Paper-Thin Disguise

Chapter 5: Not Myself

He was in for a busy month.

Since the Tres Spades had topped the rankings and won Best Hotel of the Year again, he supposed he should at least show his employees appreciation for it. The Ichinomiya Group was planning to host a corporate gala as a show of gratitude to them. Though to be honest, Eisuke already knew the Tres Spades would win, so he already planned for this event two months in advance. All that was left to do was to take care of the final touches and to have the invitations sent out to the staff.

There was just one problem.

"Mr. Ichinomiya, I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to make it to the event," ____ voiced out tentatively.

Of course. The only person I'm looking forward to just had to be unavailable—

"You do know you're required to go, right? If you have a good reason, I'm all ears."

"I have a previous engagement scheduled that day, sir. It's... a family emergency."

"Is it not possible for you to have it moved earlier? The gala's in three weeks, so you should have ample time to take care of your personal matters."

She shook her head slowly in reply. Damn.

"If you'll excuse me, sir," She bowed politely before leaving his office.

Family trumped work, so he couldn't exactly ask her to dump her previous appointment. At this rate, he could only hope a miracle would happen that'd make her magically attend. In the first place, the event's purpose was to appreciate and recognize the staff. There wouldn't be any point if she wasn't there.

Raking his hand through his hair, he gave out a tired sigh.

How on earth am I going to convince you to show up?

That night, he was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from her asking him to head to the bridge. The golden opportunity to persuade her had arrived sooner than expected, but he wasn't complaining. He spent no time at all getting ready and rushing to their usual rendezvous. However, he didn't expect to see her waiting for him at the bridge already.

"Looks like you're late this time, Keisuke," she said, smirking at his arrival.

"Oh, shut up," he replied back impishly. "So, why did you call me out here?"

"I just wanted to eat, that's all. There's this new ramen place I found, and the food's really good. Now, let's go!" She stretched out her arm in front of him, as if waiting for him to take it.

"What do you want me to do with that?" He motioned to her arm.

"Take it, obviously. Let's hurry!" Before he could protest, she linked her arm around his and dragged him along with her to their destination.

Obviously, he didn't mind the gesture at all. If anything, he was inwardly triumphant at their close proximity. As a bonus, he was sure they looked like a couple to any bystander who saw. No one would dare pull the moves on her, and that was the best part.

She brought him to a food stall not too far from the hotel, similar to the fried rice place they ate at a while back. After spending weeks of sampling commoner cuisine with her, he got over his snobbish food tendencies—well, mostly, anyway.

"Ramen is always good on a cold night," she blurted out after slurping her noodles.

"I hate to admit it, but you have somewhat of a point." Even amidst the chill of the night air, he was already feeling warm thanks to the food.