(Transted/Edited/Full Proofread: Snow) (No chapters Sunday, but every other day should be daily release)

  On the way back—

  Ayane rubbed her plump belly.

  "Oh no, Shin-chan. Ayane's stomach feels like it's going to burst."

  "I told you to eat in moderation.”

  Ayane pouted at his nagging.

  "But what could I do? It was so delicious! If you think about it, it's actually your fault for taking me there!"

  "Where did you get that kind of stubborness?.”

  "It's right here!" Ayane said, tapping her own chest with a smug grin.

  She marched ahead, sticking her tongue out pyfully.

  Taeil watched her. She looked completely stuffed, yet somehow still energetic.

  "Shin-chan! If you don't hurry, you'll miss the train!" she shouted, waving her arms frantically.

  "It's not even the st train yet..." Taeil muttered, lengthening his stride to catch up.

  As soon as he reached her side, Ayane naturally looped her arm through his.

  "What do you think, Shin-chan?" she asked with a mischievous glint. "What would happen if Ayane gained weight?.”

  "Well... I haven't really thought about it.”

  “Hmph, your love has grown cold!”

  "Why are you bringing love into this? It’s so unromantic.”

  Not that he would know—Taeil had never experienced romantic love firsthand.

  "By the way, Ayane, gaining weight, huh….”

  His indifferent gaze flicked up and down her figure.

  He could imagine it—barely.

  The problem was, the only references he had were from doujinshi. Still, it was enough to fill the gaps in his limited imagination.

  "So you wouldn't mind if I gained weight?" Ayane asked, leaning closer.

  "Really," Taeil nodded. "I think you'd still be cute even if you gained some weight."

  "Wow... Shin-chan, you're actually a pyer, aren't you?" she teased, her cheeks flushing.

  She instinctively pulled away from him, embarrassed.

  Taeil frowned.

  "If I were a pyer, I would’ve been hanging out with another girl instead of wasting time with you, idiot."

  "You said you wanted to live in those 'share houses' and stuff. You mean to tell me you never had any retionships with women?"

  "How could I have?" Taeil grumbled.

  With a resigned whine, he added, "Maybe I should’ve just dated a guy instead."

  Ayane burst out ughing.

  "Who’s the guy?!"

  "Hm, the person who gave us the tickets this time. He's kind of famous. Streams on iTube."

  "I see. So Shin-chan actually has friends other than Ayane.”

  She stretched out her legs like a machine, her bag bouncing lightly on her back.

  Spotting the slightly raised boundary line between the sidewalk and the flower bed, she hopped up onto it, wobbling for a second before swinging her arms like a gymnast bancing on parallel bars.

  "Then are you gonna form a band with him?" she asked, still bancing.

  "No.”

  Ayane tilted her head, curious.

  "Why not?"

  "He's definitely capable," Taeil said, watching her carefully. "But he's already doing pretty well on iTube and Inudong."

  "Is he famous?.”

  "Yeah. Around 300,000 subscribers. There's no reason for him to colborate with someone like me."

  Taeil added, almost offhandedly, that unless the guy made some catastrophic mistake, he wouldn't ever have to worry about making a living.

  In contrast, the path Taeil wanted to walk was unstable and filled with uncertainty, the kind of dream no sane investor would bet their money on.

  Abundance makes people zy.

  And a guy who’s living comfortably has no reason to gamble on a wildcard like Taeil.

  Even the finest galleon, loaded with seasoned sailors, couldn't guarantee safety crossing the vast Pacific.The ship Taeil boarded wasn’t a galleon—it was a creaky, battered vessel barely held together.

  No sane person would board Taeil's ship—unless they were a fool obsessed with dreams to the point of madness.

  But that was exactly the kind of fool Taeil was looking for.

  A Sancho Panza to accompany his own Don Quixote.

  "Besides," Taeil added, "that guy has really complicated retionships with women. If he debuts, there’ll be a huge scandal for sure."

  "There are people like that around Shin-chan, too. So strange... Huh?"

  Still absorbed in Taeil's story, Ayane misstepped at the edge of the sidewalk, twisting her ankle.

  Taeil immediately rushed to her.

  "Ayane! Are you okay?"

  "Ouch!" she winced, trying to steady herself.

  Taeil crouched down and gently touched her ankle, checking for swelling.

  "Looks like you can’t walk properly. I'm carrying you.”

  Without waiting for permission, he crouched lower, offering his back.

  "Oh, no, it's really okay! Just give me a minute to rest and—"

  "If you ask politely, you’ll be carried.”

  "Really, it’s not necessary….”

  Taeil clicked his tongue. "Weren't you the same person who twisted her ankle at a live house and pretended everything was fine?"

  "Ugh... If you put it like that, Ayane has no defense..."

  Defeated by his relentless nagging, Ayane reluctantly climbed onto his back.

  Taeil carried her carefully, her arms loosely wrapped around his shoulders.

  Although it wasn't obvious because he always hunched his shoulders, Taeil’s back was surprisingly broad and steady.

  Boys were boys, after all.

  "Shin-chan, aren’t I heavy? Ayane ate a lot today," she said, her voice tinged with guilt.

  "It’s just a difference of one or two kilograms.”

  "It’s not wrong... but it’s still a little hurtful.”

  Taeil smiled, comforting Ayane, who always seemed just a little too conscious of her weight.

  "Don’t worry. Even if you gain a little weight, you’re still pretty. You'll always be pretty."

  "Shin-chan... aren’t you a little too natural when you say things like that?" Ayane said, half ughing, half embarrassed.

  "I wasn’t trying to seduce you or anything."

  Still, Ayane’s arm around his shoulders tightened slightly, holding onto him a little closer.

  Taeil cleared his throat awkwardly. "Cough, cough."

  "You know, you really shouldn’t say stuff like that around other women," Ayane said, voice muffled against his back. "Someone might seriously mistake it for flirting."

  "Shouldn’t we start by asking if there are any other women around?.”

  "Izumi's around, right?"

  "That’s different….”

  "Ayane saw you blushing because Izumi-san smiled at you!" she teased.

  "Still, there’s a pretty big age gap between me and Izumi," Taeil said, his voice cooling a little. "I don’t think she even sees me as a man."

  There was a solid six-year gap between them.

  Later in life, that kind of difference might not matter much.

  But when you’re young—when you’re in your prime twenties—teenagers feel like they belong to a completely different world.

  For someone like Izumi, he probably wasn’t even on the radar.

  "Besides," Taeil added, "don’t women usually prefer reliable older men rather than younger guys.”

  "That’s such a sexist statement, Shin-chan," Ayane scolded lightly.

  "Is it?"

  "Not all men like younger women, you know. Shin-chan likes older women.”

  "When did I ever say that?"

  "You can just tell!.”

  Taeil blinked, a little bewildered.

  ‘Was that really my type?’

  Even he wasn’t so sure.

  But seeing how confidently Ayane spoke, it felt like even he might have slipped up a little without realizing it.

  The two of them continued down the quiet street.

  Despite Akihabara’s bustling reputation, the reality was different at night.

  Unlike Korea, where the cities buzzed deep into the early morning, Japan’s nights were surprisingly short.

  By this hour, most shops were closed, and only the neon glow of bars and a few lonely street lights kept the night alive.

  As they neared the station, the crowd would increase again—but for now, Taeil welcomed the quiet.

  He liked it—the brief silence, the stillness, Ayane’s warmth on his back.

  Then, as if not wanting to lose the moment, Ayane spoke, her lips brushing against his shoulder.

  "Shin-chan... are you really thinking of forming a band?."

  "Yeah," he answered immediately. "Because I promised."

  He had made that decration in front of BARD, not just anyone.

  It would be ughable—no, it would be unbearable—to back down now.

  If he did, it would become the kind of dark memory that haunted him forever, the kind that made you kick your bnket in shame at night.

  "How are you going to find members?.”

  Taeil let out a small sigh.

  "Yeah... That’s what I’m worried about."

  Even though he said he was worried, the faces of Burning Bze naturally floated into Taeil’s mind.

  Especially—no matter what anyone said—the vocalist was Iris.

  How could he ignore her?

  When you realize that a teenage girl now possesses the twenty years of experience and skill of a singer and voice actor once recognized across all of Japan in her previous life, it’s impossible to think of a better choice.

  Above all, her voice was exactly Taeil’s taste.

  The songs he composed—even back in his previous life—had been crafted with a voice like hers in mind.

  Of course, a dream was just a dream.

  ‘But this time... maybe my dream can actually come true.’

  Here, Arisugawa Iris wasn’t a celebrated singer.

  She wasn’t a famous voice actress who could earn tens of millions of dolrs just by singing once.

  She was just a slightly more refined, and ridiculously beautiful, student.

  Asking her to join him now would be a hundred, no, a thousand times easier than chasing after a famous voice actor and begging them to sing for him.

  "I don’t know about anyone else," Taeil muttered, "but that voice and singing ability are irrepceable..."

  "Huh? Who?.”

  "Just... someone. I think there’s someone really talented at school. I’m thinking of asking them."

  "Is it a girl?.”

  "..."

  “Is it?”

  "..."

  Silent.

  Taeil’s refusal to answer was all the confirmation Ayane needed.

  From then on, all the way home, Ayane tormented him with relentless teasing, prying, and pyful accusations about the identity of the "mysterious powerhouse."

  Fortunately, the train seats on the way back were spacious, giving Taeil just enough room to try (and fail) to dodge her endless questions.

  *************************************

  Red light.

  Hatsukawa brought the car to a smooth stop and gnced at the rearview mirror.

  In the back seat, Yahiro was fiddling with his messy, seaweed-like blond hair, his hat seemingly missing somewhere, and giggling to himself.

  Next to him, Izumi sat curled up, hugging her knees, staring out the window with a bnk, distant look, as if her soul had floated away.

  Whatever had happened during their meeting with that boy, it had clearly left a powerful mark on both of them.

  Hatsukawa couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upward.

  "How was the meeting?" he asked, voice light.

  Yahiro answered first, his grin widening.

  "I was satisfied. No—it was the best."

  He twirled a strand of hair around his finger, his tone half-joking, half-serious.

  "I’m inspired. Seriously wondering how I can stomp on that kid and show him the wall of real professionalism. Ah, but... I’ll listen to all the songs he releases, too.I’ll critique them so thoroughly that he’ll cry his eyes out."

  "Haha. I'm gd you said that," Hatsukawa chuckled.

  Still... wasn't that a little too much?

  He smiled awkwardly, watching Yahiro, who seemed almost desperate to crush the young sprouts before they could grow.

  Yahiro caught his look and snickered.

  "Well, artists grow by getting hit, right? Wouldn’t it be better for a famous artist like me to be the one criticizing them," he said smugly, "rather than leaving them to be torn apart by random nobodies they don't even know?"

  "I see," Hatsukawa said, pying along. "That does make sense."

  "Right? He’ll probably be grateful on the inside too," Yahiro said, fshing a mischievous grin. "I can already see it: 'Ah! Thank you, Yahiro-kun! Your critique was so helpful!’'"

  This time, Hatsukawa’s gaze shifted toward Izumi.

  "And what about you, Izumi-chan?"

  "..."

  The crimson eyes that had been staring bnkly out the window slowly turned to face the front.

  Izumi tucked her face between her knees, her voice muffled.

  "Be careful of the railing..."

  "Huh?.”

  "He told me to... be careful of the railing."

  It was a strange, almost eerie reply.

  But Hatsukawa let it go.

  Meanwhile, Izumi was lost in thought, her mind repying the serious words Taeil had told her before they parted ways.

  ‘Be careful of the railings. Never lean against them or sit on them. And when you walk, always walk with someone else.’

  Why?

  ‘I absolutely cannot tolerate Izumi-san dying.’

  Dying?

  Sure, everyone dies eventually.

  But Taeil’s reaction…

  It felt like more than just normal worry.

  Like he knew something she didn’t.

  "I don't know," Izumi whispered, letting the thoughts dissolve into the night.

  The moon was waning above them, its light thinning like a dying breath.

  Izumi closed her eyes.

  Before the warmth—the fragile, lingering warmth of that moment—faded completely, she wanted to hold onto it, even just a little longer.