At night, the place was filled with couples occupying all the benches, but Liyun didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t let go of his arm either. She seemed to be in a jovial mood, so he decided to just let her be.

‘Shoji.’ Liyun pulled him a little. ‘You know, I’m not a very good person. I have a lot of skeletons in my closet and I made a lot of bad decisions. Sometimes I worry that once you get to know me more, you’ll grow to hate me.’

Hearing that made him think of Yoko and his past. ‘Everyone has their secrets. It would be strange if you didn’t have any. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.’ He glanced at her. ‘Also, maybe it is you who will dislike me if you learn more about me.’

She let go of his hand and gave him a playful, accusatory look. ‘Really? What did you do? What kind of scandalous past do you have?’

‘I’m not going to tell you,’ he said in a whisper.

Liyun laughed, and Shoji laughed too. They continued to walk side by side.

‘Do you think we can start again?’ she asked. ‘Is it too late to learn to be honest with each other?’

He shook his head. ‘Of course not. It’s never too late.’

‘Okay.’ She turned to him. ‘In that case, shall we start now?’

‘Uh-huh,’ he said, shifting her eyes to her. ‘And how do we do that?’

‘Let me think.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Ah.’ Her eyes lit up. ‘Tell me one thing you’ve been hiding from me.’

That was direct. Shoji continued to walk a few steps forward as he thought of what to say next. ‘All right. What about this? The truth is I wanted to order the smoked beef instead of the roast one, but the roast is cheaper.’ He softened his voice. ‘I’m kind of broke.’

Liyun sneered. ‘That’s so uncool.’

‘Hey, Tokyo is expensive, and I don’t earn much.’

She chuckled. Crossing her arms, she smiled at him. ‘Now, it’s my turn, huh?’ She hummed a little before saying, ‘To tell you the truth, I liked the smoked beef better. I love spicy food. But I asked to swap because I knew you liked mine better.’

This time, it was Shoji who sneered. ‘You’re trying to be cool, huh?’

‘I am cool,’ she said with a laugh.

She spread out her arms and looked up at the sky. He wanted to ask what was she doing. People were staring. But then she closed her eyes and grinned widely. Looking at her, he couldn’t help but be amused.

Liyun opened her eyes and turned to Shoji. ‘Hey, you’re smiling.’

He was stunned for a moment. Was he? Yes, he was.