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Between his intense workload and asshole boss, salaryman Hirokuni is burnt out! He's on the edge of a nervous breakdown when Kai, an childhood friend he used to look after, comes to visit for the first time in 12 years. Kai has recently become homeless, so Hirokuni reluctantly lets him move in.
Kai quickly confesses that he is gay, and Hirokuni worries that his chastity might be in danger! But then Kai gets to work, serving up delicious home-cooked food for breakfast, lunch and dinner...
Isn't it kind of nice to be taken care of for once...?
The domestic story of a handsome, cool guy with great housekeeping skills and a lonely, burned out salaryman!
Kai quickly confesses that he is gay, and Hirokuni worries that his chastity might be in danger! But then Kai gets to work, serving up delicious home-cooked food for breakfast, lunch and dinner...
Isn't it kind of nice to be taken care of for once...?
The domestic story of a handsome, cool guy with great housekeeping skills and a lonely, burned out salaryman!
210 pages, Paperback
Published August 22, 2025
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 29, 2024
In addition to being a sweet romance novel, this manga addresses toxicity at work. I found the portrayal of professional events and problems to be more appealing than romance. Other than this, the manga has a monotonous and predictable tone that makes it seem like nothing is noteworthy or worth recommending.
July 20, 2022
One of the better mlm mangas out there. It's not so heavy on the smut and concentrates more on the relationship between the two main characters. Really liked this one!
August 9, 2025
See, right after my Manga-Planet-Critical review, I tried this one, which is a perfect example of why I keep picking up the print copies as they come up for preorder. (Maybe I should just make a habit of trying to read them in advance as soon as I see the announcements.)
This was pretty close to a 5 star story for me. It was the tiniest bit thin on actual relationship development, mostly because Hiro was completely and utterly overtaken by work and barely got to spend any time actually at home with Kai. Despite that, there was some real weight to their dynamic, and very believable chemistry.
The other negative came fairly early on, when Kai jerked Hiro off - to "help him fall asleep" - despite having told him that he "wouldn't jump him." It was a brief enough scene with months and months of that type of thing never happening again, but it just felt unnecessary. Kai's interest in Hiro was clear enough without that. I guess that was one of his very few moments of selfishness?
Their backstory was an interesting one, because it wasn't really the childhood friends to lovers story I thought it was going to be. They knew each other when they were both kids - Hiro a few years older - and, honestly, Kai's hero at the time. Kai was a latchkey kid with a dad who eventually abandoned him, leaving him to sort out his life at an age when kids really aren't built to be that independent. He doesn't tell Hiro how he managed for some of those years, but when he tried to dine and dash one day, the restaurant owner caught him, then took him in and let him live and work there up until the point of this story.
When the owner - his "real" father by this point - collapsed and had to go to the hospital, his biological son essentially kicked Kai out of his home, leaving him again with nowhere to go. Kai somehow ran across Hiro's mother, who told him where to find her son, and also kind of asked Kai to take care of him, since she knew he was overworking himself.
So he did...because for the past ten years, he'd always been a little bit in love with that kind older boy from his childhood. But at the same time, too afraid to ever look him up and discover those perfect images from the past might be ruined by whoever he'd become in the present.
Turns out he likes present-day Hiro just as much, if not more. The only problem is that Hiro is quite literally working himself to death.
That was the bigger theme of this story than the romance. And as a very tired working adult whose job has been getting more and more draining, I felt really connected to Hiro's struggles, as well as to Kai's frustration over him not just picking up and quitting. It's not so easy to do that, but he needed to, desperately.
There were a few minor things, like the bonus comics with Kai not seeming to inherit the old man's restaurant, even though that had been a plot point and an area of contention with him and his son? But I guess he's forging his own path. And I was honestly surprised that Hiro's team lead, Kaneko, encouraged him to quit but didn't offer to bring him with him to his new job. Hiro ended up working with him eventually anyway - I hope that epilogue is in the print edition - but it seems like Kaneko could've given him a hand earlier. I guess maybe Hiro needed to make his own decision to break away from work on his own.
I just really liked this story, from the art to the maturity of the characters to the way their relationship was a natural and important part of their lives but not the primary focus. They chose each other in the midst of everything else that was going on, and learned how to be more open about what they wanted and needed from each other.
Not a completely perfect story, but it was pretty close, and I'd better be able to get my hands on a physical copy so I can revisit it.
This was pretty close to a 5 star story for me. It was the tiniest bit thin on actual relationship development, mostly because Hiro was completely and utterly overtaken by work and barely got to spend any time actually at home with Kai. Despite that, there was some real weight to their dynamic, and very believable chemistry.
The other negative came fairly early on, when Kai jerked Hiro off - to "help him fall asleep" - despite having told him that he "wouldn't jump him." It was a brief enough scene with months and months of that type of thing never happening again, but it just felt unnecessary. Kai's interest in Hiro was clear enough without that. I guess that was one of his very few moments of selfishness?
Their backstory was an interesting one, because it wasn't really the childhood friends to lovers story I thought it was going to be. They knew each other when they were both kids - Hiro a few years older - and, honestly, Kai's hero at the time. Kai was a latchkey kid with a dad who eventually abandoned him, leaving him to sort out his life at an age when kids really aren't built to be that independent. He doesn't tell Hiro how he managed for some of those years, but when he tried to dine and dash one day, the restaurant owner caught him, then took him in and let him live and work there up until the point of this story.
When the owner - his "real" father by this point - collapsed and had to go to the hospital, his biological son essentially kicked Kai out of his home, leaving him again with nowhere to go. Kai somehow ran across Hiro's mother, who told him where to find her son, and also kind of asked Kai to take care of him, since she knew he was overworking himself.
So he did...because for the past ten years, he'd always been a little bit in love with that kind older boy from his childhood. But at the same time, too afraid to ever look him up and discover those perfect images from the past might be ruined by whoever he'd become in the present.
Turns out he likes present-day Hiro just as much, if not more. The only problem is that Hiro is quite literally working himself to death.
That was the bigger theme of this story than the romance. And as a very tired working adult whose job has been getting more and more draining, I felt really connected to Hiro's struggles, as well as to Kai's frustration over him not just picking up and quitting. It's not so easy to do that, but he needed to, desperately.
There were a few minor things, like the bonus comics with Kai not seeming to inherit the old man's restaurant, even though that had been a plot point and an area of contention with him and his son? But I guess he's forging his own path. And I was honestly surprised that Hiro's team lead, Kaneko, encouraged him to quit but didn't offer to bring him with him to his new job. Hiro ended up working with him eventually anyway - I hope that epilogue is in the print edition - but it seems like Kaneko could've given him a hand earlier. I guess maybe Hiro needed to make his own decision to break away from work on his own.
I just really liked this story, from the art to the maturity of the characters to the way their relationship was a natural and important part of their lives but not the primary focus. They chose each other in the midst of everything else that was going on, and learned how to be more open about what they wanted and needed from each other.
Not a completely perfect story, but it was pretty close, and I'd better be able to get my hands on a physical copy so I can revisit it.
March 7, 2024
if we ignore the (apparently obligatory) romanticized sexual assault, this is so cute!! i like them both so much. the plot is very relatable for young adults (or millennials, if their tiktoks about their jobs are accurate) and i enjoyed following hiro's journey of breaking out of an abusive workplace situation and learning to stand up for himself. i also liked how kai's storyline was handled and watching him grow into someone who appreciates his own value. they're so cute together and I'm happy to have read this.
I would also definitely recommend the live-action adaptation that just came out; i think it's wonderfully done and captions the essence of this wonderfully while also expanding on their surroundings a little more.
I would also definitely recommend the live-action adaptation that just came out; i think it's wonderfully done and captions the essence of this wonderfully while also expanding on their surroundings a little more.
July 24, 2023
IT'S ALWAYS "i love you i wanna be with you forever" AND NEVER "if my life is a waste, then... fu**'s sake, at least let me live the rest of it with you!"
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2023
I liked this story. I feel so sorry for Hirokuni, his work treated him like crap, but that is how it is in Japan, I couldn't do it. He gets burnt out by his job and collapses, Kai, his childhood friend, finds him. Kai starts to stay with Hiro, who he is in love with. They have a very domestic life together and I love seeing their bond strengthen. I love that it is on the lighter side and it filled with pages of sex scenes. This is a more realistic portrayal of friends to lovers.
January 8, 2023
This manga is realistic. I like the relationship between them so much, although I am pretty uncomfortable with Hiro who is brainwashed by the company, it is so suffocated that he is in a loop of exhausted. But it is realistic about the company slave in Japan though, so although I feel uncomfortable, I also like it
February 15, 2024
4.5/5 This was perfect for a night time read. Hiro and Kai were so cuteee. Everything was perfect and the smut, which I wasn't expecting, didn't overpower the story either. My only thing is that I just wish we got to see a little more about their past ;-;
Ps. We all need a Kaneko at our workplace T.T
Ps. We all need a Kaneko at our workplace T.T
February 13, 2024
I liked it. It was short and cute
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews