Not long ago, Mrs. Gotoh had brought Hitori Gotoh over to Jhin's place with a fruit basket to thank him. That was when Jhin learned where Hitori Gotoh lived, allowing him to carry his still-unconscious girlfriend home.
Upon being warmly invited inside, Jhin directly told Hitori Gotoh's parents that the two of them were dating. When they heard this, they looked as if they were dreaming, repeatedly asking Jhin if it was true. As he nodded again and again, they both shed tears of joy, thinking that their daughter, whom they believed would be lonely for life, had somehow managed to bring home such a prime catch.
The scene he had imagined—his father-in-law grabbing him by the collar and demanding to know how he dared to hit on his daughter—never materialized. Jhin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although he had no experience meeting parents in his past life, he'd seen it happen often enough to know the drill.
Maintaining a polite smile, Jhin answered the Gotohs' questions fluently and even casually revealed a bit about his financial situation.
"Hitori's current band is on the right track. If they work together for a while, they should be able to achieve good results. If Hitori wants to continue down this path, I'll establish a company to manage her band's future development. Of course, please don't tell Hitori this for now. I'm worried it might influence her own true feelings."
Seeing the seven-figure number in Jhin's bank account, Mr. and Mrs. Gotoh's eyes widened in disbelief. This wasn't just a prime catch; this was a golden goose!
Young, wealthy, and with a calm personality, he was also forward-thinking and considerate of their daughter's future. They couldn't find a single fault in Jhin's presentation. In fact, they were a little worried their daughter might not be good enough for him.
"It's getting late, so I'll be heading home now."
Watching Jhin leave, Mr. and Mrs. Gotoh decided they would have to keep a close eye on their daughter from now on, to make sure she didn't foolishly let such a promising prospect slip away.
...
"Hee hee hee~" Hitori Gotoh hummed a cheerful tune in her room, her body swaying to the rhythm. In her phone's contacts, she had already changed Jhin's name to "Jhin (Real Boyfriend)".
Staring at her phone with a silly grin, Hitori Gotoh was completely unaware that her bedroom door had been opened a crack. Her parents and younger sister were all hiding behind it, observing her.
"This child... ever since she got a boyfriend, she hasn't even been practicing her guitar. She just hugs her phone all day with that goofy smile. Why doesn't she take the initiative to ask him out!" Michiyo Gotoh looked exasperated. Her own daughter getting a boyfriend was something she couldn't even have imagined before.
And now that she actually has one? All she does is cling to her phone all day. She doesn't call him, she doesn't ask him out... Talk about a wasted opportunity!
"Well... as a father, seeing my daughter with a boyfriend brings up some complicated feelings." Naoki Gotoh scratched his cheek. It wasn't that he disliked Jhin, the boy who had stolen his daughter's heart; Michiyo Gotoh had told him that Jhin had saved their daughter's life.
"For big sis to find such a cool older brother as a boyfriend is amazing!" Futari Gotoh thought that Jhin, who had brought her cake, was the coolest person in the world.
"Everyone, come to Shimokitazawa today!" Nijika sent a message to the Kessoku Band group chat. She had also pulled Jhin into the group, reasoning that as the great hero who found their lead singer, he should be considered part of the band.
Pulled back to reality from her endless fantasies by the vibration of her phone, Hitori Gotoh tilted her head, looking at the message in confusion.
Meeting up at this time? What could it be about?
Her eyes accidentally fell on the lyric book on her desk, and Hitori Gotoh suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be writing lyrics for a new song. Her heart sank.
Could it be that Nijika knows I haven't written any lyrics yet and called everyone here to criticize me?
Hitori Gotoh tremblingly opened the lyric book. Inside were the same diary-like lyrics she'd written a few days ago. With an expression of someone marching to their doom, she changed her clothes and left the house with a sign hanging around her neck that read, "I am a sinner who was so absorbed in her boyfriend that she didn't write any lyrics."
Arriving at the meeting spot, Hitori Gotoh dropped to her knees in a dramatic pose, placing the sign in front of her. "Please... please forgive me!"
"'Absorbed in her boyfriend...'" Nijika read the words on the sign, a faint blush appearing on her cute face as she glanced at Jhin.
"Don't look at me! I didn't do anything." Jhin refused to take the blame. Other than bringing a cake to his girlfriend's house once, only to be shyly refused at her bedroom door, he hadn't done a thing.
"Miss Gotoh, please get up. We're not going to blame you," Kita Ikuyo coaxed.
"Huh? So this isn't a special session to criticize me?" Hitori Gotoh looked up in surprise and slowly stood up. "Then why did we meet up?"
"I didn't think of it before, but there's actually one more very band-like thing we haven't done yet." Nijika formed a square with her index fingers and thumbs and held it up in front of her red eyes. "Let's take some band photos!"
"So, am I the photographer?" Jhin felt like he didn't really need to be there. No, wait, his girlfriend was here. This was their first time seeing each other after his confession, so he definitely needed to come.
"If you joined the band, Jhin, you could be in the photos too," Nijika said. She still hadn't given up on the idea of pulling Jhin, who had been instrumental in forming the band, into their group.
"I'll pass. I prefer watching your performances from offstage." Jhin shook his head, refusing. With a mischievous grin, he stealthily walked up behind Hitori Gotoh and suddenly pulled her into a hug.
"Ah-poo-poo-da-da~" Hitori Gotoh instantly let out a strange, unintelligible cry. Being ambushed by Jhin like this in public made her blush so hard her ears burned. She was so embarrassed she nearly fainted.
"How nice..." The other three stared blankly, their piercing gazes fixed on the couple who had started flaunting their relationship without any warning.
"Sorry, sorry. This is the first time I've seen Bocchi-chan since we left STARRY last time, so I couldn't help but get a little excited." Jhin released Hitori Gotoh, taking her hand instead, and spoke apologetically to Nijika and the others.
Hearing this, their gazes shifted to ones of pity. Thinking of Hitori Gotoh's reclusive personality, they suddenly felt that Jhin's situation was actually quite pathetic.
After the brief commotion ended, the five of them searched all over Shimokitazawa for a cool spot to take a band photo. They tried stairways, fences, plants, and even a park, but none of the pictures turned out to be very satisfying.
While taking a short break in front of a vending machine, Kita Ikuyo suddenly said, "If we had brought our instruments, maybe the photos would have more of a band feel."
"Yeah." Hitori Gotoh agreed, imagining how cool she would look holding her guitar.
"You two..." Nijika said with a pained expression. "True, the people with the bass and guitar would look great, but the person on drums can only hold their drumsticks. It's so pitiful!"
"Isn't that cute, though?" Ryo said nonchalantly.
"Then let's just switch instruments for today!" Nijika said with a smile, pulling her drumsticks out of her bag and holding them out to Ryo.
"No way. That's not cool." Ryo refused without a second thought, which naturally resulted in an angry Nijika chasing her around with the drumsticks. The two of them ended up running in circles around Jhin.
"Um... I found a wall over there that looks perfect for photos." Hitori Gotoh's appearance interrupted Nijika and Ryo's game of chase.
She led everyone to a wall that had a large tree painted on it, with ivy covering the part where the leaves should be.
"Bocchi-chan, nice job!" Nijika gave Hitori Gotoh a thumbs-up, then handed her phone to Jhin and walked over to the wall with the other three to pose.
Jhin took several group photos of them in different poses. Nijika took the phone back to check each one, but still felt they didn't achieve the effect she was imagining.
"By the way, Kita looks great in every photo. She seems really used to having her picture taken."
"Maybe it's because I often upload photos to my social media accounts?" Kita Ikuyo said, taking out her own phone to show them her social media profile.
Jhin quickly walked over to Hitori Gotoh and covered her eyes. "Bocchi-chan, don't look."
"Huh? H-huh? Okay." Although Hitori Gotoh didn't understand why Jhin was blocking her view, she chose to trust her boyfriend. Soon, Nijika's reaction made her understand why.
"As expected of the Minister of Social Media." Nijika felt that entrusting the band's account to Kita was absolutely the right decision. Looking at all these photos radiating 'normie' energy, she figured it would be perfect for counteracting Bocchi-chan's gloomy vibe.
"How about you all try jumping for the photo?" Jhin suggested. Nijika's eyes lit up; she thought it was a great idea.
"Someone once said that an anime with jumping in the opening theme is a masterpiece!" Ryo said out of the blue. "Therefore, a jumping band is a masterpiece band."
"I have no idea what kind of logic that is." Despite saying this, Nijika decided to give it a try. She handed the phone back to Jhin and asked him to keep taking pictures.
Hitori Gotoh, who wasn't good in front of the camera, was pulled into the jump by Nijika and Kita, who held her hands. Unable to control her momentum, her skirt flew up too high, revealing her pure white underwear.
Before leaving the house, thinking her boyfriend would be there, she had, for once, decided against wearing the track pants she always wore under her skirt at school, and just wore the skirt by itself. The result was that she flashed Jhin spectacularly.
"Ah! Bocchi-chan flashed the camera in this one!" Nijika exclaimed while checking the photos. "Delete, delete. Hmm, this one is really good. Let's go with this one."
Hitori Gotoh said to Jhin dispiritedly, "I'm sorry you had to see something so worthless."
"In my eyes, you're the most priceless treasure in the world." Jhin comforted Hitori Gotoh, brushing aside the hair on her forehead and leaving a gentle kiss there.
"Click." Nijika, holding the phone, captured the scene that made them all green with envy. The band photos were done, but they'd also gotten a full serving of PDA.
_____
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