Chapter 14: It Seems My Wife Has Realized I Ran Away

It Seems My Wife Has Realized I Ran Away

A few days after my escape, on Saturday, a daytime LINE message from my wife became the signal that everything had begun.

[What time will you get home around?]

If I leave my phone alone, the message appears in the preview on the screen. Viewed this way, it does not mark as read.

The business trip schedule I had told her said that work ended on Friday. I had told her I would be back on Saturday, though I never gave a specific time. If I returned in the morning, I should have arrived home around noon.

But I was not going home. The first message came before noon, so maybe she was thinking about whether to make lunch.

I ignored the messages. Then at 1, and again at 1:30, several more arrived.

At 3 PM, she tried calling through LINE. I did not answer. Immediately after, she called directly. Maybe she thought LINE was not working.

My ringtone was turned off, so no matter how many times she called or messaged, there was no sound. The screen only lit up each time. You could say that was the moment she began to understand I was not coming back.

[Are you okay?]

[Are you seeing my messages?]

[Pick up the phone.]

[Are you safe?]

The messages and calls kept changing each time. Everything going exactly as planned put me in a strange, exhilarated state of mind.

Nothing had leaked from the mother I spoke with on the train, and my wife had no idea where I was. Even if she tried calling my company over the weekend, it would be closed, so she would not reach anyone.

The earliest she could contact the company was Monday. And I already knew exactly what she would be told.

“He has already resigned.”

Yes, I had quit. That had actually been the part that took the longest to set up. I notified the company about a month before the day I left, passed on my work, and made sure no trouble would remain.

I already knew how my wife would react.

“That cannot be true! He should be working there! He left for a business trip on Thursday…!”

The number printed on my business card was only the main company line that connected to my department. Most of the time, an office clerk answered.

So in advance, I gave that clerk some spending money and told them I would be disappearing. I asked them to respond in a certain way if my wife called, so I am sure they answered just as I instructed.

Not knowing what to do, she would keep calling and calling. The calls were already coming. Everything was happening the way I expected.

From here on, the part I could not predict would begin. There were things I did not know. For example, the supermarket manager. I did not know how much she trusted him or depended on him. They were having an affair, a physical one. So it was not like she disliked him.

Now that I was gone, she might feel relieved and turn to him. Or she might ask him for help getting me back. She might even realize that my disappearance was caused by her affair and break things off with him. I had no way of knowing.

It would have been nice if there were someone who could observe her situation objectively and report to me. But I had no such friends to rely on.

The flood of calls from her had been intense for a while now. The number of messages was beyond anything I had experienced. I wondered what was going through her mind. Maybe something like, “My ATM, come back!” If that was the case, it hurt more than I wanted to admit.

If she was actually happy that the inconvenience was gone and she could be close to the supermarket manager without interference, then that was it. I would disappear for good.

Online, when cheating wives realize they are exposed, they tend to say things like “You are the one I love most” or “I finally understand.” It is the usual script.

But with my wife, I had no idea what she thought. It took months before she would even kiss me. Years before we slept together. I was timid too, but I had thought rushing would be wrong.

And when I touched her lightly, she would say, “Wait. My heart cannot take it.” Her face would turn bright red. She really was cute.

Yet she gave everything to the supermarket manager in only a few months. They went to love hotels, and she even made the kind of voice that comes from genuine pleasure. Just remembering it makes my stomach twist. I need to stop thinking about it.

Right now, I am in Fukuoka. I tried going to Kagoshima, but I felt it was not the place for me. So I returned to Fukuoka, the city I had seen through the train window.

I had thought both were close since they were in Kyushu, but Kagoshima to Fukuoka was actually about 300 kilometers. Kyushu is enormous.

The internet café chain I registered with has far more locations in Fukuoka City. So I decided I would stay here for a while.