【Novel】To be continued～Chapter 5 — Just Before Love, A Signal at My Fingertips～
April 2026 — At Home
"Maybe I'll start by writing about my favorite spa."
Without even writing a proper introduction about myself, I opened note.
Photographs in guidebooks can never capture the scent of a local warung.
They can't capture the sound of birds singing through the trees in the morning.
Or the warm, humid breeze that drifts through the air at sunset.
There are some things about that island that only those who have been there can understand.
Every evening after work, I came home and wrote, completely absorbed in my words.
Only while I was writing could I truly be myself.
At work, I was always carrying something on my shoulders.
Expectations.
Responsibility.
Injustice.
Other people's moods.
Without even realizing it, I had become accustomed to putting my own feelings last.
But note was different.
There, I could be angry.
I could laugh.
I could admit when I was struggling.
Those pages held something that belonged entirely to me.
My own words.
May 2026 — Haneda Airport Lounge, Before My Trip to Bali
I had moved my departure date forward and changed my flight to a late-night departure.
After clearing immigration, I hurried toward the lounge as if I were escaping.
No matter how many times I traveled, I could never get enough of that exhilarating moment when everyday life began to peel away.
After checking in, I went downstairs.
A sophisticated, weighty space unfolded before me, decorated entirely in monochrome.
I took a long sip.
Then another.
The cold beer slowly seeped into my body and my heart.
And at the same time, I remembered that day.
"Isn't it ridiculous that everyone just assumes I'm supposed to do everything?
I'm going to smash this computer right now and quit!"
Those were the words I had hurled at my boss.
I had spent years carrying my workload simply because I felt responsible.
Because someone would be in trouble if I didn't.
Because the company wouldn't function without me.
So I kept pushing myself beyond my limits.
Then my boss said,
"Let's move you back to your original department. If anyone says anything, I'll tell them it was my decision."
The moment I heard those words, something inside me finally loosened.
For the first time in a long while, I had a little silence.
And in that silence, the relief of being free and the bitter memories of all the days that had slowly worn me down came rushing into my heart, one after another.
I wiped away my tears.
Then wiped them again.
But they wouldn't stop.
My flight departed on time.
I settled quietly into my seat on the late-night flight and slowly drifted into sleep.
The next morning, the familiar warmth of the tropics greeted me beneath an endless cobalt-blue sky.
Only two months had passed since my previous trip.
Bali had already entered the dry season.
I let myself be carried along by the waiting car, spending my first night at a hotel in Seminyak.
The following day, I would head to my usual villa in Sanur.
And once again, I would return to the island where I could breathe.
Day Two of My Stay — Saturday
I wore the brand-new white-and-blue leggings I had bought in Ubud back in March.
For my top, I chose a white sports bra with a slit-like opening at the hem, revealing just a hint of my stomach.
In Japan, I might have hesitated to wear something like this.
But this was Bali.
In the open, carefree atmosphere of the island, I figured I wouldn't stand out too much.
"Selamat pagi!"
There were only two students in the group class.
Sunlight streamed through the glass walls.
The air conditioning was turned up high, as if the studio itself were saying, Go ahead. Move.
If you stayed still for too long, it was actually a little chilly.
Click.
The door opened.
A large male coach walked in.
Large?
No.
He was enormous.
One glance was enough to tell that his body had been built through years of disciplined training.
As a complete beginner, I was almost speechless at the sheer size of him.
His skin was moderately tanned, and there was something unfamiliar about his features.
His hair was slightly tousled, as though he had just finished the previous class, which somehow made him look even more athletic.
After exchanging greetings, he asked my name.
The other student seemed to be a regular, someone he already knew well.
"My name is Rio."
"Lee?"
"Ri-o!"
"Leeee?"
And just like that, my name for the lesson became "Lee."
Two months earlier, I had visited this studio for the first time.
Today was only my third Pilates class.
I honestly told the coach,
"I'm a beginner!"
"Inhale through your nose. Exhale through your mouth."
I may have looked like an experienced student.
But my movements were nowhere near as polished.
I checked myself in the mirror.
The regular student wasn't exactly flawless either.
That made me feel a little better.
She seemed like a friendly person, too.
I wondered where she was from.
Keeping one eye on her, I simply tried to copy her movements.
I desperately tried to keep up, but somehow everything I did felt awkward.
The coach corrected the position of my arms.
Then my legs.
Despite the enormous size of his body, his fingertips were surprisingly cool.
I could have told myself it meant nothing.
Just a passing sensation.
But even after that cool touch faded from my skin, the feeling stayed somewhere in my heart.
When the lesson ended, one of the staff members brought us cold towels.
The coach was typing something into his phone.
"Use cold towel. Wipe your face."
He spoke slowly as he showed me the screen.
We laughed together.
"Yes! Thank you so much."
Before the lesson, I had told them that I spoke a little English and no Indonesian.
So that small gesture of consideration made me happy.
Suddenly, I felt like taking a photo.
"Photo, OK?"
The coach nodded with a smile.
The regular student then reached for my phone, gesturing as if to say,
"Shall I take it?"
I handed it to her and stood beside the coach.
Up close, he looked even bigger.
I had to tilt my head back just to see his face.
After thanking her and taking my phone back, I ended up chatting with the regular student for a little while.
"Where are you from?"
"Japan."
She told me she lived right here in Sanur.
I understood only about half of what she said in English.
And yet, strangely enough, I felt completely at ease.
"See you soon!"
After saying goodbye to her, I looked at the photo again.
There we were.
The two of us looked almost like a parent and child standing side by side.
I left the studio with a pleasant weariness in my body.
And with a feeling I couldn't quite put into words.
I headed toward the restroom, which also served as the changing room.
No one else was there.
It was quiet.
I turned the corner at the far end of the room.
And then—
"Oh..."
The coach was standing there.
I had thought I was alone.
Because of the way the building was laid out, there was no way either of us could have seen the other until that very moment.
Caught completely off guard, all I could manage was a few words.
"I'll change now."
That was all I said before slipping into a cubicle as if I were escaping.
The coach simply smiled and nodded.
After getting changed, I rode my bicycle back toward the villa.
It was still too early for check-in, so I sat in an open-air area and drank coffee while feeling the Bali breeze against my skin.
Then I thought—
I'd like to take his class again.
I checked the studio's schedule.
There it was.
Theo.
Hmm.
So his name wasn't Wayan after all.
I looked again.
The class I had already booked for the following week was with a different coach.
So I sent a message to the studio on WhatsApp.
"Could I change to Coach Theo's class?"
A few minutes later, the reply came.
"Okay, it's noted."
That was it.
When I had first visited the studio in March, my class had been canceled because there weren't enough students.
So I had expected that changing the reservation might not be possible this time either.
But the request went through surprisingly easily.
My next class would be Monday morning at 8:00.
"I wonder if I can wake up that early."
It was only a small concern.
I quietly added the Monday morning class to my schedule.
At the time, I had no idea.
I had changed that Monday reservation for just one reason.
I wanted to take his class again.
Nothing more.
I could never have known that such a small decision would go on to shake the course of my life.
And yet, for some reason, I was already looking forward to that Monday morning.
