At 7:30 PM, Yamada Ran left school and drove home.
She didn't know when it started, but she had grown accustomed to taking a short nap after dinner each day before returning.
However, for her, it made no difference.
"Click—!"
Twisting open the front door, it was, as expected, pitch black.
Inside this luxurious villa, located in a bustling area of Tokyo, not a single light was on.
There were only four members in the family.
Yamada Kaoru and she clashed in temperament, and the two didn't get along, so they always timed their arrivals to avoid meeting each other.
Her husband rarely came home; perhaps at this moment, he was lying in some young secretary's bed, who knew? Yamada Ran had long since heard about his philandering to the point where she no longer cared.
Ignoring his wife at home, he spent his days carousing outside.
He could only produce a few peanuts, yet he gave them all away.
In the end, he claimed this was his pursuit of true love.
Sometimes, Yamada Ran wanted to ask her husband if his ex-wife, Yamada Kaoru's mother, had been angered to death by him in the same way.
As for her son, Yamada Tsukasa, Yamada Ran was completely unwilling to even mention him.
A half-grown boy, with the same character as his father, he spent his days wandering around with a bunch of shady friends.
He called it "learning high-society etiquette."
What kind of high-society needs such a ridiculous thing as "socializing"? It's just about who has more money and more power.
Yamada Ran wanted to intervene, but she was powerless.
Because Yamada Ran had only one son, Yamada Tsukasa was very confident that everything of Yamada Ran's would eventually be handed over to him.
Conversely, Yamada Tsukasa's father had not only him as a son, but also Yamada Kaoru above him.
So Yamada Tsukasa needed to please his father as much as possible, to make his father believe he was the most suitable successor, and then marry Yamada Kaoru off to a well-matched wealthy family to form a powerful alliance.
Yamada Ran understood her son's thoughts and had tried to lecture him, telling him not to covet too much, and not to be so cunning towards Yamada Kaoru.
But he was incorrigible, and over time, Yamada Tsukasa even came to believe that she, his mother, was not good enough, leading to frequent arguments.
8:10 PM.
After showering, she put on a white bathrobe and walked upstairs, her steps light, but the heavy bounty on her chest always bounced.
Her smooth, fair thighs gleamed with a pale light, and her waist and hips displayed a sexy and charming curve; a perfect figure could hardly be described better.
Yet, for such a beautiful woman with a great figure, the first thing she did after returning to her bedroom was habitually light a cigarette to dispel her loneliness.
"Hoo~!"
Exhaling a cloud of smoke from her thin lips, Yamada Ran softly murmured, "A person's life is truly meaningless."
Standing alone by the window, she let the cool night breeze blow over her, lighting one cigarette after another.
She picked up her phone and scrolled through it; no important messages had been sent to her.
In today's updated feed, Yamada Kaoru was still diligently practicing kendo, and her son, Yamada Tsukasa, was drinking with friends at a bar.
Her sister, Saionji Ayako, was as unchanging as ever, never posting updates.
"I wonder how Hoshino Jun plans to win her over."
Thinking this, a somewhat curious Yamada Ran scrolled further and saw that Hoshino Jun, whom she had just added, had posted several photos not long ago.
In the photos, the handsome and attractive young man pulled up his white shirt with one hand, revealing his strong and powerful chest to the air, his waist and abdomen clearly defined, his V-line firm and strong, and his eight-pack abs tightly arranged.
At first glance, he gave the impression of being sturdy, tall, and full of strength.
Perhaps very large and exaggerated.
Yamada Ran stared blankly for a moment, a blush appearing unnaturally on her face.
She unconsciously swallowed, then looked at the bedroom door somewhat guiltily, and after confirming it was locked, she picked up her phone and peeked at the photos several more times.
"I didn't expect this Hoshino Jun, who looks so fair and clean, to be so well-built."
——————
——————
At the same time, Hoshino Jun had just gotten out of a car at the entrance of an izakaya and headed straight for the private room Takayanagi Yuki had mentioned.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw three men and three women clinking glasses.
Takayanagi Yuki was one of them; she sat between two young girls, her face already flushed with drink.
Those two young girls were probably with the three middle-aged men opposite them, continuously urging Takayanagi Yuki to drink.
Five people ganging up on one, no wonder Takayanagi Yuki needed Hoshino Jun to come to her rescue.
"Don't drink anymore."
Without a word, Hoshino Jun frowned, rushed over, snatched the glass from Takayanagi Yuki's hand, and then softly said, "It's time to go home!"
Takayanagi Yuki was truly drunk; she was hazy and, seeing Hoshino Jun, she immediately leaned onto him.
She didn't care if there were outsiders or if it would get out.
"Okay, we'll go home."
Hearing that Takayanagi Yuki really knew Hoshino Jun and said the words "go home."
The three middle-aged men opposite, who had been about to speak, swallowed the vulgar words they had intended to say.
"Little friend, you go home first; your mother still wants to play here a bit longer," one of the middle-aged men said.
Apparently, they had mistaken Hoshino Jun for Takayanagi Yuki's son, Jo.
Hoshino Jun glared at him and said coldly, "I'm her man. You should call your mom to come play with you."
"baka!" The taller man sitting on the left opposite slammed the table in anger and shouted, "How dare you speak like that?"
[Ding!]
[Detected malicious cursing from Ooyama Hiroaki!]
[Choosing not to pursue will result in a D-rank Debt of Sentiment.]
Just a D-rank debt.
It wasn't that a D-rank debt was beneath Hoshino Jun, but if it meant enduring in a situation where he needed to protect Takayanagi Yuki, Hoshino Jun would only choose to refuse.
Although he wanted to make more money, he couldn't tolerate everything just for the sake of making money.
Hoshino Jun smiled, picking up a wine glass: "I mean, I'll drink with you."
"Tch, little brat, how much can you drink?"
The expressions of the people in the private room were somewhat mocking.
The next second, the wine glass in Hoshino Jun's hand cracked with a "crunch" and shattered onto the table.
"However much you can drink, I'll shove it all down your throat, believe it or not."
Everyone was stunned.
Especially the man who had just stood up to scold Hoshino Jun; he was completely sobered up by fear.
Looking again at Hoshino Jun's fair and clean smiling face, he chuckled awkwardly and sat back down.
His posture was exceptionally upright.
"Big brother, you and sister-in-law, please take your time!"
"Do you need me to see you off?"
Hoshino Jun couldn't be bothered with more idle talk with them. He helped the nearly unconscious Takayanagi Yuki to her feet and slowly walked out.
It wasn't until they had left the izakaya and he had bought a bottle of milk for Takayanagi Yuki to drink, which sobered her up a bit, that Hoshino Jun's expression became serious again.
"I gave you face in there and didn't lecture you."
"Now tell me, why did you come here to drink, and with men?"
After drinking the milk, Takayanagi Yuki had sobered up a little and noticed Hoshino Jun's displeased expression. She became inexplicably flustered and uneasy.
Like a child who had done something wrong, she lowered her head.
"I didn't want to drink, but..."
"No 'buts'."
Hoshino Jun directly reached out and pinched both of Takayanagi Yuki's cheeks.
Under the dim streetlights, the neighbor's aunt's slightly tipsy, rosy face was too cute, making him want to tease her.
So, while kneading her beautiful face, he continued in a feigned angry tone:
"Don't tell me it was arranged by the supermarket. You're a cashier, and you don't have any ambition for promotion, so who could arrange it for you?"
Perhaps Hoshino Jun's gaze at that moment was too intimidating; Takayanagi Yuki closed her eyes, not daring to look at him, and stammered out her explanation:
"No, I didn't before, but I do this year."
"Explain it more clearly."
"Jo is the same age as you, Jun-kun. He's also going to school next year, so I want to save more money for him. Those three people were Mei's superiors, on the same level as her. After Mei got off work today, they told me that if I came to drink with them once, they would help me apply for a bonus tomorrow."
Vehicles sped by on the street, their hum echoing endlessly.
Looking at the hazy neighbor's aunt in front of him, Hoshino Jun suddenly couldn't bear to speak the harsh reality to discourage her.
The hardworking Jo two years ago might have had hope, but the current Jo wanting to go to school?
Difficult.
"Sigh~!" Hoshino Jun ultimately couldn't bear it. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace.
Just then, a breeze blew by.
Takayanagi Yuki's drunkenness was stirred by the cool wind. Her body swayed, and she leaned most of her weight onto Hoshino Jun, like a piece of cotton.
Soft and yielding.
The half-drunk Takayanagi Yuki was somewhat disoriented. Leaning on Hoshino Jun, she murmured,
"Jun-kun, how wonderful it would be if you were Jo's father. The three of us could work hard together and live a good life."
The unique fragrance of a mature woman, combined with the scent of alcohol, wafted into Hoshino Jun's nose and mouth, making his heart itch.
He tightly embraced Takayanagi Yuki's soft body, calculating the funds he currently possessed.
Adding the 500,000 yen he had just received from completing a B-rank debt, Hoshino Jun's total usable money was now 4,570,000 yen.
"Yuki, don't worry, I'll pay for Jo's tuition."
Hoshino Jun promised, genuinely trying to soothe Takayanagi Yuki's emotions, and not making an empty promise knowing that Jo's grades would not allow him to advance to higher education.
Takayanagi Yuki happily leaned into Hoshino Jun's embrace, softly murmuring, "Thank you, Jun-kun~ You're so good, hiccup~!"
"Hmm, let's go home."
Rubbing the hair on Takayanagi Yuki's head, Hoshino Jun waved down a car and took Takayanagi Yuki back to the apartment.
By this time, she was completely drunk. Hoshino Jun had no choice but to find the keys in her bag, open the door, and then slowly help her to bed.
Just as Hoshino Jun was about to go home, Takayanagi Yuki, who had been completely passed out, opened her hazy eyes and reached out to pull Hoshino Jun back.
"Husband, where are you going?"
She must have thought she was dreaming.
Before Hoshino Jun could speak, the sound of another door opening came from the other side of the room the next second.
"Mom, why are you home so late today?"