"I'm hungry, Mr. Uesugi."

In the evening, in the library, Eiji Hayamizu looked at Chongzong with teary eyes.

Chongzong glanced at his watch, then nodded seriously.

"Indeed, it's time for dinner. Let's call it a day and go home."

After saying that, Chongzong got up and left.

"Wait, Mr. Uesugi!"

Eiji Hayamizu leaped forward, trying to grab hold of Chongzong... but he didn't manage to catch any part of him, so he ended up falling flat on the ground.

However, determined Eiji Hayamizu didn't give up. He immediately made another leap and finally managed to grab hold of Chongzong's ankle.

"Mr. Uesugi, there's no one at home tonight..."

Eiji Hayamizu looked up at Chongzong and said.

Upon hearing this, Chongzong kicked away Eiji Hayamizu's hand and quickly backed off a few meters, watching him cautiously.

"What are you trying to do? I warn you, depending on what you say next, I might cause you physical harm."

He looked like he was ready to strike Eiji Hayamizu down at any moment.

Eiji: "Um, I just wanted to say... since there's no one at home tonight, do you want to eat out together?"

Chongzong: "Don't randomly pause in strange places!"

Chongzong: "I've already prepared dinner at home tonight. You're on your own."

However, after taking a few steps, Chongzong stopped again.

Now that things have settled down with Mizuo, it wouldn't hurt to spare some time to follow up on the situation with the female assassin.

After all, keeping her locked up indefinitely wasn't a solution.

"I've changed my mind, Hayamizu. Let's go eat something together."

Eiji: "As I thought, you still love me, Mr. Uesugi."

Calmly, Chongzong punched Eiji Hayamizu, who had just crawled up from the ground, and then calmly called home to explain the situation of studying late and eating out with classmates.

Not long after, Chongzong and Eiji arrived at a ramen shop located deep in an alley.

Although it was in a remote location, according to Eiji Hayamizu, a regular customer, it was a good shop with rich flavor that had been in business for over ten years.

Chongzong agreed with this to some extent, even though he hadn't eaten there before.

In Chongzong's opinion, this type of restaurant, because of its remote location and small storefront, didn't require high costs for such things. Instead, they could concentrate on the cooking. Additionally, even though it was in a remote location, it had been in business for over ten years, so its taste must be extraordinary.

After arriving at the shop, Chongzong became even more convinced of his speculation.

The ramen shop was located on the first floor of a two-story building, obviously not a rented storefront but a self-operated one by the residents. The first floor was the ramen shop, and the second floor was for living. Upon entering, the fragrant smell of pork bone soup could be smelled at the entrance. Following the photos and messages on the wall, there were no tables, only sitting areas around the cooking counter, which were already occupied by customers.

Fortunately, ramen was fast food, so after Eiji led Chongzong to the resting area next to it to read magazines for a while, they managed to secure two vacant seats.

In a bustling kitchen in Taichung, only an elderly couple were busy at work.

"Boss, the usual," said Sugimura, trying to sound nonchalant. Grandma smiled knowingly and repeated the order to her husband, "Old man, char siu pork bone ramen, cook the noodles a bit firm, no spring onions, and add two extra slices of char siu."

Upon hearing Grandma's order, Grandpa shouted to indicate that he had taken the order.

For them, who were already very skilled, there was no need to write down the order; their memories were enough.

Chongzong, who was new to the place, did not see a menu on the table. Sugimura gestured for him to look up, and only then did Chongzong notice that the dishes were written in calligraphy on the wall.

Scanning hastily, he saw soy sauce ramen, pork bone ramen, salt-flavored ramen, and so on. It was difficult for him to decide, after all, he didn't have much knowledge about ramen. However, Chongzong had a great solution in this situation.

"Grandma, I'll order the same as this guy, but I want the spring onions to be left intact."

"Okay, the old man wants the same, char siu pork bone ramen, noodles cooked a bit firm, and two extra slices of char siu."

Five minutes later, Chongzong was completely conquered by this ramen restaurant.

As a boy about to enter high school at the end of his third year of junior high, he felt the inadequacy of language, the joy of existence, and the beauty of the world.

"It's so great to know you, Sugimura."

After finishing their ramen, Chongzong and Sugimura walked out of the alley, their arms around each other's shoulders, expressing their heartfelt emotions.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you're too easily satisfied, Uesugi-kun. From my perspective, your world is all black and white. It's so boring. You should experience the colors of the world with me."

So, Chongzong and Sugimura held hands and walked towards a rosy future together.

-The End of "SMS"-

Ahem, of course not like that!

Chongzong's plan was to finish their meal and then go and meet the female assassin who Sugimura had put under house arrest.

But just as they walked out of the alley, they unexpectedly ran into a woman.