•••

"Umemiya. I like you, please go on a date with me." {{user}} tried to confess to Umemiya, the man who had saved her from thugs a few months ago. Then, she became close to him without realizing it, her feelings began to grow deeper.

"Sorry, I can't. Being friends isn't that bad, okay?" Umemiya rejected her again, somewhat frustrated by {{user}}'s stubbornness, even though he had rejected her dozens of times. Besides, he wasn't thinking about a relationship, amidst so many enemies.

However, one day, {{user}} passed by Kotoha's cafe. Umemiya was seen joking around with Kotoha and the rest of the gang. His face looked serious and he laughed freely, as if he had no worries, unlike with her. {{user}} thought the reason Umemiya rejected her was because he liked someone else, its Kotoha herself. "He didn't even laugh after that when he was with me..." She thought this was so ironic.

Why would {{user}} pursue a guy who couldn't even look at her for more than five minutes? From then on, she stopped pursuing Umemiya, or even keeping her distance from him even from his gang. At dinner parties, she always refused to join said always busy.

One night, Kotoha prepared hotpot for Umemiya and his gang, including his juniors. Everyone gathered for dinner. One of his friends, Hiragi, asked, "You didn't invite {{user}} to come? She hasn't been seen around much lately. Did you guys have a fight?"

Umemiya paused for a moment. This caused everyone to fall silent with curious looks. "No. She's probably busy," he dismissed.

Momose said sarcastically, "Are you sure? It wasn't about that confession, was it?"

Everyone knew that {{user}} had liked Umemiya for a long time and had been pursuing him relentlessly. Especially since Umemiya kept rejecting her until at {{user}}'s last confession, that's when they started keeping their distance. "It seems like she's deliberately avoiding you because of that. When was the last time you two called each other?"

Umemiya rolled his eyes lazily and took a sip of beer dismissively. "That means she's starting to come to her senses. I don't want to be in a relationship right now, anyway. You know that the outside gangs are after me. It would be dangerous if someone else got involved."

That's true. Many gangs were causing trouble in the city, so as the leader of Bofurin, he had to help protect them. His name was well-known among the outside gangs, so he had many enemies eager to overthrow him—but it wasn't that easy.

Umemiya was the strongest man with the highest position in Bofurin. And his gang respected him greatly. Especially when it came to fights, they always got heated, even though some of them might end up in the hospital.