3

The man had his head bowed towards his electronic notebook, and was writing very quickly. During their entire conversation, he had been recording everything in his notebook. Jørgen noticed he was using some rather peculiar shorthand symbols.

“Until what time did you and Ralph stay in Steigenberger?

“Around four in the morning of the second day. He left the hotel first.

“Did he not take the same flight as you?”

“No.” Jørgen replied. His tensed palms had turned sweaty. At this point, he could nearly confirm that the other party was not investigating him, but Ralph. “He took the earliest flight to Rio de Janeiro.”

“I got it.” With a snap, the man closed his notebook.

“Did you have any other contact with him afterwards?”

Jørgen slowly replied, “After that day, I haven’t had any contact with him.”

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Mbl xyd vbld ypjle, “Pke bl zlyhl clbkde bkp nsdvynv kdqsaxyvksd?”

Køatld alprsdele, “Tl eke dsv. Mbyv’p obu, R’x oykvkdt qsa bkx blal, bsrkdt bl okzz yrrlya.” Tl lytlazu nsdvkdwle. “Rq usw nswze vlzz xl oblal bl byp tsdl…”

Jwv vbl xyd bye yzalyeu pvsse wr.

“Mbydj usw qsa uswa nssrlayvksd, Ya. Nlbxydd.” Tl prsjl cakpjzu.

“Eykv!” Køatld alynble swv vsoyaep bkx. Rd bkp bypvl, y fwxczl sq osaep prkzzle qasx bkp zkrp. “Zsw xwpv jdso bkx, yx R aktbv? Uyd’v usw vlzz xl oblal bl’p tsdl? R clt usw! Ebyv jkde sq rlapsd kp bl? Ebu kp kv vbyv R nyd’v qkde bkx ds xyvvla obyv R es?…”

Tkp lulp xlv okvb vbl xyd’p. Rv oyp y ryka sq hlkzle lulp okvb eyaj casod rwrkzp hske sq yzz lxsvksd.

“R bsrl usw okzz xllv vbl rlapsd usw yal oykvkdt qsa.” Tl pyke vbkp okvbswv ydu qzwnvwyvksd kd bkp hsknl. “Qssecul.”

Tl vwadle yaswde yde oyzjle vsoyaep vbl lmkv. Gtbypv, Køatld zssjle yv vbl qktwal tlvvkdt qwavbla yde qwavbla yoyu clqsal fwxrkdt swv sq bkp plyv. Mbl uswdt xyd obs bye clld pkvvkdt ynaspp qasx vblx blze sdvs bkp yax.

“Sit down, old fellow ¹[1] In Germany, they use the term, Alter Schwede, of which the meaning is equivalent to old chap (British), buddy (American), old friend, or old swede. In the case where anyone is curious, I found this from here..” He said this in a blithe yet commanding way. “Sit down.”

“Now, I’d like to ask you a few questions,” said the young man. His light blue eyes danced with a captivating brilliance, shining like a gem. “It’s not for work but to satisfy my own curiosity. You are free to not answer.”

Jørgen took a hard look at him. He was baffled by the strange behavior of these two people.

“I’m willing to answer anything. If only you could tell me, where he… where Ralph is?”

The young man let out a laugh. “How would I know his whereabouts?” Shrugging, he said, “I’ve never even heard of this person before. ——Come, let me introduce myself, the name’s Jan.” 

Jørgen looked at the waiting area. The gray-attired man had disappeared without a trace. In his disappointment, he sat back down on the chair and searched through his pocket for the e-cigarette. After finding it, he drew it out with his forefinger and thumb.

Jan began. “What I’d like to ask is, why did you lie just now.”

Jørgen looked at him coldly.

“Ralph had given you his contact information.” Jan said. “Just now, when you said, ‘No’, you felt so guilty, you couldn’t even look in the other person’s eyes. Even a blind person could see you were lying.”

“Yes.” Jørgen admitted it. “He had given it to me. Cell, email, address. All written on a piece of paper.

“Two cell numbers.”

“Yes. ——How do you know that?”

“Oh, I just made a wild guess.” Jan casually replied. “You got rid of that piece of paper. Why?”

Jørgen looked at him silently. He felt he cut a sorry figure when compared to this youngster who was much younger than him.

“Don’t try to give me some nonsense about how you accidentally lost it.” Jan warned him while wagging a finger at him. “Just a moment ago, you were reading the commemorative Goethe magazine supplement from last month. The bookmark you have stuck in the middle is that boarding pass. ——I can bet you’ve kept everything you could from that night as mementos. So if you lost his contact information, it was definitely done deliberately.”

Jørgen said, “…I burned it.”

Play – Ólafur Arnalds – Hægt, kemur ljósið

Before the sun had even risen, Ralph got up, tiptoed quietly, put on his clothes, and gathered his belongings. ——In fact, he didn’t need to be so careful. Jørgen hadn’t slept for even a second but he still kept his eyes closed. He continued to pretend to be asleep, unwilling to wake from this wonderful dream.

Jørgen watched Ralph as he slept, recalling their conversation.

“I’ll need to take the earliest flight tomorrow.” Ralph told him this while feeling somewhat embarrassed. “The truth is, my flight wasn’t delayed at all.

Jørgen looked at him, surprised.

“I was originally supposed to depart from Departure Gate No. 19 and go on a business trip in Rio de Janeiro today.” Ralph told him. “But… hell! When I passed by you, I don’t know, it was like some unexplainable force made me sit down, sit down in front of you. ——Then like a fool, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from you, watching you finish your magazine and only then, managed to come up with such a shoddy excuse to strike up a conversation with you.

He seemed to be somewhat bemused as looked at Jørgen. Then, he smiled.

“Do you believe there is such a thing as love at first sight, Jørgen? My parents were wedded a week after meeting. The first time I heard this, I thought they must have been mad. It was a miracle that their marriage lasted all these years. ——But now, I think, alas, I truly am their son.”

Jørgen held Ralph tightly in his arms and laid kisses on his hair, then his ear, then his neck. He could hear his voice trembling as he told him, “If it’s for you, nothing I do would be considered crazy.”

He felt something hot welling up in his throat.

End – Ólafur Arnalds – Hægt, kemur ljósið

Translator Notes:

[1] In Germany, they use the term, Alter Schwede, of which the meaning is equivalent to old chap (British), buddy (American), old friend, or old swede. In the case where anyone is curious, I found this from here.