Ch.123123. What’s the Difference Between Dating Couples and Newlyweds?

The next morning.

Unusually awake at an early hour, Nabi and I had breakfast provided by the ryokan.

After finishing our showers in less than ten minutes and changing into our outdoor clothes, our destination was the hot spring village outside the ryokan.

“You didn’t forget anything, right?”

“No. I have my wallet, phone, and bag all packed.”

“Okay, got it.”

The card key for our room is in my wallet, so we’ve got everything we need. Still, just to be safe, we double-checked our belongings one more time, and once we confirmed nothing was missing, we finally left the ryokan.

Standing at the entrance of the ryokan, the first thing visible was the overall scenery of Ikaho Hot Spring Village. Since Kinoue Ryokan was situated on slightly elevated ground, the surrounding landscape with its old-fashioned charm came into view all at once.

“Nabi, is there anywhere you want to go?”

“Hmm, somewhere that sells sweet food?”

“…We just ate breakfast.”

“Come on, the stomach for meals and the stomach for snacks are different, you know?”

Don’t meals and snacks all go into the same stomach…?

I’m not sure what she means by them being different, but since we didn’t have a specific destination in mind anyway, we decided to first visit a place where we could get some snacks. We could probably get a photo or two of the food to attach to our report.

Having decided on our destination, I reached out my hand toward Nabi just before we set off.

“…Heh.”

“Why are you laughing?”

“Just because I’m happy.”

“You find joy in the strangest things.”

After exchanging this frivolous conversation, we looked at each other, smiled, and walked forward hand in hand. As we walked through the hot spring village streets, chatting about this and that, I felt a sense of unfamiliarity with our surroundings.

Perhaps it’s because the building roofs, signs, and the appearance of passersby are different from Korea, but despite being in a similar cultural sphere, the differences are more pronounced than I expected.

“Siwoo, don’t you smell something nice?”

“Yeah, you noticed it too?”

“Yes. Is it because we’re in a hot spring village? It seems like the smell from the bath yesterday is present on the streets too.”

As we walked, we saw quite a few interesting things. There were East Asians walking around in yukatas, possibly tourists from other countries like us, and we could occasionally spot wooden buildings that looked like they were built a hundred years ago.

The village streets showed a distinctly different character from our country, where concrete buildings predominate. As we took in the sights, we stopped in front of a certain shop.

“Oh? Siwoo. Look at this. It’s a shop selling onsen manju?”

“Onsen manju means dumplings sold at hot springs, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Siwoo? Since we’re at a hot spring village, shouldn’t we try the famous manju?”

After delivering this speech, Nabi turned to look at me. Her eyes revealed she couldn’t wait to taste the sweet flavor of manju, and I quickly nodded, feeling like I’d be in trouble if I refused.

With my permission granted, she lit up like a child and actively pulled my hand to move forward. In front of the manju shop, which had something like a street stall with manju displayed on it.

As we showed signs of interest, the shop owner came out from behind the eaves with their decorations swinging.

“Welcome. Would you like to try some manju?”

“…Pardon? What did you say?”

I unconsciously responded in Korean, causing the other person to furrow their brows slightly.

Ah… I just remembered we’re in Japan. The person looks exactly like a neighborhood auntie, but hearing fluent Japanese coming from her mouth momentarily confused me.

“Yes. They look really delicious. How much is one manju?”

Nabi stepped forward and responded while I was still trying to formulate my words.

Since she could speak Japanese as well as a local, the shop owner smiled and nodded.

“They’re usually 100 yen each, but for a pretty young lady like you, I’ll make it two for 100 yen. Isn’t that a good deal?”

“Oh, really? Then please give us ten.”

“Sure. Would you like them packaged in a box?”

“Yes. That would be very kind of you.”

After easily finishing the conversation, Nabi nudged me with her elbow, smiled slightly, and puffed out her chest a bit. Though she didn’t say anything, her actions seemed to say, “See? I told you to trust me,” which was somewhat cute.

As the shop owner placed the onsen manju one by one into a small box, she glanced at Nabi. She seemed curious about something.

“You don’t look like a local, but your Japanese is very good. Were you born in Japan?”

“No. We’re Korean, and we’re traveling in Japan. I learned Japanese when I was young, so I’m familiar with it.”

“Ah, I see. You speak so well that I almost misunderstood.”

“Heh, thank you.”

I couldn’t understand the entire conversation, but judging by the nuance, it seemed like compliments were exchanged. Nabi smiled, appearing quite pleased, and the shop owner also smiled as she finished packing all the onsen manju.

“Here you go. Have a pleasant honeymoon.”

“What? H-honeymoon?”

The word “honeymoon” popped out of the shop owner’s mouth. She seems to have misunderstood that we’re on our honeymoon since we only mentioned that we were traveling… Well, the reason for the misunderstanding doesn’t really matter.

Nabi, who had been reaching out her hand, blushed intensely and looked at me, not knowing what to do.

“Oh, was I mistaken?”

“Well, that… um.”

Nabi, who needed to clear up the misunderstanding, repeatedly opened and closed her mouth with a red face. Meanwhile, the shop owner was looking back and forth between us with an expression that suggested she might have said something wrong.

Hmm, this could lead to further misunderstandings. I had intended to stay quiet, but seeing that wouldn’t work, I stepped forward from where I had been standing back.

Since I wasn’t confident in articulating well, I decided to show through actions. I embraced Nabi’s shoulders from behind—she was unusually shy today—and spoke cheerfully to the shop owner.

“Yes, we make a good couple, don’t we?”

“S-Siwoo?!”

Nabi was shocked, as if her face might explode, but I ignored her for now. I needed to end this conversation before the shop owner mistook us for suspicious travelers.

“You do look good together… but if I may ask, are you two actually married?”

“Yes. We are newlyweds. My bride is quite shy by nature. She can’t answer whenever someone asks.”

“Ah, I see. I asked an impolite question. Here you go, enjoy them.”

“No, it’s fine. Thank you.”

Receiving the box containing the onsen manju, I left the shop with my arm still around Nabi’s shoulders.

After walking about ten steps, Nabi, who had been walking quietly, looked around quickly and then slapped my shoulder.

“Ouch, Siwoo. How could you say something like that? The shop owner will misunderstand!”

“She’s someone we’ll only see once, so what’s the big deal if she misunderstands? Besides, it’s not really a big misunderstanding anyway.”

I had been prepared to take responsibility all along, just hadn’t said it. I meant it as reassurance, but Nabi’s cheeks turned even redder.

“A-are you going to keep doing this?”

“Why, what’s wrong with it? You teased me yesterday too, Nabi.”

Reminding her of what happened the night before, the conversation we had in the bedroom, Nabi’s shoulders flinched. It seems she has something to feel guilty about as well.

“Th-that’s a different case, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is different, isn’t it? You deceived and teased me, while I deceived the shop owner.”

“D-deceived and teased? Someone might misunderstand if they hear that. That wasn’t deceiving you, I just forgot to mention it. I told you yesterday, didn’t I? And I apologized too.”

“Right, I’m sure that’s it. You weren’t trying to tease me, you just forgot to mention it.”

“…Yes, it’s true. Won’t you believe me?”

“Oh, there are stone steps over there.”

“…Siwoo!”

*

After bickering for quite some time, our next destination was the shrine at the top of the stone steps. It was introduced on the third page of the pamphlet at Kinoue Ryokan as “A must-visit spot in Ikaho Village for couples and married couples!”

According to the brief information provided, it was a powerful shrine frequently visited by both travelers and locals to receive energy, but that wasn’t the important part.

This shrine was located at the top of the stone steps. In other words, we had to climb 365 steps to reach it… and we had overlooked that fact.

“…Wow, this is harder than I thought.”

“Ugh… I agree.”

Eating onsen manju while climbing the steps made it unexpectedly difficult. After reaching the final step, I caught my breath and looked around.

The most noticeable thing was the shrine with its brilliant red color scheme. As we approached, I saw something like a huge pillar standing at its entrance.

“Oh? It’s a torii.”

“Torii? What’s that?”

“It’s a pillar erected at the entrance of a shrine, serving as a boundary that separates the realms of gods and humans. That’s why we should bow slightly when passing through a torii.”

“Ah, I see.”

I nodded lightly and proceeded into the shrine. There was a wooden building similar to a temple hall with sliding doors, and in front of it was an offering box where envelopes could be inserted.

“Siwoo, shall we pray before we leave?”

“Hmm, should we?”

“Yes, come here.”

I thought we were going straight to pray, but that wasn’t the case.

According to Nabi, who took my hand and approached the water basin, there was a necessary procedure for praying at a shrine. First, we used a ladle called hishaku to scoop water and wash our left hand, right hand, and mouth in that order.

“Here, see this rope with a bell? Shake it twice.”

Ding, ding. As she instructed, I shook it a couple of times to ring the bell. Nabi, who was beside me, also shook the rope to ring the bell.

“And then you put money in this offering box.”

“Saying ‘money’ makes it sound so materialistic.”

“Originally, we should offer tributes, but we can’t do that, can we?”

“Tributes? What are those?”

“Well, maybe the blood of a virgin?”

“…What did you say?”

“Heh, I’m joking. Why are you getting so serious?”

I wish she would make jokes with a sense of time and place. The shrine building was also in a reddish color like blood, so I thought she was serious.

I followed the smiling Nabi and put a coin in the offering box.

“Now make a wish. Then clap twice, put your hands together, and bow slightly, and you’re done.”

“Okay, got it.”

Nabi seemed to have a wish already in mind, as she quietly put her hands together, closed her eyes tightly, and made her wish. I watched her and thought for a moment.

There was no need to wish for wealth, success in exams, or love fulfillment. Those were all things I had already achieved.

Besides those, what kind of wish would be good?

…World peace?

“Siwoo, are you already done?”

While I was lost in thought, Nabi had finished her prayer. On the other hand, I hadn’t decided on a wish yet, so I asked her as she smiled brightly.

“What did you wish for?”

“Are you curious?”

“Yes, I’m curious.”

Since she was in a similar situation to mine, she probably didn’t have much to wish for either. I was very curious about what wish she had made.

“Hmm, should I tell you or not.”

“Is it a wish you can’t tell me?”

“It’s not that I can’t tell you… it’s just a bit embarrassing.”

“Ah, I see…”

If she says it’s embarrassing to tell, it would be a bit inappropriate to force her. I gave up asking and closed my eyes again to think.

But then, Nabi’s voice came from beside me.

“…Kodakare kigan.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

She just spoke in Japanese rather than Korean, and since they were words I’d never heard before, I couldn’t understand. I opened my eyes wide and asked again.

But she didn’t answer my question directly, just gave a mysterious smile.

“…It’s a secret.”