[Novel] Only the Ring Finger Knows: The Lonely Ring Finger (その指だけが知っている)

Synopsis:

Not only is Yuichi the most mysterious, sought-after guy at school, he’s got an excellent shot at getting into any prestigious university…and no one knows this better than his secret love, Wataru. But instead of a vacation break spent celebrating beneath the fragrant sway of summer blossoms, both boys must surrender to Yuichi’s grueling study schedule. how can they possible sweeten the deal? A bet that promises to take their young relationship to the next level is in the works, but Wataru complicates matters when the very ring that symbolizes their precious bond goes missing. Prying girls and wisecracking best friends only fuel the flames of gossip, and soon the small white lies that were only meant to protect the heart of Wataru’s beloved become poison arrows. With the test and their relationship on the line, can the boys hold on long enough to survive the sticky meltdown of their longest summer?

Tender longing and young curiousity unite The Lonely Ring finger. Follow the cycle of a teasing friendship that takes a serious turn and spirals into an intense romance. The ring on each boy’s finger is a symbol of two hearts that beat together despite the prying eyes of classmates…and this is one couple who must weather a storm of scrutiny to discover if their love is truly meant to last.

After 48 years, I’ve collected the entire novel of OTRFK. Woot!

For the nth time, I’ve read this series and fell in love with it once again. It never failed to give off a sweet and pure romance. This is just like when I first read the book some few years ago (when I was starting out with BL xP). This series is very dear to me and will always be one of my favorite BL stories no matter how many titles I’ve read. Before I rave more about my love for OTRFK, let’s get to the story now. 😀

The Lonely Ring Finger follows the love story of the insanely popular Kazuki Yuichi and his exact opposite, Fujii Wataru. This book is divided into 2 arcs, the first one being before the two started dating. Meanwhile, the latter half shows the struggle of the new couple when faced with a wide array of troubles from a bet to a seemingly third-party. If you are already familiar with the manga, then you might, more or less, know the first part of the novel.

Meanwhile, on the 2nd-half of the book, we were introduced to a new character, Miho Ookusa. She is called the female version of Kazuki being beautiful and graceful just like her famous senpai. She may be pretty but she appeared to me as a cheeky bitch. Don’t get me wrong. It is not because I rage whenever she shamelessly gets in between Kazuki and Wataru. Nope, not entirely true. |D Seriously, this girl could practice some tact. Toying with someone else’s feelings is the worst even if she justified it as some kind of envy whatsoever.

The story focuses on their difficulties in acknowledging their feelings for one another. Not to mention the rumors creating an even more confusion to both Kazuki and Wataru. I’m amazed by the amount of free time the entire student body of Ryokuyo has to create all sort of rumors around the school. Well, Wataru is also to blame for purposely creating those.

What struck me is the open-mindedness and acceptance of some people around the lovebirds. Take, for example, Wataru’s little sister, Karin. She is more of surprised (in a good way) when she guessed her brother’s feelings for Kazuki. You wouldn’t normally link a guy to another guy, would you? She is actually enjoying teasing Wataru and accepted it right away. Then there is best friend Kawamura and cousin Toko. All have been very accepting of the two. This is just my guess but probably the reason behind that is because the pair has already been facing more struggles than normal couples would have. Instead, Kannagi Satoru decided to face one problem at a time than create a you-and-me-against-the-world drama.

While I was searching about this before, I encountered posts saying that this is not recommended for BL newbies. I instinctively went “!!!!????” lol. After reading this book again, I think I get it now. It is not because of this a bad story that everyone (other than me XD) should stay away from. It is not the story, it is the translation. Oftentimes, I find myself raising my eyebrow at the sentence I’ve just read. It is either I don’t understand what it is trying to say or the phrasing is just awkward. The meaning of the words seems to get lost in the translation. Not to mention the handful misspelled words.

Wrapping Up!
The love story that started from the pair rings has passed the first few problems in their relationship. I was able to enjoy my time reading this and loved the characters to bits. But having a nice flow of the story is not enough to make this a great book. A bad translation is enough to put off any potential fan of the series. We’ll see if they will correct this on the succeeding volumes.