Chapter 2 – Summer (Part 2)
Summer, Part 2
Novel Title: ツァイガルニクの恋の沼 (Zeigarnik’s Love Swamp)
Author：月村奎著 (Tsukimura Kei)
Illustrator：志水ゆき (Shimizu Yuki)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 市川春音 (Ichikawa Harune -MC) & 二ノ宮航輝 (Ninomiya Kouki -ML)
*Please read at universalnovel.com, the original site of translation. TQ*
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“You probably haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Want a sandwich?” Kouki casually handed over a sandwich wrapped in wax paper.
“Oh, thanks.”
At this moment, Harune’s smile was genuine. It was not the calculated one he usually put on. Kouki was skilled enough at cooking that he could pass as a chef.
Harune wasn’t very good at cooking and had even injured his finger once while cooking, which seriously impacted his knitting work. Since then, he only did simple cooking, like making toast or stir-frying pre-cut vegetables. When Harune had awkwardly shared this trivial story after reuniting with Kouki, Kouki had occasionally started bringing him food.
“I have barley tea inside. Come cool off for a bit,” Harune said, noticing the sweat on Kouki’s forehead and trying to invite him into the cooler shop.
“No, I’m good,” Kouki declined. “I’ve got another delivery to make this morning. I’ll come back for the tea tonight.”
Before Harune could protest that there was no need to go out of his way to come back just for tea, Kouki was already heading back to his truck.
The cicada, startled by the sound of the truck door closing, buzzed loudly and flew off into the summer sky.
Harune returned inside and sat on a round stool behind the register, opening the wax paper.
“Wow, this looks delicious.”
Inside were two sandwiches: roast beef and watercress, and peach jam with cream cheese. The roast beef and jam were probably homemade by Kouki.
Although the roast beef would usually be the first choice, Harune went for the dessert-like peach jam sandwich first.
The juicy peaches, more like a compote than a jam, paired with the rich cream cheese, created a heavenly taste.
“How can someone with such big hands make something so cute?” Harune muttered to himself while licking the dripping peach juice off the paper, when the shop’s sliding door rattled open. This signalled the arrival of his first customer for the day.
“Harune, could you help me with something?” called out a familiar voice.
It was one of his regulars, a woman in her seventies who lived alone. She had recently picked up knitting again, something she had dabbled in when she was younger. She was currently working on a lace-knit stole.
Harune quickly swallowed his sandwich and greeted the woman.
“Welcome! What seems to be the problem?”
“Well, while I was knitting, the stitch count decreased. I don’t know where I dropped a stitch. Do I have to undo it all?”
“Let me take a look for you.”
Harune pulled out a folding chair in front of the large work table and offered it to the elderly woman customer. He then spread out the variegated yarn shawl she had taken from her eco-bag.
As he checked the stitches from the edge, he found a dropped yarn-over a few rows back.
“Oh, this is an easy fix.”
Harune brought out a repair hook and quickly unravelled a few stitches, then reknit them smoothly.
“As expected from you.”
“No, it’s nothing. You’ve made a lot of progress. It looks beautiful.”
“Oh, how nice to hear! When you praise me like that, I feel motivated.”
“If you have time, would you like to stay and knit a little?”
“Is that okay? It’s not class time.”
“Of course. I have something I want to finish knitting too, and it’s more fun with company.”
Deciding to save the rest of the sandwich for lunch, Harune poured two cups of warm barley tea from the pot. Many of his elderly customers preferred something warm, even in the middle of summer, so he always prepared both hot and cold drinks.
When Harune brought over the basket containing the half-knit men’s sweater, the customer’s eyes widened in surprise.
“My, what a grand piece! And winter clothing? You’re ahead of the season!”
“It’s for a fall and winter knitting book, so it’s more like I’m barely making the deadline.”
“Oh dear, then your name will be in another book! I’ll definitely buy it.”
“Thank you.”
In addition to running the store, Harune also worked on commission for crafting books, thanks to a connection from a friend from his vocational school days. Honestly, the income from it was small, and even his friend—an accomplished knitting designer with several books under her name—couldn’t make a living solely from the knitting industry.
Despite that, Harune loved working with knitting. When his hands were moving, he felt euphoric, momentarily forgetting the burdens of the world.
And the first face that came to mind when he thought of these ‘burdens’ was Kouki’s.
———No, no, I shouldn’t think of it as a burden. He’s a childhood friend who kindly brings me delicious sandwiches.
Harune looked around the store. It was Kouki who had fixed the sliding door and set up the display shelves by the entrance, like in a proper shop. He should only feel gratitude toward his helpful childhood friend.
But honestly, Harune still couldn’t figure out Kouki’s true intentions, even six months after their reunion. He wasn’t sure how to interact with him properly.
Before Harune could linger on the unsettled feelings in his head, a new customer entered the shop.
It was a customer looking for thread to sew on buttons, a regular settling in with her knitting project, another looking for fabric for a dress—Harune’s store was always busy.
While working in the apparel industry had been fulfilling, it also came with many frustrations and left him with little time for himself.
In contrast, the work here blurred the lines between on-duty and off-duty, and Harune found that comforting and enjoyable. It reminded him of the nostalgic days when he spent time at his grandparents’ shop, drinking tea with customers or learning knitting from his grandmother.
It was a modest business, but the satisfaction of the work was far more rewarding than the income.
As he thought about this, suddenly, his chair gave way with a loud clatter.
“Whoa!”
Harune flailed his knitting needles in the air, barely managing to catch himself before falling.
“Are you okay, Haru-chan?”
“What happened?”
The customers voiced their concerns.
“I’m fine, sorry about that.”
Harune bent down to inspect the chair legs.
He’d been worried about the wobbling of this stool for a while now, and it seemed that the mortise supporting the leg had finally come loose.
The chair had already shown signs of heavy use since Harune was a child, but he liked the aged wood’s look, so he felt disappointed.
Even the folding chairs he had customers sit on were getting quite old and shaky too.
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*Translator’s Note: Allow me to explain beforehand for those unfamiliar to Japanese language and culture that Japanese normally introduce themselves with the surname/last name mentioned first before the first name. And in novels, in conversation, they will likely use last names to address others. But first names are used in narration. For example, if the character’s name is Miyamoto (last name) Tsuneyasu (first name), in narration, it’ll be like… ‘Tsuneyasu sat down on the chair.’ And in conversation, when meeting a friend, the friend will ask; “Miyamoto, how long have you been sitting here?”. Get me? Okay. That’s all the explanation for now. But for this story, they’re childhood friends so they are on a first name basis. -K
Next update: 2026.06.08
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