"It seems the rumor is right."
As the two stood next to each other inside the smoking room, Nifuji, who held his cigarette nervously, thinking that Kabakura might know, but he sighed in relief when he heard Kabakura's words.
"You have a girlfriend!"
Still, while everything had passed, Nifuji was cautious by nature and tried to gauge Kabakura's expression and tried to see something else, except for the envy on his expression, which made him speechless. "Don't you have one too? She is a great beauty, too."
"You think that hag is beautiful?"
Kabakura didn't feel surprised when Nifuji knew about his relationship with Koyanagi.
"Of course, she is." Yet, Nifuji was speechless at Kabakura's question and how this guy mocked his own girlfriend. "She has a lot of people who court her in the office, you know?"
"All she has is too much useless fat on her chest; her face is so-so."
"....." Nifuji.
"When you are with someone so long, you won't think she is beautiful again, but your girlfriend is beautiful. She is your junior, right?"
Nifuji glanced at Kabakura speechlessly as he smoked calmly. "There should be a lot of cute juniors in your department. Just go after one of them."
"They are pale compared to yours."
Kabakura had heard a rumor about Nifuji's girlfriend, but she was unexpectedly beautiful and had a slender body like a model.
Watching Kabakura's expression, Nifuji only shook his head and kept what had happened to him and Koyanagi a secret till his death.
"But your girlfriend's boobs are bigger."
"..." Kabakura.
Still, if this guy mentioned his girlfriend like that, then Nifuji would also be reckless with his words.
"But compared to your girlfriend, I am even more surprised by your promotion."
Yup, compared to the problem of girlfriends, Kabakura was more surprised by Nifuji's sudden promotion.
"Well, the office is probably in a panic due to my former manager's scandal, so I came up to calm it down."
"That's true. They just want to finish everything quietly since such trouble might affect the stock price."
Yes, their office was on the stock market, so naturally, they shouldn't let a scandal and other issues affect their company's stock value.
Still, Kabakura felt conflicted when his junior took over him, and became the manager first.
Yet, Nifuji was also speechless at how Kabakura would just agree to his words, since if he didn't have the ability, would he have been chosen by his superior?
"Just hope your manager is caught in a scandal, too."
"..." Kabakura.
"Unlike you, my manager is a good family man."
"That's true." Nifuji took a smoke while shaking his head. "It's amazing that he can think to use the company's fund to take care of his sugar daughter."
"You said it again. I wonder what was going on in that guy's head."
"Probably, he only wished to make his sugar daughter happy by giving her money and money."
"Is there such an idiot?"
"Unexpectedly." Nifuji took another puff as he looked into the distance in a daze. "As one's life is empty and isn't being respected by his wife and children, he will seek his value and the feeling of being worth outside, such as the sugar daughter, so naturally, when his sugar daughter wants something, he will do his best to grant her wish, as seeing her happy means his happiness."
"....." Kabakura.
"Well, both of them are happy anyway. My manager got his happiness, and his sugar daughter got money. Everyone is happy."
"...but you are the happiest as you got the promotion."
"Don't get all sulky now, Senpai."
"..." Kabakura.
Yup, this guy was just jealous of him, who had suddenly received a promotion, but Nifuji felt that this promotion was troublesome, as it would add more to his workload. His situation had just calmed down after he moved into the new department, but unexpectedly, a new challenge was right before him.
It was like it was a sin to rest just for a moment, making him wonder whether life was like a boxing match, as he was only given one minute of rest before he had to fight for another round.
Fortunately, he had many ways to rest.
However, Kabakura was different as it would take a while, or it might be almost impossible for him to be promoted at least in the short term, since the promotion meant that they would take over the place of someone, take charge of the expanded team, or wait till the people above retire or were fired due to the scandal, like Nifuji's case.
"...do you have any tips?"
"Luck."
"..." Kabakura.
"Don't you have something else?!"
Nifuji sighed and asked, "Are your parents the owners of the company?"
"...." Kabakura.
"I won't ask about your parents, but are there any families within your company? Uncle? Aunty?"
"..." Kabakura.
"Goodbye."
As Nifuji was about to leave, Kabakura quickly clung to him, stopping him.
"Wait! Wait! Is there anyone else?"
"What else? You have been here for so long, Senpai. You should understand what society is. For us, if you want to be promoted, you have to rely on luck, but..."
"But..."
"Sometimes you need to create that luck."
Yes, if Nifuji didn't try to get close to his superior, knowing his hobby, and everything else, would he be chosen?
After all, there were people who were older than him in the department.
Yet, unlike them, who thought that they could get their chance as long as they worked a little longer and ignored the other factors, he made an extra effort, and more importantly, he had never hidden what he did and always told what he had done, so that they would know what he had done.
Working hard without being noticed?
If he did so, he would remain unnoticed and just stay on the corner, then somehow, had his junior overtake him, and just worked a boring, hard work, as he had long lost his vigor while thinking that everything he had done would be repaid, yet it didn't, and he just died from overwork.
Therefore, it was also due to this that if a person wanted to achieve their goals, they had to take the initiative, demonstrate their confidence, and seize the opportunity instead of letting it pass by someone else.
Still, as he had become the manager, what about his seniors, who could take his position?
Wouldn't he be worried that they might try to cause him trouble?
While age was important, the hierarchy was more significant, as he had said before, because a company in this country was like a small country.
If those staff and standard employees were all commoners, then a manager like him would be a samurai or a minor aristocrat, such as a baron in Europe.
During that feudal time, if commoners wanted to cause trouble for a samurai or a baron, they would be executed.
Nifuji might not be able to kill them, but he had a million ways to take them down.
"Well, there must be a chance for you in the future. Don't be down, Senpai."
Nifuji patted Kabakura's shoulder, who let out a helpless sigh, yet as the two were together, it might seem like the two were hugging, and because of that—
Shutter!
"....." 2x
The two turned around and saw Koyanagi there, holding her smartphone as she kept taking a picture of them.
"Ah, it's fine! I don't mind! Go ahead!"
"..." 2x
"KOYANAGI, YOU BITCH! DON'T YOU USE US FOR YOUR FILTHY IMAGINATION!"
As Kabakura roared, Nifuji somehow understood why this guy was so rough toward his girlfriend.
If not, then he was sure that everything would be a mess.
Yet, regardless, as everyone went home, Nifuji didn't go back immediately; instead, he brought his team to a good gathering restaurant and raised his glass, taking the initiative to say, "Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Yup, let's start the celebration party for his promotion!