Hana Kawasaki gestured for Kaoru Hoshitani and Chinatsu Tsukuse to sit together on the large, dark leather sofa in the office.
Sunlight spilled through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a warm patch of light onto the polished coffee table.
Hana sat down on a side armchair, her posture elegant and relaxed.
Her gray eyes carried a sense of scrutiny, yet she maintained a perfectly measured warmth as she began to chat idly with Kaoru Hoshitani.
The topics were nothing more than common background checks — Kaoru’s past experiences, what kind of work he had done, and his usual interests and hobbies.
Hana asked her questions at a leisurely pace, her tone so casual it was as if she were simply chatting with a junior.
However, the occasional looks she directed at him carried an invisible pressure that forced Kaoru to be extremely cautious.
When she asked what he had done after graduating high school, Kaoru paused for a moment.
He then answered that he had worked part-time jobs in places like convenience stores and Izakayas.
This was the truth, though it was incomplete.
Chinatsu Tsukuse had already told Hana Kawasaki that Rika Kawasaki and Kaoru Hoshitani had met while working at the Kawasaki Family Old Izakaya.
Since this information matched Kaoru’s current answer, Hana nodded slightly, her suspicions unaroused.
In reality, for most of the intervening time, Kaoru had been unemployed.
He had stayed at home, supported by his girlfriend, Aina Saiten.
But he did not say that out loud.
The reason was that before coming here, Chinatsu had specifically told him that it was best not to reveal his relationship with Aina at the company.
After all, once a workplace romance became public knowledge, it would certainly cause a stir and might even affect Aina’s position in the company.
Kaoru kept this point firmly in mind, so he was exceptionally careful in his responses.
Hana Kawasaki naturally did not have the time or energy to thoroughly investigate her daughter’s man.
To her, this was just a casual meeting and an initial assessment.
She nodded and did not press further.
“That will do then.”
She lifted her wrist and glanced at her exquisite watch.
“I have a meeting in a bit. Someone will be here shortly to help you get familiar with your work, Mr. Hoshitani.”
As she spoke, she stood up.
Her black suit skirt swayed slightly with her movements, and her entire being radiated the composed aura of someone who had long held a position of power.
Seeing this, Kaoru quickly stood up as well and bowed slightly.
“Thank you, President.”
Hana nodded and gave him another look — one that held a hint of inscrutable depth — before turning to leave the office.
The sound of high heels clicking against the floor gradually faded, finally disappearing at the end of the hallway.
Sure enough, not long after Hana Kawasaki left the office, there was a soft knock on the door.
“Please come in,” Kaoru responded, feeling somewhat nervous.
The door was pushed open, and a man wearing a dark gray secretary suit and silver-rimmed glasses walked in.
He looked to be 28 or 29 years old, with a slender build and regular features.
His entire presence exuded an air of efficiency and restraint.
He walked up to Kaoru and gave a slight nod, his tone polite and professional.
“You must be Mr. Hoshitani. The President asked me to help you get familiar with the work. You can just call me Sato.”
“Of course, Senior Sato.”
Kaoru bowed quickly, his attitude respectful and slightly tense.
“I’ll be in your care…”
Seeing that things had been properly arranged, Chinatsu Tsukuse stood up and said to Kaoru, “I’ll come find you again when it’s closer to noon. We’ll go out for lunch with Senior Aina.”
She paused and added, “Just follow Senior Sato for now to get used to things. Don’t be nervous; there’s nothing difficult about it.”
Kaoru nodded.
Chinatsu also left the office. The door clicked shut softly behind her.
And so, only Kaoru Hoshitani and Sato remained in the spacious office.
Sato had clearly been informed of Kaoru’s situation beforehand.
He did not waste time on pleasantries.
He simply took Kaoru on a tour of the office and briefly taught him how to use the high-end coffee machine — it had many buttons, but only a few were actually used.
Then, he took him to the nearby printing area and demonstrated how to use the printer — changing paper, adding toner, double-sided printing, and adjusting the scale for copies.
The entire process took no more than ten minutes.
After he finished teaching him, Sato told Kaoru that his working hours were from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
As for the lunch break, he could arrange that himself.
“You can play on your phone when you have nothing to do,” Sato said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
His tone was flat.
“Just make sure you’re here on time for work and when it’s time to leave. If there’s anything else, the President will tell you directly.”
Having said that, he nodded to Kaoru and prepared to leave.
Kaoru stood there, still unable to process what was happening.
‘Is that… it? It’s that simple?’
He quickly caught up to Sato and called out to him, his face filled with obvious confusion.
“Senior Sato, is this really all? Isn’t it a bit… too little?”
His voice carried a hint of uncertainty and bewilderment.
After all, he had assumed a secretary’s work would be very complex and require learning many things, but now…
Sato stopped and turned around.
He looked at the excessively handsome young man before him, and a professional smile appeared on his face.
“These are the President’s instructions,” he said. “I am only following orders.”
“I see…” Kaoru murmured. The confusion in his heart did not dissipate; instead, it grew stronger.
Sato glanced at him again, a trace of inexplicable complexity in his eyes.
He said nothing more, only nodded, and then turned to leave.
In truth, when Sato first heard that the President was bringing in a new secretary who didn’t have to do any specific work, his first reaction was: ‘This new secretary is probably the President’s lover or something.’
After all, such things were not exactly unheard of in the workplace.
But later, after arriving at the office and seeing this new young man chatting on the sofa with Chinatsu Tsukuse, the President’s bastard daughter, the atmosphere between them seemed quite familiar.
He immediately adjusted his judgment: ‘It seems this young man is the bastard daughter’s man. No wonder he could be brought in like this.’
Since he belonged to the “Second Young Miss,” he naturally couldn’t be treated like a normal subordinate.
Having finished the task assigned by the President, he tactfully departed.
Still not entirely clear on the situation, Kaoru returned to the empty office and sat down on the large sofa.
The office was very quiet.
There was only the faint hum of the central air conditioning and the occasional muffled din of the city from outside, filtered through the glass.
Sunlight fell quietly onto the floor, the expensive furniture, and the green plants in the corner.
Kaoru sat for a while and looked around.
The coffee machine, the printer, and the things he had just learned to use all sat there quietly, as if mocking his lack of things to do.
He didn’t dare to actually take out his phone to play.
What if the President suddenly came back? What if someone walked in? How bad would it look if he were caught playing on his phone on his first day of work?
And so, he just sat on the sofa, looking at the skyscrapers outside, at the glass curtain walls sparkling in the sun, and at the clouds moving slowly along the distant horizon.
He spaced out.
Time passed minute by minute.
He didn’t know what he was thinking about, yet it felt like he was thinking about a lot — Aina’s shocked face, Rika Kawasaki’s gray eyes, Chinatsu’s promise of “I’ll make my sister willing,” and the scrutinizing gaze of the yellow-haired woman’s mother from earlier.
All the images and sounds intertwined into a mess in his mind.
When 12:00 PM arrived, the office door was pushed open right on time.
Chinatsu Tsukuse stood at the door with a faint smile on her face.
“Mr. Hoshitani, let’s go. It’s time for lunch.”
Kaoru snapped out of it, quickly stood up, and followed her out of the office.
The two of them stepped into the elevator together.
The elevator doors slid shut slowly, and it began its smooth descent.
The floor numbers on the digital display kept ticking, moving downward from the high floors at the top.
They were the only two people in the elevator.
The metallic walls reflected their blurred images, and the warm air from the air conditioning blew gently against their faces.
Chinatsu Tsukuse suddenly spoke.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet elevator.
“This way, my sister shouldn’t be able to threaten you anymore.”
Kaoru turned to look at her, a hint of uncertainty in his little deer eyes.
Chinatsu did not look at him.
She just watched the ticking numbers and continued, “After all, you are now Mom’s secretary. If she releases those… those things, it would affect the company.”
She paused, her tone certain.
“Mom would never allow that.”
Kaoru listened quietly, saying nothing.
The elevator continued to descend.
The numbers jumped from fifteen to fourteen, then to thirteen, all the way down.
He looked at his blurred reflection in the elevator doors, at the person wearing a black secretary suit who looked both familiar and like a stranger.
The tension that had been pulled tight in his heart seemed to loosen slightly.
If it really was as Miss Tsukuse said, that woman could no longer threaten him.
Those photographs, that video, and the things that kept him awake at night would not be made public.
Aina would never know about those things.
He could… return to his previous life.
But for some reason, he didn’t feel the sense of relief and lightness he had imagined.
Instead, there was a trace of… an inexplicable, indescribable complexity.
The elevator emitted a crisp chime. The doors slid open slowly, revealing the busy office area outside.
Chinatsu took the lead out of the elevator and looked back at him.
“Let’s go, Mr. Hoshitani. Senior Aina should be waiting for us.”
Chinatsu led Kaoru out of the company and walked to a restaurant not far away.
Led by a server, the two of them reached a pre-booked table, where Aina Saiten was already seated…
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