When I woke up in the morning,
bright light was shining through the gap in the curtains.
Since coming to Taiwan,
every day had flown by.
Today was the last day.
When I thought that,
I felt a little lonely.
Even so,
I remembered the words we exchanged last night.
—We can meet again tomorrow.
That fact
made me a little happy.
After getting ready,
I closed my suitcase.
Just then,my phone vibrated.
“I’m here.”
It was from Yixiang.
When I checked the time,
it was a little earlier than our meeting time.
I hurried out of the room
and headed to the lobby.
At the hotel entrance,
Yixiang was standing there.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. You’re early.”
“So are you.”
With his usual smile,
Yixiang took my suitcase.
When we left the hotel,
the streets of Taipei spread out before us in the morning light.
The sound of scooters.
People opening their shops.
The morning air.
Even though it was the same street I’d walked until yesterday,
today it looked a little different.
“We still have time before the airport, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s walk a little.”
Saying that,
Yixiang started walking.
A little away from the tourist spots,
a quiet street.
Next to old buildings,
new shops lined the road.
As we walked, Yixiang would stop now and then
to take photos of whatever caught his eye.
“You really like taking photos, huh.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you take them for work too?”
“I do.”
“Come to think of it, what kind of work do you do?”
When I asked that,
Yixiang glanced over at me a little.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“I haven’t heard.”
“A fashion brand.”
That surprised me.
“Really?”
“Yeah. A brand called MOONWOLF.”
“Huh…”
Just as I was about to search for it on my smartphone,
“You don’t need to look now.”
“Why not?”
“Later.”
He said that and laughed.
“I do the brand’s visuals and
design.”
“So that’s why you’re stylish.”
Before I knew it, I’d said it out loud,
and Yixiang gave a small laugh.
“Let’s go with that.”
“Oh, are you embarrassed?”
“Who knows.”
He raised his camera again.
Watching his profile like that,
he somehow looked a little different from yesterday.
Fashion.
Photography.
Design.
He’d also said he liked drawing.
Everything I’d heard about him up to now,
was slowly connecting.
Suddenly,
Yixiang stopped walking.
“I like this place.”
In front of us,
there was a small shop renovated from an old building.
“For work?”
“Yeah. This kind of atmosphere is useful as reference.”
Saying that,
Yixiang looked up at the building.
As I watched his profile,
I thought this person must be
looking at the city this way.
Looking at clothes.
Looking at buildings.
Looking at light.
Taking photos.
Surely
even the things I never noticed.
“Shall we get going soon?”
“Yeah.”
We started walking.
The time to go home was getting closer.While waiting for the taxi,
I suddenly looked at my wrist.
A small bracelet.
I looked beside me.
Yixiang had the same one
on his wrist too.
“...This.”
“Hm?”
“Don’t lose it, okay?”
Yixiang looked at his own wrist.
“It’s fine.”
“Really?”
“I’ll definitely not lose it.”
Saying only that,
Yixiang smiled.
Soon after,
the taxi arrived.
We loaded the luggage in.
At last,
it was really time to go home.
When I got into the car,
the streets of Taipei flowed past outside the window.
The roads we’d walked until yesterday.
The sights we’d seen together.
The photos taken casually.
All of it
was gradually growing farther away.
“...I’ll come again.”
When I said that,
a voice came from beside me.
“Yeah.”
A short reply.
But
that was enough.
While gazing out the window,
I quietly touched my wrist.
The moon and the wolf.
Along with the time I’d spent in Taiwan,
this little bracelet too,
I’d take it back to Japan with me.
And then.
Someday,
I felt like the day would come when I’d return here again.
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