Cletus' First Collegiate Dictionary of Japanese Chin Music
gomen
An informal, even gentle, way of saying, “I’m sorry,” “excuse me,” or “pardon me.” Of course, the girl in the genkan wasn’t sorry. She had been checking him out ever since he arrived three hours earlier, mutely clutching two plastic bags pendulous with the weight of a dozen Ebisu tall boys.
There was something … interesting about the way his eyes lolled unmoored in their sockets, like a pair of seasick marbles unable to find a purchase on anything. Unbeknownst to her, his eyes often alighted on her profile and, once or twice, her ass. He always saved his glances for those glorious moments when she threw her head back and unfurled the most amazing chortle, deep and flatulent, a sound that could split and replicate. It was a sexy laugh, so unguarded, and he wanted to hear more of it. Five cans of Ebisu helped anchor his eyes, which were now staring into hers. It turns out both of them lived along the Keio line, and it was getting late, so they decided to leave together. When their hands touched in the entryway, neurons in their temporal lobes connected to create pathways for new emotions and reinforce old ones, and as their mouths parted in ultra-slow motion to release bovine bleats drawn out like taffy, a single word crackled in their brains at the speed of light: skinship.