📝 [Short Story] Just One More Time

I had known about that person for a long time.
I knew their name and their face.

I had liked them for so long that
every time I saw them, I couldn't help but follow them with my eyes.

However, we had never spoken.
I didn't even know if they knew I existed.
One night, I found them at a place I had stopped by.

Beyond the crowd, they were looking slightly to the side.
Usually, I think I would have been satisfied just finding them and then gone home.

But that day, they felt closer than ever.
I felt like if I reached out my hand, I could touch them.

I decided to try and get just a little bit closer.
The first time, nothing happened.
The second time, the distance closed just a little.

When I thought, 'This is it,' they moved further away again.
Just when I thought I had gotten closer, they drifted away.

Just when I thought I had reached them, they slipped through my fingers at the very last moment.
It was a cycle of that.
At first, even the things that didn't go well were fun.

But after a few times, I couldn't laugh anymore.
If it were someone other than me, they would probably reach that person's heart more easily.

Maybe I'm just not cut out for this.
I thought about going home many times.

Even so, every time I tried to walk away, the distance that had become just a little shorter than before held me back.
Just one more time.

I decided that and approached them once more.
It didn't go well.

This time for sure.
Just one more time.

I don't remember how many times I used those words.
When I thought, 'This will truly be the last time,' that person suddenly came toward me.

It was so sudden that I wasn't mentally prepared.
Reflexively, I stretched out both arms and caught them.

The face I had known for so long was right there beside me.
I was so happy that I smiled a little.

Even though I had taken such a long detour, the fact that just being by their side made everything up to that point feel worth it felt a little unfair.

On the way home, that person was by my side.
Even though it was the same road I had taken to get there, it felt much shorter.
A while later, in a different place, I saw someone who looked a lot like them.

Their name, the shape of their eyes, and even their slightly smug expression were very similar.
However, that person was surprisingly close.
If I had just gathered a little courage, it felt like I could have been by their side immediately.

I wouldn't have had to hesitate so many times like that day.
I wouldn't have had to almost give up so many times.
With this person, I might have been able to reach a very similar happiness more easily.

When I thought that, I almost started counting the time and feelings I had used up until that day, one by one.
Did I just take a long detour?

Was I just desperately trying on my own, offering up things that weren't even necessary?
I felt like I had lost out just a little bit.

When I returned home, that person was by the window.
With a face that knew nothing, just as they were that day, they were waiting for me.

If it were someone who looked like them, I might have been able to meet them more easily.
But the person I reached out to time and time again was not someone who just looked like them.
The times I tried to give up, the times I repeated 'just one more time' over and over, and the moment I finally reached them—everything was unique to the relationship between me and this person.

What I wanted wasn't an easy love.

It wasn't that I just wanted to be in love, either.
Including the long detour, I just really, truly wanted this person...

🎧 A song born from this story
Answer song: 'I'm Glad It Was You'

Actually, this is an investment account 😛
I've compiled my works into magazines, so I'd be happy if you took a look at them if you'd like 💕

Coming Soon…