Should I quit my job and start my own business?
If I worked like a madman, maybe I could make it big and buy my own private jet.
But how many decades would that take?
Even if I succeeded, she wouldn’t wait that long.
Maybe meeting her as a classmate had been my greatest misfortune.
Trying to outpace a woman as brilliant as her, without the advantage of age and experience, was nearly impossible.
I wasn’t rejected because I was incompetent.
Absolutely not.
No matter how I try to defend myself, losing Akane is the only reality before me.
A month after our breakup, I heard that Akane had started dating someone—a classmate I knew well.
His academic record and career path were nearly identical to mine.
But if we were talking about looks, I was clearly the better one.
Apparently, he had been assigned to an overseas post in New York starting in two months.
I had heard that winters in New York were quite cold, but… well, that didn’t seem to matter.
I downed my drink in frustration.
My colleagues, aware that I had been dumped, covered for me at work. But I was practically half an alcoholic at that point.
In my drunken haze, I wasn’t thinking straight.
Something inside me had snapped.
That must be why, when I first saw her—Otoha—she seemed to shine.
Otoha was the complete opposite of Akane—illogical, impractical.
She was so different that I couldn’t even compare the two.
And because of that, unlike other women, she didn’t seem inferior in my eyes.
She felt like the only person who could rescue my already ruined life.
With my relocation to Hokkaido looming, I let my emotions take over and married her on impulse.
We rushed through the paperwork, hurriedly moved in together, and relocated to Hokkaido.
And now—
I was already regretting it.
How had I, of all people, ended up married to such a pathetic woman?
Between the move and the transition at work, I no longer had the time to drown my sorrows in alcohol.
And once the drunken haze lifted, I finally sobered up—both literally and figuratively.
◇
As soon as I landed in Hokkaido, I headed straight for the company housing that had been arranged for us.
The movers were scheduled to arrive by noon, but I decided to stop by the branch office to introduce myself first.
“Sorry, but I’ll leave the unpacking to you, Otoha. I’ll be back as soon as I’m done with greetings.”
“Okay,” she replied with a bright smile, as always.
That’s the thing—she always gives great responses. Every time.
She doesn’t look bad, either.
She’s not as stunning as my ex, but when she smiles, her eyes curve into little crescent moons, giving her a charming, innocent look. I don’t dislike it.
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