Chapter 34 — Quiet heart, Hidden Plans
— Reina's POV
Ding-dong.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang just as Reina was scrolling through Haru's modeling pictures for the third time that morning. Her thumb hovered over the screen, stuck between liking the post again and throwing her phone across the room because of how perfect he looked.
She blinked, snapped out of it, and sat up straight on her bed.
"Delivery for Tachibana Reina," a woman's voice called from outside.
Her heart skipped.
It's here.
She ran down the hallway, trying not to look too desperate, and opened the door. A neatly dressed courier bowed and handed her a small, carefully wrapped box with the store's logo on it.
"Thank you," Reina said quickly, bowing back.
She closed the door with more care than usual and walked slowly toward her room, as if the box could explode if she moved too fast. Her heart was beating like she'd just won a national lottery.
Back in her room, she sat on the edge of her bed, placed the box in front of her, and stared at it.
"That's… fast," she muttered. "I only ordered it a few hours ago…"
Her fingers trembled slightly as she pulled at the tape and opened the lid.
Inside, resting on a bed of soft white padding, was the small custom gift she had designed for him in Chapter 33. The charm gleamed softly against the fabric, the engraved letters catching the light.
Stay safe Haru.
Seeing those words carved there, her chest tightened.
It was such a simple thing. Just a charm. Just a small accessory. A tiny object in a world full of glitter and noise.
But for her, this was a confession trapped in metal.
Reina gently picked it up between her fingers. It felt light, but the meaning was heavy. She brought it closer, running her thumb over the engraving.
"Stay safe Haru…" she whispered, cheeks slowly reddening. "This sounds like something a wife would give…"
She flopped backward on her bed, holding the charm above her face.
"What kind of reaction will he have?"
She closed her eyes and imagined it.
In her mind, Haruya stood in the school hallway, looking at her with those gentle blue eyes. She would hold the charm out with a shy smile.
"Haru… I bought this for you. Because you're important to me."
He would blink, surprised, then smile warmly.
"Thank you, Reina. I'll treasure it."
Her heart squeezed painfully at the thoughts in her mind.
Then reality pushed in.
"Wait…" she muttered, rolling onto her side and hugging the charm to her chest. "When should I give it to him? If I give it too early, will he think I'm weird? Too clingy? Too desperate?"
She frowned, thinking.
The holidays were still going on. There were a few days left before school started again. She could technically ask him to meet somewhere, like a quiet café or park…
"N-No," she instantly refused out loud. "That sounds like a date. I'm not ready for that. I'll die."
Her face turned crimson just imagining it. Sitting across from him, alone, in some romantic atmosphere? No, her heart wouldn't survive that.
She rolled on the bed again, this time burying her face into a pillow.
"What about messaging him?" she mumbled into the fabric. "I can text, 'Haru, can we meet? I want to give you something.'"
She lifted her head, eyes wide.
"And then what? He'll ask, 'What is it?' and I'll panic, and my brain will shut down. No way. I can't."
She groaned and pressed the pillow over her face. For a few seconds, her legs kicked lightly in embarrassment. Then she calmed down and sat up again, looking at the charm resting in her palm.
"Think, Reina, think…"
She stared at her school uniform hanging neatly inside her wardrobe.
Then it hit her.
"The last day of the holiday," she whispered. "First day back at school. That's perfect."
Everyone would be excited. There would be noise, energy, people showing off new hairstyles, new bags, new gossip.
In the middle of that, she could ask Haru to stay behind after homeroom. No special location, no forced mood, just them in a normal school environment.
Safe. Familiar. Less terrifying.
"I'll give it to him then," she decided, nodding firmly. "On the first day back. At school."
She smiled softly to herself.
"I want him to think of me whenever he looks at it. Not just as a classmate…" Her eyes softened. "But as someone special."
A small pang of anxiety poked her chest.
Saeko will probably give him something too.
She already knew. She wasn't stupid. The way Saeko looked at Haru, the way her hands shook when he talked, the way she lit up when he smiled at her.
She was shy, but her feelings were loud.
Reina sighed, brushing her thumb across the charm again.
"I won't lose," she murmured with a small, determined smile. "But I won't hate her either. If it's Saeko… it's okay."
She stood, opened her drawer, and carefully placed the charm inside, wrapping it in a soft handkerchief so it wouldn't scratch.
"Wait for your owner," she told it, cheeks hot. "Until the end of the holidays… then I'll finally give you to him."
She closed the drawer, leaned her forehead against it for a second, and whispered:
"Haru… just wait. I'll make sure you remember me."
---
— Saeko's POV
A notification popped up on Saeko's phone while she was still half-buried in her blanket.
Your package has been delivered.
Her eyes widened instantly, sleep flying out of the window.
"Eh?! It's already here?!"
She scrambled out of bed, nearly tripping over her own feet, and rushed to the front door. Her mother's voice called from the living room:
"Saeko, slow down! You'll fall!"
"I-It's fine, Mom!" she replied, already putting on her slippers backwards.
A small cardboard box was sitting neatly near the entrance, exactly where delivery people usually left parcels. Saeko bent down, picked it up with both hands like it was fragile glass, and quietly closed the door again.
She carried it back to her room as if she were carrying something sacred.
Once inside her room, she sat cross-legged on her futon and stared at the box.
Her heart pounded so loudly it echoed in her ears.
"This is it… this is the one I customized…"
She thought back to Chapter 33, when she'd spent nearly an hour choosing fonts, colors, and that single small message. She had deleted and rewritten it so many times.
"for Haru."
Just thinking of those words made her curl her toes.
"T-This is so embarrassing…"
She took a deep breath and started unboxing it carefully. The cardboard flap opened with a soft rip, and she gently folded the sides back. Inside, a smaller decorated box rested like a secret.
Saeko opened it.
There it was.
The simple, clean charm she had ordered, shining softly under her room's light. The engraved letters were neat and clear.
For Haru.
Her throat tightened.
Seeing it in real life was different than seeing it on the customization page. It felt ten times more real — and ten times more embarrassing.
She picked it up, holding it between her fingers. It was cool at first, then slowly warmed up from her touch.
"This… really feels like something a girlfriend would give," she whispered, face turning bright red.
Her imagination sparked without permission.
She saw herself standing in the school hallway, fidgeting, while Haru stood in front of her with his calm, gentle eyes.
"H-Haru," she would say, voice shaking. "I… I got this for you. Because you're important to me… and… I want you to stay safe."
He'd blink, surprised, and then smile that soft, heart-melting smile.
"Thank you, Saeko. I'll always keep it with me."
Saeko slapped both hands to her face and collapsed backward on the futon.
"Uwaaaahhh… I can't… I'll die… I'll seriously die…"
She rolled around for a solid thirty seconds, hugging the charm to her chest and kicking her legs out like a panicking puppy. Finally, she stopped, panting slightly.
"No, I have to be brave. I promised myself."
She held the charm above her, staring at the engraving again.
For, Haru.
"He's too kind," she murmured. "If I don't do anything, someone else will take him."
Her thoughts flashed to all those online comments she'd seen under his modeling photos.
I want to marry him.
He's my dream boy.
I'd give anything to be with someone like that.
Girls all over the country were going crazy over a boy they had never even met.
But she…
She sat next to him in class.
She heard his voice every day.
She saw his smiles up close.
Her grip on the charm tightened slightly.
"I won't lose," she whispered, eyes shimmering. "I don't want to just be one of the girls who likes him from afar."
But then another thought stabbed her chest.
Reina-san…
She liked Reina. She truly did. Reina was strong, stylish, bold, and honest. Someone Saeko admired and envied at the same time.
She had seen the change in Reina's eyes too, the way she looked at Haru, softer and more focused than before. It wasn't hard to guess what Reina felt.
"I don't want to fight her," Saeko whispered, blinking back a little sting in her eyes. "But… I don't want to give up either."
She sat up slowly, wiped her eyes, and took several deep breaths.
"Okay. Think. When should I give this to him?"
She thought about calling him out during the holidays, maybe to a park or café.
Instant rejection.
"No way… That's too scary. I-I can't just suddenly ask him to meet. My heart will explode."
She considered sending him a picture of the charm, with a message: I made this for you… do you like it?
Her thumb hovered over the "message" button for a while.
She typed:
Haru, can I give you something after the holidays?
She stared at it for ten seconds.
Then deleted it.
"Ughhh… why am I like this…"
In the end, the safest and least terrifying choice appeared:
"I'll give it to him when school starts again," she decided. "That way, it's more natural. I can just say, 'I thought about you during the holidays and got this for you.'"
She nodded to herself, feeling a fragile courage forming.
"That's right. I want him to know that even when we weren't meeting at school, I was thinking of him."
Her cheeks flushed again.
"Saeko, calm down… you'll overheat your brain…"
She stood, went to her small cupboard, and opened the door. After thinking for a moment, she folded a soft handkerchief around the charm, set it carefully inside a small box, and tucked it into the back of the shelf.
"There," she whispered. "Until the end of the holidays… stay there and gather luck."
She closed the cupboard and placed a hand over it.
In her heart, she repeated:
When school starts again…
I'll be a little braver.
Just a little.
---
— Hanma Studio Manager POV (Hoshino Mikari)
Hoshino Mikari sat behind her organized desk on the top floor of Hanma Studio, a mug of coffee slowly cooling beside her untouched. Papers were spread out in front of her — contracts, schedules, security reports, and a fresh file with a single name on the top.
Takahara Haruya — Internal Protection File
She leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes for a moment.
Her career had not been an accident.
Mikari had started as a simple assistant, years ago, in a different agency. Back then, she'd thought this industry was all about creativity and beauty — photoshoots, fashion shows, artistic expression.
She had learned fast that it was also about power and greed.
Back then, even in this world, there had been a few agencies that tried to push the limits of the Male Protection Act. They would overwork their few male talents, force them into endless brand deals, keep them on exhausting schedules just to squeeze out more profit.
Mikari had watched one of those boys — a quiet, polite boy with a soft smile very similar to Haru's — collapse from exhaustion after a three-hour a day. She still remembered how the agency brushed it off.
"Just let him rest a bit. He's valuable, we can't cut shoots now."
But the part that haunted her was his expression.
He hadn't complained. Not once.
He'd just smiled and said, "I'm okay," even when he clearly wasn't.
That day had made something inside her snap.
She quit that agency.
Went back to school.
Studied management, law, and everything related to the Male Protection regulations.
By the time she joined Hanma Studio, she wasn't just another staff member anymore.
She was a storm with a smile.
Slowly, she climbed up — project coordinator, security liaison, lead organizer. Every time someone suggested bending the rule "just a little" for more profit, she shut it down without mercy.
When she finally took the position of studio manager, the board had one condition: "Make us grow… but never let any scandal touch us."
She had accepted.
Not because of the board.
But because of the boys.
The rare, fragile center of this whole upside-down industry.
She opened her eyes and looked at Haruya's file again. Inside were printed screenshots of his modeling shots, blurred fan reactions, and a summarized report from the government's Male Security Department.
[Subject appearance: Extremely high public response.
Risk rating: 9/10.
Recommendation: Tighten all access channels. Monitor in all public commercial activity. ]
Mikari flipped to the next page: Hanma Studio's own internal notes.
[Note: Subject is polite, composed, and seemingly unaware of his full public impact. Extra caution recommended to protect him from obsessive behavior, especially from high-status individuals. ]
She sighed.
Her mind flashed back to the photoshoot with Miyahara Yume.
She had watched everything — from the observation room, from behind glass, and from the corner of the set. Yume's eyes had been obvious to anyone with experience: fascinated, flustered, hungry in a way Yume herself was probably trying hard to hide.
But what had relieved Mikari was one small, important detail:
Haruya had never looked uncomfortable.
He had been calm.
Gentle.
Polite.
Kind.
He'd spoken to Yume without fear, without arrogance.
Mikari respected that.
But that didn't mean she trusted the world around him.
She reached for her pen and started writing a new internal directive.
[ New Protocol — Subject: Takahara Haruya
1. All future sessions must have at least one senior staff member present.
2. No celebrity or client allowed private time unless pre-approved and recorded.
3. All gifts offered to subject during studio work must be documented and, if necessary, inspected for hidden devices.
4. Confidential identity and basic profile must remain hidden. Only first name level usage allowed.
5. Any unusual behavior from clients (excessive contact requests, attempts to approach subject outside the studio, etc.) must be reported directly to Manager Hoshino. ]
She read over it once, then signed and stamped it.
This would be circulated to the internal staff before the next shoot.
She then opened her email and typed a message to the government's Male Protection liaison.
[ To: Male Protection Act – Talent Security Division
Subject: Updated Internal Protection Measures – Takahara Haruya
Dear Officer,
As requested, attached are the documents detailing Hanma Studio's additional measures to ensure full compliance regarding the safety and anonymity of Takahara Haruya. We are fully committed to prioritizing his well-being above any commercial benefit.
Regards,
Hoshino Mikari
Studio Manager, Hanma Studio
]
She sent it.
Leaning back, she let out a slow breath.
"You're really something, kid…" she murmured to herself, looking again at a printed photo of Haru from the shoot — that gentle, unconsciously captivating expression. "You have no idea how many people are already trying to pull you in different directions."
She smiled faintly, the protective kind of smile.
"But as long as you're under my roof, they're going to have to go through me first."
On her desk, another file rested — this one labeled:
Potential Future Collaborations — Miyahara Yume
She hesitated, then scribbled a note under it:
[Allow collaboration: Yes
Under strict condition: She doesn't overstep.]
Mikari tapped her pen against the desk thoughtfully.
"Yume… I can see it in your eyes," she whispered. "You're already not thinking of him as just a model."
Her eyes hardened slightly.
"I don't mind if you fall for him. Everyone does. But if you cross the line…"
She smiled, but her eyes were sharp.
"I will cut the contract. No matter how bright your name shines Miyahara yume."
She closed all the files, stacked them neatly, and finally reached for her long-forgotten coffee. It had gone cold, but she drank it anyway.
Far away, in their own rooms, Reina and Saeko were hiding small boxes filled with affection and hope.
And somewhere above all of them, quietly and invisibly, the world was already shifting around a single boy — who still didn't fully understand just how many hearts he had captured.
— To be continued.