"A mixer?!" Aoki Haruhi looked confused.
"Yeah." Hardware engineer Senkawa Hiroichi pressed his palms together in a pleading gesture. "President! I really can't find anyone else. You're my only hope, please, I'm begging you to come to this mixer with us!"
"But..." Aoki frowned, "I already have a girlfriend."
He felt a slight doubt as he said these words.
I do have a girlfriend, right?
Although neither he nor Tsuda Nao had ever officially confessed their feelings to each other, a relationship doesn't necessarily require a confession, does it?
In reality, Tsuda and he had already done everything a man and woman do. That should count as being a couple, right?
Besides, up until now, Aoki hadn't heard of Tsuda Nao having any boyfriend other than him.
It wouldn't be right to rashly agree to a mixer when he already had a partner.
"Eh?!" Senkawa Hiroichi was stunned. "President, you're so busy, how could you possibly have a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?!"
"Yes, it's true. Please keep it a secret, Senkawa," Aoki said.
"And what's with that look?
As the company president, and being good-looking too, isn't it perfectly normal for me to have a girlfriend?"
"Pardon me, President, that's not what I meant. It's just that you never mentioned this before."
"Well, now you know, don't you? In the future, don't invite me to things like group dates," Aoki Haruhi said. "Besides, bringing your president along won't exactly earn you any extra points, will it?"
When all the attention ends up on me and the girls are all drawn to me, how are you lot supposed to stand a chance?
"But..." Senkawa Hiroichi glanced outside, looking distressed. "We've already made the arrangements, and we're just one guy short."
"Why don't you just come and help us hold down the fort, President? Even if you have a girlfriend, please just pretend you don't for the sake of the date. Please!"
"That's definitely not going to happen."
Aoki Haruhi was a man of principle. If he didn't have a girlfriend, it would be one thing, but since his relationship with Tsuda had developed into something serious, he had to be faithful.
However, seeing him looking so pathetic, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathetic.
"So, who exactly is going to this group date?"
"Me, Mikami, Wada, and you—that makes four guys total. Of course, there are four girls on the other side."
Good god, what kind of lineup is that?
Just hearing the names Mikami and Urobuchi Gen made Aoki Haruhi's head ache.
"Hmm... forget it. Please just drop that idea. You can't date someone like Urobuchi Gen."
"Eh?"
Although Lao Xu is known as the 'Warrior of Love,' he's always felt that girls in games are far cuter than those in real life. Besides, while he's got a way with games, if you asked him to actually talk to a girl, he'd probably rather you just kill him.
Mikami is actually a bit better; he's a very down-to-earth person. Don't let his talent for making horror games fool you; he's actually a man with a very delicate heart.
It wouldn't be surprising if he actually ended up getting married before the rest of them.
"How did you convince Lao Xu to go to the mixer with you?" Aoki asked.
"Ah... well, Urobuchi Gen is still a man after all," Senkawa scratched his head and gave a wry smile. "Besides, I told Wada that as a scriptwriter, especially one who writes galgames, if he doesn't experience the feeling of love himself, it will always lack a sense of realism."
"If you don't experience it firsthand, you'll never be able to write something truly 'full of love,' Wada."
"Eh?" Aoki was stunned for a moment.
Holy crap... why does that actually make sense?
For the sake of a few people's happiness, and also to let that guy Urobuchi Gen experience a bit more of the romantic feeling of love so he wouldn't keep writing "healing" and "heartwarming" game scripts, Aoki Haruhi finally accepted Senkawa Hiroichi's suggestion and joined their 8-person mixer.
They met at a regular restaurant around 7 PM after work.
Today, Urobuchi Gen, Senkawa Hiroichi, and Mikami Shinji had all dressed up carefully, wearing shirts and trousers, looking unusually formal.
If not for that, just by looking at that fierce face of Lao Xu's, he really might have been mistaken for a murderer.
"Hello, my name is Ohno Kaori, I am a banker at Tokyo Central Commercial Bank (purely fictional), pleased to meet you." The girl in front of him, wearing a white blouse and looking every bit the office lady, handed over her business card with both hands.
"Hello, I am Aoki Haruhi, the founder of the Pokeni game company, pleased to meet you."
After exchanging business cards, Aoki looked down and carefully read the information on it—
Ohno Kaori. Tokyo Central Commercial Bank (TCCB for short). Manager of the Financing Section.
This position was the same one held by Hanzawa Naoki when he first had to take the fall. It was primarily responsible for financing, loan approval, investigating and analyzing projects and companies seeking loans, and determining whether they had the ability to repay to prevent bad debts that could impact the bank.
"Oh, that's remarkable," Aoyama remarked.
"Not at all, not at all. It's you, President Aoyama, who is remarkable. To have started your own business at such a young age," the other person said earnestly.
Receiving the compliment, Aoyama felt quite pleased.
A few seconds passed.
"Um," Aoyama hesitated again and again, but finally made up his mind, "Actually, I already have a girlfriend. I'm just here at the mixer to make up the numbers. I'm very sorry to have disappointed you!"
Eh?
Ohno Kaori was stunned for a moment, and then smiled, looking relieved.
Although there was a hint of disappointment in her eyes, she was a straightforward girl.
"Hmm, no, not at all. Your honesty, President Aoyama, is actually a sign of respect for me," Ohno Kaori said with a smile. "Otherwise, I might have wasted quite a lot of time on you."
The few girls attending the mixer today were all employees of TCCB, and they all knew each other.
As soon as they heard that Aoyama had a girlfriend, the eyes of the other girls immediately dimmed.
They were probably thinking—
"Ah, it's so hard to find a good-looking, high-quality guy like this; why is he already taken?"
However, the effect of this was immediate.
The girl sitting across from Urobuchi Gen, who hadn't been responding very actively to him at first, started proactively pouring him drinks.
"Well, I am truly very sorry. But please also consider some of my friends; they are all very excellent people," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile.
"In that case, please don't take it to heart, just treat me as a normal friend," Ohno Kaori nodded, eyes smiling as she replied. "Also, if Pokeni ever has any need for loans in the future, please prioritize my bank."
Hearing Ohno Kaori's words, the girl next to her laughed. "President, please don't mind her. Our section chief has just that kind of personality—a standard workaholic who won't let any potential client slip by."
"That's also why she hasn't been able to find a boyfriend and remains single to this day."
Ohno Kaori's face turned red instantly.
"Yu-chan why would you say that" Ohno Kaori complained coquettishly.
"Haha, thank you very much," Aoki Haruhi responded with a smile.
"But I think such a work ethic is truly commendable."
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