Chapter 334: The miserable wage slave is back on the clock

Once April arrived, Tokyo seemed to be embraced by cherry blossoms.

During the day, one could see red, pink, and white cherry blossom rain drifting slowly through the streets and corners; at night, one could enjoy even more colorful blossoms under the five-colored neon lights.

The entire city was permeated with a sweet scent, yet when one tried to sniff it closely, it slipped away from the nose; just when you stopped paying attention, it would come to tease your heartstrings again.

Naoki Nagayama listened absent-mindedly to the nagging of Tomo Yoshimura and Ito Shuichi Yin Tang. One moment they were discussing the promotion of *Boys Over Flowers*, the next they were debating Junko Ito's *Dislocated Time*, and it seemed they would soon bring up the filming process for *Cat's Eye*.

Once a company grows a little larger, or perhaps once it reaches a certain scale, the monthly work meetings become increasingly tedious. Moreover, they insist on confirming the work arrangements for the month during the meeting, even though, in reality, the content of this work had already been decided beforehand.

Helplessly, as the president, he had to attend this kind of meeting... He was about to fall asleep~

"Naoki-san? Naoki-san!" Tomo Yoshimura's voice brought the daydreaming Naoki Nagayama back to consciousness. "What do you think of the proposal just now?"

? Proposal? What proposal?

Although his brain was a mess, at a time like this, he just needed to keep a straight face and reply with a universal answer:

"I have no objections..."

This neutral response actually hid the second half of the sentence: "You guys figure it out yourselves~"

But as soon as the words left his mouth, Naoki Nagayama noticed Tomo Yoshimura's eyes light up instantly:

"Really?! Naoki-san! Then it's settled!"

"Eh?" What is? What's settled?

"Then, I'll leave the company's work for the next half-month to you, Naoki-san!" Tomo Yoshimura said, "I'm going to contact the cities for Junko Ito's national tour!"

"If there's any work you're unclear about, you can call me~"

Only then did Naoki Nagayama react. Tomo Yoshimura had been talking about organizing a national tour for Junko Ito, but since the other newcomers present had no experience, he, the veteran, had to lead Masami Inada to expand their reach across various Japanese cities.

Meanwhile, Tomo Yoshimura naturally had no energy for the daily management of Tree Friend Films, so Ito Shuichi Yin Tang had just suggested:

"Why don't we let Naoki-san manage things temporarily~ It's only for half a month anyway~"

Ito Shuichi Yin Tang also widened his eyes at this moment. He knew that Naoki Nagayama was the one who disliked handling trivial matters the most; he had only said it casually, never expecting him to actually have no objections.

This... the sun didn't rise in the west, did it!

Naoki Nagayama, sitting at the head of the table, had his own troubles. With one careless move, he had taken on a troublesome task. But looking at the dozen or so pairs of eyes looking at him in the meeting room, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to decline.

"Fine... then leave it to me."

After the meeting ended, Ito Shuichi Yin Tang ran over to gloat: "Naoki-san, you were actually slacking off during the meeting just now, right?"

Naoki Nagayama's eyes turned into dead fish eyes... Staring (? _?)...

"Ito Shuichi-san, were you doing this on purpose?"

Ito Shuichi Yin Tang laughed it off and avoided the question: "Hahaha, Naoki-san, regardless, good luck for the next half-month!"

Hmph, it's just managing the company for half a month, what's the big deal?

Those other bosses aren't all just idling away...

After being annoyed for a while, Naoki Nagayama didn't take it to heart. Since he had nothing else to do, he went out to the supermarket to restock, buying snacks, drinks, and ingredients for the evening.

After all, he had invited Akina to come to Yamasakura-in to watch the film this afternoon!

The unstoppable Yuki Saito, with a Best Newcomer Award and a debut song that hit number nine on the Oricon charts, was putting immense pressure on the newcomers who debuted in 1983. Even seniors like Seiko Matsuda, Naoko Kawai, and Yoshie Kashiwabara felt the heat.

There was already an Akina Nakamori eyeing them hungrily, and perhaps one could add Junko Ito to the mix; now, had a Yuki Saito emerged as well?

The idol industry was getting tougher and tougher!

However, behind these top-tier idols, there seemed to be the shadow of one person...

"Naoki Nagayama..."

35-year-old Daiko Nagato sighed as he looked at the Oricon rankings sent by his subordinate. As the founder of the music production company Being, Inc., he was naturally very concerned about new idol singers.

"I originally thought he was just a composer, then I learned he was a bestselling author, but I never expected him to become a well-known film personality recently, and I didn't expect him to be so outstanding in record production either."

"Even though what he does is scattered and messy... they all seem to turn out quite well."

Daiko Nagato complained to his subordinate Satoshi Fukunaga, who had delivered the data, "Don't you think so, Satoshi-kun?"

"Yes, it is quite reckless... but the development trend looks very good."

"Of course. He already has two top-tier idols under his name; those agencies must be dying of envy!" Daiko Nagato grumbled, "They'd love to tie Naoki Nagayama up and force him to produce records for them!"

If it weren't for the fact that Being Records had excellent music creators like Tetsuro Oda and his own younger brother, Ujishide Nagato, he would have wanted to tie Naoki Nagayama up himself.

In the five years since its inception, the fledgling Being Records had managed to establish a foothold in the industry, but it still lacked any particularly outstanding songs or presence, so this year they still had to cooperate with the veteran CBS Sony.

Satoshi Fukunaga looked at his boss, who was still deep in thought while looking at the rankings, and continued, "Nagato-shacho, besides female idols, Tree Friend Films seems to have launched a new label called 'Rebellion' with Sony Records recently."

"Oh? With Sony Records?"

"Yes, it's a label specifically created for a newcomer at Sony Records named Yutaka Ozaki."

"Really? For a newcomer?"

"Yes, Yutaka Ozaki is currently very active in the underground music scene and live houses."

Daiko Nagato became interested: "This... is there something special about Yutaka Ozaki?"

After all, the people Naoki Nagayama favored and provided songs for were either top-tier idols or artists from his own company, and facts had proven they all had immense potential. Creating a label for someone else's artist was something that had never happened before.

Could it be that this guy would actually become a hit?

"Satoshi-kun, organize his information and bring it to me."

"Yes!"

After his subordinate left, Daiko Nagato began to contemplate his company's next steps: finding excellent singers, producing high-quality records...

Accumulating strength, Being Records still needed to continue building up its foundation~

Naoki Nagayama did a round of shopping at the large supermarket and returned home with bags full of goods.

After arranging the snacks and drinks on the coffee table, he prepared to go to the kitchen to process the ingredients.

"Eitaro~ Don't move around! These aren't dog biscuits for you!"

The big dog looked carefully at the colorful things on the coffee table, then quietly snatched a bag of cookies and hid it in its kennel... Naoki Nagayama used to feed it these snacks before...

The agreed time was 2:00 PM. There was still some time left, so Naoki Nagayama washed the fruit and such. The *Boys Over Flowers* videotapes were placed next to the projector. He brewed a cup of hot tea and waited for his guest to arrive while watching the cherry blossoms from the corridor.

The warm afternoon sun shone on the cherry blossoms in the courtyard. There was no wind, and pink-white cherry blossom petals drifted down from time to time. The small, tender pink petals landed on the dry landscape in the courtyard, adding a touch of tenderness to the originally desolate scenery.

"Ding-ling~"

He didn't know how much time had passed when the doorbell of Yamasakura-in, which rarely rang, suddenly chimed. Naoki Nagayama answered, "Just a moment~" while walking toward the front door.

"So punctual? No, even early?" The wall clock in the living room showed it was still a quarter to two.

After opening the door, through the lattice of the courtyard gate, Naoki Nagayama saw a water-green floral dress, full of vitality like spring. It looked a bit familiar, but the face happened to be blocked by a pattern, making it blurry.

He didn't think much of it and quickly opened the gate:

"Welcome to Yamasakura-in... Aki... Tsuruko?!!"

"Ta-da!" Tsuruko Nagayama appeared brilliantly at the door. "Nii-chan, surprised? Unexpected?"

"..." Surprised? Tsuruko, you translate for me, what kind of surprise is this?! It's more of a shock!

"Tsuruko... why did you come suddenly!"

When he spoke to his family two days ago, it clearly hadn't been decided yet; she had said she would come to Tokyo two days before the start of school.

"I was bored at home~" Tsuruko walked into Yamasakura-in in a carefree manner. "Since it's the cherry blossom season in Tokyo, I came early."

Naoki Nagayama hurriedly closed the courtyard gate and chased after her: "Then why didn't you tell me!"

"Ha, of course, I wanted to give my lonely Nii-chan a surprise!" Tsuruko pulled her suitcase, making a rustling sound, and very skillfully placed it in the bedroom on the second floor. "I specifically didn't ask Mother to call!"

After entering the room, she immediately shouted at the top of her lungs: "Eitaro, your Tsuruko-onee-chan is here! Hurry up and come over so I can pet you!"

The big dog had already curled up in its kennel and was even placing its front paws over its ears, as if it could stop hearing by doing so.

"Eh? Nii-chan is really extravagant, preparing so many delicious things!"

Tsuruko very impolitely took a small apple from the coffee table and ate it. He didn't know who she had learned this from; she had no sense of restraint at her brother's house... even though she had been very restrained when she was back home.

"Hehehe~" Naoki Nagayama gave a fake smile. "Tsuruko, since you're here this time, are you ready to go to the university to register?"

"Yes! Didn't Nii-chan say he would let me live in the Waseda apartment? So I'll go adapt to that side for a while."

Eitaro still didn't escape her clutches; it was grabbed by Tsuruko and petted all over, letting out miserable "Ying-ying-ying" cries.

"Besides, this is the cherry blossom season! I can finally wander around for a while! There won't be time once school starts~"

Naoki Nagayama offered some advice based on experience: "... Tsuruko, actually, college is very free~"

But he got a side-eye in return: "Nii-chan, how do you know? You didn't go to college, did you?"

First blood!

"I see other college students are very free, falling in love~ It feels like they don't put their minds on studying~"

Tsuruko looked straight at him: "Nii-chan, you haven't been in love either, how do you know where they put their minds?"

Double kill!

Naoki Nagayama stopped talking about this topic. He definitely didn't want to give Tsuruko another chance to stab him.

Just then, Tsuruko, with her sharp eyes, saw the videotapes next to the TV: "Ah!! Nii-chan, are these the *Boys Over Flowers* tapes?"

"Yeah..."

"All the episodes?"

"Yeah..."

"Where did Nii-chan get them?"

"... I filmed them..."

"Oh oh oh, Nii-chan, can I watch them?"

Naoki Nagayama sighed in his heart. When you invite a girl over and your sister suddenly pops up, what can you do? You can only watch together...

"Sure, I actually invited someone else to watch them today."

Tsuruko rummaged through the tapes and asked curiously: "Oh? So there's a guest? Do I know them?"

"It's Akina Nakamori. Because she's too busy with work and doesn't have time to wait for the broadcast... I found out, so I planned to let her watch them in advance..."

Naoki Nagayama was just explaining the reason when he heard the doorbell again.

The gate of Yamasakura-in had never been as busy as it was this afternoon, but this time, it should be Akina~

Akina Nakamori, standing at the door, was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask—the standard celebrity travel outfit.

She was wearing an oversized light gray sweatshirt that reached her thighs, and the loose neckline revealed a white shirt underneath. She looked casual, comfortable, and elegant.

Looking at this two-story Western-style house surrounded by dwarf bamboo, the girl felt a bit emotional. Naoki-san's house had always been like this, but the cherry blossoms in the courtyard had bloomed again, and it looked very beautiful from outside the wall.

As the courtyard gate opened, Naoki Nagayama's handsome face was revealed. Akina waved happily: "Naoki-san, I'm here~"

"It really is Akina-san this time~"

For some reason, Akina felt that Naoki-san's smile was a bit unnatural~

"Haha~ If it wasn't me, who else would it be?"

Following Naoki Nagayama into the house, she saw a girl's back in the living room at a glance, bending over and rummaging through something in front of the TV. She was wearing a water-green floral dress, and even from behind, one could see she was tall, slender, and full of youth.

"There really is someone else?" Akina felt a shock in her heart, followed by a sudden sense of grievance: "Naoki-san actually invited someone else to watch with us?"

Looking at Naoki Nagayama, her eyes were already starting to get misty...

"Naoki-san... how..."

"Ah... Akina-chan, it's a coincidence. Tsuruko came to Tokyo today~" Naoki Nagayama didn't see Akina's expression and said directly, "It really gave me a big surprise..."

"Tsuruko?"

At the mention of this name, various thoughts flashed through Akina's little head:

"Is that the girl's name?"

"Is it really that intimate to call her by her first name?"

"Sure enough, he has another girl in his heart!"

"Scumbag! Heartless Naoki!"