Chapter 46 Roller Coaster
The scenery along the national highway was mostly dull. The snow had melted away, but spring hadn't arrived quickly enough, leaving the greenery along the road bare and withered. As Le drove, occasionally tilting his head slightly to glance in the rearview mirror, he'd catch a glimpse of Yuzuru Hanyu, who was also observing the scenery.
He held the door armrest with his left hand, tapping his fingers lightly to the rhythm of the music. The car stereo was playing songs by a Chinese singer that Le liked. He didn't understand much and couldn't sing, but that didn't affect him much.
Unlike the gloomy weather outside the window, he was in a good mood.
On the backseat sat Yuzuru Hanyu's backpack, packed neatly with all the treasures he'd found that morning. It had taken some coaxing and tricking to get them from Le, though. Thankfully, the movers rang the doorbell just in time, and while Le was there to answer it, they shoved all the yearbooks into his backpack. By the time Le was done, he seemed to have forgotten the incident.
Plan pass.
Thinking of this, Yuzuru Hanyu couldn't help but curl his lips in a smug smile. The music played briskly as he gazed at the scenery outside the window.
“If the weather were better and the grass were greener, it would be very similar to Finland, don’t you think?” he suddenly sighed.
"Indeed," Le agreed. "But Finland only has a little more snow in March than here, otherwise there's not much difference. Didn't you see it at the World Championships that year?"
"At that time, I was so focused on the competition that I didn't have time to think about so many things," Yuzuru Hanyu said with a pout.
“Yes, you were only in Helsinki at that time.”
The two chatted as they drove north. The gloomy weather finally gave way to rain. Le flicked the wipers, sweeping away the raindrops clinging to the windshield. The rain wasn't heavy, but the sound of the raindrops hitting the car at high speed was particularly loud. The music in the car started to play, the rhythmic sound of piano chords and the female singer's voice slowly entering. Although it was also a Chinese song, it was one that Yuzuru Hanyu was familiar with.
I first heard this song in 2016, while Le was driving him around. Since they shared a Spotify account, Le's favorite music often ended up in Hanyu's recent playlist. He'd occasionally click on it, and since this song played so often, even Hanyu had started humming along. This time was no exception.
"Kick oh oh ~ oh oh ~"
"What are you singing?" Le couldn't help laughing, "Is that how people sing?"
"I don't speak Chinese." He said confidently.
Le was too lazy to argue with him and just started singing along with the music.
I fall in love with someone who makes me desperate
I thought this was the world I was looking for
However, he was misunderstood and deceived
Is there always something broken behind the adult world?
I'm walking on the fork in the road that I have to face every day
I miss the simple and beautiful little happiness in the past
Love always makes people cry
Makes people feel dissatisfied
The sky is big but I can't see clearly, I feel lonely
…
"Your pronunciation is much more standard now!" Yuzuru Hanyu praised, clapping his hands. "This is much more standard than the first time I heard it. What was the difference between your singing and mine back then?"
"You say it as if you understand." Le glanced at him.
"I've listened to this song so many times," he said. He'd seen the lyrics, too. He hadn't realized it before, but now he understood why Le loved this Chinese song so much. He turned his head to look out the window, touched his nose, and decided to change the subject. "The first time I heard this song was when we were just hanging out."
"Ah, that's true."
That year, in a summer cottage with poor internet access, Yuzuru Hanyu, clutching his iPad, enthusiastically played Angry Birds to pass the time he wasn't training or doing homework. The house was often filled with onomatopeia like "swoosh" and "bang," especially since, in addition to the game's own sound effects, Yuzuru Hanyu would also join in the fun, making a lot of noise.
"Come on, I'll take you to some fun place!" That year, she made up her mind, drove Marrku's car, and took Yuzuru Hanyu to Tampere.
Hämeenlinna isn't far from Tampere, just under two hours' drive. Summer rains come and go quickly. It was a cloudless day when we set out, but the car was washed out on the highway. By the time our red Ford arrived at the Angry Birds amusement park, the sky was clear again.
Although the scene before him didn't resemble his typical amusement park, more like a forest park, the young and famous Yuzuru Hanyu was still thrilled. He stood before Le and obediently extended his hand. After she glued the bracelet on, he began to diligently study the park entrance map. At first, when someone looked at them, Hanyu lowered his hat with a touch of unease, but the Finns, who have a stronger sense of boundaries than the Japanese, quickly reassured him.
After playing a round of various exciting activities, Yuzuru Hanyu was still not satisfied and was about to go to the second round.
"No, go by yourself, I'll wait for you here!" Le didn't want to go at all, and really didn't want to ride that roller coaster a second time.
"Coward~" Yuzuru Hanyu stuck out his tongue, left Le on the bench, and went to queue up excitedly.
Le leaned back against the bench, closing his eyes to soothe the dizziness from the roller coaster ride. A roller coaster so high looked terrifying, but Hanyu Yuzuru's expectant gaze was no match for him. Figuring he could handle 32 fouettes without a problem, he went for it, completely forgetting his fear of heights.
The summer afternoon sun filtered through the leaves, shimmering down on her. It was the soft, gentle summer sunshine that was uniquely Finnish, a kind that made one yearn for the beauty of the past. The surrounding sounds became her background music, noisy but not disturbing her peaceful nap. Until something cool touched her cheek, causing her to open her eyes.
"Do you want a Coke or ice cream?" Yuzuru Hanyu held out his iced Coke and ice cream cone to Le. Le squinted against the sun, but he didn't miss the ice cream he slightly retracted.
"I want ice cream~"
"Eh~" His voice sounded a little disappointed, "Okay, here you go."
The ice cream was handed to her. She took a sip, the milky aroma lingering in her mouth. Le turned around and saw that Yuzuru Hanyu's eyes hadn't left her ice cream. He looked so eager that Le really wanted to show it to those who believed Yuzuru Hanyu had no interest in food.
"Would you like a taste?" Unable to resist his gaze, Le turned the ice cream in her hand and handed it to him, "If you don't mind."
He didn't take it, but took a big bite from her hand. Unexpectedly, the entire ice cream ball was directly removed from the cone by his bite, which even startled Yuzuru Hanyu, who was taking the bite. He stood up in a panic, but the spilled ice cream still stained his T-shirt.
"Ah, those days are so nostalgic," Hanyu Yuzuru said with a sigh. "I haven't been able to travel properly since then. It feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Hearing him say this, Le raised an eyebrow and turned on the turn signal.
"Eh? Where are we going?"
"Limited re-release." Le winked at him and turned down the gate toward the Utsunomiya City sign.
As the car entered Utsunomiya, Hanyu once again experienced the anticipation of a trip. Although Le didn't let him get out of the car, she went to a famous Utsunomiya gyoza shop and bought several specialty dumplings. The two of them enjoyed a gyoza feast in the parking lot.
"...What is this?" Le chewed on a mouthful of rice ball, frowning in confusion. She raised her chopsticks and poked at the rice ball in the lunch box. There was something like dumpling filling in the middle of the rice, with the dough faintly visible in the middle.
"It's a dumpling rice ball," Yuzuru Hanyu picked up a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, answering her vaguely, "Don't you know that you ordered the meal yourself?"
"I asked the boss to recommend some special dishes to me..."
Although Le is Japanese, he hasn't been in Japan for many years, and his eating habits have changed a lot. Especially in the past few years in China, his taste has become more and more accustomed to the comprehensive combination of Chinese cuisine. He is a little uncomfortable with the combination of carbs and carbs.
The main reason is that she doesn't eat much, and the carbohydrate combination will quickly make her put down her chopsticks.
"Hey, you don't want to eat anymore?"
Seeing Le biting his chopsticks and playing with his mobile phone, Yuzuru Hanyu shook his hand.
"You eat." She still didn't look up and was still looking at her phone.
"I can't finish it either..." This made him feel a little distressed. Although he loved eating dumplings, he couldn't eat so many. As he was trying hard to eat, the car speakers suddenly played a voice message from Le's phone.
Did you meet your first love at the Beijing Winter Olympics?
The voice of an unfamiliar boy suddenly echoed in the car through the car speakers. Le was still holding the phone to his ear, and obviously did not remember that his phone was connected to the car's Bluetooth, so the received voice message was transmitted verbatim.
It was all spoken in Japanese, and Yuzuru Hanyu, who was sitting there in shock, obviously understood everything.
He had just stuffed the dumplings into his mouth and had not had time to chew and swallow them when this inexplicable sentence suddenly made the dumplings in his mouth taste unpleasant.
"Who is this? What are they talking about?" He chewed and swallowed it in a few bites, then spoke anxiously.
Now Le didn't know how to respond. Yuzuru Hanyu had spent the entire morning fussing about her past relationships, and thinking back to the times they'd argued about exes and the like, Le's first reaction was to say, "It's nothing."
"Nothing much, just a message from my friend who I've been doing ballet with since I was a kid."
She tried to brush it off briefly, but the person on the other end of the message line was clearly unaware of her situation and continued to send messages. The ding-dong notification on her phone piqued Yuzuru Hanyu's curiosity. He didn't ask if he could see it, but his eyes were full of signals: "Tell him quickly!"
It was nothing, Le sighed and handed over the phone.
There's a small watermark in the bottom right corner of the video, suggesting someone posted it to Tik Tok. The video shows several people standing in front of a food stall. Two people standing opposite each other are Le and Niko, whom he'd met once.
Maybe he's overthinking it, but Yuzuru Hanyu thinks Le in the video looks a bit shy. She's got her fingers hooked behind her back, and she doesn't quite look up at him. It feels off, no matter how you look at it. The video has other music playing, and I can't hear what they're saying. I just see Niko suddenly raise his hand and rub Le's head.
"???" Yuzuru Hanyu finally realized what he had just said, "Niko is your first love???"
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