Hearing Hajime's question, Yukino smiled and said,
"Utaha-senpai has been busy these past few days negotiating that screenwriting job. So she asked me to come to the company whenever I have free time—to help look after my brother a bit, make sure he doesn't get so absorbed in work that he forgets the time."
"Oh! So that's how it is!"
Hajime suddenly understood. "Aoba mentioned something about that to me. No wonder Utaha hasn't been coming by much lately. Hehe, does that mean in a while we might be seeing a drama on TV written by Utaha herself?"
"If the talks go well, yes. But even if it's green-lit, it'll still take quite a bit of time to produce. At least a year, I'd say."
Hajime sighed a little. "A whole year, huh… I was hoping we'd get to see it this year, but that might be a stretch. Still, it's fine! As long as she lands the job, with Utaha's ability she'll definitely pull it off! Alright, I'm off to report to Ichin about my work!"
After Hajime dashed off to the programming team to find Ichin, Yukino placed down the tray she was holding and went into Ichin's office to quietly read her book.
Yagami Kou and Toyama Rin exchanged glances, then nodded and went back to work.
Looks like they really had been overthinking things. (T/N: And me too, stupid brain [-_-])
At four o'clock, Yukino stepped out of the office with her bag and walked over to the programming section to find Ichin.
"Big brother, I'm heading to the publishing house to pick up Utaha-senpai. Make sure you come back on time after work."
"Ah, about that—"
Ichin looked up from his screen and said,
"You two go ahead and eat dinner without me. I've run into a bit of a tricky issue here, and fixing it will probably take a few more hours. I might not finish until after eight. So tonight our programming team will be staying a little later. I'll ask HR to arrange bentos for dinner, so don't worry—I'll eat properly."
"I see… alright then."
Yukino nodded, didn't press further, and left the programming room.
Once she was gone, Ichin turned to everyone and said,
"Alright everyone, I'll need you to tough it out a little tonight. Let's focus on fixing the issue we just located. There's only one week left before we have to send the build for mastering."
"No problem!"
"Just two extra hours of work, and we're getting dinner too!"
"What are we eating tonight? I kind of want a burger—not really in the mood for rice!"
As the group started chatting about dinner choices, Ichin laughed and said,
"Okay, okay—make a list of what everyone wants, and Nene will send it to HR. But don't go overboard—we can only order from three restaurants total, got it?"
"Got it!!"
Time slipped by. Around 5:30, dinner arrived. After everyone in the programming team finished eating, the other departments gradually clocked out, leaving Ichin's team to keep working.
Even though it was overtime, they were getting paid extra, and it was a sudden issue—and with their boss staying to work alongside them, no one had any complaints.
In fact, this rare bit of overtime actually felt kind of fun.
While debugging his code, a nearly thirty-year-old programmer turned to Ichin and said,
"Boss, I've got a question for you."
"What's up? Work-related?"
"Nope—relationship advice."
"Uh, you're a married man asking a single guy for advice?"
"Hahaha, well, it's just that you and the boss-lady get along so well, so I figured you might know a thing or two."
Ichin chuckled and nodded. "Alright, ask away—but I can't promise I'll have a good answer."
Their exchange immediately drew the attention of the others. A few of the girls—like Narumi and Ruri Gokou—were all single, and naturally, their curiosity about this kind of topic was endless.
The male programmer thought for a moment before speaking.
"It's like this—March will be my wife's and my third wedding anniversary. I've been thinking about how to celebrate it and what kind of gift I should get her. After all, we don't have kids yet, and once we do in a couple of years, it'll probably be harder to celebrate properly. So, boss, do you think I should find a nice restaurant and pick out a good gift? I'm not exactly good at that kind of thing."
Hmm, a male programmer—understandable. Usually, when it comes to romance and atmosphere, guys tend to be a bit lacking.
Even Ichin himself had only improved in that department after spending time with Utaha.
After listening, Ichin paused his work to think for a moment before replying,
"For anniversaries, if your wife is someone who values those moments, then yes, it's worth preparing something nice. It's only once a year, after all.
As for restaurants, I actually don't think that's necessary—unless you book a private room, you'll still be surrounded by other customers, which kind of ruins the mood.
My suggestion is to prepare a candlelight dinner at home. Do everything yourself—that way, the atmosphere will be more intimate, and she'll really feel the effort you put in. When the day comes, tell me ahead of time and I'll approve you some time off to prepare.
As for the gift, that's the easy part. We've got plenty of women here with good taste—you can just ask everyone to help you pick something."
At that moment, Nene raised her hand enthusiastically.
"That's right! A candlelight dinner at home can feel just as romantic as any fancy restaurant! Trust us—we've been there!"
"Exactly! And we can help you pick out the gift too!"
"A wedding anniversary, huh? How romantic!"
"Now I kind of want to get married myself!"
"Then let's go to a mixer!"
"Eh… maybe not. I heard from Hazuki that mixers are tough—you can hardly find anyone suitable!"
After finishing the relationship consultation, Ichin let everyone chat for a bit before returning to work.
Time flew by—it was now 7:40 p.m., almost eight.
The programming bugs they'd found were nearly fixed. Once the final checks and tests were done, they could call it a day.
Just then, the door to the programming department suddenly opened.
Everyone looked up to see Utaha and Yukino walking in, each carrying several large bags.
Seeing them, Ichin blinked in surprise. "What are you two doing here again?"
Utaha smiled.
"Yukino told me you guys were working overtime tonight, so after dinner we decided to make something to reward you all. Here—freshly made fried chicken. We'll leave it here for you, so once you're done, you can have a late-night snack."
Her words made Ichin smile. He turned to the programmers and said,
"You all heard that, right? Get those bugs fixed quickly—or there won't be any chicken for you!"
"Ohhh!!"
"Fried chicken!!"
The moment they heard there was food involved, everyone suddenly became full of energy. Within fifteen minutes, the remaining work was cleanly and efficiently finished.
After that, they brought out some drinks from the break room while Utaha and Yukino unpacked the thermal containers filled with crispy fried chicken.
As soon as the lids came off, the rich aroma of fried chicken filled the air.
"There's dipping sauce here too, and some disposable forks. Everyone, dig in!"
"Awesome!!"
"I'm digging in!!"
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