My Rental Boyfriend Is My Boss?! - Chapter 44

Chapter 44. I Might Get Anxious

“Well, Kamijemori asked you to be his girlfriend, right?”

Suddenly, Kato asked as if he had noticed something.

“Yes, he did.”

“Hey… so were you guys pretty close to begin with? I didn’t know at all.”

“What’s that? You hid the fact that you were going out with Nakamura too.”

“No, I did. Because you’ve been working here for quite a while now and I’ve never heard you talk about your boss. Normally, even if I leave you alone, you talk about who’s who in the office.”

Michiru sounded like a person who was always complaining. But Kato’s question was justified. In fact, Michiru had almost no contact with Kamijemori before she hired him as a rental boyfriend.

So Michiru briefly explained about the rental boyfriend. When she finished, she heard a deep sigh from Kato, who had been silently listening.

“What, are you serious about that…?”

“Seriously, though.”

“That… well… really… Are you okay with that? I didn’t think so when I heard it yesterday… Well… I’m not sure…”

“What?”

Michiru was puzzled by Kato’s unexpected reaction. But Chie also accepted it as normal but was negative at first, and maybe that’s the way it is in general. A rental boyfriend was like a job in the sex industry.

Kato seemed to be equally conflicted on the phone.

“I’m not sure if it’s safe to actually talk to him though. I don’t know… but are you okay with it?”

“What?”

“It’s a job where your boyfriend dates other women, right? Isn’t that a painful thing to be in a relationship with? If I were you, I’d be worried that I’d be dumped if I met another customer who was cooler, richer, and kinder…”

Michiru was immediately speechless.

‘… Another…’

Such a possibility had never occurred to Michiru. When they first started dating, she would have thought the same, but now she wondered why she didn’t think so anymore.

Instantly, the image of Kamijemori walking with a woman before passed through his mind.

‘… I see.’

It wasn’t that Michiru had stopped thinking about it. Did she dare to look away from him? Otherwise, Michiru couldn’t go out with him.

“I mean, I’m not the most confident guy. But you guys will be fine. He’s got that sort of thing down pat.”

It was unclear if he sensed Michiru’s confusion or not, but when he realized that he had slipped up, she hastily continued to give a vague follow-up that it would be fine.

“I’m not sure. I’m fine.”

As she answered, Michiru wondered what was okay.

She couldn’t tell him that she wanted him to stop being her rented boyfriend, because she had just finally come to terms with him. She felt as if he didn’t believe her, and she didn’t want him to think that.

So, Michiru looked away from the anxiety that suddenly arose.

‘It’s okay. Because he… told me yesterday.’

During the daytime on holidays, everywhere was full of people. After finishing the phone call with Kato, Michiru looked around a few stores without any particular reason.

Her mood naturally lifted as she looked at the clothes that Michiru had worn before and received compliments on. As she wandered around with a bag in her hand, Michiru suddenly came across a familiar street.

‘Oh, that’s right. I saw Minoru walking with someone else around here before.’

On the other side of the road. Even if Michiru looked at it now, she could hardly see the faces of the people walking on the other side of the road because of the traffic. So why did Michiru see them so clearly then?

‘Maybe it’s the power of love… hmm?’

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Michiru caught something again.

A man and a woman coming out of a nearby cafe.

Don’t look. Don’t notice it.

Even before she could admit it, alarm bells were ringing violently in Michiru’s head. And yet, strangely enough, she couldn’t take her eyes off it.

‘… Huh?’

They had their backs turned and walked away without noticing Michiru.

But when they came out of the store, Michiru did see them in profile.

It was definitely the woman who had been with Kamijemori before.

Kato’s voice reverberated in my head.

“I’d be worried that I’d be dumped.”

Michiru’s heart was beating loudly in her temples, thumping so loudly that she thought her chest would pop. Even though summer was right around the corner, her body temperature was dropping rapidly, and her body naturally shivered.

‘Why?’

Michiru’s fingertips got terribly cold and she dropped the bags Michiru was holding in her hands. The sound brought her back.

Michiru didn’t know where she had been since she saw Kamijemori and the woman walking again in the city. Suddenly, Michiru realized she was standing in the doorway of her house.

She was not sure what happened after Michiru saw Kamijemori and the woman walking.

“… Huh?”

She must have run away again. The reason why her breath was so fast was not only because she had climbed the stairs of her apartment.

‘It’s just a customer, right? My boyfriend’s being… rented. I’m not sure what to make of this… That’s right. It’s a job… with appointments…. and you can’t say no on short notice…’

There were many reasons that come to mind. It’s not Kamijemori’s fault, it’s just the way things were. However, the true feelings that cannot be covered up pierce Michiru’s heart.

“I’d be worried that I’d be dumped if I met another customer who was cooler, richer, and kinder…”

It’s true that Kato was Michiru’s best friend. He had similar thoughts to Michiru.

There were many people who were more beautiful than Michiru. He could find a lot of people who had more money, are kinder, more thoughtful, and are better at their jobs. This was why Michiru was such an ordinary woman, with nothing to write about.

There was no proof that Kamijemori would not be swayed by a date, albeit a professional one, with a woman who was better than her.

‘And yet… Minoru still chose me…’

Desperately wanting to do something about the negative thoughts that wouldn’t stop once Michiru started thinking about it, she remembered Kamijemori’s words from yesterday.

“I like you.”

“… so much so that I don’t want any other man to touch you.”

“… so much so that I want to give you everything you want.”

‘Really?’

Michiru wondered how much she could believe those words. She wondered how serious he was.

He was just a few meters away, but Michiru couldn’t even call out to him. And neither could he.

‘… Minoru hadn’t even noticed.’

If she told him what she had seen, he would think she was trouble. If she kept quiet and pretended she didn’t know, Kamijemori would be there for her. If she said something strange and he gets disillusioned, if he feels burdened and said that they never went out, that would be worse.

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Chie’s words whispered to Michiru during the day.

‘I can’t ask… I can’t do that.’

In the past, in movies and novels, people would fall in love with each other and the story would end with a happy ending. But life doesn’t work that way. Michiru hadn’t even thought about it until now.

‘Even after we got together, I still feel this way.’

How much more would Michiru be threatened by the shadows of other women? Would there ever be a day when she felt safe?

She wondered if it’s because he’s a rental boyfriend, or if Michiru would feel the same way if he was working at another job.

She wasn’t sure. But still, even though her heart ached and ached. She didn’t want to think that it wouldn’t have been the rental boyfriend service that had brought her closer to him.

All the experiences she had so far were necessary, and the two of them were here now as a result. That’s what Michiru wanted to think.

‘I’d like to think so.’

Even though Michiru could think rationally in her head, her heart didn’t agree with her so easily.

The hot air from outside was slowly filling the room. Yet, Michiru was the only one shivering from the cold.