Itaike na Muku ni Yokoshima

Summary

After losing his grandmother—the only family he had left—and then his home and job on top of that, Umebachi Hikari (Ume) ends up, through a strange twist of fate, working at a host club owned by Samegai Haruomi (Same). Having lived alone with his grandmother for many years, and for the past six months shuttling back and forth between the hospital where she was admitted and his part-time jobs, Ume had in a sense become quite naive about the ways of the world. Perhaps sensing Ume’s clumsiness and innocence, Ume could only cower before Same, who came across as somehow cold and harsh. Yet as he experienced the warm meals Same prepared for him and the awkward but genuine kindness Same occasionally showed, Ume’s heart gradually began to warm—ever so slightly.