I, who tortured the readers, was knocked to the ground by them!

July 7th, early morning.

"Want to grab a drink tonight?"

It was rare to see Sakurai Itsuki at the company so early, and Eguchi Ichiro greeted him warmly.

Qixi Festival is a well-known festival in both China and Japan, with many gimmicks and almost everyone being familiar with its origins and customs.

However, it is not a statutory holiday.

Therefore, even if shopping malls outside are enthusiastically promoting romance, office workers still have to huddle in concrete pens to be exploited.

Sakurai Itsuki is also here today, connecting with the scriptwriters and members.

Eguchi Yuna rolled her eyes helplessly and interjected, "Dude, are you stupid? How could he possibly go out drinking with you on a day like this!"

Sakurai Itsuki didn't refute it: "I do have something to do tonight."

He unusually left home very early this morning because he had made plans some time ago to have a private birthday party with his wife tonight.

Therefore, I want to finish my work as soon as possible so I can go home early.

"Oh~ so who is it this time?"

As the founder of the gossip group, Hase Hatsuna immediately rushed over excitedly when she heard about this topic.

Then he received a rather heavy flick on the forehead from Sakurai Itsuki.

But the sanctions against Hase Hatsuna did not stop everyone in the room from gossiping without restraint.

Since none of the female leads are present today, discussing this topic would be less awkward if it were only in front of the scumbag male lead, Sakurai Itsuki.

Kojima Haruna: "The one at home, I've always been a Wakaba supporter."

Yuna Eguchi: "Hard to say. I heard that recently the young lady has been unusually proactive. Even her style of dress and speech seems to have changed."

Kojima Haruna nodded: "That's true. To be honest, I never expected the young lady's momentum to rebound so strongly. I thought that with her attitude of drawing first when in doubt, she was destined to lose."

Shinichi Kojima: "What if everyone goes together?"

Kojima Haruna clicked her tongue in disdain upon hearing this, then added in an AOE style: "Tsk, men are all scum to the core!"

Yuuki Tsukime, on the other hand, always takes a conciliatory approach: "No matter what, let's get along well and cautiously! Let's just not let things explode! Everyone being happy is the best outcome!"

Sakurai Itsuki gave a helpless twitch of his lips: "You guys really have gone too far. Can you stop discussing other people's privacy so blatantly?"

Yuna Eguchi scolded, "We all came early to keep you company at work, what's wrong with having some fun? You scumbag boss, you do things yourself and then you won't let us talk about them?"

Although Sakurai Itsuki was always bullied by her boss's power, they actually get along more like friends now.

Aside from being obedient to him at work, Eguchi Yuna didn't have much respect for Sakurai Itsuki.

"Well, that's normal. It's not normal for a boss in Tokyo not to have a few girlfriends. Our dad is just a producer, but he has a lot of aunts with whom he has unclear relationships, doesn't he?"

Not to mention someone as young, handsome, and rich as Boss Ashu.

Eguchi Ichiro, however, upheld the spirit of "boys help boys" and spoke to Sakurai Itsuki.

They even carelessly exposed their family's dirty laundry.

Eguchi Yuna rolled her eyes: "Dude, you've got a big mouth, but this isn't a secret."

Everyone was immediately puzzled: "Your family is really something else!"

"It's okay. My mom knew he would definitely cheat on her before she married him. Her only request of him was that he not have an illegitimate child outside and then fight with our family for the inheritance."

Yuna Eguchi shrugged and began to talk about their twisted family relationships.

Although everyone knows that in a notoriously decadent city like Tokyo, probably seven or eight out of ten wealthy people are quite dissolute.

But hearing them say it so openly and honestly is still quite shocking to my values.

This made Shinichi Kojima, who came from an ordinary family, sigh: "Ah, capitalism, sigh, the lost thirty years, sigh, class, sigh, humanity! Sigh, desire!"

The crowd ignored Shinichi Kojima's lament about the inability to change reality and instead looked at Itsuki Sakurai.

If an ordinary-looking old man like Eguchi's father can have a bunch of mistresses, then a rich and handsome man like Sakurai Itsuki, though a scumbag, might be judged by the standards of the wealthy.

Perhaps, this beast could be called a "playboy"?

Ah, this world is truly ugly!
Just as everyone was lamenting how ugly the real world was, Junna Hase, who had just been attacked on the forehead, burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha, aren't you guys giving this kid too much credit? He's still a virgin! I'm starting to suspect he's got something going on!"

Hase Hatsuna, clutching her stomach, loudly mocked Sakurai Itsuki.

"The gift I gave that hot girl for her 18th birthday, she still hasn't used it, right? Seriously! It's been three years, I bet it's almost expired!"

"A gift? What gift?" everyone asked, puzzled.

"It's a gift to prevent illegitimate children from being born out of wedlock! This kid actually scolded me for giving him this gift. Jiang Kou, you tell me, from a normal person's perspective, isn't this gift super practical? But he's not a normal person!"

Hase Hatsuna made no attempt to hide the fact that she had given him the gift, which made the Eguchi siblings twitch their lips.

But Hatsuna Hase continued to mock Sakurai Itsuki: "Three years! This guy lived with someone for three years and nothing happened! He's so pathetic!"

Yuuki Tsukimi, who always protected Sakurai Itsuki, stepped in and punched Hase Hatsuna hard on the forehead: "Alright, that's enough! Why are you meddling in other people's private affairs! Itsuki has great self-control!"

Hase Hatsuna, who had been punched, surprisingly did not cause a scene.

She stood up and patted Sakurai Itsuki on the shoulder earnestly: "Good luck, don't let my gift expire and waste my good intentions!"

Shinichi Kojima: "Ah, so that means it must be Wakaba tonight! Is the young lady going to have to stay home and draw again tonight?"

At that moment, someone suddenly said, "You guys don't understand reverse thinking. I haven't seen Yukiko in a long time. Maybe you'll be on a date with her today. Boss, be careful not to get caught by her fans and get attacked! Especially at the fireworks festival."

Sakurai Itsuki smiled helplessly: "You guys can guess. Time to go to work."

At that moment, Hina Goto, who had been silent in the corner, suddenly said, "Ah, Yuki, that's impossible."

Everyone immediately turned around and looked at Hina Goto.

Yuki Mizuno isn't exactly a member of the company. Although they have many collaborations, she's one of the few people in this group who, apart from Itsuki Sakurai, can frequently interact with her.

The only one who could do this was Hina Goto, who was learning from Yuki Mizuno's sound effects team.

"Oh, sorry, never mind."

Hina Goto realized she might have let something slip and immediately covered her mouth with both hands.

But the more they do this, the more it reeks of "protesting too much."

July 7th, noon.

Sato Wakaba didn't prepare a fancy lunch because she was home alone today.

Because of her energy, she has to focus on more important things.

She sat in front of the mirror.

Sato Wakaba, who is usually carefree and casual about makeup, carefully picked up the eyebrow pencil.

She always used to say that she was naturally beautiful, and that she would look good even if she just did something casual. But tonight, she had to be perfect.

"Honestly, I should have studied makeup more before."

Sato Wakaba murmured softly, then got up and took out the newly customized yukata from the wardrobe.

"If I really want to match this color, this shade of lipstick would be better, but this contrast might also look good. I wish I were as good at makeup as Yuki."

Thinking of Yuki Mizuno, Sato Wakaba's joy dimmed slightly.

Clutching her new yukata, she collapsed onto the bed, turned her head to look at the enormous teddy bear, and couldn't help but pout slightly.

She didn't come to my birthday party. Will she come again in the future?
Just as I was feeling annoyed, my phone suddenly vibrated and rang.

Sato Wakaba quickly got up and grabbed her phone; it was the special message notification sound she had set for Sakurai Itsuki.

The only one who sent the message was, of course, the guy whose contact name was "Bastard Ashu".

Damn it, Ashu: [I still have some things to take care of, so it might be a little slow.]

Damn it, Ashu: [Go grab a good spot by the river this afternoon, thanks for your help. I'll treat you to cake as compensation.]

Sato Wakaba looked at the message, then smiled and replied: 【Okay! I want strawberry matcha cake, crepes, and macarons too!】

Ashu the jerk: [Ordered so much? Didn't you book a restaurant for tonight? You'd definitely order dessert at the restaurant too, right?]

Sato Wakaba: [Then you decide for yourself! I was just saying!]

Sato Wakaba: [Keep it up! I'll try my best to get a good spot too! Don't be too late!]

Sato Wakaba put down her phone, clutched the brand-new yukata to her chest, and excitedly kicked her legs a few times on the bed.

Even though there was still an afternoon until the fireworks display, her heart was probably pounding with nervousness!
Imagine that scene.

Wearing a yukata, watching the fireworks, and eating the desserts he bought for her.

Amidst the noise and the dazzling fireworks, quietly turn your face to look at the other person, and whisper sweet nothings amidst the pounding heartbeat that even the fireworks can't drown out.

This must be the romantic scene I've always longed for.
What should I say? Or should I just lean in and sneakily kiss his cheek?
Oh, isn't that too daring?
Sato Wakaba imagined that scene and excitedly rolled around on the bed.
Meanwhile, on this side...

Sakurai Itsuki closed the chat window with Sato Wakaba and then opened Mizuno Yuki's window.

The messages I sent her are still showing as unread.

I dialed the number again, but it still didn't answer.

Are all celebrities so good at lying?

It turns out, she really was the bad girl who was good at lying, just as she said.

Hina Goto still revealed the information she knew.

Yuki Mizuno hasn't had a proper job for a month. The last time they met, she could smell a hospital disinfectant on Yuki Mizuno.

She has taken a long leave from her agency and has turned down many of her scheduled events, only occasionally taking time to attend very short events.

The agency requested that these matters not be disclosed casually, and Yuki Mizuno also asked her not to tell anyone, especially Itsuki Sakurai.

Today, she received a call from the agency saying they couldn't reach Yuki Mizuno for the time being and asking if she knew her whereabouts.

Therefore, Hina Goto concluded that the person she was going on a date with today was definitely not Yuki Mizuno.

Sakurai Itsuki didn't even know if she had been working during this time.

Even the firm couldn't reach her, and she didn't contact him on her own initiative, so how could he possibly be going on a date with her tonight?

Yuki Mizuno was clearly avoiding him.

Upon learning all this, Sakurai Itsuki was somewhat confused.

Recently, or rather, a long time ago, Yuki Mizuno has been acting quite strangely.

But he never took the initiative to pay attention to it; he always preferred not to interfere too much in other people's affairs.

But is that really true?

After learning all this, Sakurai Itsuki immediately sent a message to Mizuno Yuki, but received no reply.

I also took the time to call the firm.

The agency said that there had only been no contact for one night, and there was nothing to be nervous about. They were only in a hurry to contact her to discuss a job.

The job offer has already been cancelled, so Sakurai Itsuki shouldn't worry.

Sakurai Itsuki then spent another morning working with a restless mind. After successfully completing his work, he was supposed to go back and fulfill his promise to Sato Wakaba.

I dialed my agent, Asami Nakajima's, number.

Sakurai Itsuki asked, "Have they found the person?"

Nakajima Asami's voice came from the other end: "Not yet, don't worry."

Sakurai Itsuki said firmly, "I've called the police."

Asami Nakajima: "The police will only file a case if an adult has been missing for more than 24 hours. It has only been thirteen hours since I last contacted her. It would be useless to call the police now. It would only make things worse. The fewer people who know about this, the better."

Sakurai Itsuki: "I don't care about all that. What are you hiding from me? If you don't tell me, I'll contact the police and paparazzi directly. They're good at finding people."

Asami Nakajima: "She doesn't want you to know, to not do that kind of thing, she can't handle the shock right now."

Sakurai Itsuki: "Then tell me what happened. Is she alright?"

Sakurai Itsuki recalled what Goto Hina had said before, that she could smell the disinfectant from the hospital on her, and couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.

Such a cliché story is one thing, but it happens in comics and Korean dramas.

It absolutely must not happen to her.

It would be too cruel to imagine that the person who sang the theme song for Kaori Miyazono in this world would also suffer from a terminal illness like her.

"No, you can rest assured, she is very healthy. But perhaps for her, being sick is more tormenting than being sick herself."

Nakajima Asami's words brought a slight sense of relief to Sakurai Itsuki.

At least, she herself is not in any problems.

"So, what's going on?"

Nakajima Asami took a deep breath and ultimately decided to break her promise to Mizuno Yuki, betraying her: "It's her family's business."

July 7th, evening.

Sato Wakaba walked down the street in a yukata, looking so beautiful that passersby couldn't help but turn around and marvel.

But she slightly furrowed her beautiful brows.

He pulled out his phone and glanced at the time again: "Ah Shu, he's really slow. The fireworks festival is almost starting." (End of Chapter)