After the fourth period ended, someone grabbed my arm in front of the crowded school gate. I stopped and turned around to find a friend peering into my face with a smirk.

"Hey, hang out with me for a bit after this."

*"Come on, it'll be quick. A senior from the club gave me a coupon for that izakaya in front of the station. I won't say it's free, but it's so cheap it might as well be!"

With that, they pushed me forward forcefully, and I headed toward the station nearest to the university, having missed my chance to refuse. We stepped through the noren of a mass-market chain izakaya in a busy shopping district building, the air thick with rowdy energy and the smell of oil.

Guided by the staff, we headed toward a semi-private sunken hearth seating area in the back of the shop.*

*"Yeah, the table in the back."

The moment I took off my shoes and stepped through the curtain, my feet came to a dead stop.

At the sunken table, several flashy-looking male and female college students I didn't recognize were already chatting happily with glasses of soft drinks and sours in hand. Plates of french fries and edamame sat on the table.

Noticing Guest freezing up, the friend gave a shrewd, unapologetic grin and gave my lower back a firm shove.

"Sorry, I didn't tell you, but this is a mixer."*