That night's grand dinner stretched from six all the way until nearly nine o'clock.
With Yagami Kō's stash of red wine, plus the bottles that Hazuki and Haruno brought, everyone ate and drank leisurely, and ti flew by without anyone noticing.
By the end, most people were a little tipsy — especially Aoba, Nene, and Eriri, who weren't used to drinking. The three of them were already flushed and dizzy, sitting dazedly on the sofa.
Toyama Rin originally wanted to make them so sobering tea, but they waved her off.
Aoba, cheeks bright red and grinning, said, "Co on, it's a New Year's party! We're not even drunk yet — this is the perfect vibe!"
"Yeah, yeah!" Nene nodded in agreent.
Ichin walked over, smiling helplessly.
"Fine, just let them rest for a while. It's only a glass each — they'll be fine in an hour or two."
They were planning to stay up late anyway, so letting the tipsy ones take a break for a bit was no problem.
After everyone was full and relaxed, the fun began in earnest.
Yagami Kō turned on the TV and pulled out two microphones.
"Hehe, I went shopping the other day and found this karaoke set on New Year's sale. Let's sing!"
"Let's do it!"
"I was just thinking about going to karaoke — now we can save the money!"
And so began a lively ho karaoke session.
Ichin, though he knew plenty about music production and often worked on ga soundtracks himself, wasn't much of a singer. So for this part, he was content to be a listener — and part of the cheering section.
After karaoke ca Ubisoft's Just Dance, and this ti Ichin wasn't spared — the girls dragged him up by force.
He cast a desperate glance toward Utaha for help, only to see his girlfriend smiling mischievously as she stood behind him, gently pushing him toward the TV — phone already in hand.
And not just her — everyone else who wasn't dancing alongside him had also quietly pulled out their phones, even Yukino.
"Oh, seriously? You guys actually have the guts to record your boss dancing?"
Kō laughed. "Relax! We know you won't mind. And besides, our boss's girlfriend is filming too — if you've got a problem, complain to her first."
"…Fine, you win."
Ichin glared at Kō, then slipped the Joy-Con controllers onto his wrists and got ready.
It's just dancing, he told himself. Follow the screen, that's all.
It was awkward at first, but once he let go of his self-consciousness, it wasn't that bad. His fitness training paid off — the moves weren't too difficult, and by the end, his score actually beat Iijima Yun, Shinoda, and even Haruno.
Putting the controller down, Haruno whistled.
"Well, well. Didn't expect you to be that good at this, Ichin."
He shrugged modestly.
"It's just that this song's choreography is simple. If it were one of those dances ant for girls, I wouldn't have stood a chance."
There was no way he was ever doing those overly seductive moves.
After one round, he was done. He handed the controller straight to Yukino, smiling slyly.
"Since you took photos and videos, it's only fair you pay the price, right?"
"…"
"Ohh, so it's Yukino's turn now?"
Haruno grinned, pulling out her phone.
"Co on, Yukino, I'll make sure the video's crystal clear!"
Yukino's mouth twitched slightly as she looked over at Utaha for help.
But Utaha only smiled, taking a controller from Shinoda.
"I was planning to play anyway," she said cheerfully. "I ate too much dinner — and too many cookies and palmiers."
Yukino sighed. There was no escape.
So this is what they call karma…
Still, the light buzz from the wine helped her relax. Before long, even Yukino was laughing, moving along with the group, completely forgetting that she was normally far too shy to dance.
The chaos continued until well past 2 a.m. before finally winding down. Haruno and Eriri coordinated drivers to make sure everyone who didn't live nearby got ho safely.
After a shower, Ichin ca out yawning — only to find Haruno and Yukino still there, sitting on the sofa chatting with Utaha instead of heading ho.
"Haruno, Yukino — aren't you two going to rest?" he asked.
Haruno smiled.
"We were just waiting for you. Wanted to say goodbye before heading back. Oh, and Ichin — rember to count us in for lunch tomorrow, alright? We're coming over to mooch!"
"Sure, no problem. There's still plenty of food left, so I won't even need to shop."
On the seventh, they spent another peaceful day at ho.
Then ca January 8th — the first workday of the year.
Not only was it the day everyone returned to the office, but the renovation for the new company building officially began as well.
The construction team Haruno had hired arrived at the site at eight in the morning. She even sent Ichin a batch of on-site photos as soon as he reached the office.
After reviewing the pictures, Ichin headed into the company eting room to hold the first eting of the new year.
Once everyone had settled in, he smiled at the room packed full of staff.
"Alright, no need to take notes today. This eting's just to go over the general plans and direction for the year. Your departnt leads will give you the specific January assignnts afterward."
He paused briefly, then continued with a grin.
"First off, let's talk about sothing you've all been asking about — the new company building. Construction officially began this morning. In three months, we'll be moving into our very own headquarters!"
The room imdiately erupted in cheers. The excitent was contagious.
Even the new hires — fourth-year university students from Tokyo University who had just joined last year — were thrilled. None of them had imagined that in such a short ti, they'd already be working in a company with its own building.
But as soon as they rembered that their probation periods wouldn't end until the end of the month, nervousness quickly replaced excitent.
They had less than a month left to prove themselves before the full-ti evaluation — and none of them wanted to lose a spot in such an amazing team.
Once the cheers died down, Ichin smiled again, straightened his notes, and officially began the company's first eting of the new year.
---
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