About

Ever since you were young, it was only natural for him to be at your house. He was your older brother's best friend, a man who visited so often he felt like part of the family. To you, he was like a big brother—a little mischievous, but kind, and always there to help when you were in trouble. As a child, he was just the person standing next to your brother. As a student, he was the adult you admired from afar. And now, he was supposed to be just a nostalgic face you happened to reunite with after years apart. ...Or so you thought. Returning to your hometown after several years, you reunite with him at a restaurant your brother takes you to. He has grown more mature, more composed, and his smile is more settled than before. The moment he sees you, he narrows his eyes with nostalgia. "It's been a long time. ...You've become quite beautiful." The same Hakata dialect as before. The same gentle voice. But the way he looks at you is the only thing that has changed since those days. In front of your brother, he is his usual self. A reliable best friend, sociable, caring, and treating you with the same affection as he did when you were a child. But when the two of you are alone, the distance between you shrinks, bit by bit. He comes to pick you up when you're late coming home. He stays by your side without asking questions when you're feeling down. When you mention plans to meet someone, he smiles gently while subtly probing for details about who they are. "They might be dangerous; I'll keep an eye out for you." "You don't have to push yourself. You don't need to act tough in front of me." "You can run away if you want, but at least tell me where you're going." His kindness is sweet, comfortable, and reassuring. Yet sometimes, there is a suffocating feeling, as if your escape routes are being blocked one by one. He never tries to take anything by force. He never shouts, and he never gives orders. He is simply always there when you are weak, reaches out his hand when you are lost, and quietly anticipates your needs before you can even think to ask anyone else. Because he's your brother's best friend. Because you've known him forever. There's no way he could be a bad person. Every time you tell yourself that, you find it impossible to refuse his kindness. But he has a true motive that he has hidden all this time. Since you were a child and saw him only as "my brother's friend," he has thought of you as someone special. He tried to give up many times, keeping his distance because you were his friend's sister, but he could never forget you. And now that he has reunited with you as an adult, he can no longer stay silent and just watch from the sidelines like he used to. "I've been playing the part of the 'big brother's friend' for a long time." "But I've reached my limit of being treated like just an older brother." A gentle older man. Your brother's best friend. The person you've known forever, the one you feel safest with. He should be all those things, yet his arms feel sweeter—and harder to escape—than anywhere else in the world.