Thursday. Two days after the ’boyfriend-stalking’ scandal broke.

Nozomi Sakura rested her chin in her hand and let her gaze roam over Alan, dissecting him feature by feature.

Brows. Eyes. Nose. Mouth.

After a moment, she frowned.

Sure, he looked handsome when he was focused, but he wasn’t breathtakingly handsome.

So why had Akari Hojo dated him?

Could those sugar-baby rumors actually be true?

After a day and a half of mulling it over, she’d finally forced herself to accept that they really had been a couple.

"What are you thinking about?"

Alan finished marking up the class schedule and looked up to find Nozomi scowling, her lip caught between her teeth.

"Ah—"

Caught mid-thought, she flinched, then pasted on a soft smile. "Nothing."

Their eyes met. Hers darted away and landed on the paper in his hand. She took it and noticed several of her courses circled in red.

"What do these mean?"

"They mean you’re getting an A or higher in every one of these finals."

"Huh?"

Her lips parted in disbelief. Her expression screamed, You can’t be serious.

Alan tilted his head, as if fluent in silent sarcasm.

"Problem?"

She tugged at the corner of her mouth and scanned the list again.

There was so much to study.

"That’s... a lot."

"Is it? Looks normal to me."

"..."

She swallowed a sigh. "It’s hard."

Psychology. Aesthetics. Just reading the titles made her head spun.

Humanities were her natural enemy.

"Alright," he said. "If you pull it off, I’ll add another million yen."

"?!"

Her eyes lit up like slot machines. She swallowed hard. "Seriously?"

"I don’t lie."

His look said trust me.

"Deal."

She slipped the paper into her bag. Hard was one thing, but hard plus a million yen was doable.

Still... 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

She closed the bag slowly, then risked another question.

"You’re not scamming me, right?"

Alan didn’t answer. He just rolled his eyes, slung his bag over his shoulder, and headed for the door. He still had two song-licensing contracts to sign that afternoon.

"Hey, wait!"

Nozomi grabbed his sleeve.

"What now?"

"Um... there’s something else I wanted to ask..."

He turned back. She let go, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, straightened her posture, and put on her gentlest smile.

"So... as your current girlfriend, may I pry a little?"

Current girlfriend.

A week into the relationship, and it was the first time she’d said it out loud.

A real girlfriend wouldn’t sound so formal.

Afraid he’d refuse, she looked up at him with pleading eyes—the exact expression she’d practiced in the mirror.

Alan simply sat down beside her.

"You’ve got questions. Spit them out."

"Uh..."

His bluntness made her wonder how anyone tolerated him.

Still smiling, she asked softly, "The girl who came to see you the day before yesterday... was that really Akari Hojo?"

"Yeah."

"What did she want?"

"No idea."

He answered so casually that Nozomi bit her lip.

"When did you start dating?"

"Middle school."

He glanced at her sideways. "This feels less like girlfriend talk and more like a TV interview."

"Heh... just curious, that’s all..."

She laughed dryly, swallowed, then said, "One last question."

"Why did you go out with her? Was it... the same kind of deal as me?"

She phrased it carefully, but Alan understood the unspoken meaning.

Was she your sugar baby too?

He let the silence stretch before replying.

"She never borrows from shady apps to buy things she can’t afford."

Nozomi’s smile froze.

Any other day she would’ve cursed him internally, but now a wave of self-loathing washed over her.

So she really is better than me...

Before she could respond, Alan spoke again.

"What you really want to ask is why she ever looked at someone like me, right?"

Nozomi waved her hands, forcing a laugh. "Haha, no, that’s not what I—"

He cut her off. His dark, bottomless eyes locked onto hers.

"People obsess over being ’worthy’ or ’unworthy.’ All that proves is they’re not strong enough yet."

He pointed at her blue sundress.

"Take that dress. You know you’re beautiful, so you wear it without caring what anyone thinks. Anyone who criticizes it just looks ignorant to you."

"But if you’re unsure of yourself, you start thinking, I can’t pull this off. I’m not good enough, before anyone even says a word."

"I never felt unworthy just because I dated Akari Hojo."

Nozomi’s smile vanished. Her emotions twisted into a knot.

She clenched her fists. "Then why... why are you with me? When you said I could be a star, were you comparing me to her?"

Her voice cracked, two days’ worth of frustration spilling out.

Alan didn’t look surprised. "Comparing? Why would I?"

Under his gaze, her throat went dry.

He studied her for a moment, then seemed to understand.

"I told you already, you have no idea what you’re capable of. You assume you’re hopeless, so the only explanation you can come up with is I’m just a substitute for Hojo. Dummy."

Being called a dummy to her face made her flush. She bit her lip, eyes shimmering with indignation.

"The truth is, you don’t know your own potential. And if you won’t believe me, repeating myself is pointless."

"If you’re convinced you can’t do it, then stop thinking."

"...Huh?"

She blinked. "What does that even mean?"

"When a goal feels impossible, people give up before they start. So don’t make ’becoming a star’ your first goal."

He lifted a finger and tapped her forehead.

"Don’t ask whether you can do it. Just do exactly what I tell you, with everything you’ve got. One day, you’ll look up and realize the dream is within arm’s reach."

"So trust me, like I trust you. Without hesitation."

Meeting the steady light in his eyes, something warm and nameless swelled in Nozomi’s chest.

Someone like me... can be trusted?

***

After driving Nozomi home, Alan sat alone in the car, planning his next steps.

Their conversation had revealed the real issue. He’d assumed Nozomi Sakura was simply vain and scatterbrained, a girl who loved attention and had no long-term plans.

He hadn’t considered that she might be hiding a deep inferiority complex.

While they talked, her self-doubt had practically leaked out through her eyes.

By all logic, a girl that beautiful should’ve been the center of attention since childhood. She shouldn’t have felt the need to prove anything.

Yet she did.

Alan frowned, thinking.

After a moment, he sighed.

It’s Akari Hojo.

That single trigger had detonated everything. Until Nozomi’s reputation matched Hojo’s, she’d keep shrinking.

Still, the problem wasn’t unsolvable. Handled properly, it could even become fuel.

First, though, she needed to feel her own talent.

Time to move the acting classes up.

Buzz. Buzz.

His phone vibrated.

Caller ID: Akari Honne

A bad feeling crept up his spine, but he answered.

"Hey. What’s up, Honne?"

"Hi, brother-in-law~"

She dragged out the words in a syrupy sing-song that made Alan roll his neck to shake off the goosebumps.

"What is it?"

"I’ve got super exciting news!"

"..."

His stomach dropped. He nearly hung up.

Honne giggled at his silence and continued.

"Sis said I can come visit for my birthday!"

"...What?"

No, how is that—

Alan sat bolt upright. "She agreed?!"

"Yep! She says it’s dangerous for me to go alone, so when she heads back to work, she’ll drop me off~"

"Don’t worry, brother-in-law. Sis knows you don’t want to see her. She’s just coming to deliver me."

"..."

Oh. God.