Chapter 13: Isn't that…?
After hanging up on Akari Honne, Alan felt a brief wash of relief. At least he had managed to stay calm and hadn’t impulsively agreed to let her come to Tokyo.
Part of it was exactly what he had told her. Showing up in Tokyo alone was dangerous, and if anything went wrong, the responsibility would fall squarely on him, something he had neither the right nor the desire to shoulder.
The other part was simpler. He had cooled down completely.
Since he had already chosen to break up with Hojo, then he needed to see it through.
He who hesitates is lost.
Keeping his distance from Honne was no different from cutting off Hojo herself. The last thing he needed was a messy, on-again, off-again entanglement.
Seeing Hojo again today had reminded him of an uncomfortable truth, his heart was not the fortress he liked to believe it was. A few words had been enough to make him waver. A few more meetings, and the consequences would be impossible to control.
And beyond that, it wouldn’t be fair to Nozomi Sakura.
Even if she didn’t truly like him yet, even if their relationship was more performance than reality, if people discovered he still had ties to Akari Hojo, it would only hurt her.
Nozomi cared deeply about appearances. As her “boyfriend,” he had an obligation to protect them.
Alan steadied himself, returned to his desk, and reviewed the step-by-step career plan he had drafted for Nozomi. After checking it one last time, he closed the folder and prepared to sleep.
Ding.
His phone lit up.
Alan glanced over and saw a message from Nozomi Sakura.
Her ID was followed by [3 unread].
Only then did he remember, she had messaged him earlier, before he’d called Honne. He’d been too distracted to respond.
He picked up the phone to reply, but the moment he opened the chat, his expression froze.
“Alan, are you free this Saturday afternoon? Everyone wants to meet you…”
Photo.
“Alan, is this you?”
The image was grainy, clearly taken with a low-resolution phone camera, but the content was unmistakable.
Even without seeing it before, the scene felt painfully familiar.
There he was, standing with Akari Hojo.
Hojo was holding an umbrella, facing him beneath its shade.
Alan’s brow furrowed. This was going to be trouble.
Not because he couldn’t explain it to Nozomi, but because if tabloids caught wind that Akari Hojo’s “boyfriend” had appeared at his school, the paparazzi would swarm.
He never should have agreed to meet her.
At the very least, he shouldn’t have chosen somewhere as conspicuous as the school gate.
After a brief pause, Alan typed back.
“It’s me.”
“Oh…”
Nozomi replied almost instantly.
Just a single word. Alan couldn’t tell what emotion lay behind it.
“That’s Akari Hojo?”
“Yes.”
“So Akari Hojo really was your girlfriend?”
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“……”
***
Beside an apartment building, Nozomi Sakura sat on the edge of a planter beneath a streetlamp.
She stared at Alan’s replies, her finely shaped brows knitting together as a dull ache spread through her chest.
The emotions tangled inside her were too complicated to name.
Disbelief?
A sense of inferiority?
Or the righteous anger of a girlfriend discovering her boyfriend still entangled with his ex?
The last one didn’t seem entirely fair, yet it still left a bitter taste in her mouth.
For a moment, she even forgot to exercise her “rights” as his girlfriend and demand an explanation.
***
Two hours earlier.
Akane Mia had convinced her that the best way to judge Alan was to understand his past. And to do that, she needed to find people who had known him before.
Two million yen was no small sum. On top of that, he gave her a monthly allowance, bought her bags and jewelry, and even paid for a full makeover, yet never once tried to take advantage of her.
Nozomi was certain Alan was hiding something.
His talk of turning her into a star thrilled her, but what if he was leading her into some shady contract?
Using the excuse my friends heard I have a boyfriend and want to meet you seemed like the smartest way to probe him.
She felt a twinge of guilt, but if he truly was a good person, she would make it up to him later.
After spending the past two days together, she had come to believe Alan was different from any man she’d known before.
Ordinary-looking, yet strangely easy on the eyes.
When he spoke, a quiet charisma settled people’s nerves.
If things continued like this, actually being his girlfriend wouldn’t be so bad. She would take the role seriously.
That evening, she arranged the dinner in advance, fully prepared to introduce him to her friends.
***
Carrying her bag, Nozomi stepped into the reserved private room.
Every head turned.
An eerie silence fell. If she couldn’t still hear the noise from the main hall, she might have thought someone had pressed a mute button on the world.
Even Akane Mia sat frozen, mouth slightly open.
“What’s wrong?” Nozomi asked, blinking. “Why is everyone staring at me?”
She touched her face and hair in confusion. “Is something off?”
“Uh…”
Her high school friends exchanged glances. Mia was the first to recover, smiling faintly.
“Nozomi… what happened to your style?”
“Huh?”
Only then did Nozomi realize.
Thanks to Alan’s makeover, she looked like a completely different person.
The most obvious change was her hair. The once blue-streaked blonde was now jet black, softly curled at the ends and draped over her shoulders, framing her face perfectly.
Instead of short skirts and stockings, she wore a pale-blue maxi dress and a white chiffon blouse. Elegant. Serene.
She was still beautiful, but compared to her former peacock-bright flashiness, her beauty now felt natural and gentle, like a rose in full bloom, drawing attention without effort.
Soaking in her friends’ admiring stares, Nozomi felt a surge of satisfaction, though she pretended to be shy.
“Stop staring, it’s embarrassing. I’m basically the same…”
Perhaps enjoying the attention, her movements grew even more graceful. She slid into the seat beside Mia and picked up the menu.
“Have you ordered yet? It’s been ages. My treat tonight.”
Mia raised an eyebrow, studying her for a long moment, then handed the menu back.
“Fine. You finally got yourself a boyfriend, you should treat us for once.”
The word boyfriend broke the dam.
Across the table, a round-faced girl leaned forward eagerly. “That’s right! Mia told us, Nozomi. You actually have a boyfriend and didn’t say a word. When did this happen?”
“Recently…”
“I always said a beauty like you should’ve had one ages ago. But wow, you’ve changed so much I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Throughout the meal, Nozomi and Mia gave a vague introduction to Alan, carefully omitting the two-million-yen debt and the nature of their arrangement.
They simply asked everyone to judge him freely.
As for prying into his past, there was no need to prompt them. The questions would come naturally.
Women never lacked curiosity.
Eventually the topic drifted away. For Nozomi, the main purpose of the gathering was already complete.
Then a thin, fragile-looking girl with a short bob suddenly spoke up.
“Hey, did anyone check the school message board today?”
“Nope. What now?” a round-faced girl asked while chewing. “Another breakup? Stolen takeout? Cheater exposed?”
“Way bigger. Supposedly Akari Hojo showed up at our school gate and left with a guy. Rumor says he’s her boyfriend…”
“Huh?”
“‘Ran off’ sounds exaggerated,” someone scoffed. “And the timing doesn’t fit. Hojo should be buried in concert prep. How would she have time?”
“I thought it was fake too,” the girl said, “but there are photos.”
“Seriously? Photos?”
“Yeah. Grainy side profile…”
“Show us.”
She zoomed in and placed her phone at the center of the table.
Everyone leaned in. Nozomi stayed back, a bad feeling creeping up her spine.
“No frontal shot, and she’s wearing a mask. Are we sure it’s her?”
“People said they saw her around noon. Can’t be AI, right?”
“Let Nozomi decide,” someone said. “She’s the super-fan. You’d know.”
All eyes turned to her.
“Yeah. I can tell.”
Smiling faintly, Nozomi tucked her hair behind her ear and took the phone.
The instant she saw the image, her attention locked onto the man beside Hojo.
The silhouette was unmistakable.
Her pupils shrank. The smile froze on her lips.
Isn’t that…?
“So? Is it her?” someone asked.
Nozomi didn’t answer. Her grip tightened.
Beside her, Akane Mia narrowed her eyes and casually stepped on Nozomi’s foot under the table.
Startled, Nozomi snapped back to herself. She set the phone down and laughed lightly.
“Sorry, I got too serious. Hard to say, blurry photo, masks everywhere…”
“Oh well.” Disappointment rippled through the group before the conversation moved on.
Nozomi barely touched her food.
Her mind replayed the lunch she’d shared with Alan.
That phone call he took, was it from Akari Hojo?
Is Hojo really his girlfriend?
…Impossible.
***
Later, after they parted ways, Mia lit a cigarette by the curb and took a long drag.
“That was Hojo in the photo, wasn’t it?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know.”
Nozomi shook her head, though she had recognized her instantly.
Mia flicked the ash away. “Your new boyfriend?”
This time, Nozomi didn’t deny it. She nodded faintly.
“Yeah.”
Mia said nothing. She finished her cigarette in silence, eyes fixed on the streetlamp.
Then she spoke softly.
“Maybe… it’s not such a bad thing for you.”
