The day's classes ended quickly.As soon as the clock hit six, Asakura Kaito and Xu Eiyong rushed straight to their part-time workplace.
The restaurant they worked at, a place called "SWING", was a well-known spot directly across from Shinsei Academy High School.Although it was called a "tea café," it was more like a fusion of a Hong Kong–style diner and a Western afternoon-tea house. They served everything from roast-duck platters to steak pasta. A perfect blend of East and West.The décor was artsy, retro, and aimed squarely at a youthful crowd.
At 70–80 yen per person, the price was steep but still manageable. Whenever students wanted to treat themselves, this was the place they came.
Today was the restaurant's anniversary celebration, so the place was buzzing.
The moment they entered, Kaito and Xu Eiyong were hurried toward their stations by Manager Wang.
"Come on, come on, you two — you're late today!"
"No time to change uniforms! Tables 7 and 8 have customers — go, hurry!"
Kaito didn't even have time to put down his backpack. He quickly grabbed an order pad and squeezed through the crowd.
He reached Table 8.
"Hello~ ladies, what would you like to eat?"Kaito instantly switched into work mode, offering a bright smile to the two women dressed in business attire.
"One Swiss twin-wing rice… and…"The woman studied the menu, deeply focused.
Her friend nudged her elbow under the table, whispering:
"Hey hey, look!"
The woman looked up in confusion — and her eyes lit up when she saw Kaito.
"Little guy, are you still in school?"her friend teased.
"Yes."
"You're in high school, right? Oh! Are you from Shinsei Academy next door?"
"That's right."
"Looking this handsome, you must be drowning in girlfriends, huh?"
"Haha, you're flattering me, miss."Kaito didn't dodge the teasing. Instead, he simply gave a sunny smile."Our school doesn't allow dating."
"That makes sense. A hardworking student like you, doing part-time jobs after class — of course you wouldn't waste time on other things."The woman stared boldly at Kaito's face, full of open admiration.
"Ladies, would you like to order anything else?"Kaito skillfully shifted the topic back at just the right moment.
Only then did the woman realize they'd been chatting without finishing the order. She hurriedly browsed the menu again.
"Add one double-cheese pineapple bun, and one fried rice."
"Our restaurant's fried chicken steak is one of our signature dishes — only 38 yen."Kaito recommended.
"Alright, give us one."
"The sizzling original-cut steak is also great — only 89."
"That too. Write it down."
Her friend grabbed her arm in panic."Just us two… we're not going to finish all that…"
"It's fine, it's fine."The lady cupped her face, staring at Kaito like a blooming flower."If we can't finish, we'll leave it for the little brother~"
"That'll be all! Serve it like this!"
"Understood."Kaito took the menu and stepped away with a polite smile.
Just like that, he closed a big order — effortlessly.
For him, scenes like this had already happened countless times.
With a stunning face, height around 180cm, still a high-schooler from the area, and working part-time at a stylish restaurant right after class—
All buffs stacked.
It was hard for people—especially women—not to be charmed.
Female customers often asked for his LINE while ordering, but he would always decline politely, saying he was too busy with school and didn't use social media much.
Most women understood and even admired him."What a good student!"Some even sighed that they weren't born a few years later — maybe they could've met him in high school.
Kaito didn't mind. In fact, he enjoyed this kind of situation.
Originally, the job paid 30 yen per hour. But because of Kaito's outstanding performance, even the notoriously stingy Manager Wang had to raise it to 40 yen.
Among all the part-time high-schoolers in the restaurant, Kaito's salary was the highest.
Having a handsome face really did make every industry easier.Definitely better than doing foot-massage work.
Every time, Xu Eiyong could only watch with jealousy.
Same working hours — yet Kaito earned dozens more each shift.Damn it!
The busiest hour — the dinner rush — finally passed.
Kaito and Xu Eiyong finally found a moment to rest. They leaned against the wall, catching their breath.
Kaito scanned the restaurant absent-mindedly — and noticed that the two women from earlier had set up their phones on the table and were moving their hands in front of the camera.
As if performing hand signs.
Curious, Kaito nudged Xu Eiyong.
"What are they doing?"
"Huh?"Xu Eiyong followed his gaze and instantly understood.
"Oh, that's obviously TikTok recording! Probably that trendy hand-gesture dance everyone's doing!"
"TikTok?"
"Yeah!"Xu Eiyong suddenly remembered."Oh right, I forgot — you don't use TikTok."
"Nowadays everyone's on it! Our whole city's trying to become a viral-internet hub. Go downtown and you'll see TikTok wannabe influencers everywhere."
"Those two aren't great at it — not good figures — so they're using heavy beauty filters and only showing the upper body. If they had real skills, they'd already be shaking their hips!"
"Stuff like that has helped so many people who used to work in… foot-massage shops find 'online re-employment.'"
"…"
Listening to Xu Eiyong's crude commentary, Kaito rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Does TikTok have music content? Like instrument performances?"
He had seen plenty of that on Bilibili, but wasn't familiar with TikTok's content.
"Of course! Tons!"Mentioning this fired Xu Eiyong up instantly.
"For example! There's this piano girl — she films everything from a top-down angle, only showing the lower half of her body, and the camera's pointed right at her thighs. Bro, she's the queen of thirst traps! One day without watching her and my yang energy drops. Two days without watching and I lose all vitality!"
"…"
Kaito guessed he knew which creator Xu was talking about — the same one with an account on Bilibili.Though he didn't think it was that exaggerated…Probably just Xu's forum-warped imagination.
Speaking of pianos—
Kaito suddenly noticed something.
The grand piano on the platform in the center of the restaurant — usually buried under fake flowers as decoration — had its cover removed today.
"Why is that open?"Kaito pointed at it.
"You mean the piano?"
"It's the anniversary celebration. Isn't it normal?"Xu Eiyong shrugged."They probably didn't want to spend money hiring a pianist, so they're letting musically-skilled customers play if they want. You know how cheap that idiot manager is."
Kaito stared at the piano, deep in thought.
"…What's wrong?"Noticing Kaito's strange expression, Xu turned to look — then looked back at the piano.Very quickly, his face twisted in disbelief.
"Don't tell me… you want to play?"
Kaito didn't answer. He just kept staring at the piano.
Xu Eiyong's expression went from confused to horrified.
"Oi oi! You're not serious, right?! Don't disgust me — you didn't watch one of those videos titled 'Super Easy Piano Songs to Impress Everyone — Foolproof Beginner Tutorial' and decide to try it, did you?!"
"That stuff is not reliable!"
Kaito ignored him.
He walked straight through the crowd, heading directly toward the piano.