I asked with concern, “What happened to you?”
“Just accidentally fell,” he replied casually.
A grown man scraping his arm to that extent? Only a fool would believe that. I looked at him sideways and asked, “Did you get into a fight while trying to steal someone’s girlfriend?”
He just shook his head. “You really know me!”
“Don’t tell me I actually guessed right?” I mused. He was speechless, which likely meant I had guessed correctly.
“Who were you trying to steal a girlfriend from? How could they be so vicious?” He sighed and said, “It was the yakuza. A boss caught me in bed with his woman and was furious, sending over a dozen people to beat me up. Luckily, I ran fast and jumped from the second floor to escape, or I would have lost my life.” “Oh my god, that’s brutal!” I said, breaking out in a cold sweat. “I’ve heard that Japanese yakuza are especially terrifying. You must be careful. If they find you again, they won’t let you off…” “Of course not. They said that if they see me again, they’ll chop me into pieces and feed me to the sharks!” “Let’s call the police,” I suggested quietly. “The police can’t protect me 24 hours a day.” “What should we do?” I asked, feeling anxiety and wiping my cold, sweating palms on my skirt. “Don’t worry, Osaka is big. It won’t be easy to run into trouble,” he comforted me. I remained worried and advised him, “There are so many beautiful nurses in the hospital for you to date; why associate with those shady women? Stay away from izakayas… What about your family if something happens…” I realized I was sounding like my mother and felt self-disgusted. But he didn’t seem bothered at all and listened with interest. “I’m sorry!”
A soft Japanese voice interrupted my words. I turned around and saw a young Japanese woman bowing deeply, saying, “Thank you, thank you so much! I thank you again on behalf of my husband and family.”
She pulled out a four or five-year-old boy from behind and pushed him forward. The little boy bowed politely. “Thank you for saving me… I’m sorry for causing you injury!” He then said two words in awkward Chinese: “Thank you!”
