But as the workload piled up, Yukima Azuma couldn't stand watching anymore.
So he'd gone ahead and forcibly hired her.
And if the secretary was holding this kind of coffee
It was obvious who the intended drinker was.
"No need to notify her. You go ahead and clock out and have some fun."
"I'll bring the coffee up myself."
Yukima Azuma waved her off, clearly intending to shoo her away.
The secretary's eyes lit up like stars.
()
In truth, within Laplace Corporation, a good number of employees shipped their two big bosses.
After all, they were a perfect matchtalented, beautiful, and charismatic.
And neither of them had that annoying, exploitative vibe typical of corporate overlords.
This particular secretary was the captain of the secret shipper brigade.
Still, after silently fangirling for a moment, she nervously asked:
"Um, if I clock out now what about my overtime pay"
Yukima Azuma looked at the girl before him, using the meekest tone to ask the most brazen question.
He couldn't help but rub his temples.
"Your overtime pay's staying. Happy now? Shoo shoo shoo!"
('')
The secretary immediately beamed like a sunflower.
"Boss is so generous! Then I won't interrupt your icha-icha time! I'm gone, I'm gone~"
)
With a playful little twirl, she vanished in a flash.
Yukima Azuma began to seriously question whether hiring a bunch of Gen Z kids had been a mistake...
Then, with the coffee in hand, he stepped into the elevator of the Laplace building.
Chapter 297: Currently Seducing
Laplace Corporation.
As he passed the eighth floor, Yukima Azuma noticed that it was still bustling with activity.
This was the headquarters of the subsidiary company in charge of developing the short video platform.
The company had been established early on, and its basic framework was already in place.
However, things like the core big data algorithms, along with comprehensive marketing strategies and the subsequent massive promotional blitz...
All of those still needed to be gradually perfected and prepared.
As a platform, the prerequisite was to create a buzz from the very beginning.
If the promotion couldn't attract a sufficient number of users in the initial phase
Then in the blink of an eye, the market would be flooded with competitor products.
At that point, it would be trampled into the mud, unable to rise again.
On the contrary, if a massive user base could be gathered at the start
Then for a platform especially one with social networking elements
User stickiness would be absolutely insane.
As long as the platform didn't self-destruct, users would find it hard to leave for another.
This fact had already been proven by many early social media apps, platforms, and websites.
And once Laplace's short video platform officially launched and operated smoothly
Then Laplace would become Japan's Samsung.
However, Yukima Azuma had no intention of stopping on this floor to check the progress.
The elevator went straight to the top floor.
He knocked twice lightly on the office door.
Yukino's voice came from inside.
"Come in."
Her voice was as indifferent as ever.
But when Yukima Azuma pushed the door open and entered
Yukino, who was sitting behind her desk, the moment she saw him...
Her previously straight back immediately went soft.
Her whole body slumped, leaning lazily on the desk.
Even her voice carried a trace of fatigue and a vague hint of acting spoiled.
"Azuma... why are you here?"
()
This side of Yukino could only be seen by Yukima Azuma.
Normally, in front of her subordinates, Yukino was always cold like a machine that never stopped running.
Even when alone, Yukino wouldn't usually collapse on her desk like this.
At most, she would just prop up her elbows a little.
But now she was clearly exaggerating a bit as if she were acting spoiled.
He walked to the desk.
Yukima Azuma placed the cup of "triple-strength dark coffee" on the desk.
Even though it was on the desk, it wasn't somewhere Yukino could reach just by stretching her arm.
She would need to stand up to get it.
After setting down the coffee, Yukima Azuma naturally moved behind Yukino.
His fingers skillfully brushed across the pale nape of Yukino's neck.
"Mn~... Mm~..."
(**)
Under Yukima Azuma's practiced hands, Yukino let out some strange sounds.
It seemed she had realized the atmosphere in the room was becoming a little suggestive due to her moaning.
Yukino coughed lightly, trying to compose herself.
But Yukima Azuma's massage technique was just too skilled.
She had only just managed to regain a bit of composure before she was pulled back in.
Ten minutes passed in silence.
Yukima Azuma stopped his hands and leaned against the armrest of the office chair as he sat down.
Yukino rolled her shoulders and neck a bit.
She only felt a kind of refreshing ease that was hard to put into words.
If not for the shyness in her heart making her heartbeat quicken
At this moment, she might've already fallen sound asleep.
(-)
Looking at the young man leaning on the armrest, as if leaning on her
Yukino's cheeks turned slightly warm.
She wanted to drink something to cool down.
She reached out to grab the coffee that Yukima Azuma had brought
But realized she couldn't reach it.
If she wanted to get it, she'd have to stand up.
And doing so would definitely bump into or even push away Yukima Azuma who was sitting beside her.
The fair hand that had stretched out curled its fingers a couple times in midair, and then Yukino gave up.
Seeing that somewhat mischievous gesture of hers
Yukima Azuma couldn't help but chuckle softly.
"You won't let me drink the coffee, so why not bring me a cup of something to drink instead?"
()
Yukino glared at Yukima Azuma in frustration.
They had been together long enough now.
She understood all those little schemes in the young man's heart too well.
Deliberately placing it far out of reach, and then sitting in a way that pinned her down
Clearly, he didn't want to let her drink the coffee.
Normally, Yukino almost never drank soft drinks.
Unless she was staying up late, she wouldn't even touch coffee.
He reached out and poked Yukino's cheek, which was puffed up in a sulky way.
()()
Yukima Azuma smiled and gently said:
"There's only one caf downstairs, and they don't have the kind of drinks you like."
"Come home with me, I'll make you something sweet to drink."
Hearing that, Yukino felt deeply moved.
But she glanced at the stack of documents she hadn't finished processing.
"Sit with me for a bit first. Once I finish this, I'll go home with you."
That was Yukino's promise.
Yukima Azuma accepted it and casually glanced over the stack of documents on the desk.
In truth, they were just minor matters.
The kind that only needed to be reported to Yukino.
But in practice, if nothing was fundamentally wrong after she skimmed through them, no response was really needed.
Laplace Corporation had grown massive by now.
A lot of issues could be handled independently by the people below.
Matters that truly required decisions from Yukino or Yukima Azuma were already rare.
Problems serious enough to escalate to either of them were pitifully few.
Unlike back when they had just acquired the Laplace building
At that time, one slip-up by the staff below could've brought the whole Laplace Corporation crashing down. That era was over.
He placed his hand on the pile of documents.
"Work is endless take a little break."
"Just so happens things aren't too busy right now. Let's go to Beppu, hmm?"
Yukima Azuma named the destination of the trip.
Beppu, Japan's famous hot spring city.
Like Hakone, it was a well-known hot spring destination.
But compared to Hakone, Beppu had far fewer tourists.
If the purpose wasn't for fun but to relax, then Beppu was clearly the better choice.
It was winter now soaking in hot springs and enjoying a rare vacation
Just the thought of it was soothing.
Yukino clearly gulped.
The temptation showed plainly on her face.
Honestly, just being able to travel with Yukima Azuma
She'd be happy going anywhere.
()
Moreover, Yukima Azuma had said he'd give her a gift on this trip.
But alongside the fluttering in her heart, Yukino still hesitated a little.
"The video platform hasn't gone live yet. Leaving it be for now won't cause any problems."
"This is a rare chance. Leave this stuff for later."
()
Yukima Azuma continued to whisper like a devil beside Yukino's delicate, fair ear.
In truth, this was indeed a quiet period for Laplace Corporation.
This year, Laplace was set to expand into one of the four major financial conglomerates maybe even beyond that level.
But before that expansion began, Laplace was an incredibly stable entity.
The terrifying cash flow practically exaggerated in scale it meant the company had the luxury to make things up as it went.
Even strange decisions wouldn't shake the ship.
On the contrary, this was the best time to let go a little.
Once, then twice, he persuaded her.
In the end, Yukino couldn't resist Yukima Azuma's temptation.
Like a little girl doing something naughty just for candy, she nodded gently, a little guilty.
(,,,,)
Seeing Yukino finally nod in agreement,
Yukima Azuma immediately stood up, holding out his hand to her.
Yukinoshita placed her fingertips onto it, and the two of them naturally intertwined their fingers.
They got into the elevator, preparing to go down.
Yukino tilted her head, glancing at the coffee cup still in Yukima Azuma's hand.
"What should we do with that?"
They were done for the day and about to go on a trip.
That cup of coffee, neither of them was going to drink it anymore.
But Yukino felt a little wasteful just throwing it out.
Not because of the money, but because Yukino's innate sense of integrity hated waste.
Even though that integrity had started to waver whenever she was with Yukima Azuma
For everything else unrelated to him, Yukino was still Yukino.
"Let's give it to the staff on the eighth floor. They probably need it."
Yukima Azuma casually pressed the button for the eighth floor.
Chapter 298: The Trip Begins
"Mafuyu-sensei, this is the first time I've felt like this."
"So it's really possible to be so happy before a trip that you can't even sleep."
( )
Yukino sighed emotionally.
Kirisu Mafuyu's forehead was covered in black lines.
In the middle of the night, Yukino suddenly ran over and knocked on her door.
She thought something serious had happened.
But it turned out Yukino was just too excited about the upcoming trip to sleep.
You've already graduated college and started workingwhy are you acting like an elementary school girl about to go on a field trip?
<( _)>
Thinking back to high school, every time there was a school trip coming up, Yukino...
She always had that indifferent look, unable to understand the excitement of the people around her.
Kirisu Mafuyu really wanted to go on a rant, but in the end, she held back.
Her eyes unconsciously wandered around the room.
"Now that you mention it, Mafuyu-sensei's room is really neat."
"As expected of a sensei, everything is meticulous and flawless."
( )
Yukino's eyes scanned the room too.
Then she marveled at how tidy it was.
This was her first time entering Kirisu Mafuyu's room.
Before this, they'd only ever talked in Yukino's room.
A cold sweat broke out on Kirisu Mafuyu's forehead.
()
Good thing Yukima Azuma had come over yesterday to help her clean up a bit.
Otherwise...
Well, otherwise she wouldn't have opened the door for Yukino at all.
Her teacher image had been saved!
( )
"It's nothing, really... I'm just used to it,"
Kirisu Mafuyu replied, a little guilty.
She really was used to it.
But what exactly she was used toonly she knew.
Mafuyu: (>)
Yukino nodded in understanding.
Sasuga Mafuyu-sensei, so capable and admirable.
()
Right after that, Yukino's attention returned to the trip.
"Mafuyu-sensei, can you help me check how this outfit looks?"
Yukino held up a white-and-blue yukata, holding it up against herself to try it out.
A yukata, traditional Japanese attire, looks very similar to a kimono.
Often, even in films, international audiences can't tell the difference between the two.
According to tradition, at temple festivals and such, girls often wear yukata rather than kimono.
Looking at Yukino trying on the outfit,
Kirisu Mafuyu felt a little sentimental.
On one hand, she was emotional about her slow-to-realize student
Finally finding someone good, her spring heart blossoming, so adorable.
(`)
On the other hand, she felt like she was being force-fed dog food.
It was the kind that sticks in your throatand had a bitter taste of jealous vinegar.
(`Д)
Yukino didn't notice her teacher's mood at all.
After showing off a bit, she went back to her room.
Even though she hadn't drunk that cup of coffee,
She still ended up sleeping a bit late.
...
...
The next day.
Yukima Azuma showed up dragging a small suitcase, with a backpack slung over his shoulder.
He got into the car they had booked in advance.
They didn't have much luggage between the two of them.
Yukima Azuma, naturallybeing a guy, didn't have many things.
As for Yukino, although she was a girl, she was pretty tidy.
Aside from the clothes she spent all night choosing,
She didn't bring much in the way of makeup or skincare.
Yukino wasn't good at makeupnot interested, and no real reason to learn.
Because she was the kind of girl more beautiful than snow beneath the sky.
That so-called "breathtaking beauty from birth" wasn't just an empty phrase.
Even now, clearly a bit sleep-deprived,
Her face showed no signs of it.
No dark circles at all.
All you could see was lethal charm and mesmerizing beauty.
If Yukino ever did wear makeup, it usually ended up reducing her natural allure instead.
Things like makeup or skincare products were merely optional accessories to her.
( `)
...
On the Car
Watching the scenery outside the window gradually recede into the distance,
