Actually, There’s Someone at Your Workplace Who Likes You ~ I’m Being Transferred to a Sales Office Filled With Only Beautiful Women!? - Chapter 65: Of Course He's Handsome, Right?

“Then bring this Hirabayashi-kun to meet me sometime!”

“Huh…?”

At these words from her mother’s mouth, tension shot through Honoka’s body once again—

“He’s handsome, of course, right?”

“Huh… ah… y-yes, he is.”

“Wow, I’m so excited to meet him!”

Honoka’s mother clasped her hands together and wiggled her body, rejoicing as if it were about herself.

“W-w-wait a minute, Mom! I never said I’d introduce him to you!”

“Why not? When I told you before that I wanted to meet your boyfriend when you got one, you agreed, didn’t you?”

“Huh…? Oh, umm. Did I?”

“Yes! You even arrogantly said something like ‘I’ll show off my handsome boyfriend to Mom.'”

Come to think of it, that was true… Honoka remembered and felt cold sweat forming. She wanted to punch her past self for saying such foolish, arrogant things. No, she would definitely punch herself.

“But, you know. We haven’t been dating very long, so if I suddenly ask him to meet my parents, he’ll freak out, right? So no. I’ll introduce him eventually. So, that’s that!”

As Honoka tried to escape the situation by standing up from the sofa and taking a step toward the living room exit, she felt her wrist firmly grabbed from behind. The forward momentum of her body was suddenly halted, and Honoka turned around fearfully. Her mother’s face, with furrowed brows, was right in front of her, and Honoka instinctively let out a “hieee!” as her mother moved her intimidating face even closer.

“Then I’ll just be satisfied with watching your date from a distance.”

“Feeeeh??”

“As a mother, I want to see if he’s worthy of you. I won’t compromise on this. Understood?!”

Bringing her face even closer until their noses touched, her mother threatened in a low voice that brooked no argument. From her mother’s intensity, this was clearly more than mere curiosity. Whether Honoka really had a boyfriend, and if so, whether he was a man her mother would approve of. A strong determination to confirm this was radiating from her mother’s eyes.

Pressured by the intensity of that gaze, Honoka ended up agreeing.

“Y-yes! I understand, mom!”

“Good. Then decide on a date with your boyfriend tomorrow and report back to Mom.”

“Ah… y-yes…”

Honoka could barely respond with a defeated expression as her mother suddenly smiled with satisfaction.

“Oh, Mom, just one request.”

“What?”

“Don’t tell Dad about this.”

“I understand. If Dad heard that Honoka got a boyfriend without him knowing, he’d be shocked and collapse. I’ll keep it a secret between us women.”

“Yes… please do.”

A father was bound to be even stricter than a mother when it came to his daughter’s boyfriend.

What kind of guy was he? That guy was no good. Choose the man Mom recommended.

She could easily imagine him saying such things, and it was clear that things would get complicated if he did.

Honoka thought about this and hoped that at least her father wouldn’t hear about this story.

As promised, her mother seemed to be keeping it a secret from her father, and nothing was mentioned by her father during dinner. Dinner with her parents, Honoka, and her high school-aged sister was completely normal as usual.

After finishing dinner, Honoka hurriedly got up from her seat to seclude herself in her room. She was full of anxiety that her mother might say something else if she stayed in the living room.

“Huh? Sis, aren’t you watching TV?”

“No. I have a book I need to finish reading by tomorrow. I’m going back to my room.”

“Oh, okay.”

Her sister, who resembled Honoka with her cute, bright eyes, asked with a puzzled expression, but Honoka made up an excuse and quickly fled from the living room.

She entered her room, closed the door behind her, and sat on the edge of the bed. Then she let out a big sigh.

“Uggghh… what should I dooo…”

She stared blankly at the wall, turning various thoughts over in her mind. Should she really ask Rinta tomorrow at work to be her fake boyfriend?

“Aaaaaaah, that’s too embarrassiiiing!”

If she couldn’t ask Rinta, then should she confess to her mother that she didn’t actually have a boyfriend?

“No no nooooo! I absolutely don’t want to go to a marriage meetiiiing!”

She shook her head from side to side vigorously. Her chestnut-colored soft, fluffy hair swayed left and right in curling motions.

But—Honoka suddenly thought.

“Why… am I so against going to a marriage meeting?”

As her mother had pointed out, she had genuinely been happy before when told “I’ll introduce you to someone good”. That was because she hadn’t been able to meet the kind of man she idealized. And the photo and background her mother showed her today could be described as exactly what she had been looking for.

She thought to herself that her previous self would have happily agreed to the marriage meeting.

“Because… going to a marriage meeting means dating with marriage in mind…”

Just because he was handsome and worked for a top company didn’t mean he was someone she wanted to marry… For some reason, that was how Honoka was feeling now.

—Which meant that to avoid the marriage meeting she wasn’t interested in, she’d have to ask Rinta to be her fake boyfriend after all?

“Hirarin would probably genuinely help if I explained the situation…”

Even for others, he would act with all his effort without showing any reluctance. Knowing this aspect of Rinta’s personality, Honoka thought that he was undoubtedly the right person to ask for this favor.

Plus, at the drinking party, she had “got-joe-hoget”—no wait, gotten information—that Rinta not only didn’t have a girlfriend but also wasn’t interested in anyone. In other words, there was no compelling reason for Rinta to refuse being a fake boyfriend.

“Pretending to be in a relationship with Hirarin and going on a date…?”

The moment she imagined this, Honoka’s face suddenly felt as hot as if it had caught fire.