June 15
The asphalt burns and sweat oozes out of every pore
as the blazing sun saps your energy away.
I get it. I feel your pain.
I'm in sales, too, after all.
But I must apologize.
My words of empathy, spoken in the chilly confines of this smoking room,
hold no water at all, and I know that.
This little act isn't helping.
Out of Order
Why is the damn A/C out of order?!
This must be part of the chief's master plan!
He probably jammed one of his things inside the A/C!
It's basically summer! It's hot!
He can't be that bored.
What, it's so hot, it's shot?!
Don't get so heated. You'll only feel the heat.
That's a shitty joke, and my take is freezing cold!
Oh, fine.
Wait, that'd be perfect, but it's not cold at all!
It'll get fixed tomorrow.
If anything, it's hot! This is pissing me off!
It'll get fixed next week.
It'll stay like this all summer.
Oh?
Good news, Suzuki. It'll get fixed tomorrow.
What? How would you know that?
My little superstition. It's pretty accurate, you know?
Squee! I'm tickled pink to hear that!
If it's not fixed tomorrow, you're a dead man!
Now, now.
Just believe in me and wait, Suzuki-san.
A cool future is nearly upon us.
Urk.
G-Good evening.
My bad.
I was washing away some milk a driver spilled everywhere
and started enjoying it too much.
A hose is a mighty tempting plaything.
This is weirdly tense.
Thank you for lending me the towel and trousers.
It's the least I could do, since it was my fault.
Oh, not at all.
No need to be so formal, Sasaki-kun.
We're pretty close in age.
W-We are?!
You look like you're in your forties.
And I'm forty exactly. Let's keep it casual.
Someone around my age is heading the busiest supermarket around these parts?
You have my utmost respect.
Why'd that make you up the formality?
You must be impressed every time you learn a person's age.
I can only imagine how you reacted when you learned Tayama's.
Huh? Tayama-san's age?
Yeah.
I have no idea.
Don't you smoke together all the time?
Y-Yeah.
You don't ask her any personal questions?
I don't.
Do you just have no interest in people?
Huh?
Of course I'm interested.
While she messes with me at times,
she still talks to an old dude like me.
How could I not want to get to know her better?
But I enjoy just listening to the things she wants to talk about.
The rest I can just wonder about as I walk home.
No wonder she took to him.
I get it now.
So you're saying you do like Tayama-san?
Whoa! Can we not jump to conclusions?!
Do you hate her, then?
You know I don't!
Then what exactly is it?
I mean, of course I lik...
Heya, I dropped by after a shopping trip.
Hmm?
Tch.
I'm sorry, Sasaki-kun. I've been summoned to deal with a customer complaint.
I'll be back with money to pay for your dry cleaning.
Have a chat with Tayama in the meantime.
Oh, okay...
Bye.
You're soaked, Sasaki-san.
Oh, yeah, I had a little accident.
Huh...
By the way, uh, Tayama-san?
Did you hear all that?
Hear all what?
Nothing. It was no big deal.
Your manager and I were just making small talk—
Wait, what? T-Tayama-san?
You need to dry your hair.
Uh, I didn't get my head wet...
Twenty-four.
Wh...
What is that number?
You can wonder about that as you walk home.
Translation: Sriram Gurunathan
Editing & Typesetting: Geoff Mazzolini Subtitle Timing: Krzysztof Kunc
Quality Check: Zachary Carlysle Translation Check: Sho Stifler