He is an idol and a childhood sweetheart.

【come on. 】

"...Asakura."

Recalling the text message Toru Asakura sent him before he left, Higuchi Enka suddenly sat up again.

"So... we two are planning to go back tomorrow..."

So...should I tell Asakura this?

Compared to his parents, Asakura is undoubtedly the one who wants to meet Kento Watanabe the most.

If he told her that they would go back tomorrow, Asakura would definitely try his best to see Watanabe, right?

……

…………

But...do we really want them to meet?

Higuchi Enka hesitated.

Since the two separated, their situations can be said to be worlds apart.

One side has become one of the most popular idols in the industry, while the other side is having a hard time recruiting an artist.

How should Watanabe face Toru Asakura, who "betrayed" him, and how should Asakura feel about meeting Kento Watanabe, who was "abandoned" by her?

"Just imagining it is troublesome..."

Higuchi Enka whispered softly to the ceiling:

"At least... Watanabe definitely doesn't want to see Asakura."

So far, all of Watanabe Kento's efforts are inseparable from his "regret" and "eagerness" to prove himself.

And the person who made him feel these two moods could only be Toru Asakura.

However, at this time, he was still in the trough after the failure. It was too cruel for Watanabe to let him see Toru Asakura in this situation.

"...Sure enough, why don't you tell him?"

But if this is the case, if Asakura knew that she missed the opportunity to meet Kento Watanabe, she would definitely be very sad.

For the past year and a half, Higuchi Enka could always see Toru Asakura staring in the direction of Kento Watanabe's house.

When chatting with her, I often hear from Asakura how much she misses Watanabe from time to time.

So...do we really want Asakura to miss this unique opportunity to meet Watanabe?

"...No matter which side you feel, it's very important to me."

Higuchi Enka moved her arm away, letting the dazzling light shine directly into her eyes.

The accumulated fatigue from a day's work made her feel dizzy. Coupled with this entanglement involving too much causality in the past, Higuchi Enka's head became a mess.

Under the influence of these many factors, Higuchi Enka closed his eyes at some point...

...........................

"Higuchi, do you want some hot chocolate... ah."

Kento Watanabe, who had just poked his head into the lounge and planned to ask Higuchi Enka, closed his mouth immediately after seeing Higuchi Enka's sleeping posture.

"...Must be exhausted."

Kento Watanabe quietly came to Higuchi Enka's side. After confirming that she had no reaction, he used as gentle a movement as possible to pull out the quilt from under her body and slowly covered her body.

"Thank you very much for today, Enxiang."

Looking at the lovely sleeping face that had put down all guard, Kento Watanabe said softly:

"It is the greatest luck in my life to have you as my childhood sweetheart."

After that, he slowly retreated to the door, silently turned off the light, and closed the door.

And then, the next second after Kento Watanabe left completely and the rest room returned to silence——

"……………………Fool

. "

Higuchi Enka whispered under the quilt:

"How can you open your eyes when you call others by their names..."

Unlike Kento Watanabe, Enka Higuchi wakes up from his sleep as long as his body is touched even slightly.

In other words... the moment Kento Watanabe pulled out the quilt, Higuchi Enka was already awakened by his movements.

However, just when she was about to find a chance to open her eyes and respond to him, his gentle whisper made her completely confused about how to speak.

But... she really didn't hate the feeling of being called by his first name.

"...I hope everything goes well tomorrow."

After muttering this in a low voice, Higuchi Enka fell into sleep again.

Chapter 24: Respective destinations

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because Higuchi looks like he's sleeping soundly..."

"Compared to your work, which one is more important?"

"Both, they are all quite important...I think..."

"...Really."

Higuchi Enka glanced at the time on her phone with an annoyed look on her face.

"It's a shame not to set an alarm before going to bed."

After hearing this, Kento Watanabe quickly explained with a smile on his face:

"Actually, it's also important to get enough rest."

"You are probably the least qualified to teach me this, right? Mr. Workaholic? "

Higuchi Enka crossed her arms and asked with a slight frown:

"And you slept until twelve o'clock at noon or something... This is not called adequate rest, but too much rest, right?"

"But isn't the effect pretty good?"

Kento Watanabe raised his hands in a gesture of surrender:

"Look, compared to you yesterday who couldn't even walk, you now have the strength to scold me!"

"...Forget it, it's all in vain."

Of course, Higuchi Enka knew why Kento Watanabe allowed her to sleep until this time, and she also understood that this man still had a certain degree of "guardian mentality" towards her.

Even though she will soon become an adult of legal age and has already substantially helped this person, he will still treat her as a child who needs to be taken care of.

Asakura...you must have experienced a similar anxiety to me back then.

It's a shame that you can endure it all this time.

"In the morning... let's go to that bakery to buy some bread for lunch. We'll eat while walking on the road."

"Eh? But—"

"Stop talking nonsense! Today's work has been delayed for nearly four hours because of me, and I don't want to delay it any longer!"

Higuchi Enka even spoke a little faster than usual.

"Tonight was originally scheduled to end early. Even if we fully budget, there are only three hours left to carry out activities. I'm here to help you, not to do anything wrong."

"……alright, I got it."

Seeing that Higuchi Enka's attitude was so determined, Watanabe Kento was not sure what to say for a while.

As Higuchi Enka’s mother said before, perhaps I should trust and respect Higuchi Enka’s choices and judgment more...

Instead of treating Toru Asakura like he did back then.

"Then, let's set off directly."

Kento Watanabe picked up the business card on the table and said:

"At this time, we can go directly to the shopping district. It takes about 10 minutes on the way, which should be enough to finish breakfast."

"Well, then let's go quickly."

Higuchi Enka took steps forward impatiently.

"I will definitely get up earlier tomorrow."

...........................

"Okay~ That's it for today's interview. Thank you for your hard work, Ms. Asakura."

"Well, you've worked hard too."

After bowing his head very politely to the magazine reporter in front of him, Asakura Toru stood up and walked towards the direction of his agent behind him.

"What's next?"

"Ah, it's a recording of a radio program. Because it is to be broadcast in segments within a month, the total duration of the program is about four hours. Counting the rest time in the middle, it may take until [-] p.m. to finish the entire recording ."

"...It's so late."

Toru Asakura sighed.

"I can't go home for dinner."

"There's nothing you can do about it. After all, the radio program you participated in this time has a very high listening rate, and the president asked you to participate. If nothing else happens, you should start to dominate Twitter trends again. Ranked."

"..."

"Not interested as always."

Toru Asakura's manager, a 24-year-old young woman, couldn't help but shook her head in distress:

"Obviously it's a rare opportunity for any artist, so why can't you show more care?"

"Don't worry, I will cooperate well when the time comes."

Toru Asakura waved his hand and said indifferently:

"After all, if we really re-record it then, I will be the one in trouble."

“…It’s great that you understand that.”

Although she was very worried about Asakura Toru's work attitude, her agent had never doubted her ability to work.

Since she accepted this newcomer from the president, she has been very concerned about the "new employee".

The perception of "human idol" has been refreshed again and again.

Excellent singing skills, outstanding dancing, free and skillful control of the scene, and a very personal style... These things that should have taken a year or more after her debut, she already had them all when she first came here.

Not only that, her unusual sensibility, temperament and way of speaking have also developed enough to become mature selling points.

Her former person in charge must have been a pretty amazing guy to have brought her up to this level at such an early age.

"Asakura."

"kindness?"

"You really don't think about...recommending your former producer to us?"

The agent asked seriously:

"With his ability, he can definitely hold a very high position. Let alone an idol producer, even if he is directly in charge of a large-scale project -"

"impossible."

As a result, before the agent could finish her words, Asakura Toru immediately shook her head and interrupted her:

"He doesn't fit in here and he definitely can't come here."

"why?"