Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!?

“Ahh! Honoka-senpai is holding Rinta-senpai’s hands!”

As I was enthusiastically shaking Honoka’s hands, a sudden voice rang out.

I turned around to see Ruka standing there, pointing straight at us.

Panicked, I quickly let go of Honoka’s hands.

“Ah… Ruka. T-this isn’t what it looks like…!”

Ruka seemed to have the wrong idea, but the truth was that I was the one who had grabbed Honoka’s hands.

If she knew that, she’d probably think I was just some creepy guy.

I had been so happy about Honoka’s support that I acted without thinking. Big mistake. I needed to be more careful from now on.

“N-n-no! Ruka-tan! You’ve got it all wrong! I wasn’t the one holding his hands! Hirarin was the one who grabbed mine!”

“Yeah, Ruka. It was me. I started the handshake.”

Honoka looked desperate, but Ruka simply covered her mouth and chuckled.

“I know, Honoka-senpai. I was just teasing. I saw everything from the start.”

…Huh?

She had been watching?

“Ruka… since when have you been here?”

“Hmm… probably around when Rinta-senpai started talking about that executive from Kagaya Manufacturing?”

“Whaaat?! That’s way earlier than I thought!”

Wait a second.

So she had been in the office this whole time?

I hadn’t even noticed.

“I heard you both having a serious conversation, so I quietly opened the door and slipped in. Sorry if it seemed like I was eavesdropping.”

“No need to apologize. You weren’t hiding or anything. We were just too focused on talking to notice.”

“Thank you, Rinta-senpai. But more importantly…”

“Hmm?”

Ruka’s eyes shimmered with emotion as she gazed at me.

What was this about?

“Rinta-senpai, your way of thinking is truly inspiring. I was really moved. I’ll do my best to support you and Honoka-senpai in achieving more contracts!”

“Ah… thanks, Ruka.”

“Ruka-tan, thank youuu!”

Her words warmed my heart.

This… this was what teamwork felt like.

—Wait a minute.

Ruka was now holding both of her hands forward, as if expecting something.

…Was she asking for a handshake too?

“Uh… a handshake?”

“Yes.”

Ruca smiled and nodded with a small, firm motion.

At the same time, her ponytail swayed gently, giving off a delicate charm.

It seemed she really was asking for a handshake.

I took both of Ruca’s hands and smiled at her. “Looking forward to your support.”

“Yes, I’ll do my best.”

Ruca’s cheeks flushed slightly.

Ah, I see! She must be feeling motivated to work hard as well. That’s really encouraging.

—Team Jinguji.

After all, it was the director’s personality that drew everyone together.

Honoka and I once again reaffirmed our determination to increase our deal closures using the plan we came up with this morning.

As for the business improvement strategy that Honoka and I discussed, in simple terms, it went like this:

“We’ve received hiring requests from various companies, but there are still many that we haven’t been able to introduce job seekers to. Among them, we will strengthen our efforts in connecting candidates with companies that are still struggling to secure talent.”

At first, Honoka suggested that the two of us should focus on acquiring new client companies to expand our job placement opportunities.

That was important, of course, but securing new clients took time, and whether it would yield immediate results was uncertain.

So, while continuing to work on new client acquisition, I proposed that we place greater emphasis on revisiting our existing partner companies.

“But those companies don’t get applicants precisely because people don’t want to work there. In other words, they’re unpopular with job seekers. Hirarin, don’t you get that?”

Honoka shrugged, tilting her head as she looked at me with exasperation.

“Yeah, of course, I get that.”

These remaining job openings typically belonged to companies with lower salaries, longer working hours, or no weekends off—essentially, jobs that weren’t attractive at face value.

That’s why, no matter how many job seekers we introduced to these companies, they were reluctant to apply.

Career advisors also tended to prioritize companies with better-looking job conditions on paper, naturally gravitating towards roles that were easier to sell.

However, I believed that even among these less popular companies, there were hidden gems.

I had no intention of recommending truly exploitative “black companies”, but…

There were definitely some companies where the work was rewarding, where employees were genuinely good people, and where the true appeal of the workplace couldn’t easily be conveyed through job postings alone.

Take WebAd Inc., for example—the company Honoka was handling, where Tanaka-san nearly turned down the offer.

Companies where mid-career employees stayed long-term—those were the ones we needed to engage with. We had to conduct proper interviews with their employees, uncover their unique strengths, and effectively communicate those aspects to job seekers.

Job seekers had various expectations and values when it came to choosing their workplace.

If we properly communicated both the drawbacks and the appealing aspects of a company, there were bound to be people who, despite the negatives, will still be interested in applying.

That was what I’d proposed to Honoka.

She looked impressed and pointed at me.

“Hirarin, you’re really smart!”

“No, I’m not. This approach was something I learned from my former sales manager.”

First, Honoka would identify promising companies that fit our criteria.

Then, we would split up and visit these companies to interview their employees and gather firsthand insights about the work environment.

We would compile those interviews into articles showcasing each company’s strengths and present them to registered job seekers via email or in-person meetings.

We had come up with this plan during our morning discussion, but the idea of creating interview articles actually came from Jinguji-shochou.

While the director and I were out, Honoka had already finished selecting the companies.

Ruca also stepped up, saying, “I’ll create compelling and visually appealing materials to highlight their strengths!”

After deciding which companies each of us would handle, we immediately started making appointments and began our company visits today.

—I really hoped we could secure at least three successful placements from this.

No, we had to make it happen.

I vowed to myself that we would achieve results.

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A/N:

To Our Readers:

Apologies for the rather serious, work-related tone of this chapter (;^ω^)

I know this kind of dense, business-focused content isn’t exactly fitting for a rom-com…