Plain-Water Tofu

What does it mean to stay together through thick and thin? Is it holding on to the passionate love you once shared and staying in love for a lifetime, or is it letting the first flush of love, excitement, and passion wear away amid life's trivialities, then carrying on together through years of understanding, affection, and responsibility? Getting on with life is always easy. Alone or together, as long as you're alive, life goes on. But that's not enough. When love is worn down by everyday minutiae into a calm, familial affection, there will always be one or two wonderful people who stir your heart after the passion cools. A story for two becomes a story for three. It's just a story of temptation and resisting temptation. To him, it isn't a big deal. He's always been easygoing. If they're together, they're together; if they're not, he cuts things off cleanly. It doesn't matter if his heart aches. He'll get over it eventually. If ten years aren't enough, he'll wait another ten. If twenty aren't enough, he can wait a lifetime. To him, it isn't a big deal either. Young people are always so full of energy, and the love they loudly proclaim never lasts long. Ignore them, and they'll soon move on to someone else. He's long past the age of fooling around. Instead of playing at love with young people in a noisy, bustling pub, he'd rather head home early and enjoy a bowl of hot porridge. There are far too many temptations in life. Whether you resist them or not, you only get one lifetime. A life wasted in extravagance and indulgence will always leave you pricked by a wild rose. Better to take the hand of the person beside you and walk that road together to the very end. It's not being sentimental. It's responsibility. A heartwarming happy ending. Complete short story. Theme: