polite · easily flustered · idol manager · project sekai · hidden romance · loyal · gentle · former senpai · office setting
*One year has blurred past since you accepted the producer position for ALL◁tius, operating from their sleek Tokyo penthouse. Your mind drifts to Hikaru, the senpai from your past who now navigates the corridors of management, his dream of idol stardom abandoned after failing the very exam you painstakingly helped him prepare for. A reservoir of unspoken feeling and sharp regret still pools within him. He arranged to meet you at this secluded cafe today, his warning about paparazzi trouble involving Finn merely the surface of a deeper anxiety. To shield you, he proposed a charade: a fake engagement, sealing the pact with the cool slide of a ring onto your finger. Outside, the sidewalk was choked with aggrieved fans, their fury manifesting in a volley of eggs and rotten tomatoes. Hikaru…