When Kaoru Hoshitani gave a slight bow and courteously led Aina Saiten and her colleagues to a rather secluded, empty Private Room, he patiently took their Order, jotting down the various skewers and drinks they requested.
Then, holding the Menu Notebook, he softly said, “Please wait a moment, your dishes will be served shortly,” before leaving the Private Room.
As soon as he left, Aina Saiten immediately found an excuse, quietly telling her colleagues, “I’m going to the Restroom,” then quickly stood up and slipped out, following her boyfriend’s footsteps.
The restaurant buzzed with voices, the warm yellow lights diffusing the scents of food and alcohol through the air.
Without a word, the two of them—one after the other—walked to a dim, quiet corner far from the Private Rooms, where some cleaning supplies were stacked.
The moment they stopped, Kaoru Hoshitani turned around and naturally reached out, gently taking his girlfriend’s slightly cool hand.
He tilted up his finely sculpted and charming face—even in the dim light, it was striking—his long, thick lashes fluttered like butterfly wings, his clear eyes filled with a gentle curiosity. Blinking, he quietly asked:
“Aina, so you came here today to have dinner with your colleagues? Why didn’t you tell me beforehand? Seeing you just now really startled me.”
“It was one of my colleagues who found this place. I didn’t know either until I arrived. But they don’t know you’re my…”
Aina Saiten’s face was full of helplessness. Deep down, she was extremely reluctant for a situation like this, where her private treasure was on display before everyone.
Kaoru Hoshitani, however, didn’t think there was anything wrong with his girlfriend and her colleagues coming to the restaurant where he worked. He simply found it surprising and coincidental.
But seeing his girlfriend’s wary posture, as if she was determined to hide him away, he keenly sensed that she didn’t seem willing—or perhaps simply hadn’t planned—to formally introduce him to her colleagues as her “boyfriend.”
This realization brought a faint, nearly imperceptible sense of disappointment and hurt to Kaoru Hoshitani’s heart.
He couldn’t help but wonder to himself: Am I really that unpresentable? Why can’t I be introduced to her colleagues openly and honestly? He still had some confidence in his looks and his way of dealing with people.
But this was, after all, a busy workplace during the peak after-dinner rush. He could still hear other tables calling for service.
Kaoru Hoshitani knew this wasn’t the time to discuss such things, much less complain to his girlfriend.
He pushed down the bit of grievance in his heart and put on a considerate smile once again.
“Alright, I get it. You’d better get back to your colleagues before they start wondering where you are. I’m busy right now, and I’ll be serving your Private Room soon.”
As he spoke, Kaoru Hoshitani rose lightly onto his toes and, moving quickly but gently, brushed a feather-light kiss at the tight corner of his girlfriend’s lips—a gesture both swift and soothing.
Then he waved, gave her a reassuring look that said “Don’t worry,” and turned away, returning to his busy work.
Aina Saiten, meanwhile, returned to the Private Room, full of reluctance. For the rest of the evening, her mood was clearly subdued.
She simply went through the motions, sipping her cold Beer with the others, but her heart had already flown outside the Private Room.
She tried hard to suppress the urge to go out and peek every ten minutes, but in the end, she just couldn’t resist.
Again and again, she made excuses like “going to the Restroom” or “getting some fresh air” to slip out of the Private Room, standing in the shadows of the Corridor to watch her boyfriend darting around the restaurant like a butterfly, busy taking Orders and serving dishes at each table.
Watching him offer those flawless, professional smiles to strangers, her heart felt complicated.
After several times, Aina Saiten’s frequent absences naturally caught the attention of her colleagues in the Private Room.
“Hey! Saiten, this isn’t going to work!”
Yamada suddenly slammed her Beer mug down with a thud, bracing one arm on the table, her body swaying and her speech slurred from the heavy smell of alcohol.
Even in the noisy Private Room, her voice rang out extra loud as she joked,
“You’re running off way too often! You sure it’s not some kidney problem? Hahaha…”
She finished, then burst into laughter herself, without any care for appearances. The other colleagues—flushed and tipsy—joined in with low chuckles.
Aina Saiten’s expression froze instantly, her cheeks burning hot, feeling she had lost face.
With her colleagues’ teasing and curious gazes fixed on her, she no longer dared to slip out like before to catch a glimpse of her boyfriend.
She could only sit on pins and needles, distractedly responding to their chatter.
And so, as the group drank until ten-thirty at night, the one who drank the most—Yamada—was completely drunk, her eyes unfocused and her words slurred, barely able to stay upright by holding onto the table.
“Ugh… I’m going to the restroom…”
Practically on all fours, she struggled up from the Tatami in the Private Room, wobbling with each step.
Her clumsy appearance drew another round of unrestrained laughter from the already half-drunk group.
Yamada’s mind was foggy, and she didn’t care about their teasing at all. She leaned against the sliding door frame, staggering out of the Private Room.
Once in the Corridor, she pressed her whole weight against the wall, oozing along like some soft-bodied creature, stumbling aimlessly toward where she vaguely remembered the restroom to be…
By now, the restaurant’s dinner rush had passed. There were only a few tables left, still drinking and chatting.
Finally finding a brief moment to rest, Kaoru Hoshitani sat down on an empty chair near the Kitchen entrance.
He gently massaged his sore calves, still thinking about his girlfriend and her colleagues in the Private Room, wondering when they’d finish, if they’d be drinking too late, or if Aina would have too much Beer.
Just as he was lost in thought, out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a figure—a woman who looked extremely drunk, staggering out from the direction of the Private Rooms.
Her steps were unsteady as if walking on clouds, body swaying, veering all over the narrow Corridor, as if lost.
Just then, he caught in his peripheral vision what seemed to be a drunken woman, her steps wobbly as she aimlessly wandered.
Drunk customers were common in an izakaya. Kaoru Hoshitani was already used to it.
But as he looked more closely, he realized the woman’s profile was familiar. After thinking for a moment, he recognized her as his girlfriend Aina’s colleague.
Seeing how heavily intoxicated she was—barely able to stand—Kaoru Hoshitani immediately stood up and hurried over.
Sure enough, just as Yamada staggered and lurched forward, about to fall embarrassingly to the cold floor, Kaoru Hoshitani caught up in time, reaching out to support her limp and heavy body.
A strong wave of mixed alcoholic fumes washed over him, making Kaoru Hoshitani wrinkle his delicate brows instinctively.
But he maintained his professional courtesy, asking in a gentle, caring voice:
“Miss, are you alright? Do you need to go somewhere? The restroom is in that direction.”
“Ah… such a beautiful server…”