Jhin stayed silent at Kurumi's jab — his relationship with Kazami Kazuki wasn't nearly as simple as it looked on the surface.
"So," Kurumi said, lifting her small bare foot to rest on his knee, shooting him a teasing, flirtatious look, "are you planning to wreck me completely?"
"Of course not. I'm a proper gentleman."
"Hmph~ Doesn't your conscience hurt when you say things like that?"
"What are you talking about? I haven't done anything wrong."
Kurumi genuinely admired the man — he could hold her foot in his hand, toying with it, and still banter with her without so much as blinking. Honestly, she was starting to regret putting on a mature act to provoke him in the first place.
How is someone with zero experience like me supposed to compete with a veteran like him!
His slightly rough palm kept sliding over her leg, sending faint currents of sensation through her skin. Kurumi tried to pull her foot back several times, but he held it firmly in place, occasionally scratching lightly at the sole and sending a tingling warmth straight to her chest.
"Haa... mm~"
"What a cute sound, Kurumi."
"You... let go of my foot already!" She pressed the overlong sleeve of her shirt against her mouth to stifle the moan, her pale blue eyes flashing with equal parts embarrassment and irritation. "What are you going to say if Chisato or Takina sees this?"
Jhin gave each of her round, cute little toes one last squeeze before finally letting go, saying with some regret, "Looks like that's all the... exchange we get for today. How about we go to a hotel next time?"
"Is that really something you say to a girl you've only known for a few days?"
"If it were Chisato and the others at that age, definitely not. But you, Kurumi — you're an adult."
"Hmph, now I'm starting to wonder if Kazuki secretly slipped you a dating manual." Kurumi had to admit his approach — tailoring himself to whoever he was dealing with — was effective. She'd long since outgrown any romantic illusions and was thoroughly practical about everything.
Once she'd realized the contract had trapped her and that she'd basically been handed over for free, she'd immediately started sizing Jhin up from every angle. He was, after all, going to be her future lover, master, and employer — she figured she ought to understand his personality and character at least a little.
As for breaking the contract and running, she'd never even considered it. A company that could pinpoint her real address on a whim and hack straight into any system could find her anywhere in the modern world without breaking a sweat. Better to just accept it gracefully.
Looks weren't everything to Kurumi, but even she had to admit Jhin's face was flawless, and he could switch effortlessly between an adult's air and a teenager's — calling him a heartbreaker wouldn't be an exaggeration.
As for money, there was nothing to even discuss. Synapse Technology ranked among the most prominent companies in the world, specializing in cutting-edge tech, and its once-weak biomedical division had recently started growing too. To Jhin, money was just a number.
His personality wasn't bad either. Sure, he liked teasing people, but from a lover's point of view, that was arguably a plus — at least it would keep life interesting.
Those three points alone were enough to win Kurumi over. Since there was no escaping it anyway, she figured she might as well lie back and enjoy it.
"As if something like that exists." Jhin laughed and shook his head, then got up to wash his hands.
Kurumi raised an eyebrow, a note of displeasure creeping into her voice. "What's that supposed to mean? You take advantage of me and then go wash your hands — are you saying my feet stink?"
"They're fragrant, soft, and smooth. But I need to start making lunch. Would you rather I cook without washing my hands first?"
"Tch, forget I said anything." Kurumi sprawled over the counter, picked up her tablet, and went back to her game. In anticipation of lunch, her little feet dangling in midair swung a bit faster than before.
As it turned out, Jhin really did just enjoy teasing Kurumi. After laying his cards on the table, he never invited her to a hotel, nor did he take shameless liberties with her just because she'd been handed to him for free. He simply, quietly, set up a gaming corner in the café, stocked with a huge pile of games.
The two of them would occasionally compete against each other in games — if Jhin won, Kurumi had to work diligently; if he lost, she got to slack off guilt-free for the day. Rather than boss and employee, they felt more like friends who'd met through gaming.
When Chisato woke up, she spent a good long while grinning to herself like a fool. She understood now — Jhin wasn't rejecting her. He was waiting for her to grow up.
As long as I can change the way Jhin-nii sees me — as some kid — he'll definitely accept me eventually!
From his perspective, she was just someone he'd happened to save, someone he'd only met twice before she suddenly turned into a high-schooler. There was no way he could have real feelings for her yet. To change his impression of her, Chisato figured, would take a lot of time.
Once Takina Inoue saw that her partner had returned to normal, she stopped concerning herself with matters that were none of her business and focused on doing her own job well.
Thanks to Chisato's relentless promotion and the boost from Jhin's cooking, business at Café LycoReco gradually improved. What had once been running at a deficit finally reached the point where the café's own earnings could sustain basic operations.
"Hehe, I knew it — a signboard girl like me really is important!" Chisato declared proudly, nose in the air, to everyone after closing one day.
But her partner, Takina Inoue, was the first to raise a hand in objection. "I believe the Store Manager's cooking is more important."
After Jhin's culinary offensive, she'd promptly switched back from calling him "Playboy Store Manager" to simply "Store Manager." It wasn't that her resolve had wavered — it was just that the desserts were too good.
During this stretch of time, they'd also met plenty of beautiful girls who came looking for Jhin. The ones that left the deepest impression were two particular groups — Kessoku Band and the Gourmet Edifice — because each had a heavyweight member among them.
Hitori Gotoh and Pecorine — such terrifying, and yet admirable, rivals.
Chisato secretly measured herself against her own chest a few times and realized she was noticeably smaller than both of them in that department. From that day on, three cartons of milk a day became part of her daily routine.
Jhin answered a video call from Kazami Kazuki. Seeing her sprawled once again across her oversized office chair, he warned her, "Kazuki, keep lying around like that every day and you'll get fat."
"Whose fault is it that my little brother lives outside and never comes home? Big sister here has lost her appetite pining for you, just waiting for you to come back and exercise with me."
"You could come find me too, you know."
"Exercise, in a café?" Kazami Kazuki's eyes glinted with amusement.
"Er, well, that's not entirely off the table. The place is plenty big, after all."
"Then I'll look forward to it a little. Oh, right — you mentioned wanting Sawamura-san to collaborate with Eromanga Sensei. I brought it up with her."
"Did Eromanga Sensei agree?"
"Not yet. She said she wants to talk to you first."
"In person?"
"Video call."
"Fine." Jhin had half-expected as much. "When?"
"Tomorrow afternoon." Kazami Kazuki glanced at the bottom of her screen, and a flicker of surprise crossed her eyes. "I didn't expect things between you two to be moving along so quickly."
"...?"
Jhin hung up, a bit baffled, then noticed Kurumi's rabbit-ear ribbon hairclip bobbing steadily at the bottom of the video frame. With a helpless laugh, he patted her little head, which had been nodding drowsily off to sleep.
____
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