Just as Chisato was about to give in and call Jhin to ask where he was, he walked into the café with Hitori Gotoh and Ikuyo Kita in tow, greeting the girls with a cheerful, "I'm back."
Seeing a girl hanging off each of Jhin's arms, Chisato's mouth twitched. She forced her smile to stay in place and asked, "Jhin-nii, who are these two…"
"Let me introduce them." Jhin pulled Hitori Gotoh in front of him and announced proudly, "This is my girlfriend, Hitori Gotoh."
Chisato slapped both hands down on the counter, barely keeping herself upright. She'd known this day might come, but seeing the man she secretly loved show up with a girlfriend hit her like a punch to the gut, and she nearly crumbled on the spot.
Right after that, he pulled Ikuyo Kita, standing beside him, into his arms as well. "This one is also my girlfriend — Ikuyo Kita."
There was a soft thud.
"Chisato! Chisato!!!" Takina Inoue scrambled to catch Chisato as she collapsed, unable to take the shock. Then she turned to Jhin, annoyed. "Store Manager, that joke isn't funny."
"No, no, no, I'm not joking. They really are my girlfriends."
Feeling that words alone wouldn't be convincing enough, Jhin planted a kiss on each of their faces, which had Kurumi clicking her tongue in amazement. "Cheating right out in the open — what a scumbag."
Hitori Gotoh couldn't bring herself to speak in front of strangers at all, so Ikuyo Kita stepped up instead, facing down the others' stares as if the two of them were oddities. "Jhin might be a bit of a flirt, but he's a really good boyfriend. Even if you know him, I won't just stand by while you talk about him like that."
"Oh~ pretty protective of her man, huh." With that, Kurumi decided not to keep needling Jhin in front of them. Women in love could be a real handful, and she had no interest in getting on someone's bad side just for a moment's satisfaction.
Takina Inoue, whose head only ever had room for missions and Lycoris, couldn't process the shocking scene in front of her at all. She just stood there like a plank of wood, Chisato limp in her arms.
Jhin went on cheerfully, "I brought them by mainly so you could all get to know each other. Bocchi-chan here — that's Hitori Gotoh — gets nervous around strangers, and I was worried she'd come looking for me for something and be too scared to walk in and see you all."
"They are, in order: slacker loli Kurumi, the now-unconscious Chisato Nishikigi, and human plank Takina Inoue. All good-natured girls. Oh, though Kurumi probably doesn't count as a 'girl,' given her age…"
"Hey!" Kurumi's voice shot up a full octave. "Casually discussing a lady's age is extremely rude, kid!"
"Should I go by your appearance instead, then?"
"Whatever."
So Jhin pointed at her and introduced her with a completely straight face: "This is our store's rare treasure — the legal elementary schooler."
"Who's an elementary schooler?! Don't slap weird nicknames on me just because you're the boss!"
"Well, who told you to be shorter than Kazuki? Strap a red backpack on and put a little yellow hat on your head, and you'd blend right into a line of grade-schoolers, wouldn't you?"
"You—you—you…" Kurumi stood on her chair, pointing at Jhin and shaking all over, unable to force out a complete sentence for a good while.
I'm so mad I could scream! Every single word out of this jerk's mouth makes sense, and I can't argue with any of it!
"I'm skipping work today!" Out of sight, out of mind — with that, she grabbed her tablet, hopped down from the chair, and shut herself in the closet in the break room.
"Ahaha, what a character." Ikuyo Kita hadn't expected the girl who looked so young to actually be older than the rest of them.
Jhin shrugged. "She really is quite the character — announcing she's skipping work right in front of the boss. I'll cut her Wi-Fi later."
Kurumi's furious voice immediately came blasting out of a drone hidden somewhere unseen. "Don't you dare!!"
"Alright, alright, just kidding. Go ahead and keep skipping work. I need to introduce them to Takina now."
"Tch."
Jhin took Chisato from Takina Inoue's arms and laid her down gently on the sofa before continuing, "Takina's a very serious worker. Doesn't show much expression, same as Ryo, but she's a good kid. You can trust her to take care of you."
"Store Manager…"
"Stop, stop, stop. I know what you're going to ask. I'll explain everything once Chisato wakes up. Until then, why don't you let Bocchi-chan and the others be your first customers for practice?"
"Understood." Takina Inoue nodded seriously, then, out of habit, straightened her face and picked up a tray. "What would you two like to order?"
Hitori Gotoh shrank back behind Ikuyo Kita in fear — seeing Takina's stern expression, she assumed the girl was angry.
"Takina, smile. Smile."
At Jhin's prompting, she forced out a stiff, awkward smile. "P-Please, go ahead and order."
"I'll have the cream pancakes and a fruit parfait. As for Bocchi-chan… cola and fried chicken nuggets." Ikuyo Kita took the menu with easy confidence, slipping right into the role of customer.
"I'm terribly sorry, this is a café — we don't serve cola or fried chicken nuggets."
"Oh… I see. Then I'll just have the same thing as me — I mean, the same as her."
"Understood, please wait a moment." After quickly jotting the order down on a notepad, Takina Inoue walked over to the counter and handed it to Jhin. "Store Manager, two orders of cream pancakes and fruit parfait."
"Nice work, Takina. Your smile's still a little stiff, but you handled the service and the surprise well. No need for more training — you're ready to work the floor for real."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Jhin went into the kitchen and soon emerged with Ikuyo Kita's dessert along with the cola and fried chicken Hitori Gotoh loved, explaining to a startled Takina Inoue, "Girls who know me personally might order things that aren't on the menu. Don't worry about it — just write it down. The kitchen can make it."
"Understood."
She carried the tray over, set the food down, and stepped away with a small bow. Jhin took off his kitchen apron and went over to Hitori Gotoh, pulling her onto his lap and starting to feed her.
Seeing the two of them being so lovey-dovey, Ikuyo Kita didn't want to just stand there watching either. She cut off a piece of her pancake and brought it to Jhin's mouth on her fork. "J-Jhin, try a bite of my pancake."
Takina Inoue stared, dumbfounded, at the harmonious scene between the three of them. She didn't understand why they'd willingly share a boyfriend, but it wasn't her place to judge or interfere in other people's private business. She just did her best to fade into the background and watch them flaunt their affection.
Chisato slowly stirred awake on the sofa, but the moment she sat up, she saw her deadpan partner watching blankly as her first love — her pure moonlight crush — got cozy with two other girlfriends. Her eyes rolled back and she passed out again from sheer fury.
After the two girlfriends finished eating, they paid and left together, arm in arm. Jhin stretched, then turned around to find Chisato standing behind him, face dark, saying nothing, a thick cloud of resentment hanging over her.
"Jhin-nii… don't you think you owe me an explanation?"
____
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