Beyond that fleeting escape—what love alone cannot protect

Today during the day, I went to Hello Work with my son.

While looking for part-time jobs and checking job postings, I happened to find a listing for a company that had previously given my son a business card.

I had him call them, and we arranged for the company to contact him this evening.

I don't know how things will turn out yet.

But my son, who until recently was wandering around at night and living a life where day and night were reversed, was making a call about his own work today.

Watching him from the side, I was reminded of that night a little while ago.
When I asked him on the way to Hello Work today, it seems he still hasn't been able to get in touch with his girlfriend.
Her phone isn't where he thought he hid it, and he doesn't even know where it is now.

As his father, I don't know what my son is thinking about that night or about her right now.
I just think it's unlikely that he feels nothing at all.
The fleeting escape of my son and the girl that I wrote about the other day.

If you isolate just that event, it is certainly not something to be praised.

In fact, if one thing had gone wrong, there is a possibility it could have become a much bigger problem.

Because he is 17.

Because he wanted to protect the girl he loved.

These are not excuses that make it acceptable.

If something had happened as a result,

"I didn't mean for that to happen"

would not be enough to settle it.

I want my son to understand that point.

However—

Thinking about it as a parent after some time has passed, I also think that those two must have had their own feelings.

Perhaps the girl also had a reason for not wanting to go home.

Perhaps there was also rebellion against her parents.

Of course, I don't know the true circumstances of that family.

So I cannot say anything selfish.

Even so, my son, in his own way,

"I want to do something for her"

"I want to be with her"

perhaps those were the feelings he had.

My son has always been a kind person at his core.

But this time, he used that kindness in the wrong way.

That night, he might have thought he was protecting her.

But what does it really mean to protect someone?

Running away together is not the only way to protect someone.

Sometimes it means stopping them.

Sometimes it means sending them home.

If you can't handle it on your own, it means asking an adult for help.

I think that is also a way of protecting the other person.

If I were young, I probably wouldn't have understood that.

"I'm with her because I love her"

I would have thought that was enough.

But now that I am a father, I think:

If you want to be a man who can protect the person you love, first become a man who can take responsibility for his own actions.

This is not just about romance.

It's the same for work, school, and friendships.

When something unpleasant happens.

When things don't go as planned.

Do you run away?

Or do you face it in your own way?

The one call he made to the company from Hello Work today might be practice for that.

It might be a small thing.

But as a parent, I want him to keep stacking up steps like that.

When I was around 17, I was not an adult at all when it came to romance.

If I had a girl I liked,

"I'll be with her forever"

"We'll be together in the future"

I seriously thought things like that.

The girl from the 180SX story I wrote about in the article.

The me from back then would flash the hazard lights five times on the way back after dropping her off,

a sign for "I love you."

I was seriously doing things like that (laughs).

Thinking about it now, I think I was young.

But I was serious at the time.

Someday my son will get his license too.

He'll drop her off at home.

I wonder if he'll flash his hazard lights five times when they part.

I hope the day comes when he can have that kind of normal youth.

Not in the form it took this time.

Falling in love with someone,

and wanting to protect someone,

are never bad things.

However, if you direct those feelings in the wrong way, you can end up hurting not just yourself, but the other person too.

I hope that through this event, my son can feel that, even if just a little.

And today.

I watched from the side as my son went to Hello Work with me and called the company himself.

It's just one phone call.

Nothing has been decided yet.

Even so, as a parent,

it looked like he was trying to take a step on his own feet in a different direction than that night.

17 years old.

He will make mistakes.

He will make wrong judgments.

Whether it's romance or friendships, he will surely worry many more times from here on out.

I'm sure there will still be many times when I, as a parent, will hold my head in my hands.

Even so, someday,

I hope the day comes when we can laugh and talk about it, saying, "I was young back then."

However, I want him to stop at the point where it can be a funny story.

Because if you cross the line, it can't be a funny story.

I don't know what will happen with her from here on.

Will they be together forever?

Will they walk separate paths someday?

Only the two of them know that.

But if they can become adults who can someday look back on even this night and laugh, that is enough.

Hasn't everyone had this?

When you were young,

"I want to be with this person forever"

"I'll be with this person in the future"

times when you both got seriously excited about things like that.

Looking back now, it's a little embarrassing, yet somehow nostalgic.

That kind of romance.

I have it too.

The me from back then, whom I still remember when I see a 180SX, was like that.

While watching my son's fleeting escape,

instead of just getting angry,

I was also remembering a little bit of my own past self.