Tokio was fed up. He knew the person he had no choice but to help that time was an alpha, but he had no idea that it was actor Ikuto Yanagi.
And what troubled him even more than his public confession was the fact that a customer, who happened to be at the scene, spread the incident on social media.
“At first I thought it was a film location and Ikuto was just shooting his scene but it turned out to be a real confession! But the other guy who received the confession seems to be a convenience store worker….”
The video posting quickly went viral and soon Tokio’s information was exposed.
Ridicule and jealousy for him swirled on social media.
“The other guy looks like a superordinary guy (lol).”
“And he looks like a beta.”
“Why a beta!? If that ordinary guy is an omega and turns out to be his fated mate, then I can forgive him! Give Ikuto back to me!”
Some curious onlookers even deliberately came to the convenience store where Tokio worked just to watch the fun and because of this, the manager summoned him.
“It’s not your fault, but, you see, we are also a customer service company.”
The manager dismissed him on the spot.
“Life is made to go wrong, isn’t it?”
Tokio walked out of the store with his head down. Just when he thought he was finally getting used to the vertical striped pajama-like uniform, they fired him. His parents were so happy that they cried when he was finally freed from his years of being NEET. The actor’s selfish behavior now took him back to the beginning.
The man who was supposed to be responsible for all this now was sitting cross-legged on his moped, waiting for him.
“Are you done with your work? Thank you for your hard work.”
Ikuto, who will be on location shooting in Japan for the next two weeks, always ambushes Tokio like this during his breaks and on his days off. In the end, he relented and finally told him to stay at the back door so as not to cause a commotion in the convenience store but this will be the last time he told him that.
“It’s over. Everything is over now. I got fired today.”
Tokio waved his hand at Ikuto, as if he was trying to shoo away a fly. Really, he was so fed up with all this commotion; he had even lost interest in getting angry. Meanwhile, the person he was trying to shoo away just tilted his head and looked at him with a confused expression.
“Fired? Why?”
“I don’t know the reason either! All I know is that tomorrow I’ll be unemployed again.”
“Then, with me――”
“I won’t date you. Goodbye.”
Tokio started the engine and kicked Ikuto off his moped onto the road. Ikuto, who fell onto the road with his butt first, let out a happy laugh then muttered, “And now I’m being kicked.”
Ikuto’s confession video caused a stir not only on social media but also on TV shows. Of course, Tokio’s face was covered with mosaics.
Tokio, who has returned to being a NEET, was lying on the sofa at her parents’ house watching TV when the video aired, causing the rice cracker in his mouth to drop.
“Why did a video of actor Yanagi confessing his love in public become such a hot topic?”
When the host, a former comedian, asked the question, the invited entertainment reporter pushed up his white-rimmed glasses and explained the story with a knowing look.
“Mr. Yanagi is famous for keeping his personal life completely private and never interacting with his fans. There was a tacit understanding among fans that it was fine if they were equally coldly treated by him. But suddenly a very personal video of him confessing to a non-celebrity person went viral, so of course it became a hot topic.”
A critic next to him then added her comment.
“I actually also like Mr. Yanagi. He seems like someone who lives untouched by worldly things, doesn’t he? I think the agency might be upset that this issue is hurting his image.”
“Now let’s we review Ikuto Yanagi’s actor profile,” as he said this, the host then pulled out his flip board.
Tokio rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“Someone should also think about the damage done to the person who received his confession….”
He threw the remote onto the table and buried his face into the cushion.
Indeed, Ikuto was a man who was like a beautiful work of art. He had a gentle demeanor, and when he smiled at you, his pheromones would instantly kill both ordinary women and omega.
“Unfortunately, I’m a beta.”
Although Ikuto was a brilliant alpha who could make many people fall in love with him, it did not apply to him because he could not feel his pheromones at all. He was also not gay, so he felt no attraction to the man.
‘All of this is really annoying.’
Despite being unemployed, he was actually relieved that he no longer had to be ambushed while working now. Tokio was ready to live his NEET life again until the situation cooled down before going back to working part-time again at a convenience store somewhere else.
“You should go to Hello Work1Hello Work (ハローワーク, harōwāku) is the Japanese English name for the Japanese government’s Employment Service Center, it is a public institution based on the Employment Service Convention No. 88 (ratified in Japan on 20 October 1953) under Article 23 of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. (Wikipedia), you know.”
Tokio’s mother, who had no idea that her son was the one who was the subject of Yanagi Ikuto’s confession, kicked his feet as she vacuumed in the living room.
“It’s okay. I’ll be serious in my next life.”
“I can’t believe you would get fired from your job at an understaffed convenience store. Do you really intend to spend the rest of your life like this? Not get involved in soci――”
Before her mother could finish her sentence, the variety show that was being broadcast on TV suddenly began to make noise.
“Ah? We have just received news that Ikuto Yanagi is currently holding a press conference live from the set of a movie he is currently in.”
His mother turned off the vacuum cleaner while muttering, “What’s going on?” while Tokio suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
“Please be careful of continuous flashes of light” the warning flashed on the screen before being replaced by the figure of Ikuto, who appeared to be surrounded by press, while he was still wearing his movie set costume――a three-piece suit.
The press immediately flooded Ikuto with questions about his confession video.
“What is your relationship with the man in the convenience store?”
“How did you meet him?”
“Could it be that you were actually filming for something?”
Ikuto smiled and raised one hand to stop the barrage of questions. Then slowly, he opened his mouth.
“He is actually my benefactor, and because of that, I fell in love with him. But because of that video, he was fired from his job at the convenience store. I don’t know if he saw the slander on the Internet, but at least it hurt me when I saw it. Everyone is belittling the person I love.”
The press tried to press him further, but he refused to answer and shed tears instead.
“I was very sorry when I found out later that I had made him lose his job. I really didn’t have the face to meet him.”
His falling tears look like pearls.
Even through the screen, someone could truly feel the beauty and fragility he showed right now. His mother, who watched the show unfold with enthusiasm, then muttered something like, “His partner is really a lucky guy, isn’t he?” as she nibbles on Tokio’s rice cracker.
Suddenly, it felt like his eyes met Ikuto’s on the screen. Of course, it was just his imagination, and Ikuto was actually just looking at the camera of the TV show Tokio was watching.
It was a piercing gaze. Like an animal staring at its prey. Tokio suddenly felt uncomfortable because of it and sat down on the sofa while hugging his knees to his chest.
Ikuto then spoke again.
“If you allow me, I would like to see you again――Tokio.”
Those light brown eyes staring as if piercing into his drew him in, making him want to nod his head if he were beside him. Tokio buried his face in the pillow, hiding his red cheeks from his mother.
His mother looked back at him as she said, “Tokio who got fired from the convenience store? Doesn’t that sound like you? Hahaha,” before resuming cleaning the house.
Even through the screen, he could feel the passion from his confession. It was a far cry from his confident confession when he came to the convenience store with a bouquet that time. This was the confession of a “man” who had little leeway.
Tokio could never understand why an alpha and a famous actor like him would look at a mediocre beta like himself. But even Tokio, who had never been involved in a romantic relationship before, could tell from the look on that man’s face that he was serious.
Tokio: I’m not gay.
Us, who reading this: Uh, sure.
Hello everyone! I’m Kei and I’m a new translator here. This novel is a short novel actually so we will see Tokio’s ending soon. I hope you guys enjoy it!
