become Jun Matsumoto.

In that giddy atmosphere, I met her.

While my friend stepped away for a moment,

"Can I have a moment?"

She said that and started talking to me.

She was a first-year, two years younger than me.

She was an assertive girl, and before I knew it, she had taken my phone without anyone noticing and gave her number a missed call.

I was so dazed that before I knew it, I had gotten her contact information.

The scent of ANNA SUI's Sui Dreams was memorable.

She was so mature that I couldn't believe she was younger than me.

I was glued to her, with her curled hair and sparkling presence.

"That would be against the school rules at my high school."

Thinking things like that, I pretended to be cool.

As we parted, she whispered for me to contact her, and we both waved with smiles so no one around us would notice.

……Or so I thought, but when I turned around, my friend was there.

"Hey, weren't you just talking to a first-year?"

My friend returned with a wicked smile and started spreading the word.

"Hey, everyone listen!"

"This guy exchanged contacts with a first-year and is looking all smug!"

With those words,

"Lolicon!"

"Gross!"

"Go home!"

The popular guy from a moment ago fell from grace in an instant.

I left the scene as if running away, gave my friend a cheeky grin, and went home with my prize.

For some reason, it became a rumor in my own class too, and I don't know who started it, but everyone started calling me "Lolicon-man" as if it were natural.

I didn't care at all.

Maybe I should have cared a little.

My interactions with her were fun every day.

At night, we would talk on our phones,

timing it right to use the cordless phones at home for long calls.

We often went on dates on the weekends.

We would both pretend to be a little possessive,

enjoying time that felt like playing house as lovers.

She was a free-spirited girl.

"It's not like you'll lose anything by it."

"If you try dating and don't like it, you can just break up."

She was the kind of girl who would say things like that.

When we were alone on a date at a summer festival,

"You can kiss me here now if you want."

That's what she said.

My heart wouldn't stop pounding.

Even though I thought it was cool for the guy to confess,

before I knew it,

"Please go out with me."

I replied,

and as if being drawn into her eyes, I was led by her and had my first kiss with her.

I discovered that unexpected side of her during our anniversary date.

When we were choosing a present for her together at a shopping mall, she picked up a 500-yen accessory and

"Can I buy this?"

she asked a bit hesitantly.

"Of course you can."

There was a part of me that was trying to look cool.

The assertive yet pure girl was still there.

If I had met her in my 20s,

I feel like I would have been made to spend 100 times more money.

But the breakup was sudden.

I sent her an email as usual.

What came back was,

"This address does not exist."

It was an era without LINE or social media.

Maybe I was just dense and didn't notice the changes.

Love back then could end with just a single email address.


The love I experienced was like a cancelled TV show that ended before reaching the final episode.

It remains as a beautiful memory.

……That said,

when I remember that everyone called me "Lolicon-man" back then,

it really was a slightly funny teenage romance.

For some reason, the friend who took me to the school festival also called me Lolicon-man for a while.