There wasn’t much that changed just because I got into the boss’s family register. Our relationship was already so close it was almost sticky.
“Nabi~”
“Meooow!”
I picked up Nabi and rubbed my cheeks against hers. Nabi kept meowing, asking to be let go, but I had no obligation to listen. Her fur was so soft and fluffy. The only thing I could give back to Nabi, who gifted me this wonderful sensation, was cheek rubbing.
“Meow!”
Ignoring Nabi’s protests, I continued to torment her. Soon, Nabi seemed to realize her situation and stopped meowing. She just went limp. Nabi was so well-behaved that she didn’t even try to scratch me with her claws. Of course, she occasionally raids the office, knocking everything off the desk.
While I was treating Nabi like a stuffed toy, the door opened, and the boss came in.
“Hana~”
“Boss!”
I greeted the boss as usual. But the boss hugged me and rubbed their cheeks against mine, just like I had done to Nabi. I waved my arms, trying to stop them. The boss was hugging me so tightly that I could barely breathe.
“Boss, boss! I can’t breathe!”
I tapped the boss’s arm repeatedly to stop them, but they didn’t listen. I was getting a taste of my own medicine. Nabi, watching from the side, was laughing at me. I glared at Nabi with narrow eyes, planning bloody revenge later. Nabi seemed to read my gaze and stopped laughing, fleeing to the top of the cat tower instead.
“Hana~”
And so, I was becoming the boss’s stuffed toy. It wasn’t that I disliked the cheek rubbing, but it felt like it was happening too often lately.
—————————————————-
“Ugh…”
I collapsed onto the bed after being cheek-rubbed too much by the boss. Thankfully, the boss seemed to notice and stopped. They said they had work to do and left the room. I blankly stared at the boss’s retreating figure before glancing to the side.
Nabi was looking at me. With a stern expression, I patted my thigh, signaling Nabi to come down. But Nabi didn’t listen. Instead, they climbed even higher on the cat tower. I got off the bed to catch Nabi.
“Ah!”
But Nabi was at the very top, out of my reach. It was dangerous if Nabi fell, so I waved my hand, urging them to come down.
“Nabi, come down! I won’t rub cheeks with you!”
“Meow!”
Nabi hissed and showed no intention of coming down. I looked around for some kind of tool. Humanity has survived this long by using tools. The human body is too weak to hunt other animals bare-handed.
I brought a chair over to the cat tower, planning to use it as a step. Nabi, seemingly aware of my actions, started fidgeting. The room door was closed, so Nabi had nowhere to escape. With a victorious smile, I stepped on the chair and reached the top of the cat tower, grabbing Nabi. Nabi, as if sensing her doom, froze in my arms.
“Nabi! You troublemaker!”
I placed Nabi on the bed and gave her a petting punishment. Nabi melted under my touch. Since I had already rubbed cheeks earlier, I didn’t plan to do it again. I also had a sense of empathy.
Having experienced the pain of cheek rubbing from the boss earlier, I didn’t want to inflict that on Nabi. Of course, my thoughts might change later, but for now, I had no such intentions.
————————————————————————————
Kim Yumin quickly called and reserved a sashimi restaurant. Luckily, there were still seats available. There weren’t many restaurants that could accommodate a large group of 10. Small restaurants would require splitting into separate rooms, which the seniors wouldn’t accept.
It was probably because they had higher seniority and didn’t want to sit with the department head.
After successfully making the reservation, we headed to the sashimi restaurant with the team in the evening. Inside, it was packed with people. The sashimi was…
I thought it was a bit pricey to eat alone. But when I saw the price tag, my mind changed. It wasn’t that expensive.
Well, flatfish used to be a premium fish species in the past, but now it’s one of the most common species. It was due to successful mass farming. In a way, it seemed like the cheapest among almost all fish. It was easy to raise, and there weren’t many difficulties in mass farming.
“Wow, there are so many people here.”
“Right? Was this store always this crowded? It didn’t seem like it before…”
After sending the team members to the reserved room, Kim Yumin ordered flatfish sashimi from the owner. He planned to mix other fish species later, but for now, it was all flatfish. Having successfully ordered the flatfish, Kim Yumin looked around.
“The flatfish is so delicious!”
“It sticks to your mouth! I’ve never had flatfish like this before!”
“I should’ve ordered flatfish too! No, I’ll order it now. Boss, please bring two servings of flatfish sashimi!”
Everyone around was eating flatfish. Despite being a sashimi restaurant, only flatfish was being sold. Kim Yumin blankly stared at his cigarette case. It was written that the tobacco leaves inside were harvested by Starlight Food.
Come to think of it, he realized that Starlight Food had become closely intertwined with his life. Just a year ago, he had never even heard of the company Starlight Food. He heard it was a company worse than any small or medium-sized enterprise. Just a small business with the name of a big corporation, Starlight.
But now it was different. Everywhere he went, the name Starlight Food was popping up. If food items didn’t have the Starlight Food name on them, it felt a bit suspicious.
And they even produced Tangle, a hair loss product. It was probably the best-selling product from Starlight Food. Ever since they cured the incurable disease of baldness, the reputation of Starlight Food had been skyrocketing. In the U.S., they were being revered as a godly company.
Anyway, while having these thoughts, Kim Yumin entered the room. Inside, his superiors were preparing to eat sashimi. Some had already loosened their belts, ready to eat as much as they could.
“Starlight Flatfish? I’ve never tried it before, but I’m looking forward to it!”
“Right. With the name Starlight on it, the taste is guaranteed.”
“But is Starlight Food expanding into the seafood industry now…?”
“Thanks to Starlight Food, my hair has become this thick!”
As they chatted, a store employee brought in the flatfish sashimi. The color was different from other flatfish. Just by looking at it, you could tell it was delicious.
“Wow! Just looking at it makes me hungry!”
“Yumin! You picked a great place today!”
“Hehe!”
Everyone picked up their chopsticks, full of anticipation. But in the civil servant world, hierarchy was important, so the team members waited until the department head ate first. The department head picked up a piece of flatfish sashimi with his chopsticks, dipped it in sauce, and put it in his mouth.
Watching the department head chew with his eyes closed, Kim Yumin reflexively swallowed his saliva. No matter how much he disliked the store, if the department head liked it, that was all that mattered. He didn’t need to worry about the other superiors’ opinions. In this department, the department head was the king!
The department head slowly opened his eyes and spoke.
“It’s really delicious.”
If the usually reserved department head said that much, the taste of Starlight Flatfish was guaranteed. The others also picked up their chopsticks and started eating the flatfish sashimi.
“Wow, this is insane!”
“From now on, this place is our department’s favorite spot!”
“It’s so good, so good!”
Everyone else was eating the flatfish sashimi with very satisfied expressions. Kim Yumin was worried in his heart about whether he should order other sashimi, but seeing his superiors and the department head aggressively eating the flatfish, he brushed off that worry. It seemed like they didn’t need to order other sashimi. Today, their department was satisfied with just the flatfish sashimi.
