Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 48: Someone Who Surpasses the Admired Senpai?

When Ruka called Rinta cool, Honoka couldn’t help but ask—”But still, your ‘admired senpai’ is cooler, right?”

Ruka gave a small, composed smile.

“Well… who knows?”

“Huh…?”

There was something teasing about her smile, an amused glint in her eyes.

It was a completely unexpected answer from Ruka, making Honoka freeze in shock.

“W-W-Wait, Ruka-tan… Are you serious? But up until now, no matter what anyone asked, you always said, ‘There’s no one who could surpass my admired senpai’ without hesitation!”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Then… d-don’t tell me… you think Hirarin is someone who surpasses your admired senpai?!”

“No. I don’t think that at all.”

“O-Oh… I see. Wow, you scared me there for a second.”

Honoka placed a hand over her ample chest in relief.

—Well, surpassing my admired senpai isn’t even possible, Ruka thought to herself. Because Rinta-senpai is that very admired senpai. There’s nothing to ‘surpass’.

She nearly burst out laughing at how flustered Honoka was.

“Honoka-senpai, there’s no need to be so shocked.”

“I mean, if you actually liked Hirarin…”

“Huh?”

“N-No, nothing! Forget it!”

Honoka suddenly clammed up, her face turning red.

If Ruka liked Rinta, that would be surprising.

That much was understandable. Even their branch manager, Reika, would be shocked.

But the way Honoka had scrambled to take back her words…

It wasn’t just that she would be surprised.

Maybe—

‘If Ruka-tan liked Hirarin, that would make us… rivals…’

It was just a theory, and Ruka couldn’t be sure of Honoka’s true feelings.

But… it didn’t seem impossible.

Changing the subject, Ruka decided to drop something interesting.

“Oh, by the way, Honoka-senpai. I got some new information.”

“Joe Hoggett? Who’s that? Some American actor?”

“…What? No, um… I mean, I got some info about Rinta-senpai.”

“Huh? Oh! Not Joe Hoggett—Jouhou Get! (Info Get!) Ahaha…”

Ruka stifled a chuckle. Honoka-senpai’s reactions were always so unpredictable…

“Yes. I found out whether Rinta-senpai has a girlfriend.”

“WHAT?! No way!”

“It’s true.”

“F-For real…?”

“Yes, for real.”

“You already found out?!”

“Yes. The conversation just naturally led to it.”

“H-Hmm… Not bad, Ruka-tan.”

Honoka pursed her lips, forcing a nonchalant expression—like she wasn’t interested at all.

But her reddish-brown eyes wavered, betraying her true feelings.

Honoka pursed her lips, and from the tiny gap, faint, breathy sounds escaped—like she was trying to whistle nonchalantly.

Except… she wasn’t actually whistling at all.

Ruka found her over-the-top act so amusing that she had to fight the urge to laugh.

With a hint of mischief in her voice, Ruka asked, “Do you want to know, Honoka-senpai?”

“Not really…”

“Oh, so you don’t?”

“T-That’s right.”

“Huh…”

“I mean, it’s not like I want to know or anything. I’m not interested at all. But, you know, since he’s my fellow co-worker in the same sales office, it’s good to have some background knowledge. So I guess I’ll hear it.”

“Honoka-senpai.”

“Hmm? What?”

“The way you’re acting like you’re doing me a favor by listening… it makes me not want to tell you.”

Honoka clearly wanted to know, but she still thought she could hide it. Ruka couldn’t help teasing her.

“Huh? Oh, um… s-sorry, Ruka-tan. I guess I got a little full of myself as your senpai, huh? Ahaha…”

“Do you want to know?”

“Uh, no, not really…”

“Do you want to know?”

“It’s not like that…”

“Do you want to know?”

“…Yes, I want to know.”

Defeated, Honoka shut her eyes and gave a tiny nod.

At last, Ruka couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore and let out a snicker.

“W-What, Ruka-tan? Laughing like that is just rude!”

Honoka pouted, sulking a little.

But it wasn’t genuine anger—it was just her way of covering up her embarrassment.

From Ruka’s perspective, even that sulky, flustered expression looked undeniably cute.

“Sorry, Honoka-senpai. But really, as expected of a beauty like you—you’re adorable when you make faces like that.”

“Oh, Ruka-tan, you really get me. Alright, I’ll forgive you for laughing.”

Honoka’s pout melted into a grin, and Ruka smiled back as well.

“Thanks… Anyway, about Rinta-senpai—he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

“Hmmm… I see. Just as I thought.”

“‘Just as you thought’?”

“Oh, no, nothing. Just that he doesn’t have a girlfriend, that’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Hmm? Honoka-senpai, you look a little happy about that.”

“No way! Even you, Ruka-tan, shouldn’t joke about that!”

Honoka tried to look serious, but Ruka wasn’t convinced.

Besides, if she were really mad, she wouldn’t have said “Yamete cho”—that cutesy way of saying “stop it”—Ruka thought.

She still wasn’t sure if Honoka really had feelings for Rinta.

But if she did—

Surprisingly, Ruka didn’t feel upset about it.

Instead, it felt like when someone else recognized and praised your favorite idol.

That kind of warm, pleasant feeling.