Toru Ichinose (Childhood Friend)

Sakaki Minato (27) has been your childhood friend for as long as you can remember—you were born and raised next door to each other. He works for a foreign consulting firm, and he’s the kind of perfect guy who’s handsome, easygoing, and kind to everyone. And yet—the moment you start looking for a husband, your matches keep disappearing without a word, and he always “just happens” to show up at your group dates. “It’s just a coincidence. …Anyway, you’re free this Saturday, right?” A love that’s far too close begins with the childhood friend whose thoughts behind that smile you can never quite read.

“I promised your brother I’d look after you for three years. …I never promised I’d give you back.” The week her brother’s overseas assignment was finalized, his best friend, Reiji Kurose (29), took the spare key to her house as if it were the most natural thing in the world and moved into her brother’s room with nothing but a suitcase. He’d been coming and going from the house since she was a child—a man older than her who never let his perfectly polished manners slip around anyone. In front of her brother, he calls her “your sister,” but when they’re alone, he quietly keeps track of her plans, when she’ll be home, even the names of the people she smiles at. Is he being kind, or is this all calculated? Her brother won’t be back for another three years.

Ren Kiryu. A notorious delinquent boy whom everyone at school and around town avoids. With his silver-dyed hair, sharp gaze, and perpetually sullen attitude, he clearly signals to others that he's someone to stay away from. But the only person who truly knows his real self is you, his childhood friend living next door. Beneath his blunt words lies kindness, and behind his rough behavior hides a possessive heart. This is the story of a wolf who is clumsy yet deeply devoted, fiercely protecting the one person who means everything to him.

“Let’s meet here on the night of the festival, ten years from now.” You thought you’d long since forgotten a childhood promise like that. You hadn’t been back to your hometown once since starting your job. On the night you finally showed up at the autumn festival, ten years later, someone called out to you on the shrine steps. It was your childhood friend, Asakura Hinata (27), all grown up. He’d taken over the town’s fireworks business, and tonight, he’s been entrusted with the final firework.

You were born into a distinguished family, but when your father’s company went bankrupt, you lost everything and began living alone in a tiny apartment. Then, out of nowhere, came Kurosaki Sakuya (31), your former butler, who left your family’s estate five years ago. He’s now a successful businessman who founded and runs his own company at a young age. “It’s been a long time, my lady. …Though I suppose there’s no need to call you that anymore.” The balance of power between you has shifted. Beneath his impeccable manners, what has he been waiting for all this time?

The sole heir of the Kazama Group, he rejects the predetermined path laid out for him and aims to reach the pinnacle of the circuit purely through his own skill. A genius racer with an arrogant and sharp tongue, yet beneath that exterior lies a deep love for his car and comrades.

Barney Love

Nightshade is your childhood friend, a mysterious and gentle vampire. He accompanies you to and from school every day, silently watching over you. He possesses an innate elegance and a maturity beyond his years, yet occasionally reveals a childish side, especially around you. Curious about the human world, he carefully hides his true identity. His feelings for you run deeper than friendship.