[NTR Countdown: 54 Days]
This was the fourth day since Kaoru Hoshitani had joined Quansheng and become the President’s secretary.
The early morning sun filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting several long, thin streaks of light onto the bedroom floor.
As usual, Kaoru got out of bed quietly before Aina Saiten woke up to prepare breakfast and a bento for her lunch.
After finishing his chores, he returned to the bedroom to wake her with a gentle morning kiss, helped her tie her necktie, and saw her out the door.
Then, he returned to the mirror and began applying his makeup.
That layer of mature makeup had now become a mandatory part of his daily routine—foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, blush, and lipstick.
He performed every step with fluid grace, as if he had done it a thousand times before.
In the mirror, the youthful innocence gradually faded from his face, replaced by a sophisticated charm.
He changed into his black secretary uniform, adjusted his collar in front of the mirror, took a deep breath, and left for work alongside Aina.
It had been four days.
He felt he had mostly adapted to the job.
The only problem was that this job still left him feeling restlessly idle.
For one, the President seemed to travel for business frequently and was often away from the company.
Even when the President was in the office, the truly important tasks were delegated to the other secretaries.
The senior secretaries handled various documents, scheduled itineraries, and managed coordination, keeping them so busy their feet hardly touched the ground.
The only thing Kaoru could do was brew coffee or pour water.
Then, he would stand aside like an exquisite decorative vase, occasionally subjected to the President’s gaze that carried a certain sense of “appreciation.”
Kawasaki Hana’s gaze was always gentle, even carrying a trace of maternal affection.
However, there was always something in that gaze that made him feel uneasy.
So, compared to standing there and enduring that pressure, he felt more at ease when the President was away.
Fortunately, Chinatsu Tsukuse would often come to the office to chat with him and help pass the time.
Sometimes it was in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon.
The young girl would always find an excuse to slip in—at times it was to “look for Mom,” other times “to grab a cup of coffee,” and occasionally she would just bluntly say she was there “to slack off.”
She would lie on the living room sofa without the slightest hint of reservation and start chatting with him for half an hour or even longer.
After spending the past few days together, Kaoru felt he got along remarkably well with this girl who was only one or two years younger than him.
She could always find interesting topics, naturally pick up the conversation when he didn’t know what to say, and offer the right praise at exactly the right moment.
When chatting with her, he didn’t need to carefully weigh his words or worry about saying something wrong that might upset her.
He could share many seemingly meaningless little things without any restraint.
He had already come to see Chinatsu Tsukuse as his friend.
For Kaoru Hoshitani, who had left his hometown at 18 to accompany his girlfriend to the unfamiliar Big City of Tokyo, this was the first time he had made a new friend in the city.
Although he had his beloved Aina by his side and didn’t feel lonely, being with Aina was different.
Aina Saiten was not a very talkative person.
She loved him and treated him well, but she wasn’t good at sweet talk and didn’t take the initiative to find topics to discuss.
Furthermore, Kaoru always felt the need to carefully look after her emotions—she worked hard every day for the sake of their home and was already exhausted.
He didn’t want to irritate her or force her to expend mental energy dealing with his trivial stories during her precious rest time.
So, he swallowed many of his words, and the many little things he wanted to say or share turned into silence.
But when he was with Chinatsu Tsukuse, it was completely different.
He could say whatever he wanted, laugh without inhibition, and interact with her with the ease of someone her own age.
At noon that day, both Kaoru Hoshitani and Aina Saiten ate the bento meals Kaoru had prepared in the morning.
He had meticulously packed the bento—two exquisite boxes, one containing rice and side dishes, the other containing fruit and small snacks.
When the lunch break arrived, the two of them would take their bento boxes and leave the company one after the other.
They would meet at the nearby small park and sit together on a stone bench by the lake to eat.
This way, they could be together without their relationship being discovered by other colleagues.
The early winter sun shone warmly on them, the lake surface shimmered with light, and an occasional duck swam by.
Kaoru leaned against Aina’s shoulder, eating his own cooking while chatting about what had happened that morning—of course, he didn’t say too much about his chats with Chinatsu Tsukuse.
Today was no different.
Aina Saiten finished her portion of the bento quickly. She always had a good appetite, and with her recent heavy exercise, she ate with great relish.
She set down her chopsticks and turned to look at Kaoru.
Kaoru was still eating, but very slowly.
Nearly half of his bento remained, but it looked as though he was already prepared to set it aside.
“Kaoru, you can’t get away with eating so little,” Aina Saiten said, frowning slightly with a tone of heartache and worry. “You’re already so thin, and I remember you used to eat much more than this not too long ago.”
As she spoke, she reached out, slipping her hand under the hem of Kaoru’s shirt to gently rub his flat, soft belly.
The warm, soft touch made Kaoru’s body stiffen slightly.
“May… maybe it’s because I’ve been sitting in the office all day lately and haven’t gotten much exercise,” Kaoru answered with a stutter, his voice carrying a trace of subtle guilt.
He knew the real reason, of course.
The reason he was eating less these days was indeed because sitting all day didn’t consume much energy.
As for why he had eaten so much previously, it was naturally because… during that time, the energy he consumed every day was simply too much.
Being taken to a hotel by that woman every day, being tossed around on that bed over and over again—the energy consumed by that high-intensity “exercise” was more than a single dinner could ever replenish.
But he couldn’t say a single word about it.
Aina Saiten didn’t suspect a thing. She withdrew her hand and said seriously, “I see… How about you go to the gym to work out tonight as well? It won’t do to keep going like this. I’m afraid something will happen to your health, Kaoru.”
“Hmph!”
Kaoru gave a soft snort, intentionally putting on a “fierce” but cute expression.
“Aina, you should worry about yourself first! Remember, I’m going to inspect your results in one month!”
As he spoke, he reached out and poked Aina Saiten’s waist.
The poke tickled Aina, and she couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
She caught his restless hand, held it in her palm, and looked at him with gentle eyes.
“Alright, alright. I’ll definitely train hard. I won’t let you down, Kaoru.”
The two of them smiled at each other under the afternoon sun.
When the lunch break ended, they packed up their bento boxes and returned to the company one after the other.
Kaoru Hoshitani went back to the empty President’s office and sat on the sofa.
The sun still spilled across the floor, and in the fish tank in the corner, several tropical fish swam lazily.
He leaned against the back of the sofa, watching the fish, but his mind was elsewhere.
Tomorrow…
Tomorrow was Friday.
That yellow-haired woman might be coming back from Osaka.
She would certainly come looking for him. Given her personality, after being transferred to Osaka for one month, she must have been bored to death this past week.
She would definitely come for him the moment she returned to Tokyo, just like before, dragging him to a hotel and messing with him for the entire weekend.
But…
Kaoru’s fingers tightened slightly on his clothes.
He was the President’s secretary now.
If she released those photographs and videos, it would affect the company, and the President would never allow that.
So…
She shouldn’t be able to threaten him anymore, right?
But what if she didn’t use threats? What if… what if she just came straight to him?
What if she appeared at the bottom of his apartment building like before and cornered him?
What if she…
Kaoru closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
‘No, it’s fine.’
He told himself internally.
‘I’m not afraid of her anymore. Those photographs and videos are useless now. I can refuse her. I can…’
However, those gray eyes, that scorching body temperature, that powerful embrace, and the tidal wave of pleasure that stripped away all thought involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
He snapped his eyes open and shook his head vigorously, as if trying to toss those images out of his brain.
Outside the window, the afternoon sun was still bright.
The tropical fish in the tank continued to swim leisurely. Everything looked so peaceful and serene.
But Kaoru Hoshitani knew that this peace might not last much longer.