Departure Gate No. 8

Standing on the long escalator, Jan was unable to help himself and looked back towards the bottom of the escalator. Theo turned his head back around. “Don’t look.” He told him. “Ralph is crying.”

“My God! I’ve never seen that guy cry.” Jan exclaimed. “——Wait, how did you know he was crying unless you took a peek?”

Theo ignored his words.

“Why did you run off so quickly just now?” Jan cleverly changed the topic. “There were important questions which hadn’t been asked.”

Theo responded, “What questions? We came to investigate Ralph’s breach of protocol and late arrival in Rio de Janeiro. I’ve asked everything there is to ask, haven’t I?”

“You haven’t asked him why he abandoned Ralph.”

“That’s not important.”

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com

“Tso kp kv dsv kxrsavydv!” Kyd ulzzle swv. “Rv’p yzz clnywpl sq vbkp cypvyae vbyv Syzrb, vbyv tsse nbkze, oswze calyj osaj rasvsnsz. Tl lhld casjl vbl awzlp yde tyhl bkx vos rbsdl dwxclap… El pbswze yv zlypv wdelapvyde vbl pkvwyvksd sd vbl svbla pkel.”

Mbls pyke pzsozu, “R clzklhl usw ryu xsal yvvldvksd vs vbl elvykzp, Kyd. Jwv kd xu srkdksd, sdzu y qlo vbkdtp yal vawzu kxrsavydv, xspv vbkdtp fwpv pllx vs cl kxrsavydv.”

Mbl lpnyzyvsa qkdyzzu alynble vbl vsr. Mbls oyzjle qsaoyae okvb zyatl pvakelp. Kyd qszzsole clbkde obld pweeldzu, Køatld’p osaep qasx lyazkla lnbsle vbaswtb bkp xkde. “Gv xu ytl, R wdelapvyde bso vs ekpvkdtwkpb… yde vbl ekqqlaldnl clvolld vbl vos.”

Vywpl – Ózyqwa Gadyzep – Mwdtzkð

Tl vbswtbv alpldvqwzzu, Yld kd vblka vbkavklp yal ralvvu xwnb vbsaswtbzu vlekswp lmkpvldnlp. Mblka ‘Eykv wdvkz usw tlv vs xu ytl yde usw’zz wdelapvyde’ vsdl alyzzu xyjlp sdl oydv vs vbaso y qkpv yv vblka qynl… Mblal’p ds eswcv ycswv kv; vbl vos sq vblx xwpv cl lmrlakldnkdt xke-zkql nakpkp.

Mbls pvsrrle kd qasdv sq vbl tzypp essa yde vssj swv bkp lzlnvasdkn dsvlcssj yde srldle wr y qsax.

“Ebyv yal usw eskdt?”

“Esaj pnblewzkdt. R’x tskdt vs tkhl Syzrb y vos-ollj hynyvksd.” Mbls pyke okvbswv zssjkdt wr.

“Wh-what! Then who’s going to clean up the mess in Rio de Janeiro?”

“You.”

Jan let out a wail and wrapped his arms around his head. “Boss, you can’t be this unfair! Why is it that I have to work like a dog when I violate protocol but Ralph gets a vacation when he violates protocol?”

“Marriage leave.” With an indifferent look on his face, Theo continued, “If you get married in the future, I will give you the same treatment.”

Jan blinked.

“But I hate working with the people in the South American branch. My Spanish is a mess…”

“The people in Brazil usually speak Portuguese.”

“…Isn’t that a Spanish dialect?1 In any case, there’s no way to communicate. Also, I hate long-distance flights. Think about it, it takes twelve hours to fly from Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro!”

Play – Ólafur Arnalds – Old Skin feat. Arnór Dan

“It can’t be helped. Until we get Tardis*2 as a common device, you can only condescend to using this kind of retrogressive means of transportation.”

He took another glance at Jan. The latter was trying to put on his most sorrowful expression.” Theo, you’re a good person, it’ll be Christmas in a week. I don’t want to be stranded there during the holidays.”

“I know.” Theo said. “I will accompany you there. I can’t say for sure, but we might be back before the twenty-fourth.”

“…Fine.” Jan said.

He watched Theo write out the work schedule.

After a while, he whispered, “I think that guy is completely unworthy of Ralph. He’s a boring coward. ——To secretly run off just because he thought he was going to die, how could this be considered great love!”

Theo spoke. “Every person has their own way of handling things upon encountering a crisis. This does not at all indicate the depth of their love.”

Jan said, “If you were him, you would definitely not run away.”

“You can’t use that comparison.”

“Why is that? You are both thirty-five. Are you not?”

“First, I don’t have a lover; second, if I had one, my lover would know what I do and the fact that I may die at any given moment. So, if I didn’t run off in the beginning, I won’t run away later.” Theo’s fingers flew over the notepad as he asked, “——What about you?”

“Is that even a question? I will never cast my lover away.” Jan replied.

In a voice quieter than the human ear could catch, he said, “You’ve oppressed and exploited me for this long, no matter what, I’ll drag you to death with me.”3

Theo snapped his notebook shut.

“I booked the first flight to Rio de Janeiro.” He told him. “So, we’ll need to spend the night in Frankfurt.”

“What do you think of the Steigenberger Hotel?”

(《Departure Gate No. 8》 End)

End – Ólafur Arnalds – Old Skin feat. Arnór Dan

Author Notes:

*Tardis: A machine in the science fiction television program (Doctor Who) which allows for travel between time and space. It’s outer appearance is of a public telephone booth.