I Was Supposed to Be Giving Love Advice on the School Radio, but Before I Knew It, the Beautiful Girls at School Were Hitting on Me
The next letter was ‘Kombu Wakame’. She always writes in a calm tone (compared to others), but today’s letter was different.
“Hello, I always enjoy listening to you on the radio.
I know this is a bit different from a relationship advice, but I wanted to write to you about something I’ve been thinking about recently,
To tell you the truth, there is someone I have been interested in recently. I have approached him many times because I want to work with him, but the way I approached him was not good and made him rather angry.
When I think about it calmly, it was my fault, but the worst part is that I lost my temper and pushed him away.
I know I should apologize immediately, but I’m ashamed to face him again because I made him upset, and I can only turn away from the fact.
I didn’t mean to offend him, and I do not ask for forgiveness. How can I get that across to him…….?”
It was not a letter of advice, but rather a confession of guilt.
“Okay……it’s about how to apologize to someone you’ve just offended,……. At least for me, Kombu Wakame’s feelings of apology really came throughy. I think all of the listeners do too.”
I don’t know if this is any consolation, but I’ll throw in one light follow-up.
“For advice……yes, in case you’re wondering, from reading this sentence, Kombu Wakame and her partner aren’t that close? I guess that’s why it’s even more difficult to apologize again……
……I think it’s difficult to apologize to someone who is not close to begin with. Sometimes you can’t apologize because your position or your pride gets in the way. I’ve also been fighting with my sister a lot.”
Games, manga, snacks… I often felt rebellious against the words [You’re the older brother after all] and thought that maybe I was just being made to look like the bad guy because of my position as the older brother, and that in reality I wasn’t the bad guy.
However, when I got cooler, I was generally made to reflect on how bad I had been.
That’s why it’s important to take initial action in these situations. I put my honest feelings on the microphone, even though I knew it was tough.
“……But in the end, the only person I can apologize to is myself. There is no other way to express gratitude or apology than to express it directly. So, to your question about how to tell him, I don’t think there is any other way but for you to apologize directly to him.”
I took a breath to calm down. But it would be meaningless to stop there. As a radio host, I wanted to at least give her some real advice !
“…..I think there are other ways to prepare for the apology other than directly apologizing to the person in front of you !
For example, you could approach that person’s friends and ask them to set up a place to apologize, or you could leave it to others to find a way to reach that point.
Then you can apologize with all your might ! I’m praying in the shadows that you don’t end up worrying too much about the process leading up to it and not being able to apologize until summer vacation !”
In order to avoid making the speech too depressing, I ended it on a lighter note.
However, a feeling of tiredness cloaked my body. This is not only because I gave her advice.
I desperately shook off the tone and tried to sound as cheerful as I could.
“Now, I’d like to continue with a request number ! Fuji Fabric, ‘BEAT of Dawn'”
♢
“So, how was the last radio show of the summer vacation? It will be about a month before you all can see me again like this, but please don’t feel lonely.
See you again in the second semester.”
I turned the volume of the microphone to 0 while the quiet bass sound played.
After a few moments, I put pressure on my finger on the fader and slowly turned down the background music.
“Ah, it’s so boring…….”
The walls of the excellent soundproofing equipment absorbed the voice from the bottom of my stomach beautifully.
The door opened with a loud click just at that time.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
“Sorry, the shop is just closing.”
The teacher enters with a small hand raised in the air. I reply, leaning back in my chair.
After the broadcast was over, the teacher finally came in and sat down on a chair near the entrance with light steps, ignoring my words. As usual, she had a piece of yakisoba bread in her hand.
“The broadcast is already over.”
“Sorry, sorry, I’ve been busy at the end of the semester. Being a substitute teacher is tough.”
The teacher peels off the plastic from the bread while muttering.
The first bite of the bread was taken just before she glanced at me.
“Kageyama, aren’t you going to eat lunch?”
“Don’t worry, I already ate all of it before the broadcast started.”
“That’s unusual. An early lunch?”
“Something like that. I felt like I was going to use up a few calories today.”
“Calories, I see…….”
The teacher said as she took a big bite of the yakisoba bread.
Since the teacher had already arrived, I couldn’t just dash out of the broadcasting room either, so I remained in my chair and fiddled with my smartphone.
“It certainly took a lot of calories, but today’s episode was definitely a good one.”
“What’s with the praise all of a sudden?”
The teacher nodded while nibbling on a piece of bread. I give her a suspicious look, but she doesn’t seem to be affected by it.
“I especially liked that letter, the one about how to apologize to someone you’ve offended.”
“Oh, that one……”
“Yeah, there was a lot of groaning in the staff room.”
“Don’t make fun of me.”
“No, no, no. I’m complimenting you.”
“Even more so if that’s the case…….”
That answer hit me like a boomerang even as I said it. Even though I was praise, I felt like I wasn’t able to do it the way I was told, and it made me feel even more depressed.
“Haa…….”
An involuntary sigh escapes me. Just then, there was an incoming call on the teacher’s phone.
I looked at the teacher’s phone without knowing why. The teacher looked at the phone for a moment and then smiled and raised the edge of her mouth.
“Kageyama, being a high school student is great.”
Without changing her expression, the teacher turned her head toward me.
“What’s with you, you’re suddenly acting like a bad adult?”
“I wish I could have spent my youth like this.”
The teacher closed her cell phone without changing her expression.
“Is it okay if you don’t reply to the message?”
“It’s fine, it’s not the place for an adult to be.”
I was waiting for my lunch break to end, staring blankly at the teacher who seemed somewhat satisfied.
Maitoshi