Category: Kyou wa Yubiwa o Hazusu kara……

There’s a particular kind of intoxication when Shinsuke’s senior at work praises him. She had been there since his first days as a rookie, her guidance firm but never unkind. Every word of encouragement, every subtle correction, fed something hungry in him. What started as professional respect festered into something more. Then came the distance.

Remote work made them unable to meet each other at work, their interactions now stricted to the cold glow of a screen. At first, he told himself he was content with these stolen glimpses into her private world, the curve of her bookshelf behind her, the way she tucked her hair behind one ear during meetings. Small, details that weren’t meant for him.

Until the day the meeting ended, and her camera stayed on.

And he saw…

Something he was never supposed to see.

The shift was instant. The man who once thought “I just want her to be happy” now found his hands clenching with a refrain:

“I’ll make her happy. I’ll be the reason she’s happy”