epilogue

If autumn is orange, winter is silver, and spring is pink, summer is yellow.

Despite the A/C, a lot of her co-workers sweat. They scramble to win the aesthetic war against biology. Koharu gets it, of course. It’s a romantic drama they’re filming, not an action film. No one can look anything but perfect, or else…

As the cameramen shuffle things around, Koharu takes a seat on a pliable chair next to Yukida Fumito, her co-star. “I don’t get it,” he says, as she reaches for some sparkling water. “She shot the epilogue first and the prologue last. Is the director stupid?”

“I would say eccentric,” Koharu replies.

“Eccentric is a label you get away with if you’re good enough. If this trash wins any prizes, it’ll be because of us.”

“...I liked the book…”

“The book is also trash.”

He spends the rest of his break trying to make his fringe perfectly symmetrical. Koharu tried growing hers out, but she feels naked without it. Since she knows Fumito will ignore her, she says, “If I could go back in time, I’d kill whoever decided to turn actors into dolls.”

He uses his phone as a mirror, checking each angle obsessively.

“It had to start somewhere, right? I don’t think the first movie was filmed that way. I don’t know. I just wish we could be actors instead of resellers.”

Fumito rolls his eyes. “Then stop being a reseller. Go on, post a picture without makeup. No filters. Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“It’s not just me,” she grumbles. “Imagine what the agency would say. Imagine the sponsors. I wouldn’t even be able to leave the house again, or find a job…”

“Meh. Koha-chin, there are worse fates out there.”

“That doesn’t make it better. ‘Meh, I should be thankful because other people are suffering more than me’. No. And let’s say that I got a job feeding chickens in Papua New Guinea. What then? It’ll happen again, to somebody else, so nothing will be resolved.”

He yawns, fake and exaggerated. Fumito is a piece of chalk. He’s as beautiful as any of them. Since standing out physically isn’t an option, he does so through his attitude; his gimmick is to be rude… except to his “beloved’ fans, of course. According to the internet, he’s the only one who can ‘tame’ Koharu.

“I have a charity event next week, by the way,” Koharu says. “If you don’t sponsor it, we’re breaking up.”

“Of course, love, of course.”

Their break ends. With a quick peck to her cheek, Fumito stands up, harasses a stylist to fix his makeup again, and gets back into character. In the drama, he’s supposed to be this nerdy guy that all the girls reject, and only Koharu, the most popular employee at their firm, can appreciate the beauty within. They meet after he lends her an umbrella under the rain and she sees through his nerdiness.

It’d probably be more believable and romantic if his alleged geekiness wasn’t a pair of oversized glasses, VERY slightly disheveled hair, and baggy, unfashionable clothes that barely conceal a sculpted body, but Koharu digresses.

In the prologue, Fumito is getting bullied by co-workers for being a virgin at twenty-two. From what he told her, the book was originally set in high school—as if it wasn’t obvious enough—but they were aged up in order to get away with… racier scenes.

After seducing that nurse, Koharu became an expert on the subject. She was able to have a journey of wellness and an off-season Summer fling. Not only that, but she recovered completely and has been running a semi-successful charity to aid marginal villages, and along with how close she is with Fumito lately, her PR has never been better.

Life has never been better,

After the last cut, the crew celebrates, as usual. Everyone dresses to impress. There are pictures to take, fans to please, sponsors to milk. Koharu has long since gotten back in shape, so she can wear whatever… they ask her to.

She makes sure to stand close to Fumito in most of the pictures.

They look so cute together.·°՞(っ˶>˶˶<˶ς)՞°·.♡

She makes sure to talk about how the drama touched her heart due to its heartwarming themes of inner beauty and authenticity.

isn’t he 28? they’re both old af lol perfect for each other

She makes sure to give an “improvised” duet with Kerochan that took them three weeks to master. Kerochan, soon to be downgraded to Amahara Megumi, doesn’t want to retire, but she must; she’s almost twenty-five.

they have less chemistry than my uni curriculum and I’m a psychologist

As the day ages and they prepare for a second afterparty, Koharu goes to take some fresh air. It’s a beautiful balcony atop a beautiful hotel amidst a beautiful city. The summer air is warm, but not unpleasant. It’s too high to hear the cicadas above the howling wind.

If she closes her eyes, she remembers…

…some of it.

Afternoons spent crocheting with her best friend. Sleepless nights spent watching the moon and the sea. A seashell that is as plain as it is priceless. A cliff during a gray, snowy day. A face so close it should’ve ended in a kiss.

However, it has been far, far too long. It doesn’t really matter anymore. She will never return to that place.

Someone joins her. Koharu forces a smile as she turns around, sees that it’s Fumito, then sighs and turns back around, leaning her arms on the rail. He does the same beside her without asking for permission. He looks great in that suit—in anything. Music booms at the other side of the balcony window, muffled by wind and allegedly soundproof walls. “Wanna marry?” He asks.

“Mhm.”

“Great. I’ll tell your dad.”

“I want a honeymoon in Maldives,” she says. “There’s a hotel with an underwater restaurant.”

“Sounds revolting.”

“Everything sounds revolting to you. Then you do it and you actually like it.”

“That’s what he told me last night.”

Koharu holds up a hand. “Shut up. I don’t wanna know.”

Fumito’s grin is demonic.

“I was having a moment here, all alone, and pensive…”

“So pensive…”

“Go away.”

He doesn’t. Fumito leans above the rail, an inch away from falling. Koharu doesn’t stop him. “I might. Maybe I’ll go away one of these ways. I’ll never return. The world will think I’m dead while I’m feeding chickens in New Zealand with him.”

“I said Papua New Guinea.”

“I don’t give a shit. It’s almost time, by the way.”

“Yes.I know.” How wouldn’t she? Koharu has been doing the same thing for the last six months. Fumito is the only one who knows. After all, they’re each other’s accomplice.

Since he knows, too, Fumito steps back. “I’ll leave soon,” he says, “I just can’t stand those assholes.”

“That’s fine. Actually, keep the door closed so no one else walks in.”

“I mean, sure? It’s not like what you’re doing is a secret at this point.”

Koharu has become an expert at telling the time of the day based on the position of the sun lately. For example, today, she was only ten minutes early. It’s now 4:57 PM. She kills time by making the photo as aesthetic as possible.

Rule of thirds.

Framing.

Balance.

Composition.

At exactly 5:00 PM, she takes a picture of the sky.

Everyone knows about the ritual at this point. Everyone waits for it. Since she has done this almost two hundred times, Koharu can upload the photo in under a minute.

She doesn’t stop to read comments just yet.

She waits.

And waits.

…but nothing.

“Wish me luck,” Fumito says before he walks back in with a yawn. Koharu knows that she should follow. She’ll wait for just a little bit longer. She always does.

At 5:09 PM, Munetoshi uploads a picture of the Otohama sky taken from the window of the specialized care room. The caption reads: was busy. It’s a public picture for the entire world to see, with a message for one person only.

It’s been six months since Munetoshi and Koharu saw each other. The last time they communicated was seconds ago.