Strawberry 🍓

Everyone in the Asterian Empire fears Emperor Satoru Gojo, a ruthless ruler known for his violent temper and merciless reputation. You, a foreign dancer who arrives with a traveling circus for his coronation celebration, knows none of the stories about him. All she sees is the brief kindness hidden behind his cold expression. One conversation is enough to capture the Emperor’s attention—and when her circus prepares to leave, Satoru makes an unexpected request: stay. What begins as a simple encounter between an emperor and a foreign dancer may become something neither of them is prepared to let go of.

You has loved her childhood best friend, Satoru Gojo, for as long as she can remember. But after years of watching him date other girls, she finally decides to confess—not to win him over, but to hear the rejection she needs to move on. Satoru gives her exactly what she expected. What he doesn’t expect is for her to actually leave. As you slowly builds a life without him, Satoru begins to realize how much space she has always occupied in his world. At first, he misses her presence. Then her attention. Then the little things only she used to do. And somewhere along the way, he starts wondering if losing his best friend is hurting so much because she was never just his best friend to begin with.

For six months, Suguru Geto has been the perfect boyfriend—gentle, attentive, and impossibly mysterious. She knows he hides something, but she never imagines that the man who kisses her goodnight is the same man powerful criminals quietly call their king. Geto has spent months keeping his worlds separate. But when someone finally discovers that his greatest weakness is the woman he loves, keeping her safe may no longer be as simple as keeping her in the dark.

For six months, she has fallen in love with a man who always meets her after dark, never takes her home, and refuses to talk about his work. She tells herself he is simply private—until she starts noticing the fear in strangers’ eyes whenever they see him. Choso has spent six months keeping his two lives separate. But secrets have a way of bleeding through the cracks, and eventually, she will have to discover what kind of man she has really been sleeping beside.

For six months, Gojo has been the perfect boyfriend: charming, affectionate, impossibly attentive—and mysteriously unavailable during the day. She knows almost nothing about his work, has never seen his home, and every question is met with another playful excuse. But when she witnesses the cold, commanding man hiding beneath his familiar smile, she begins to wonder what exactly she has fallen in love with. Because Satoru Gojo isn’t just hiding a secret. He’s hiding an empire.

Three years after their divorce, Yuta and You have settled into something civil — brief texts, careful schedules, a son who doesn’t yet understand why his parents live in different houses. It’s supposed to stay simple. It doesn’t, not when a missed shift, a forgotten pickup, or an ordinary Tuesday keeps putting them back in the same room. Neither of them is looking for what happens next.

Three years after their divorce, Higuruma and You have settled into something civil — brief texts, careful schedules, a son who doesn’t yet understand why his parents live in different houses. It’s supposed to stay simple. It doesn’t, not when a missed shift, a forgotten pickup, or an ordinary Tuesday keeps putting them back in the same room. Neither of them is looking for what happens next.

Mid-semester transfer, new campus, forced project partner. Satoru Gojo can solve any equation — except how to say hello. You’re the opposite. Nothing about this pairing should work. That’s exactly why it does.

Three years after their divorce, Nanami and You have settled into something civil — brief texts, careful schedules, a son who doesn’t yet understand why his parents live in different houses. It’s supposed to stay simple. It doesn’t, not when a missed shift, a forgotten pickup, or an ordinary Tuesday keeps putting them back in the same room. Neither of them is looking for what happens next.

Three years after their divorce, Satoru and You have settled into something civil — brief texts, careful schedules, a son who doesn’t yet understand why his parents live in different houses. It’s supposed to stay simple. It doesn’t, not when a missed shift, a forgotten pickup, or an ordinary Tuesday keeps putting them back in the same room. Neither of them is looking for what happens next.

Three years after their divorce, Choso and You have settled into something civil — brief texts, careful schedules, a son who doesn’t yet understand why his parents live in different houses. It’s supposed to stay simple. It doesn’t, not when a missed shift, a forgotten pickup, or an ordinary Tuesday keeps putting them back in the same room. Neither of them is looking for what happens next.

You and Choso have spent years unable to stand each other. She leads financial audit; he leads risk audit — and their teams collide every time a project forces them to work together. She believes warmth brings out the best in people. He believes warmth is, at best, irrelevant. Then comes the company party, one too many drinks, and a decision neither of them planned on making. What starts as a night they both agree never to mention again becomes a pattern neither knows how to stop — while at the office they keep pretending they can barely tolerate each other, and in private, it gets harder every time to remember why.

The only thing separating you from him is a wall. Somehow that’s never been enough. You’ve lived alone long enough to know exactly how much space you need. Enough quiet to think, enough distance to breathe, enough walls between you and everyone else to feel like yourself. Then he moved in next door — loud and careless and impossible to ignore — and slowly, without asking permission, started taking up space you didn’t know you’d left open.