The premise of breaking up in Tokyo

Before the driver could even utter a sound, blood gushing from his nose, he fell backward.

The flyers in his hand and the glue in the metal bucket were scattered all over the ground.

He seemed dazed, probably because he landed on the back of his head. He pressed his hands against the glue all over the ground, his face covered in blood from his nose, and looked around blankly.

A few meters away, another guy carrying a paint bucket, who was painting words on the wall, turned around after Katsuhiko climbed over the gate, looking completely bewildered, and called out, "Hey! Nakajima-kun, what's up?"

Katsuhiko, too lazy to pay attention to the two idiots outside the gate, quickly ran towards the office building along the overgrown open space.

The seven people who had climbed over the iron gate earlier had already run to the gray office building a dozen meters away.

The glass main door of the office building was kicked open by someone.

They seemed somewhat surprised, and while splashing paint and scattering flyers, they rushed in all at once.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The factory and office building is made of concrete and has five floors. Each window is fitted with iron bars and the window glass is covered with dust.

The office is located on the fifth floor.

The interior walls, originally off-white, have turned a dark yellow, and in many places the paint has peeled off.

A yellow, old-fashioned card-operated telephone hangs on the wall, next to which is a yellowed production schedule.

The window facing the office door has blinds.

Several louvered blinds were bent and deformed, and outside the slats was a hazy gray glass, through which the iron railings, gates, and walls of the factory could be vaguely seen.

The seat by the window is a wooden accounting desk.

Kotoha Takahashi was sitting behind the table, her eyes somewhat vacant, twirling a ballpoint pen in her hand.

The radiant bridal attire she wore a few days ago has been removed. Her hair, which was styled in a bun at the back of her head, is a little frizzy. She is wearing a plain off-white long-sleeved floral shirt and a simple long skirt.

On the table in front of her was an open job magazine, with several job postings circled in red.

Next to the magazine was a small photo frame containing a picture of the couple on their wedding day.

Diagonally opposite Kotoha, near the door, is the rusty iron desk where Watanabe Eiyo sits.

Yingdai was frowning as she flipped through the documents beside her, her fingers constantly tapping on the calculator.

Her hair was simply tied back casually, with a few strands falling around her ears.

At the wedding, she had already changed out of her respectable professional attire and was now wearing a simple dark gray cardigan shirt and a long black skirt that covered her ankles.

A cup of cold instant coffee sat beside me, its rim stained with a faint lipstick mark. Next to the coffee cup were piles of ledgers, collection letters, and copies of court notices, while the wastebasket under the table was overflowing with crumpled collection letters.

"Was that Takenaka-kun who called just now?"

Qinye seemed to have not spoken for a long time, and her voice sounded a little hoarse.

"Hmm."

Yingdai didn't look up, and let out a faint, almost nasal sound, filled with a contradictory mix of lingering anger and guilt.

"well……"

Qin Ye felt a mix of emotions, and could only let out a soft sigh.

A few days ago, Eiyo asked Kenta when he would let that annoying Katsuhiko come to work at the factory...

Suddenly, a commotion arose in the hallway outside the door.

As Yingdai was pressing the calculator, her shoulder suddenly trembled, knocking over the coffee cup beside her. Dark brown coffee spilled down the table and onto her skirt, but she didn't seem to notice. She just looked nervously towards the door.

Qin Ye's heart tightened, and she subconsciously stood up. As she stood up, the photo frame beside her was knocked over and landed face down on the table.

She didn't notice anything amiss, but instead, with trembling fingers, she parted the slats of the blinds hanging on the window and looked through the dirty glass at the door.

Two short, stout men in black clothes had just fallen through the iron railing gate of the factory building, which was a dozen meters away downstairs.

"Someone climbed over the door and came in," Qin Ye said, her face pale and her voice trembling. "It looks like those debt collectors..."

As they were talking, the sound of shattering glass and knocking came from the hallway...

"Quick, call the police! I'm going to stop them..."

Yingdai suddenly stood up, scattering documents all over the floor. As she spoke, she rushed out of the office.

The first floor is the production workshop, with a pitted cement floor crammed with all sorts of old machinery and equipment, and various oil-stained repair tools scattered everywhere...

Seven or eight people were swinging iron bars and crowbars they had picked up at random, hitting things and splashing paint on the machine. Some of them even picked up wrenches from the ground and threw them at the glass door. With a loud crash, the glass door shattered.

Yingdai stumbled and rushed down the cement stairs. He must have been going too fast, because he didn't stop in time after running down the steps and bumped into a machine on the other side that was covered in red paint. His gray cardigan was stained with red, and his knee hit the metal tripod.

Her face suddenly contorted, and she groaned as she fell to the ground. However, she did not check her injuries and screamed at the group of people with bloodshot eyes.

"stop!!!"

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "I've already called the police! Please leave!"

The factory suddenly fell silent as all seven people turned around at the same time.

"Watanabe Hideyo?!"

When they saw Yingdai, they seemed overjoyed and surrounded him with laughter.

"What are you doing?"

Yingdai instinctively tried to stand up, but a sudden, excruciating pain shot through her knee. She lost her balance and fell hard onto the paint-splattered cement floor. Instinctively, she rubbed herself against the ground and backed up against the machine.

"Ms. Yingdai, please don't be afraid. We all have university degrees and will not harm you."

The middle-aged man with a mustache and slicked-back hair, who appeared to be a minor leader, tidied his slicked-back hair and said, "Let's talk."

The other six men, carrying iron bars and paint buckets, stood in a semicircle, surrounding Yingdai with grinning faces.

Yingdai's face turned deathly pale. She curled up her legs, crossed her arms over her chest, and said in a trembling voice, "Please leave here immediately. I've already called the police..."

"We called the police too, and they said they'd be here in two hours." The man with the waxed hair squatted down and showed his watch to Yingdai. "Just five minutes have passed."

"What... what exactly do you want to talk about...?"

A hint of despair flashed in Yingdai's eyes, and she shrank back even further.

"Your father ran away abroad, and your brother is like a rat, nowhere to be seen," the man with the waxed hair suddenly spread his hands, glaring at Yingdai with a ferocious expression. "We're desperate too; we can't even pay salaries anymore!"

Yingdai covered her head with both hands and curled up into a ball.

"You can come with us," the man with the waxed hair suddenly grinned again, and continued, "A boss said that if you go on a date with him for a week, he'll pay off half of your father's debt. That's a really good deal—300 million yen!"

"Go away, go away..." Yingdai cried, kicking her legs and clutching her head.

The man with the waxed hair took a step back, stretched, and stood up. He tilted his head and pointed to the stairwell beside him, saying, "Go upstairs and see if Mrs. Qinye is there. Tie her up and take her to the boss. I really envy rich people..."

"Damn it, don't run away!!!"

Before the man with the hair wax could finish his rant, a roar from outside the shattered glass door came from Nakajima, who was covering his nose.

The seven people in the workshop also subconsciously turned around.

Katsuhiko happened to move behind them, carrying a one-meter-long, mop-handle-thick black iron crowbar with a point at one end and a hook at the other.

The seven men shuddered in fright. One of them dropped the iron bar in his hand. Before they could react, Sheng Yan's iron crowbar pierced one of their feet. Before the man could even make a sound, Sheng Yan twisted the crowbar, hooking the iron hook into another man's groin, and pulled him up.

"ah--!!"

Two screams rang out, instantly overwhelming the two men.

The other five people's expressions changed drastically, and they instinctively jumped back.

Two idiots were probably genuinely frightened. The production workshop was already cramped, and they retreated with a bit too much force, hitting the back of their heads on the metal parts of the machine. They staggered and squatted on the ground, clutching the back of their heads.

"Damn it!" the man with the waxed hair roared, "What are you doing! Who are you?"

Sheng Yan didn't say anything. He picked up the crowbar again and used the hooked end to poke at the man with the hair wax in the stomach. The pointed end was too sharp, and he was worried that it would pierce through the stomach. Then he turned the crowbar, hooked it onto the man's leather belt, and swung it up to smash it against the machine.

The man with the hair wax covered his head with both hands as he was thrown onto the machine.

With a muffled thud, the man with the waxed hair snapped his belt. Pulling up his pants, he roared at his two henchmen standing there, "What are you all standing there for? Hit him! Hit him!"

To prevent any accidents, Sheng Yan had already drunk the [Focus Potion] beforehand. He could easily overpower them with his numbers, and besides, in such a narrow place, having more people was not an advantage.

The two angry fat men who chased after him from outside the gate stopped abruptly as soon as they reached the entrance. They exchanged a glance, took two steps back in unison, and then ran quickly toward the gate.

On the cement ground creased by the machine, a group of people lay, each clutching their groins and groaning in pain.

To prevent a sneak attack, Katsuhiko gave each person a boost and then tied them to the machine with rope.

"Who are you?!"

The man with the hair wax, clearly distressed, shouted, "Why did you hit me without saying a word? We were just collecting a debt... You'll be sued!"

Sheng Yan had been listening to him ramble on and on, and felt that he was like a crazy lunatic. He couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him, so he stuffed a tattered rag covered in black oil stains from the machine into his mouth.

Eiyo stopped covering her head and just sat curled up on the ground, hugging her chest, staring blankly at Katsuhiko.

Her clothes were covered in red paint, as were her face and hair.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of paint.

"Don't you recognize me?" Sheng Yan squatted down in front of her, smiling at her and showing off his white teeth.

"Takenaka, Mr. Takenaka..." Eiyo's eyes were red-rimmed, her lips trembling, and she uttered a trembling voice as if she had survived a disaster.

Katsuhiko habitually extended his index finger, lifted her chin, and said, "Say thank you."

"Th-thank you..."

"Good girl." Katsuhiko gently patted her still pale face.

Footsteps echoed in the stairwell. Qin Ye, carrying a mop and with a pale face, cautiously turned out of the stairwell.

The seven people, still bound, were groaning in pain. One of them pleaded in a low voice, "Please, let us go to the hospital..."

"Katsu, Katsuhiko-kun?" Kotoha's tense expression froze.

"Mrs. Kotoha, it's been a long time."

Katsuhiko raised his hand in greeting.

The moment I saw her, the 7-day countdown reappeared in my field of vision. Of course, there are less than 7 days left now. Last time, at the wedding, it took half an hour.

At the same time, the increasing timer numbers also appeared, having accumulated to twenty minutes.

Qinye's eyes then turned to Yingdai, who was sitting huddled up, and her expression tightened again. She quickly squatted down next to Yingdai.

"Are you... are you alright?"

"It's...it's alright..."

Eiyo responded in a trembling voice, seemingly subconsciously glancing at Katsuhiko's face before quickly looking down.

Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow and said, "It looks like she hurts her leg. Is there a first-aid kit here? Let's get it fixed for her."

Yingdai was badly injured. She had hit the iron corner right in the middle. When she lifted her skirt, a long bloody gash was visible on her smooth, white calf. The wound had almost had a piece of skin the size of a fingernail gouged out.

Qinye brought a first-aid kit from the workshop and was bandaging Yingdai's wound.

Suddenly, a coin appeared in Sheng Yan's palm. It was about 30 centimeters away, and only 25 minutes had passed.