I Got Cheated On, so I Thought I’d Cheat Back and Went to a Group Date, I Ran Into a Classmate Who Used to Boss Me Around and Now We’re Living Together - Chapter 31

From the fast-food place across the street, I was watching that cheating office guy loitering near “Maltvono,” and I realized something.

From the restaurant’s point of view, that guy was actually a kind of good customer.

It was just before nine at night, close to closing time.

He had come in around seven, and for almost two hours, he kept ordering expensive drinks and snacks, dropping a steady amount of money. If I only looked at that part, he seemed like a model guest, but that wasn’t the whole story.

He was sitting at the counter, the one where he could see into the kitchen. Every so often, his eyes wandered over to Nene-san. He never stared outright. Just these sneaky little glances, the kind that made my skin crawl. That’s probably why Katorou-san and the other staff never noticed what he was doing. Nene-san never told them either, so nothing came of it.

He hadn’t done anything else, but even two hours of being watched like that by someone you don’t like is more than enough to feel sick. From Nene-san’s side, it was already harassment.

Before long, closing time came, and the customers began to leave. That office guy left, too. But Katorou-san didn’t ban him from the place. We had already agreed to just keep an eye on him for now. Pushing him too hard might make things worse for Nene-san, and we had to be careful.

I figured he’d just head home, but instead, he slipped into a side street near the station and started waiting.

So that was his plan. He was going to lie in wait for Nene-san after work.

He was careful not to linger right in front of the restaurant, because he knew perfectly well what he was doing was wrong. That’s why he picked a spot out of the staff’s sight.

The sight of it made my blood boil—

Then my phone rang.

[Sousuke, are you across at the fast-food place right now?]

It had been about twenty minutes since closing. Nene-san must’ve finished cleaning up.

“Yeah… But about that office guy… that guy is actually Rinne’s affair partner.”

[—What?! Are you serious…? Such a coincidence…?]

“Truth is stranger than fiction, they say… but yeah, turns out it’s true.”

That man wasn’t just a creep to Nene-san. He was also someone I could never forgive.

In other words, we now had a common enemy.

“…Anyway, he’s still waiting in the alley. If you’re leaving, be careful. You’d better go out with Katorou-san or someone else.”

[W-wait, Sousuke. That guy’s really Rinne’s affair partner?]

“Yeah…. Why?”

[If that’s the case, then you can’t forgive him either, right? …So how about we set him up?]

“—?”

The suggestion took me by surprise.

“H-hey, set him up… how? If you mean some kind of honey trap, that’s way too risky. No way.”

[Relax, I wasn’t thinking of that.]

“…Then what is it?”

[…I’m sorry. I just said it in the heat of the moment. I don’t actually have a plan…]

I nearly slid right off my chair, but managed to hold back since there were people around.

[…Sousuke, you got any good ideas?]

“Hm, let’s see…”

How to set up this creep…?

If Nene-san was willing to get close just a little, then maybe…

“…A business card.”

[Huh?]

“Do you have his business card?”

[Ah, no… He tried to give me one before, for contact info, but it creeped me out, so I refused.]

“Then… could you go get one from him now?”

By learning more about that office guy’s true identity, we’d have more ways to trap him. For example, we could file a complaint directly with his company.

Whether or not we actually did that was another matter, but at the very least, I wanted his basic information. With it, we might find an even better way to deal with him.

“But going up to him for a business card is risky. If you’re scared, don’t force yourself.”

[No… I’ll do it. Just keep watch.]

That’s what Nene-san said.

She was brave.

She didn’t need to tell me to keep watch.

I was going to do more than that. I’d film the whole thing.

If he tried anything, we’d have proof strong enough to take to the police.

“Got it… Just be careful.”

[Yeah.]

A few minutes later, Nene-san walked out of the restaurant.

On her way toward the station, the office guy approached her.

I started recording. He wasn’t trying to drag her into the back alleys, so I could capture everything from here. He probably avoided pulling her deeper in because he didn’t want to make her overly suspicious. His goal was to seduce her after all. That’s why he stuck to a spot close to the main street, where it felt less threatening.

Before long, Nene-san managed to get his business card. Maybe because she’d always refused before, the office guy looked oddly happy that she asked this time. That one’s easy to manipulate. Maybe Rinne had used him as a convenient money source, too.

Then he started pointing toward the hotel district… Ugh. He must’ve been thinking, “She asked for my card. Maybe I have a chance tonight?”

Nene-san shook her head quickly. She probably said something like, “I just wanted your card, that’s all.”

He looked a little disappointed as he slumped his shoulders and gave off a “Well, another time then” vibe before heading toward the station.

So maybe his goal wasn’t outright harassment, but rather to get her to agree willingly. It is still disgusting.

“Haah… that was scary…”

Soon after, Nene-san came back to the fast-food place.

She sat down next to me, rummaged through her tote bag, and—

“…See? I got his card properly.”

“Thank you. You did great.”

Praising her, I leaned closer to look at the card.

“Iijima, Ikuo… Wait a minute… Ah, he’s an editor at a publishing house.”

A big one too. A guy working at a manga editorial department. Someone who creates entertainment, doing something so ugly that it robs others of their smiles. It was pathetic.

“So now that we know who he is… what do we do?”

“Mm, well… let’s figure that out later.”

Even if we tried complaining to his company, they might dismiss it as a prank.

We needed stronger evidence of his harassment, or maybe even a chance to talk directly with someone on the inside, but that wasn’t going to be easy…

For tonight, we decided to just head home.