The road back to the hotel.
The night city was
a little quieter than during the day.
Once we left the street we'd been walking on a moment ago,
all we could hear was the sound of cars and
the distant murmur of people's voices.
Yixiang, walking beside me,
suddenly stopped.
"...Ah."
"What is it?"
"Photos."
With that,
Yixiang took out his smartphone.
"Want to see the ones I took today?"
"Yeah."
When I peeked at the screen,
there was a row of photos from the whole day.
The breakfast place.
City views.
The shop we stopped by a little while ago.
And then,
a photo of me taken without my noticing.
"When did you take this?"
Yixiang laughed, hehe.
On the screen,
there was a picture of me looking at the menu with a serious face.
"It's a good photo, isn't it?"
"Not bad."
"Right?"
Yixiang laughed.
Looking at that smile,
I somehow ended up smiling too.
"We took a lot of pictures today."
"Yeah."
"Are we taking more tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow..."
Yixiang thought for a moment.
"We are."
"Then maybe I should take some too."
"Of me?"
"Of the scenery."
"Eeeh, it should be me."
While we kept up that back-and-forth,
we walked the road to the hotel.
After a while,
I suddenly looked down at my hand.
Under the streetlight,
the bracelet was shining softly.
I looked beside me.
On Yixiang's wrist too,
there was the same one.
"...Hey."
"Hm?"
"Will you wear this tomorrow too?"
Yixiang looked at his wrist.
"Yeah, I will."
"Then I will too."
"Yeah."
That was the whole conversation.
And yet,
for some reason, I felt a little happy.
The hotel came into view.
Soon,
today would be over too.
Thinking that,
I suddenly regretted the passing time.
"What time are you coming tomorrow?"
"...Around 9."
"Don't oversleep."
"If I do, I'll let you know."
"Are you bad at mornings?"
"Hehe, I'm good at staying up late, though."
"Then next time I come, take me to the night market."
"Sure."
Before long,
we'd arrived in front of the hotel.
"Well then, see you tomorrow."
"Yeah."
Taking one step forward,
I turned back on impulse.
"...Good night."
"Good night."
In the elevator,
I looked at my wrist.
A small bracelet.
Tomorrow was the day I was going home.
I felt lonely.
But also,
I'd get to see him tomorrow too.
With that happiness mixed in,
it was a feeling I couldn't quite make sense of even myself.
