Kenji asked whether Yuki had come to Okinawa for work or for pleasure.
“A little of both,” she answered.
“That’s a very diplomatic answer.”
“I’m trying to relax.”
“Then I recommend avoiding diplomacy. It requires too much energy.”
She smiled, but the expression faded when he asked whether she was enjoying her trip.
Yuki considered giving him the usual answer. She could have said that everything was wonderful and that she was having the time of her life.
Instead, she looked at the
“I’m still trying to remember how to enjoy things without feeling guilty about it.”
Kenji did not immediately respond.
He did not tell her to be positive. He did not explain that other people had it worse. He did not turn her sadness into an opportunity to describe his own accomplishments.
He simply waited.
That silence made it easier for her to continue.
