Sōrumeito (Soulmate #2)

Day 7: Arashiyama

Arashiyama, Kyoto

(01:07pm)

"How did you convince the guards to leave us alone?"

"I asked them," said Jin Yeong simply.

I sent him a skeptical look, making him sigh and give in.

"Alright, I ordered them to back off just for the rest of the afternoon," he admitted. "They'll be back by sun down. They didn't go too far. Just had some drinks, I assume."

My eyebrows raised in surprise. "They agreed?"

He grinned. "They didn't have a choice."

I've asked them to keep their distance so I wouldn't feel suffocated, but I never sent them totally away before. I understood that it was only a precaution, after all. But since I was with Jin Yeong, I guessed they thought it was safe to chill even for a little bit.

"You up for a bike ride?" asked Jin Yeong, nodding to the bike rental place.

Ooh, I never tried that before.

"Let's do it." I nodded, practically bouncing on our way there.

We were currently in Arashiyama. It was on the edge of Kyoto, far enough from the city that it felt like a province. There were trees everywhere, with barely any cars around. People were either walking or riding their bikes. The breeze was refreshing.

Near the station, there were a number of restaurants. But that was it. Maybe there was more on the other side of the river, where a couple of shrines and bamboo forest were.

Jin Yeong signed the forms, all the while talking to the staff in Japanese. I couldn't help but watch him converse in my native language. I was still staring at him even when we were already mounted on our respective bikes.

Nodding to me, he said, "Ikuzo." Let's go.

He was about to start pedaling but then he saw my amused face, and stopped.

"Nani?" What?

I laughed. "Anata wa kawaii." You're cute.

He scoffed, raising an eyebrow. "'Kawaii?!'" Cute?!

"Un." I nodded. "You're cute when you speak Nihongo."

He looked offended by being called cute, but in a playful way. Before he could snap a retort, I went ahead with my bike. I could hear him following from behind me.

"Hayaku, Jin Yeong-chan!" Hurry up, Jin Yeong-chan!

"Yuki!" he called after me in warning, making me laugh out loud.

We crossed over a small bridge over a pond. We were on our way to the bigger bridge, with our destination on the other side of the river where the tourist attractions were. But I instantly hit the breaks when I saw the flavored shaved ice poster on the side of the road.

I gasped and pointed it out to Jin Yeong, who nodded in agreement. And so, we parked our bikes under a nearby tree. After buying us each some flavored shaved ice, we sat at one of the benches beside the river. Neither of us spoke, just enjoying our cold desserts in peaceful silence.

My thoughts traveled to what happened yesterday. It definitely took away my anger, after knowing what he went through. In fact, I felt guilty, judging him without looking at things from his perspective. Right now, it was safe to say that we were back to normal.

But... I wanted to know more.

I wanted to see the connection between this Jin Yeong and that Jesam. I wanted to see how he switched from one to the other. I wanted to know how they became one.