Now that the New Year passed, January entered in full rights. Halfway through the month, the weather was cold and the wind sliced at their faces mercilessly.
During this time when most people wanted to stay buried under their blankets, Asakura suddenly made a surprising proposition.
“Sato, how about we go on a vacation for a few days?”
Sato looked at him in bewilderment.
“Vacation? What’s the occasion?”
It was neither their birthdays, nor was there a national holiday that week. So, what could Asakura be planning?
After thinking for a while, Sato had to eventually give up on trying to understand Asakura’s reasons.
‘Rich people’s minds are impossible to predict. It’s better to just not try at all.’
Sure enough, Asakura’s reply confirmed his thoughts.
“Occasion?” Asakura was confused, but also amused by Sato’s look of astonishment. “Do I need a special occasion to take my lover out for a short holiday?”
Finally, Sato’s reluctance was melted away by Asakura’s silver tongue. Displaying a soft smile, the young man nodded in agreement.
“Alright. We can go, but I will have to let Kyota-san know first.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll call him this evening and tell him.”
“You?” Sato’s eyes widened in surprise. “Do you two know each other?”
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.
“More or less.” Asakura replied vaguely. Then, his lips curved in a playful smile. “There is somewhere I really want to go with you. But in order to do that, I have to call the big boss and ask for his permission.”
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The moment the call connected, Asakura’s voice was transmitted through the phone, sounding loud and clear.
“Kyota, I want to steal your most promising actor.”
When he picked up the call, Kyota was reading some documents. As such, he was too preoccupied to check the number and see who was calling him. After hearing such a bold and strange declaration, Kyota took the phone away from his ear. Slowly, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face. After confirming that he definitely didn’t know the caller’s identity, he returned the phone back to his ear.
“Haa?! Who is this?” He asked in a cold voice.
Before he could get another word out, though, the person on the other side let out a low chuckle.
“So, you don’t have my number anymore? For some reason I feel hurt. Then again, I guess it’s understandable to nurture hard feelings after the way we parted several years ago.”
Hearing this, Kyota’s eyes trembled. The hand that was holding the phone shook. After finally ascertaining who that person was, Kyota laughed coldly, his fingers squeezing the phone tightly.
“Asakura Ryuu. You’ve got such a thick face, calling me like this.”
“Hmm, you think so? Asakura hummed, a tint of amusement could be heard in his voice. “In my opinion, this call is long overdue. Ever since that unfortunate event some years ago you kept your distance, and I kept mine. But this is not how business partners should treat each other.”
“Humph! Since when have we been business partners?” Kyota scoffed.
He leaned back into his chair, clasping the phone even tighter in his hand. A moment later, a deep crease appeared on his usual smooth forehead, and his lips twisted in a distorted smile.
“All those years ago, you made sure the company that hired me went bankrupt. Not only that, but you personally made their shady business public, causing all their projects to drop. Not even their previous campaigns were exempted from the fierce rebuke of the public.”
Asakura sighed. The sound of his breath travelling through the phone hit Kyota’s ears like a gust of wind. Then, he heard the man’s words. They were spoken in a deep voice, one that reeked of assertiveness.
“Kyota, tell me something honestly. Back then, would you have preferred I kept silent and let those bastards go unpunished? Not only were they guilty of tax evasion, but they also cheated on their business partners.”
“What do you know?” Kyota gritted out, slamming his fists against the desk. “That photoshoot… that had been my first job, and it was all ruined because of you.”
“Mh.” Asakura hummed,pulling something out from his pocket. ”However, the agency that hired you wasn’t innocent either. They dabbled in the AV industry, forcing young talents to sell their bodies for a job. Once they signed the contract, those young actors and models wouldn’t have been left a way out. So, what if in the future they got famous or won prize after prize? In the end, they would have been controlled from the shadows, blackmailed and threatened with the disclosure of their past. For an artist, I imagine that would be a terrible way to live. Don’t you think so? Do you see yourself living like that?”
Asakura paused for a moment, then breathed out slowly.
“Kyota, after I put those men behind bars, I made sure every single person they had signed under their name was properly taken care of. You were the only one who refused to join another company.”
The two men remained silent for a while. From Asakura’s end came several deep breaths at regular intervals. It appeared he was smoking.
Kyota listened to the sounds. Lots of things swirled in his mind at that moment. He couldn’t deny the truth behind Asakura’s words, but he couldn’t ignore his resentment either. It hadn’t been Asakura’s fault that things ended in that way. But for the young Kyota back then, the man who undeniably terminated his first job had been Asakura Ryuu.
It took Kyota several minutes before finally giving in. He then said the words that had been kept inside his head all these years.
“Yes, you’re right. Even back then I knew you didn’t have a choice. No upright person would have let those people go. But I… I didn’t want to do it anymore. What happened that time really shocked me to the core. That’s when I realized this industry has such an ugly side.”
“Yet, you still decided to come back as a director for a talent agency. Ironic, huh?” Asakura chuckled.
“Who was the one who forced my hand?” Kyota snapped, grinding his teeth.
“I didn’t force your hand. You were young and had the talent for it. I merely showed you another way. Aren’t you grateful for it now? Don’t you like your job and those kids you take care of? From what Sato and Kyosuke tell me, you are quite a mother hen.”
Asakura’s teasing caused Kyota’s mouth to twitch. He could barely keep back his urge to shout, and was suddenly very grateful that they were currently having a conversation over the phone. Otherwise he might have punched the other man several times by now.
When Kyota finally felt calm enough to continue talking, his voice came out cold and sharp like a blade of steel.
“Are you done reminiscing now? Tell me what you want.”
“Didn’t I already say it?” Asakura replied calmly, as if the iciness oozing from the other man’s voice didn’t affect him in the slightest. “I want to steal Imamura Sato for a few days. There is somewhere I want to take him this week.”
“He might have a job during the weekend. So, you can’t take him anywhere.” Kyota answered resolutely.
“Don’t worry, father-in-law, or should I call you mother-in-law instead? Just let me know when his new job is, and I will make sure he gets back in the city a day before that.”
“W-Who’s your in-law?! Don’t be stupid!” Kyota barked, completely ignoring the rest of Asakura’s words.
“In the absence of Sato-kun’s father, you are the closest person he has to an elder.” Asakura stated matter-of-factly.
“Who’s an elder?!”
“Don’t worry. You still look young. It must be your soul that’s old.” Asakura chuckled. “Anyway, I’ve done my part and let you know that I am going to take Sato out of town for a couple of days.”
After saying that, Asakura resolutely ended the call, without giving Kyota the chance to say a single word in response.
A/N: Here we have a small glimpse of Kyota’s backstory. Just a tiny glimpse, but it’s possible to make lots of conjectures out of it 
Just like I said in the announcement, I will be posting a chapter every weekend (most probably on Sunday). I initially estimated the story to be around 60 chapters, but considering where the story currently is, my estimation is that it will be longer than that
See you all next weekend! Until then, wish you a wonderful day ahead!
Kyota being a mother hen 😂😂
Tysm for the chap author!
Yes, despite his sharp tongue he really cares about his people. 😂 He’s very protective of his little chick Sato-kun
Thank you for dropping by and for reading❤
with this information on their backstory, I feel pretty ominous about this job that Sato is going on.
thanks for the chapter <3
Could it be a foreboding feeling you’re having there?
<3333 thank you!
Thank you for the chapter 💜
❤️