【Novel】To be continued～Chapter 6 — Just Before Love～

The Next Day — Sunday

That day, I decided to ride my bicycle to a supermarket a little farther away.

I made my way through the flow of motorbikes, crossed a huge intersection, and finally arrived.

"The fruit I bought here last time was so good."

It was enormous. You could spend ages exploring every corner of the place.

There was no shortage of things to look for as souvenirs.

I picked up some yogurt for myself—and, of course, I couldn't forget the Bintang beer.

Checking my shopping list, I put things into the cart one by one.

Then, suddenly, I thought—

Maybe I should get something for Coach Theo, too.

I wandered over to the organic food section and found some cereal bars.

The packaging looked stylish enough, but they didn't exactly look delicious.

I joined the checkout line.

The person in front of me had an enormous amount of groceries.

I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I'd gotten carried away filling my cart with all sorts of things.

I'd bought a little too much.

There was no way everything would fit into that tiny bicycle basket.

Reluctantly, I decided to put a few things back.

I turned to the person behind me and said something before stepping out of line to return some items.

"Hello!"

I was thinking, I'm in a hurry, when I turned around.

A woman was standing there with a smile.

My eyes landed on a bag of roasted almonds.

"Are they good?" I asked.

"Delicious!"

Of course.

The standard answer.

She handed me one almond to try.

And then I thought—

That's it.

I'll give him these.

I took one bag and headed back toward the checkout.

Then I suddenly turned around and went back for another bag.

One for him.

One for me.

When I returned to the line, the person in front of me still hadn't finished paying.

Thank goodness.

I somehow squeezed the two large bags into my little bicycle basket and tied them down with the handles of the shopping bags.

By the time I made my way back to the villa through the stream of motorbikes, I was completely exhausted from the weight and the heat.

That afternoon, I went to my usual spa.

My body was still carrying some stiffness.

As always, my favorite therapist slowly worked through my entire body, loosening every knot.

Once again, my mind and body seemed to melt away, little by little.

I must have fallen asleep for a while.

When the treatment ended, I was the only customer left.

Because I was already familiar with the staff, the three of us began chatting in a mixture of English, Indonesian, and Japanese.

Apparently, girl talk really is universal.

Somehow, we understood one another.

"Japanese men are kind."

"And handsome!"

"Introduce us to your boyfriend!"

We laughed.

"Oh, speaking of which—I took a photo with my Pilates coach."

"Want to see?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"He's so tall and handsome!"

One of the women began explaining something.

Apparently, people from the highland towns of West Java were known for being especially good-looking.

Ah.

So that's why his features looked a little different from those of Balinese men.

At last, the mystery was solved.

Finally, Monday.

I had asked the hotel to serve breakfast a little earlier than usual.

A bowl of warm oatmeal cooked in milk arrived at the table.

It came with fresh fruit, too, and was surprisingly good.

I hurried through breakfast and rode my bicycle toward the studio.

"Good morning!"

It wasn't even eight in the morning, yet the studio was already crowded.

Clearly, everyone else had a very different idea of what an early morning should look like.

The Australians seemed to be having a great time, filing into the studio one after another.

"Good morning!"

The coach greeted me with the same fresh, easy smile as before.

My eyes were drawn to his muscular upper arms and broad chest.

There wasn't a trace of unnecessary bulk anywhere on him.

His entire body looked almost sculpted.

I took the small bag of almonds from my bag and quietly held it out to him.

"Here, please have this. It's good for your muscles!"

He looked at the bag, narrowing his eyes slightly in surprise.

"Are these from Japan?"

He smiled softly.

"No, in Bali. It's good for your muscles."

That was about all the English I could manage.

Still...

What was it about him?

What was the source of that presence he seemed to carry around with him?

He smiled again and carefully accepted the little bag.

"Thank you."

We stepped into the glass-walled studio.

Soft morning sunlight filtered through the curtains.

Theo greeted everyone and went around the room, checking each student's name.

"Rio!"

"Yes!"

Wait.

Wasn't my name supposed to be "Lee"?

Maybe he had checked the roster.

Either way, he remembered my real name.

And that made me happy.

Today's lesson was different from the previous one.

Once again, I kept one eye on the regular students and desperately tried to follow along.

I set up my reformer just like everyone else.

A little while after the lesson began, two more students joined us.

They looked like beginners.

I was secretly relieved.

At least my own clumsy movements wouldn't stand out quite so much anymore.

So this was the time when the studio got busy.

There were so many students that Theo didn't have much time to come over to me.

He corrected the position of my arm, and his fingertips brushed against my skin.

Ah.

Those slightly cool hands.

Every time his fingertips touched me, something seemed to make a quiet sound deep inside my chest.

He moved around the room with a serious look in his eyes, keeping track of so many students at once.

And then, every now and then, a boyish smile would appear, followed by his laughter.

That contrast made it impossible for me to look away.

I became completely absorbed in the movements.

Before I knew it, the lesson was over.

The Australians barely glanced at the cold towels offered after class and headed straight out.

"See you tomorrow!"

I waved to Theo.

He answered with a smile.

At the reception desk, I checked tomorrow's reservation just to be sure.

The familiar staff member made a reassuring gesture.

Everything was fine.

"Coach Theo is handsome. He must have lots of girlfriends."

She playfully shrugged.

"Tidak, know."

She deliberately mixed Indonesian and English, then laughed.

Well...

She didn't know either.

I decided to head home without changing, but stopped by the same restroom as usual.

When I stepped out of the cubicle, Theo was there.

"See you tomorrow!"

That was the only thing I could think to say.

"It's at 10 AM!"

He casually told me the time of tomorrow's lesson.

For some reason, that made me happy.

That evening, I spent some time floating in the pool at the villa.

Later, I checked tomorrow's lesson schedule one more time.

Suddenly, I wanted to see the ocean.

So I rode my bicycle along the seaside path.

Restaurants lined the road, and beyond the people playing on the beach stretched the deep blue sea.

It was a peaceful Sanur evening.

I stopped and looked out at the ocean.

And suddenly, the tears came again.

What a tearful trip this had been.

My emotions were all tangled together.

I couldn't even explain them to myself.

Thoughts of everything that had happened in Japan came rushing back.

No matter which version of myself I had been, the sea of Sanur had always accepted me.

It wrapped itself around me once again.

Quietly.

Without asking for anything in return.

I let myself be held by it.

I was still carrying so much inside.

But here, somehow, I could breathe.

I arrived at the shopping mall and wandered through the supermarket, but somehow, nothing caught my eye.

Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a shop selling supplements.

And there it was.

The soap I had been looking for.

There was only one left.

I was about to buy it for myself when Theo's face suddenly came to mind.

Come to think of it, hadn't he had a few pimples?

And if this was a specialty shop, maybe they had some good protein bars, too.

I asked one of the staff members.

Apparently, the coffee-flavored ones were the best.

So I had the soap and a protein bar put into a bag.

Then I rode my bicycle once again along the seaside promenade in Sanur and headed home.

Back at the villa, the refrigerator was waiting for me.

Inside were a cold bottle of Bintang and a chilled glass, ready for their moment.

I ate dinner alone in my room.

The silence of a room without a television felt almost too lonely.

That was why I had bought a tablet.

After struggling a little to get everything set up, I opened YouTube.

A few songs appeared on the screen.

Piano versions of Anri's songs.

The painful things I had been through.

The time I had spent on this island.

Everything seemed to blend together somewhere deep inside me.

How many times was I going to cry on this trip?

I stared at the glass of beer.

A few more tears slipped down my face.

And then, once again, I could feel that sensation from earlier in the day.

Those cool fingertips.

The feeling returned to my skin.

Tomorrow would be my last lesson.

Should I ask him to have lunch with me?

No.

Impossible.

He's my coach.

What if he said no?

That would be so embarrassing.

The thought went back and forth in my mind again and again.

In the end, I couldn't come up with an answer.

I reached for the little travel notebook beside my bed.

It was an A6-sized notebook I always carried with me.

I took out my phone and opened Google Translate, just as I always did.

"Today, I'll treat you, Theo."

I typed the words in Japanese.

Then I stared at the Indonesian translation on the screen.

I had no idea whether it was actually correct.

But well...

It was probably fine.

I copied the words into my travel notebook.

Hari ini aku yang traktir ya, Theo!

The moment I finished writing, I burst out laughing at myself.

What am I even writing?

I hadn't even decided whether I was going to ask him yet.

If I really managed to ask him tomorrow...

If I couldn't...

I had no idea what would happen after that.

I slipped my pen between the pages so I could find that page quickly, then closed the notebook.

I looked up at the ceiling.

Even though I tried to sleep, I couldn't.

"Rio."

The way he had called my name that morning.

The smile when he accepted the almonds.

Those slightly cool fingertips.

One after another, they floated through my mind, then disappeared.

What kind of day would tomorrow be?

Beside my bed lay the little travel notebook, my pen still tucked between the pages.

I looked at it one last time.

Then I slowly closed my eyes.

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