Going overseas was not something you had planned to do at first. Your college had a program for studying abroad in Japan and it piqued your interest but a new country across the world slightly scared you.

It took a lot of convincing but finally your friends had somehow managed to get you to agree to go. ‘An exciting experience’, they said and you, albeit hesitantly, agreed.

And now you couldn’t imagine what life would be like if you hadn’t traveled halfway around the world because that’s where you met him, Hiroshi. A tall, awkward, smiling mess of a tour guide that couldn’t keep his eyes off you. He was the face of beauty.

Hiroshi was the quiet type, you could tell even as he was showing your group around the university. But when it was just you and him, he opened up. Though his English wasn’t the best, he tried his hardest to understand you through broken words and nods.

God, you never wanted to leave now. How could you? Late at night, laying together on the sandy beach of Tokyo bay until the sun rose or underneath the leaves of a Cherry blossom. Losing track of time as you held him in your arms or he took your hand. Neither of you wanted it to end.

One day you went to meet him at your usual spot but he was late. It wasn’t like him. And when Hiroshi finally showed, his face was sullen and he looked as though he had been crying.

Hiroshi stopped a few feet in front of you, his eyes downcast. He couldn’t bring himself to look you in the face. “My parents…” He said softly, his voice cracking. “They promised me to someone else.”