Mateo never expected an exchange year in Japan to teach him more about himself than about the language. When words fail him with the quiet, careful girl who sits beside him at school, he decides to learn Japanese properly — not for grades, but for her.

What follows is a slow, honest story about misunderstandings, small kindnesses, paper lanterns, and the one sentence Mateo spends months building up the courage to say: "Itsumo anata no koto o omotte imasu." I am always thinking of you.

A story about how love doesn't need perfect words — just someone willing to keep learning how to say them.