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Seiji breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the last large group of people depart from the store. The store’s rush hour had finally finished.
Even though he wasn’t physically fatigued, having to concentrate on work for such a long period took a great toll on his mind.
Today was yet another normal day of work at the confectionery store. Although today was a different experience, mainly due the new employee.
Hoshi Amami.
The store manager’s nephew was a beautiful boy that didn’t look like a boy at all—he was one of those “cute boys”.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Seiji heard about him from the store manager beforehand, Seiji would’ve definitely mistaken him for a girl.
There were probably many customers that mistook him as a girl in boys’ clothing as well. Some customers had even commented to him on how their store had finally hired a female server, even if she seemed rather inexperienced…
Seiji could only explain the truth in every instance. Some customers were shocked upon learning the truth, while others were strangely excited upon hearing the truth, and their eyes glinted with an indescribable light.
Typically, Seiji was the biggest attraction in the store, but today, Hoshi Amami also attracted a great deal of attention. However, the female customers that had figured out Hoshi’s true gender kept looking back and forth between Seiji and Hoshi with glittering eyes.
Even though Seiji was reluctant to admit it… those female customers were probably “that” type.
Seiji wasn’t opposed to otaku girls, since he was an otaku himself and didn’t mind homosexuality either, but it still felt awkward for him to become the target of an otaku girl’s BL fantasy.
He could only try his best to avoid the subject in his mind.
As for Hoshi Amami… Seiji felt like Hoshi wasn’t into that either, but his appearance was just too feminine… There was no other way to describe it; if he dressed in a girl’s clothing, he’d be a perfect trap!
As expected of a world with 2-D elements… even such a character was present in real life.
Seiji was unsure whether Hoshi had noticed the special treatment he was receiving from the other employees due to his status as the store manager’s nephew and his appearance. Since Seiji had noticed Hoshi’s frustration, Seiji took care not to treat him differently from anyone else.
Eventually, there was a brief lull in their work. Seiji then took the initiative to start a conversation with Hoshi.
“Hey, hard worker, how’re you feeling?”
“Ah… Harano-senpai!” Hoshi had just finished bringing a tray of sweets to a table and smiled at Seiji, “Senpai’s been working hard as well. I… I’m fine, I’m getting used to it even if it’s a little tiring!”
He lifted his hands and clenched his fist by his face in a cat-like posture as he finished talking.
‘It’s actions like that which cause people to consider you as girlish!’ Seiji exclaimed mentally.
“Alright then, the most important thing is to be spirited and enthusiastic. If there’s anything you don’t understand about work, you can ask me, or you can ask the others as well.”
“Okay… got it! Senpai… actually, I do have a question—can I ask it now?”
“Of course.”
After hearing Seiji’s affirmation, Hoshi took out a small notepad and pen before he asked him some questions regarding small details in work while he took notes in a serious manner.
Seiji was influenced by Hoshi’s serious attitude and answered each question thoroughly.
A pretty boy conversing with a tall and handsome boy—the scene of the two of them standing side-by-side was just like a painting; the female customers especially felt like it was fortunate for them to have visited this store!
“Those two boys look perfectly suited for each other!”
“A gentle and handsome Senpai with a pretty Kouhai that needs his protection… Heavens, it’s too beautiful to behold!”
“Just this sight makes me want some extra confectioneries!”
The girls’ eyes were ravenous, and they looked as if they could devour them down.
They chatted excitedly among each other while the “click click” sound of cell phones capturing pictures was clearly audible.
It seemed that the Divine Taste confectionery store would become even more popular than ever before… This didn’t escape the notice of Manager Rika Amami, whose mouth arced upwards as she had a devious expression of “mission successful”.
‘Let’s increase Haruta-kun and my cute nephew’s bonuses, hehehe!’
The lull was only momentary, so Seiji and Hoshi had to go back to serving the customers again.
With guidance from Harano-senpai as well as the other employees, Hoshi felt like he was gradually getting accustomed to the job, and he wasn’t as nervous compared to when he first started doing the job this morning.
However, incidents often occurred once you let down your guard.
Hoshi was bringing two desserts to a table when a little kid suddenly ran out of nowhere and startled him, causing him to slip. As he slipped, the two desserts on his tray flew up into the air!
‘Ah… darn it!’
He had made a mistake!
Just as he was lamenting over his clumsiness, his fall was halted by something, and two large hands took his tray from him and with a “whoosh” sound, caught all the utensils and sweets that were still in midair!
This whole process took only a few seconds, and many people witnessed it.
As Hoshi Amami tripped and was falling backwards, Seigo Harano just happened to be nearby and instantly dashed to his side, using his chest to block his fall as well as catching both plates of desserts successfully with incredible reflexes!
It was literally a scene from a movie.
All the customers and employees that witnessed this scene were stunned before they lauded him with praise after recovering their senses.
“Amazing! Someone is actually capable of doing all this!?”
“I’ve only seen such things in movies before… I never imagined that I’d see someone to it in real life!”
“That was spectacular! Nothing landed on the ground!”
*Clap clap clap…* Some customers even broke out into applause.
“Amami, you alright?”
“Ah… I’m fine…” Hoshi stood up and finally regained his senses: “T… thank you, Senpai.”
“That’s good then… Go exchange these sweets in the kitchen since we shouldn’t be giving these to the customers anymore, and be careful not to slip anymore,” Seiji instructed.
“Okay…” Hoshi’s face was slightly red as he took the tray and walked off.
Some of the female customers were secretly worked themselves into a fervor at this sight.
“Hey, did you see that!?”
“Yeah, yeah! That was wonderful…”
“I wasn’t able to get a picture, damn it!”
They were all thought to themselves that they needed to show gratitude to God for gifting them such a beautiful scene to etch into their memories!
‘I was saved by Harano-senpai… even like that he could prevent an incident… He’s just too amazing!’ Hoshi was even more impressed than before.
He secretly wished to be endowed with just 10% of Harano-senpai’s coolness.
But it seemed difficult.
Senpai’s body shape appeared so strong and sturdy; it was a stark contrast to his own petite and fragile body.
Just what should he do? Even if he couldn’t become like Senpai, he wanted to improve himself at the very minimum.
…
It was finally time for their break.
Seiji felt more eyes than usual on him today, which made him feel vaguely uncomfortable…
While he was resting in the back-room, he noticed that Hoshi Amami had tagged along as well.
“Amami, you’re also resting at this time?”
“Yes, Senpai.”
“Oh, then let’s eat our lunchboxes together.”
The store provided its employees with simple lunches, and the taste wasn’t too bad.
They sat opposite each other in the rest area for the employees.
Seiji gulped a swig of water and began eating, while the beautiful boy in front of
Seiji kept his head lowered, and his chopsticks remained motionless.
“What’s the matter, Amami?”
“Senpai…” Hoshi slowly raised his head and looked directly at Seiji as his eyes sparkled: “Actually… I… want you!”
*Cough!*
Seiji spat out the half-chewed food in his mouth.
“Er, Senpai!?”
“What did you say!? Silly!!”
“Oh?” Hoshi realized the inappropriateness of his previous words, and his face instantly burned up.
“Ah… er, that’s not it, that’s not it, that’s not it!” He stood up with a completely red face and accidentally knocked over the table as well as a cup of water in his furious denial.
“Ahh, sorry!”
“Alright, that’s enough! Stop for a moment!”
When Seiji scolded him, Hoshi froze solid.
“Calm down… I’ll get a rag to wipe this with.” Seiji sighed.
“Oh… sorry…” Hoshi lowered his head in disappointment.
A minute later, after the table was wiped clean again, they sat themselves down again.
“Senpai…”
“I know that you probably just made a mistake with your words. You don’t seem like the type to…”
“I’m not!” Hoshi shook his head vigorously.
“Then, what exactly did you mean?” Seiji began eating again.
“I meant, I want… to become someone like Senpai,” Hoshi said weakly, “Senpai… is really manly and can do anything well, but I…”
He swallowed his saliva and told him about the impact he suffered recently to his heart.
“If that girl likes manlier boys… then it wouldn’t be strange at all for her to reject you.” Seiji directly said that out loud.
*Stab!* Hoshi felt like he had just been sliced by a knife.
“Your height is lower than average, your body is petite, your face is pretty, you lack presence, your voice is soft, plus your general demeanor makes you seem girlish… Your femininity is basically at the max! It’s at least 100 times stronger than your masculinity.” Seiji relentlessly continued his fierce attack.
*Stab!* Hoshi suffered yet another blow.
“I feel like that girl saying that you weren’t manly enough was already being too indirect with you. I think that perhaps she felt like if she was together with you, then you wouldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend, but two girlfriends instead. Not only that, but maybe she’d even think that you were more feminine than she was!” Seiji ended with a finishing blow.
*Stab! Stab! Stab!*
Hoshi felt like he had been pierced all over as he slumped over lifelessly on the table.