Utsukushii Kare/ My Beautiful Man [ENGLISH TRANSLATION]

Chapter-1; PART-6: He is Beautiful

                                  

                                      Translator: White Lotus

                           
                                          ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈

On September 1st, during the first day of the new semester, there was a bit of a commotion in the classroom.

The girls were making quite a fuss over the fact that Kiyoi had been entered in a Boys' contest organized by a fashion magazine. Someone like Hira, who was completely oblivious to the thing called fashion, had no link to this magazine, but he was at least aware of its name because it was such a famous contest that every year the announcement of the winners made the headlines on TV and in the news. Previous winners of this competition began their careers as exclusive models for the magazine before moving on to become actors.

It was said that Kiyoi had been singed up by his cousin without his knowledge, and he had already made it through the first and second rounds. It would be decided whether the contestant would move on to the final round in the third round based on the readers' vote.

"Amazing, Kiyoi is already a celebrity now."

"The third round of selection means that his face will be featured in the magazine, right?"

Shirota and the others, who weren't even participating, seemed to be the most excited, but the person in question, Kiyoi, on the other hand, was still scrolling his phone with a serene expression on his face. Once more, Hira was impressed by how amazing Kiyoi was and was proud of his own aesthetic sense.

With each passing day, the uproar over Kiyoi appeared to grow. He'd always been popular, but now even girls from other schools came to get a glimpse of him at the end of class. As for the girls who belonged at the top of the pyramid, they made use of all of their connections to try to get in touch with Kiyoi.

Shirota and his group sorted through the pile of messages asking Kiyoi out at the end of school, categorizing each invitation into "go" and "no go" as if they were playing a game of cards.

"Kiyoi, are you interested in anyone?"

"Not really. You guys decide whatever."

"So, which one should I choose…How about Miko's group today?"

"They're cute, but their level of dumbness makes it difficult to have a meaningful conversation with them."

After getting the king's approval, Shirota and the others amused themselves by acting like lords choosing concubines from the inner palace*.

(T/N: Harem is another name for the inner palace. It refers to the place where the wives of the shogun, a hereditary ruler of feudal Japan, used to reside during the Edo era (1603 and 1867).)

Whenever they went to hang out with girls after carefully choosing them from each school, Hira was either dragged along with them to run errands or sent home because he was in the way.

Later that day, they ended up hanging out with the girls' group who had attended the fireworks event together with them. Kurata had also come to the restaurant, the designated meeting place. In greeting, she bowed her head in his direction, and Hira reciprocated.

Seeing this, Shirota and the others started teasing them, saying: "Huh? Are you guys on good terms?" "Are you guys together?" They forced the two to sit next to each other. Hira apologized to her in a low voice, and Kurata's cheeks grew red as she glanced down and shook her head.