The agency's first floor was spacious but pretty empty—no signs of anyone living there.
Hoshino Ai and her guardian lived upstairs on the second floor. The first floor was basically just the work area, complete with a practice studio.
Ai had been training there for a while now, though she was still the only mber.
"The president should be upstairs. Shichen, co with ."
Ai grabbed Shichen's hand and headed toward the stairs. She looked excited, her steps light—like she was taking him to et her parents or sothing.
Shichen let her lead the way.
The second floor felt completely different—warm and full of life. There were several rooms, and a large living room with its door wide open.
From the doorway, Shichen could see the brightness of the space. Soone was sitting on the couch, brown-pink hair visible from behind, and the TV was on, playing GG.
"That's the president's wife," Ai whispered, pulling Shichen into the living room.
"Ma'am, I'm back!"
"Ai, where were you—wait, huh?"
The woman turned around. Her previously casual tone vanished the mont she saw Shichen. Her eyes lit up like spotlights.
"Whoa—hello, handso! What a hottie!"
She looked to be in her twenties—super pretty, trendy shoulder-length waves in a brown-pink shade. Very fashionable.
"Ai, where did you find this gorgeous guy?" she asked, jumping off the couch and walking straight up to Shichen, staring like he was a piece of art.
"Haha... Shichen, don't take it personally—she's a little... intense," Ai said, awkwardly trying to explain.
"Shichen, huh? Love the na! I'm Miyako Saito," she said, smiling brightly.
"Nice to et you," Shichen nodded politely.
"Ma'am, you're kinda overwhelming him," Ai said, tugging Shichen slightly away.
"Oh, relax. So? Where'd you go? And what's the deal with you and Shichen-san here? Don't tell he's your boyfriend?"
"Ma'am… could you not fire off ten questions at once?"
"Fine, fine. Shichen-san, take a seat. Want anything to drink?"
"I'm okay, I'm not thir—"
"Juice it is!"
Before he could finish, Miyako was already in the kitchen, grabbing glasses.
Shichen watched her go, his lips twitching slightly.
"Heh… I've never seen her like this before. You're not too freaked out, right?" Ai asked nervously.
"Nah, it's fine." Shichen smiled and shook his head.
"Good. Have a seat. Looks like the president's not ho. I'll call him."
"No rush."
"Hehe~ I know you well." Ai walked off with her phone to make the call.
Miyako returned, balancing three glasses of juice.
"Here you go, Shichen-san."
"Thanks." He took one.
"Ai, want so?"
"I'm still calling the president. I'll drink in a bit."
"Alright."
Miyako took a seat right next to Shichen.
"So, Shichen-san, you here to see Ichigo?"
"Yeah." Shichen nodded as he took a sip.
"Are you thinking of joining our agency?" she asked, suddenly leaning in—way too close for comfort.
Shichen leaned back instinctively.
"Haha… no, I'm actually here about Ai."
"Ai?" Miyako looked a little let down. "Wait, are you two dating or sothing? That might be... a little inappropriate?"
To be fair, Ai was still technically in elentary school, while Shichen—even if he looked young—was probably in high school or college. Not to ntion the white coat he wore made him look like a store manager.
It just didn't look right.
"No, no. It's about school. And we're definitely not dating. Don't worry," Shichen said quickly.
"Not dating? Then how do you two know each other?"
"Just kinda t by chance."
"Ahh, Ai probably got smitten by your looks. Totally understandable," Miyako nodded like she cracked the code.
"Haha…"
"So—school, huh? You helping her? Or did she ask you for help? Her papers still aren't sorted yet, though. It's kinda ssy."
"I can take care of that," Shichen said, casually smiling.
"Seriously? You're that connected?"
"Sothing like that."
"Hmm… but why help her? You guys only just t, right?" Miyako suddenly looked serious.
"Looks like you really care about her, ma'am," Shichen said with a grin.
"Don't call 'ma'am.' Just Miyako."
"Alright then, Miyako-san."
"Sure, whatever. Honestly, Ai's been living with us for a while. My husband cares about her a lot. What can I do?"
"Don't worry, I've got no bad intentions. I'll explain everything to Saito-san once he gets here."
"That's not really what I'm worried about. Ai has good instincts. I'm just curious—what's in it for you? You don't really gain anything, right?"
"Nope. If anything… I guess you could say Ai blackmailed ?"
"What?" Miyako froze.
"Ma'am, you okay?" Ai walked back over.
"Shichen, the president's on his way."
"Cool."
"Ma'am?" Ai stared at the frozen Miyako.
"Ai…" Miyako took a deep breath, then suddenly grabbed Ai's arm. "Shichen-san said you've got sothing on him? Is that true?"
"Uh…" Ai glanced at Shichen, who was winking at her.
"I guess… yeah."
"You really blackmailed him?"
"S-Sorry…"
"Can I ask what kind of dirt you have on him?" Miyako interrupted, full of curiosity.
"Huh?" Ai froze too.
"I an, if you've got dirt on Shichen-san, we can use that to get him to sign with us! With a face like that? We'd go viral in no ti!"
"Ma'am…"
"C'mon! Tell what it is! We have to keep him!"
Ai looked helplessly at Shichen. He just shrugged like, Good luck.
"Well? What is it? Tell !" Miyako practically begged.
"It's… uh…"
Luckily, footsteps echoed from the stairs, followed by a mature male voice.
"Ai, you told to hurry back because—huh?"
At the door appeared a guy with sunglasses, blond hair, and a scruffy beard—looked like so forr bad boy. He stared at Shichen, not moving.
"Ichigo! Quick, we need to lock down Shichen-san! If he joins, we actually have a shot at success!" Miyako shouted.
"What? He's here to join?" Ichigo rushed forward and hugged Shichen.
"You're Shichen, right? Man, you're good-looking. Give us a chance—we'll show you our agency's amazing."
Shichen didn't resist. He just looked at Ai.
"Hehe…" Ai gave an awkward laugh. "President, you've got it wrong. I brought Shichen here."
"Even more reason not to let him leave!"
"No, really—he's here because of . He's not joining."
"Wait... really?" Ichigo turned to Miyako.
"Yeah, it's true."
"Oh shoot—sorry! My bad!" Ichigo instantly let go and bowed deeply.
"It's fine, really," Shichen said, waving it off.
Ichigo took a deep breath, now fully serious.
"So you're here about Ai? What's going on?"
"I want her to go to school."
"School, huh? But her paperwork's still a ss…"
"I can handle that."
"You can? That's amazing! Then she can finally go!"
It was clear Ichigo really cared about Ai.
"So you're okay with it?"
"Of course! But I gotta ask—why are you doing this?"
"Because I'm a good person," Shichen said, looking at Ai with a soft smile.
"A good person, huh… Ai, how do you know him?"
"I was the one who approached him!"
"Really? Okay, then that makes sense. Shichen-san, what do you want in return?"
"Nothing."
"You really are a good guy."
"Sothing like that. But I do have a few more things to talk about regarding Ai."
"If Ai's fine with it, so am I."
"Aweso."
"But... can I ask just one thing?" Ichigo said suddenly.
"Sure. What is it?"
"Please join our agency!"
~~~
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