I don't need a Prince Charming! -For some reason, I have to find a husband real quick! - Chapter 5

Fiery! Prince of Curry Second Part

Two weeks later, I was apologizing to Kimori san on the phone.

“…Eh, you and Misawa, it’s already done?”

“He’s a very nice man…and I’m really, really sorry..but I turned him down.. I’m really sorry”

“Why?”

“Because…my body couldn’t handle it…”

“What??? What happened after only a week of meeting? What do you mean?”

“Golf”

“Huh?”

“Golf”

Let’s rewind to a few days ago.

I was sitting on my bed in my room, playing a game and eating chips with chopsticks.

It was a blissful time.

The message app on my phone rang, and I checked it. It was from the Prince of Curry.

Misawa san had been diligent in making contact.

The message he gave me on the first day we met was something like, “Let’s get along well!” with a cute bear stamp that didn’t seem to suit him.

I had rarely exchanged messages like this with other people in my life, so I thought for a few seconds before replying.

But I didn’t want to take too much time.

I went to the stamp shop, promptly bought a cute cat character and responded in a similar way. I decided that if I didn’t know the groove, I could do the same as the other person and there would be no problem.

From that day on, he kept in touch with me in a very detailed manner.

I didn’t know how the dating process works, and I wasn’t sure if I should message him myself or not so I was really grateful that he was contacting me from his side, and that he was assuming a relationship with me in a positive way.

However, there were many things that were really unimportant.

‘What did you eat? I just woke up. I just got home. Today, there wasn’t anything to do’. I wondered about this, but after a while, I realized that these were sent not because he had some business with me, but rather as a form of communication.

I thought it would be better if I sounded relaxed and happy.

But, I was thinking of a reply which was not too long nor not too short, not too casual nor not too serious with my bloodshot eyes.

I was too unused to this kind of thing.

I was desperate not to be rude.

I would sometimes search for thesauruses and associative dictionaries on the web to create something that looked original, and then respond as quickly as I could.

However, gradually, it began to feel like work to reply properly.

Misawa san also called me late when he couldn’t find the right time after work.

My sleeping hours were on the long side, and I was a regular sleeper who ran out of fuel and fell asleep on time every day. Therefore, my eyelids were fluttering at that time. But, I couldn’t let my prospective partner know that I was sleepy. I pinched my cheeks as I tried my best to make conversation.

The conversation itself, as expected, didn’t extend very well, or rather we weren’t on the same wavelength at all.

To be honest, I had always thought that I was just unmotivated and that I could do a little more if I wanted to. I felt like I was paying the price for skipping out on daily conversations or rather idle talk outside of work.

After he found out that I was ignorant of sports, he tried to talk about other topics as much as possible. Even so, his hobbies were sports in general, both watching and playing, so he would mention athletes in passing as reference. I didn’t know about them at all, so he would apologize to me each time he did that.

That’s why, after returning home, I looked it up on the internet, and studied it as well. Thanks to that, I memorized the names of soccer and baseball teams, their players, and famous stories in a few days, but it was almost like studying a day before the test, since I wasn’t interested in them in the first place.

Then, on my way home on thursday. I made an appointment with him on a holiday for the first time since we got to know each other.

“Golf…”

“Yup. We wouldn’t be able to go for soccer or basketball for sure since you mentioned being an indoor person, but I thought maybe tennis or golf would be fine. What do you think?”

“I’ve never tried it before…”

“It’s okay! I’ll teach you. It should be fun to try it! It would be a waste not to know how fun it is! Who knows, you might get hooked”

I knew that the hot-blooded Curry Prince was saying that because he truly thought so. There wasn’t a shred of malice in him. And then I remembered something he had said to me once.

That his preferred type is ‘someone he can enjoy his hobbies with’.

“I’ll go”

There was no other answer.

~~~~

The night before, I received the schedule for the next day by email.

Meet at 7:00 in the morning. The schedule included the general flow of events, such as arrival at the golf course at 8:00 am, registration, and a little practice, but it also included a few katakana golf terminology.

In writing, the writer basically doesn’t bother to write explanations of things that he or she considers to be common knowledge. However, the only golf term I knew was ‘golf club’, so I had to search and look up every unfamiliar word to decipher the document correctly.

Misawa san also wrote briefly about the etiquette of golf, a gentleman’s sport. Each headword was simple, such as ‘Don’t run’ or ‘Fix a messy lawn’, but there was a surprisingly large number of headwords.

I read it over and over again and also looked it up on the internet.

Then I was astonished when I found a warning about clothing.

It shouldn’t be too casual; shirts should be tucked inside; this kind of cloth is NG, etc. The instructions went into great detail. Misawa san seemed to have inadvertently forgotten about it, but if you aren’t dressed properly, you may not be allowed to enter apparently.

It was a good thing I noticed this in advance. I opened the closet vigorously, breaking out in a cold sweat.

I hadn’t intended to go dressed so strangely to begin with, but even if I didn’t have what I needed, I didn’t have time to go shopping anymore. I turned my clothes upside down and searched with my bleary eyes for a safe and appropriate combination.

The next morning, completely sleep-deprived, I staggered out of my house, rubbing my eyes.

“Good morning, Ako san. Did you sleep well?”

I got into Misawa san’s car, which had come to pick me up.

His smile is even more dazzling than the morning sun that my eyes hurt. Lack of sleep in front of that smile. I couldn’t say that I wanted to go home already and sleep, so I laughed without strength.

I arrived at the golf course in a very shaky state.

The golf clubs were heavier than I had expected, and just hitting the ball was much more difficult than I had imagined.

I thought it would feel good if I could hit it, but in reality, I kept striking out, and even when I did hit it, it was only a flop.

Misawa san patiently and gently taught me instead of making fun of me.

So, I acted happy with a smile, not wanting to be wimpy more than needed as it wasn’t a thing I could run away from. I didn’t want him to realize that I was brought here with the best of intentions but I wasn’t enjoying myself. I managed to pull out my ‘social skills’, which had been rusting in the storehouse for years without being used properly, and put them to full use.

‘It’s okay! You can do it!” “Hang in there, just a little longer!” “If you don’t give up, the way will open up!” However, my consciousness suddenly flew away as I listened to his enthusiastic cheering with 100% good will.

As the remaining battery power in my body and mind rapidly dwindled, my brain went into battery saver mode, and the circuit breaker connecting my body and consciousness went down.

I was moving and I was smiling.

But my body was watching from the air the comical sight of a smiling robot woman with a taut smile swinging a golf club around.

The next thing I knew, I was at the door of my apartment building with wobbly knees.

My thighs, arms, back, and all the muscles not used on a regular basis were already shrieking.

The room was in shambles with the clothes I had turned over before leaving. I collapsed into the bed, not having the strength to clean up the mess. I was able to come home. I want to be here forever…

I honestly thought that it would be a lukewarm motion sport compared to soccer, volleyball, and the like.

I don’t know how it is for people with healthy fitness levels, but my body was already sore to the point where I couldn’t get up since I hadn’t done much exercise ever since I graduated from school.

And it wasn’t only my body that whined.

I was the only one who looked that bad, no matter how much of a beginner I was. I made the other customers who were playing at the same place wait for a while, and I felt guilty for causing trouble for others, which also caused a lot of damage to my psyche.

I had never been good at exercise.

I should have refused from the beginning.

Misawa san is an adult. It’s not like he will try to force me to do anything.

I wanted to be liked and get married, so I forced myself.

But sports are impossible.

I tried my best, but it was impossible.

My whole body was saying, “That’s right. It’s impossible for you”.

It even lectured me, “Why did you even think you could do it?”.

As I was still groaning in my futon, my phone rang.

It was Misawa san.

He had a lot of energy so if anything, it was more like he hadn’t had enough to play today.

And to avoid any awkwardness, he had invited me to meet him again tomorrow. He seemed to have understood that I’m not athletically inclined to the point of sadness, so he said he would like to do something less strenuous tomorrow since I probably would be tired. I replied that I would be fine with that. As long as it isn’t physical exercise, I’m fine with it, I replied. I had to get to know him a little better as soon as possible.

I looked at the invitation message with vacant eyes in my futon.

He asked me to come with him to a home party at his friend’s house.

“Party”

When I saw that word, I felt my blood run cold and my eyes went black.

That dreadful thing where you eat while enjoying conversations with an unspecified number of people, play games with a large group, and laugh loudly amongst a lot of strangers. The one that was held at my parents’ house occasionally.

The one I…avoided as much as possible in my life…

I was shivering in my futon, covering my face with my hand that wasn’t holding my phone.

Misawa san is a very nice person.

But the field in which he lives is too different from mine.

It was a mistake for me to try to become an extrovert as an introvert.

Kimori san said that I don’t understand because I don’t have any love experience, but now I feel like I understand what he meant.

I didn’t have any criteria to choose from, and if I had to say strictly, my criteria was ‘someone who would marry me’. I thought if there was such a special person, it didn’t matter what kind of personality defect he had. And yet, I would definitely marry a person with a good personality if he had no problem with it. Like that, I had a mysterious confidence, thinking I was prepared for it because of my grandfather.

I’ve never thought that it would be hard for me to be around someone who isn’t a bad person.

To begin with, no matter how nice or good-looking a person is, it’s definitely difficult for me just to be around other people. I felt strongly about my hopeless disposition once again. What a useless woman I am.

Misawa san was indeed the Prince of Curry.

Everyone loves curry, from children to adults. Even I like curry that isn’t too spicy. Misawa san’s curry is …..the type of spicy curry that tastes good the first bite, but the spiciness kicks in when you carelessly take a second bite.

The problem is that I’m not a big fan of that level of spiciness that most people would eat and say it’s delicious.

I quietly picked up my phone and called Misawa san.

Then, I bowed to him on the phone even though he couldn’t see me.

After a short call, I called Kimori san again, this time to apologize and report.