Translator: White Lotus
◈ ◈ ◈ ◈
On September 1st, during the first day of the new semester, there was a bit of a commotion in the classroom.
The girls were making quite a fuss over the fact that Kiyoi had been entered in a Boys’ contest organized by a fashion magazine. Someone like Hira, who was completely oblivious to the thing called fashion, had no link to this magazine, but he was at least aware of its name because it was such a famous contest that every year the announcement of the winners made the headlines on TV and in the news. Previous winners of this competition began their careers as exclusive models for the magazine before moving on to become actors.
It was said that Kiyoi had been singed up by his cousin without his knowledge, and he had already made it through the first and second rounds. It would be decided whether the contestant would move on to the final round in the third round based on the readers’ vote.
“Amazing, Kiyoi is already a celebrity now.”
“The third round of selection means that his face will be featured in the magazine, right?”
Shirota and the others, who weren’t even participating, seemed to be the most excited, but the person in question, Kiyoi, on the other hand, was still scrolling his phone with a serene expression on his face. Once more, Hira was impressed by how amazing Kiyoi was and was proud of his own aesthetic sense.
With each passing day, the uproar over Kiyoi appeared to grow. He’d always been popular, but now even girls from other schools came to get a glimpse of him at the end of class. As for the girls who belonged at the top of the pyramid, they made use of all of their connections to try to get in touch with Kiyoi.
Shirota and his group sorted through the pile of messages asking Kiyoi out at the end of school, categorizing each invitation into “go” and “no go” as if they were playing a game of cards.
“Kiyoi, are you interested in anyone?”
“Not really. You guys decide whatever.”
“So, which one should I choose…How about Miko’s group today?”
“They’re cute, but their level of dumbness makes it difficult to have a meaningful conversation with them.”
After getting the king’s approval, Shirota and the others amused themselves by acting like lords choosing concubines from the inner palace.
Whenever they went to hang out with girls after carefully choosing them from each school, Hira was either dragged along with them to run errands or sent home because he was in the way.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Later that day, they ended up hanging out with the girls’ group who had attended the fireworks event together with them. Kurata had also come to the restaurant, the designated meeting place. In greeting, she bowed her head in his direction, and Hira reciprocated.
Seeing this, Shirota and the others started teasing them, saying: “Huh? Are you guys on good terms?” “Are you guys together?” They forced the two to sit next to each other. Hira apologized to her in a low voice, and Kurata’s cheeks grew red as she glanced down and shook her head.
Lf lwwfvljafis rfcrfv rbwfatlcu ja atja qgfmlrf alwf. Qtfc tf iloafv tlr tfjv, tlr fsfr wfa Blsbl’r. Qlat tlr mtlc bc tlr qjiw, Blsbl kjr rajglcu ja Llgj ktlif vblcu rb. Cr Llgj’r tfjga gjmfv ogjcalmjiis, tf kbcvfgfv ktja tf kjcafv, jcv ktfc tf jnfgafv tlr fsfr, tf cbalmfv atja atf uijrr lc ogbca bo Blsbl kjr fwqas.
“What do you want to drink?”
“Ginger ale.”
Having understood, Hira got up, when one of the girls spoke: “Hira-kun! Kurata’s glass is empty too.”
“Ah, it’s fine. I’ll go myself.”
Kurata waved her hand hastily.
“Ah, Hii-kun, you should notice the girls before us. If not, Kurata will dump you, don’t you think?”
“He can’t help it. Hii-kun was just born to be a slave.”
“That’s how he is. By the way, Hii-kun, you should apologize to Kurata.”
“Um, th-there’s no need, I really didn’t mind….”
As Kurata’s face was now so red that it nearly reached her ears, Hira began to worry that she might start crying. Being a guy, he couldn’t care less, but it was hard for a girl to put up with this sort of teasing. However, he was also pitiful; all he could manage was to curse silently in his head….
“Well, although I really don’t care….”
Kiyoi suddenly spoke, and everyone turned their heads to look at him.
“Is that funny?”
Kiyoi asked in a sluggish manner, still holding his head in his palm. For a moment, there was intense silence. Everyone exchanges embarrassed looks with one another before continuing their prior conversation while feigning comfort: “Speaking of which, that day…” Kurata was the only one who kept staring at Kiyoi.
“Go fast.”
Hira hastily got up from the table after having received the orders.
He waited by the drinks counter as the ginger ale filled the glass, and he recalled Kurata’s eyes while he was staring into the golden bubbles of this carbonated drink. Those were the eyes of someone who had fallen completely in love. Hira understood. Kiyoi was cool, but that didn’t mean Kiyoi had helped them, and if she didn’t understand that, it would be worse for her later.
Kiyoi acted according to his mood. He was a fickle and self-centered person who didn’t mind receiving criticism for his actions or words. People like Hira and Kurata could only hate or adore him intensely.
However, regardless of how much they adored him, their hands could never reach Kiyoi —
After eating at the restaurant, Kiyoi promptly left for home, so the girls also decided to leave. It was evident from the disappointed expressions on the faces of Shirota and the others that they seemed to have wanted to spend more time with girls. It served them right.
Hira dropped by the bookstore to pick up the magazine he had pre-ordered. It was the magazine that hosted the contest Kiyoi was participating in. It was the first time in his life that he had ever purchased a fashion magazine, and the cashier at the store gave him a look that seemed to be saying: Are you sure you didn’t get the wrong one? So he quietly agreed and apologized for it in his mind.
In front of the magazine section of the store, some girls who were dressed in the uniforms of a different school sighed: “It’s sold out!” and “That sucks.” The sales rate of this magazine in that neighborhood must be very high.
“Welcome back. You’re late today.”
As soon as he got home, Hira’s mother popped her head out of the kitchen. The aroma of curry permeated the entire home. Before returning to the kitchen, her mother said that she was going to heat up the food for him, but Hira informed her that she didn’t need to because he had already eaten.
“Again? You’ve been eating out a lot lately.”
His mother told him as she appeared again. Hira thought he was going to be scolded, but his mother looked pleased.
“Could it be you got a girlfriend?”
“Huh?” Hira tilted his head.
“So it’s a friend, then.”
He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Something like that.”
His mother’s expression brightened even more at this response. She just instructed him to notify her whenever he was going to be late coming home, and then cheerfully went back to the kitchen. Without any prior notice, her son showed up at home late and said he didn’t want dinner. Contrary to how a mother would often react, his mother was delighted that her son, who had previously been an outsider at school, now had friends who kept him company after school and even ate together.
He felt extremely guilty. His mother would undoubtedly be saddened if she found out that he was just being used as an errand boy by that group. And she’d likely be inconsolable with grief if she knew he was in love with one of them. But if he told her that he was genuinely content with this, she would assume he had lost his mind.
I’ll have to keep it a secret forever.
He went back to his room, and without even changing his clothes, sat on the bed and leafed through the magazine. He quickly found the contest pages. There were pictures of the 50 contestants’ entire bodies and faces as it was the last round of selection before the final. Kiyoi wasn’t on the first page. They really were all such good-looking guys, and their lives must be amazing, Hira thought as he turned the pages, and suddenly his hand stopped moving.
Kiyoi was smiling. It was what people referred to as an idol smile, pleasant and radiant, something he had never seen at school. Hira began to wonder if this was really the same Kiyoi as he kept staring intensely at the photo.
He was a king who refused to submit to anyone; he was fickle and arrogant. It had never occurred to Hira how well a smile resembling that of an idol would suit him. Hira’s heart, however, started to beat erratically as he looked at this picture of Kiyoi.
Kiyoi the King was so divine that he couldn’t get close. This Kiyoi, on the other hand, had such a gentle smile that he appeared to be an easy-going person, and you could easily tear him out of the page and crumple him into a ball. He experienced a bizarre illusion that this Kiyoi was reachable to him or that he could touch him.
He felt a tingling sensation in the place between his legs, and looking down, he found himself with an unusual bulge. In an effort to restrain himself, he muttered in his mind. Even so, his hand unzipped his uniform pants by itself. While looking at the magazine, he slowly moved his hands up and down his erection.
“…Uh, ah.”
A moan escaped through the gap between his clenched lips. He was doing something he shouldn’t. This wasn’t Kiyoi. At least not the Kiyoi that Hira knew. And yet his mind was occupied by Kiyoi, who had a gentle smile on his face. He was imagining himself holding Kiyoi’s hand, hugging him, and pressing his lips against his long, slender neck.
With this insolent imagination, Hira quickly reached his limit.
Hira was giddy with excitement. This was the most intense climax he had ever experienced. He felt pleasure to the point where his mind went completely blank. He continued to breathe heavily, but after releasing, he regained his senses.
Semen was splattered on the edge of the magazine. On the other side, there was his study desk, on which he kept the flask containing the coins he received from Kiyoi.
Desire and aspiration. These two feelings came together into his field of vision, and he was overwhelmed by an intense surge of self-hatred. He wiped the semen off of the magazine with the back of his hand, but it ended up being creased where it was dirty. He defiled his most precious possession with his own hands. He was the worst. He wanted to die.
He sternly warned himself not to repeat the same mistake ever again.
◈ ◈ ◈ ◈
i remember this scene from the drama >< now that s2 is over, i’ll have to binge the novel!
theres a drama? omg whats it called
it has the same name!
Thnx for the chapter!
┬─┬ノ( º _ ºノ)
I like that his not delulu into thinking that Kiyoi is any different from the bullies. I have to say I am a little disappointed they cut out the parents from the series