"Are you serious?" I asked her.

"Yeah." She put down the coffee in her hand and leaned against the wall.

"So how was your life after that?" I also put down the coffee in my hand and leaned against the wall.

"Well..." She straightened her hair and tucked the hair behind her sunglasses. "It's good, it's good."

She is Hashimoto Nanami, to be precise, she is the future Hashimoto Nanami.

——

I handed her the band-aid.

That was the first time she was cut by a broken plate, and I laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" She rolled her eyes and put the band-aid on herself.

"Ah, it's fun, isn't it?" I took off my apron and threw it on the counter. "Isn't it fun to get injured?"

Her face suddenly fell, and she grabbed my waist with her other hand and squeezed it hard.

"Ah!" I turned around and tried to throw her hand away, but she pinched her tighter and tighter.

"No, Nana, listen to me." I took a breath, "If no one laughs at an unfortunate thing, wouldn't it become a real misfortune?" I felt that her strength was much weaker, and I jumped quickly.

Go and rub your waist.

She paused and laughed, "That's right."

I lifted up the T-shirt and saw the red skin, "I'm more seriously injured than you now. I decided to take leave tonight and go home to recuperate." I twisted my waist and showed the piece to her.

She laughed harder and harder, "You deserve it." She took the rag and went to clean the table without paying attention to me.

——

I drove her car and took her to the downstairs of Sony Music. When we parked the car, neither of us got out of the car and neither of us spoke.

"Ah, I didn't expect Nana to leave me and become an idol." I put my head against the steering wheel, not wanting to remain quiet, and regretting what I said.

"How about you help me pay for the rent, water and electricity?" She rolled her eyes at me and touched her hair, "Is this hairstyle okay?"

"It looks good! It's the best!" I didn't even raise my head.

"Please answer me more seriously." She started to pinch my waist again.

I slapped her hand away, stared at her without saying a word, and slowly moved my face towards her. She hid back for a moment, but then slowly went back, and I watched her face getting redder and redder.

"Good-looking!" I suddenly yelled and sat back. Seeing her blushing, I started laughing, "You don't think I'm going to kiss you, do you? Hahaha."

She slammed the door and said, "There's no need to pick me up."

I shouldn’t be able to see you anymore, Nana. It’s forbidden for idols to fall in love.

——

"I was selected." I was cooking at home and she called me.

"Ah." I responded and said no more.

"There will be a training camp in a while. Please help me tell the store manager." The voice on the other end of the phone was a little excited.

"Ah, okay." I was also happy for her.

"I'll hang up now. Remember to come to the meeting." Before I could say anything, the call had already been hung up.

I looked at my phone and stared blankly in front of the stove until I realized that the food was burnt.

——

"Is there anything going on today? Can you help me move my things?" She called me.

We just haven't contacted each other for a week.

"It's okay," I threw the trash to the garbage station and held my phone against my neck, "Where are you?"

"Home, I'm moving. Call me when you get there." She hung up the phone, much like she was before.

I drove to her downstairs and helped her load her things into the car.

Then I woke up. She didn't contact me, and I didn't bother her. It's been a week.

——

I sold my car, and since I bought it as a used car, the price almost didn't change.

I didn't go to the meeting, but the store manager went and said she was still as beautiful as before.

I also resigned.

Not long after she left, I sold the car.

I took the money from selling the car and went to Hokkaido once.

I took a photo of her at Asahikawa Airport. She might have been busy and didn't reply to me.

——

On New Year's Day, I went to the store where I used to work and called her. She was on vacation.

"Guess where I am?" I picked at the sticker on the table.

"Boring, you didn't come to the meeting." She should be at home, and it was very quiet on the phone.

"Well, I was working that day. I will definitely go there next time." I put the half-cut sticker back in its original position. The store manager saw it and slapped me on the head, "This is an advertisement. It's an advertisement, you brat.

"

"You're in the store, help me pack it up." She looked listless.

"Nana wants to talk to you." I handed the phone to the store manager, leaned on the table and started picking at the corners of the table.

——

She has been an idol for more than a year.

I saw her on the cover with other girls in a convenience store.

I saw their album in the bookstore.

I saw on Yahoo that they were in the news.

But I don't want to see these things.

I think she is still the same ordinary person who went to Beijing like me.

——

On New Year's Day I went to the shrine we went to together, and I met her there, the future Hashimoto Nanami.

She threw me a can of coffee.

"Are you really from the future?" I wiped the jar and opened the ring.

"Well, I want to meet you." We found a street with not many people and talked while walking.

"Are you no longer an idol? Have you graduated?" She didn't lie to me, and she did seem to have matured a lot.

"I'm quitting the entertainment industry." She held the coffee in one hand and passed the other hand across the park wall, with a thin layer of dust on her fingers.

——

I didn't see her for a while after that day, and I wondered what she was doing.

Finally I turned on the TV and bought a magazine.

That she is not who she is now.

I'm sure.

I sent her an email and asked her if she had gone to that shrine during the New Year. She said no, maybe because it looked similar.

That was the first time I contacted her after having dinner with her.

I bought their CDs and saved up some handshake coupons. Only then did I realize that the handshake coupons are time-limited.

When I went downstairs to take out the trash, she appeared again.

I invited her upstairs and got her a new mat. When she sat down, she was very slow, as if her waist was injured.

"Have you been pinched by someone too?" I poured a glass of water and pushed it to her.

She rolled her eyes at me, the same as she did the year before.

"I still can't believe that you came back just to see me." I dug at the corners of the table with my hands, "Why don't you see me in the future? What's wrong with me?"

She stopped about to drink water and put down the water glass, "I can't find you."

"Did I change my mobile phone number? But I feel like I haven't contacted you for a long time." I was still digging at the corner of the table without looking at her, "But I sent you an email yesterday."

She raised the water glass and took a sip of water. I looked at her and stopped moving my hands.

——

She seemed to only come for five minutes at a time. When I looked up again, I couldn't find her and disappeared out of thin air in front of my eyes.
To be continued...