Second Serenade: Chapter 23

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“He’s got such a beautiful expression.”

That’s what Takagi had said.

They had just wrapped filming the scenes at the bus stop, the rental studio, and the rain shelter—nearly two weeks of work. That marked the completion of the first half of the film, focusing on the protagonist’s boyhood.

Next would be the second half, shooting the protagonist as a young man. They were supposed to film at a park that day, but unexpected rain had forced them to cancel and postpone until tomorrow. In the meantime, they’d switched to editing work. Apparently Hayashida had tried to contact Kakegawa to let him know, but couldn’t get through. So after finishing his errands, Kakegawa went straight to Hayashida’s apartment and only then found out about the change.

Even when the film splicing began, there wasn’t much for Kakegawa to do. This was serious business—not like the casual editing they’d done back in high school. He couldn’t help out at all, but going home without doing anything felt awkward, so he made up an excuse to step out, saying he was going to buy cigarettes.

He picked up some smokes and a few snacks at the convenience store. Since he couldn’t help, he figured he could at least drop off a little something. He browsed some manga, lingering far longer than it took to buy cigarettes.

When he returned through the still-unrelenting rain, Takagi was waiting for him. As soon as he stepped out of his shoes, she grabbed his arm. She looked pleased as she told him that the first scene was finished and asked him to watch.

“I’m going to play it now. Tell me honestly what you think afterward, okay?”

The room lights were turned off, and the projector started to spin. At first, he was surprised to see the footage was in black and white. Because it had been filmed from the opposite sidewalk, his figure appeared very small on the screen. Against the white concrete wall, his black T-shirt and jeans made him oddly conspicuous. Nothing changed in the frame—several cars passed by. That was why, when the bus finally stopped at the bus stop, it felt for the first time like time had begun to flow.

She boarded the bus. He thought he moved a little unnaturally. His gaze never left the bus. When it pulled away, he was the only one left in the frame. He jogged a few steps, then stopped. Bowed his head. Then began to walk. And then he too disappeared from the screen. That was where it ended.

“How was it?”

Takagi-san peered into his face.

“How was it…?”

He had no idea how to even begin explaining.

“Don’t you think the subtle emotion was captured really well?”

“I… didn’t really like it.”

“Why not?”

Takagi-san tilted her head, puzzled.

“Because… that’s me in there, right? It felt like I was standing naked in front of everyone…”

With a blank look at first, in the very next moment, both Hayashida and Takagi burst out laughing. He had no idea why they were laughing. Takagi-san even had tears in her eyes as she slapped Hayashida’s shoulder.

“There was this actress who said the exact same thing. From overseas—back when Hepburn was in her prime…”

“G. Elias, right? I thought the same thing,” Hayashida chimed in.

Takagi-san explained with a smile.

“She was an old-time actress who used to say that too. She had amazing talent—completely became her roles. So much so that directors said she was scary. Kakegawa-kun, you’ve got talent. You should try acting.”

Leaving the snacks behind, he stepped out of the apartment. The rain had worsened, and a film of water covered the road. His shoes soaked up the water and grew heavier with every step.

He hadn’t expected watching himself to feel that embarrassing. He wanted to burn the whole thing right then and there, but if he did, those two would probably murder him.

Even if some editing would be done later, his “naked self” would remain on that film. The awkward version of him chasing after the bus, thinking Hashimoto was on it—that would stay just as it was.

◇:-:◆:-:◇

Takagi-san and Hayashida were arguing over where to film the park scene—by the fountain or on the bench. Filming wouldn’t begin until the two of them came to an agreement.

Neither of them seemed to understand the meaning of the word compromise. Whether it was under the blazing sun or in the middle of a busy afternoon street, if something didn’t sit right with them, they’d argue it out no matter where they were. Delays of thirty minutes or an hour were common. Having learned that an amateur’s input meant nothing in such disputes, he and Sensei sat on a shady bench, waiting for the matter to be settled.

Even in the shade, he started sweating if the wind didn’t blow. It felt as though he’d gone back to high school, and the feeling was oddly nostalgic. Tilting his head back and closing his eyes, the buzz of cicadas rang sharply in his ears, and the occasional gust of wind carried a gritty, dusty scent.

Today’s shoot also required a child actor, so Hayashida had brought along his sister’s kid—three-year-old Yuuta-kun. Rather than gravitating toward his own uncle, the boy had immediately taken a liking to Sensei, who was a complete stranger. At first, he sat quietly on Sensei’s lap, but before long, he was off playing in the nearby sandbox. Sensei watched with narrowed eyes as the little blue baseball cap bobbed up and down in the sand.

“You really like kids, don’t you, Sensei?”

“Well… kids around that age are pretty cute. My friend’s daughter is about the same age, and when I visit, she comes running over calling me ‘big brother.’ It’s adorable.”

“You should just hurry up and get married.”

Even though his partner was Aketo—someone he obviously couldn’t marry— Kakegawa pretended not to know and said it anyway. As expected, Sensei fell silent and said nothing.

His silence made it awkward to keep the conversation going. Growing tired of waiting, Kakegawa checked his watch. It had been over thirty minutes, but there was no sign of any resolution. The two people they were watching kept walking back and forth between the fountain and the bench.

When Kakegawa glanced at the person sitting next to him, he saw him flipping through the script and occasionally stifling a yawn.

As Sensei bowed his head slightly, a dark red mark peeked out from beneath the collar of his white T-shirt—a deep, vivid bruise. He didn’t notice Kakegawa staring. Casually, he hooked his fingers into the neckline of his shirt and flapped it to cool himself.

“How are things with your lover?” Kakegawa asked.

Sensei suddenly raised his head and gave a strained smile as their eyes met.

“Eh… not bad, I guess.”

Muttering, he rummaged in his jeans pocket, pulled out a cigarette and lighter, tapped the box to pop one out, and lit it with practiced ease. The gesture made Kakegawa wonder if it was a signal to drop the subject—but even so, he still wanted to ask.

“Have you been with the same person this whole time?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

With the cigarette still in his mouth, Sensei tilted his head back and closed his eyes—just like Kakegawa had done earlier. Watching the way the muscles of his chest, pressed against the thin fabric, slowly rose and fell with each breath, Kakegawa felt an almost unbearable urge to reach out and touch him. He couldn’t help but wonder how Aketo touched this body…

“What about you?”

Sensei suddenly opened his eyes and asked. Kakegawa stiffened for a moment, wondering if he’d been caught looking at him the wrong way.

“What about you? Don’t you have someone you like?”

In his fluster, Kakegawa blurted out an answer he hadn’t meant to share—about Hashimoto, not to anyone.

“I… yeah, I’m seeing someone.”

“I see.”

Sensei grinned and closed his eyes again. That was it. He didn’t ask what kind of person, what they looked like, or what they did. He probably didn’t even care to know. To Sensei, it wasn’t something important.

“The person I’m dating is older. They look good, but their personality is the worst…”

So what. Sensei hadn’t asked for that.

“They’re a terrible person.”

And yet, somewhere deep down, part of him wanted to say “I only ended up with someone like that because you rejected me.” He knew it was unfair, just shifting the blame, but still…

Sensei said nothing. Not a word.

“—Sorry for the wait! We decided to shoot over at this bench instead,” Hayashida shouted from beyond the fountain, waving his arms. It seemed Takagi-san had made the final call. Yuuta had already gone ahead. Kakegawa and Sensei stood up from the bench at the same time.

“Even if ninety-nine out of a hundred things about someone piss you off… if there’s just that one thing you like, then I guess it can’t be helped.”

It was spoken softly, like a mutter. When Kakegawa turned to look, Sensei was walking behind him with a slightly puzzled expression.

“You said they were a terrible person… so I just figured that might be the case.”

Despite having made them wait so long, Hayashida was now impatiently waving them over, calling, “Come on, hurry up!”

“I said I’m dating someone,” Kakegawa shot back, “but I never said I liked them.”

Sensei stopped walking.

“You’re just not aware of it yet,” he said, as if it were an undeniable fact.

“What the hell do you know? What gives you the right to say that? You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

The words came out sharper than he intended—bordering on a fight. It startled him, the way he’d snapped at Sensei. But the words were already out, and there was no pulling them back.

“You just don’t seem like the kind of guy who’d date someone on a whim. That’s all. No other reason.”

And with that, Sensei turned and briskly walked toward the bench where Hayashida was waiting.

Even though his body was flushed with heat from the sun, his chest felt like ice—as if his heart was freezing over. Needless to say, he immediately regretted mentioning Hashimoto. He regretted confessing that it was all just a casual fling.

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