Chapter 1: The App That Suddenly Appeared
“I need to hurry home. Kaoru is still waiting for me…”
Aina Ayada, dressed in a suit, had graduated from university a year ago, yet she already showed signs of devolving into a corporate drone. After work, she sat listlessly on the train ride home.
But the moment she thought of Hoshiya Kaoru waiting for her, the exhaustion in Aina’s eyes regained a spark of light, and her whole body seemed to surge with renewed energy.
Though the two were five years apart in age, their families—the Ayadas and the Hoshiyas—were neighbors, so they had practically grown up together as childhood sweethearts.
Four years ago, when Aina received her acceptance letter from Tokyo University and was about to leave their small rural village for the city, she was stunned to realize that her heart had quietly developed a woman’s fluttering affection for the already strikingly handsome Kaoru.
At that time, the gap between them wasn’t just five years. Aina was already an adult, while Kaoru was still a shy boy in a middle school uniform, his frame not yet fully grown…
Yet, after living in Tokyo—this dazzling, dizzyingly fast-paced international metropolis—for two years, experiencing its clamor, indifference, and omnipresent competitive pressure, Aina found herself longing even more for Kaoru, far away in their hometown.
In her memories, that boy was as pure and untouched as the first snow in the mountain forests, like a natural spirit wandering between sea breezes and woods.
Finally, during that year’s summer break, Aina returned home. The shy boy from her memories had now donned the local high school uniform.
Kaoru seemed to have undergone a metamorphosis. His figure was tall and graceful like bamboo after rain, his features more refined and handsome, his brows and eyes retaining a boyish purity while faintly revealing a unique charm caught between youth and maturity. Aina could no longer look away.
In that moment of reunion, seeing the boy smile shyly at her under the setting sun, the dam of reason in Aina’s heart collapsed with a thunderous roar, and long-suppressed emotions surged forth like a tide.
She could no longer hold back. On a night filled with stars, she gathered her courage and confessed her deeply buried feelings to the boy.
To her overwhelming joy, Kaoru had also developed feelings for the big sister he’d grown up with. Just like that, they became a couple.
After two more years of long-distance love, upon graduating from university, Aina brought Kaoru—who had average grades and had given up on college—to Tokyo. Thus began their life living together.
From the start, Aina had made it clear to Kaoru: she brought him to Tokyo to give him a better life. Earning money and working—those things were her responsibility.
And Kaoru, naturally, had no doubts about what his “Aina-nee,” who had gotten into Tokyo University, told him. For the past year in Tokyo, he had stayed at home like a househusband.
Lately, however, Kaoru seemed to have noticed something. He had mentioned several times to Aina that he wanted to find a job himself to help ease her burden.
Aina’s stress had indeed been mounting. Though a Tokyo University graduate, she hadn’t landed a satisfying job. Her current salary, after covering the mortgage and their living expenses, left almost nothing.
Thus, Aina felt she hadn’t fulfilled her original promise—she hadn’t given Kaoru a better life. Alongside guilt, she was somewhat angry with herself, frustrated at her own inadequacy.
Kaoru, of course, noticed his lover’s unusual behavior and had somewhat guessed the reason. That was why he suggested finding work himself to at least contribute to household expenses.
Aina knew Kaoru’s intentions were for her sake, but she still felt her pride take a hit and didn’t agree.
It was only after Kaoru brought it up multiple times—the last time nearly leading to an argument—that she finally relented, agreeing he could look for a job that wasn’t too taxing.
Last night, while holding Kaoru in bed, Aina heard him say he seemed to have found a pub near their home, and the owner had already agreed to let him work as a server.
Though Aina’s feelings were complicated, knowing Kaoru was doing it for her, she didn’t say anything more.
In truth, Aina’s initial reluctance for Kaoru to work stemmed mainly from her unwillingness to let him be exposed to the outside world.
Kaoru, raised in a small seaside fishing village on Kyushu Island, had no idea how dangerous his beauty and the innocent, childlike aura he exuded at all times were in a city that amplified human desires endlessly—like a child clutching a priceless gold nugget walking down the street.
When Aina first brought Kaoru to Tokyo by plane, she had only stepped away to use the restroom, leaving him to wait with the luggage.
In that short time, if she hadn’t returned quickly, the naive boy would have been sweet-talked and led away by a woman with dyed yellow hair.
During the days Aina later took Kaoru sightseeing in Tokyo, she could naturally sense the sticky, revolting gazes from passing women lingering on him.
Thus, Aina worried about the times she wouldn’t be by Kaoru’s side. To prevent anything bad from happening, she could only try to keep him at home and not go out.
Though for a boy who had only recently come of age and was still inexperienced in the world, this might be somewhat cruel.
But… Aina was doing it for Kaoru’s own good.
Just as Aina was lost in thought, her phone suddenly chimed. Thinking it was a message from Kaoru at home, she took it out, unlocked the screen—only to find no unread messages.
Aina thought nothing of it and was about to swipe to turn off the screen when her finger suddenly froze.
Her gaze was locked onto an unfamiliar app icon on the home screen.
It was an extremely minimalist icon: a bright yellow background with a crisp white alarm clock in the center, looking like some common memo or schedule management app.
Below the icon, the app name was clearly labeled—“Countdown.”
[Did Kaoru install this for me? Is it full of reminders for anniversaries or something…?]
The icon looked so proper that Aina didn’t particularly suspect it was anything malicious. Besides, she didn’t visit shady websites, so she guessed it was probably something Kaoru had downloaded for her.
Without thinking too much, Aina tapped to open the app.
The app’s interface matched its icon—utterly minimalist, even to the point of being barebones.
The main page was a pure white background with only a few lines of black text in a standard, cold font, devoid of any decoration or images.
Yet, these few lines of utterly emotionless text were like icicles freezing in an instant, carrying a bone-piercing chill that stabbed straight into Aina’s heart.
Her pupils contracted sharply, her breathing halted, and the hand holding the phone trembled uncontrollably. Her fingertips turned ice-cold, nearly dropping the phone onto the grimy train floor from sudden weakness.
Displayed prominently on the app’s main page were the words:
Time until your boyfriend, Hoshiya Kaoru, is NTR’d:
————
100 days