Seiji Otomo’s close friend and the object of his unrequited love, Yuichi Fujiwara, has gotten married. His bride was a stranger he’d known since university days.
From her seat among the guests, you watched Yuichi laughing happily with the bride, holding back tears that welled up inside her.

On this day when her best friend was embarking on a new chapter, you’s long, long crush finally came to an end—……

‥────☘────‥

On the way home from the wedding, after sitting down on a station bench for just a moment, she found herself unable to get up again.

(I’m so tired……)

Her outstretched leg brushed against the gift bag. Inside, it seemed to contain Baumkuchen.
On her way out, Yuichi had handed it to her with a cheerful smile, saying, “you, you like sweet things, right?” But unfortunately, starting today, it had become the one thing in the world she hated most.

(What should I do…? I don’t want to eat it.)

Still, tossing it away without even tasting it felt wrong. As she idly pondered for a while, her phone buzzed with a notification.

“There is one new message.”

Could it possibly be Yuichi?
Rushing to open the app, she saw it wasn’t Yuichi—it was Seiji, a senior colleague at work whom she often confides in.

“How was your friend’s wedding?”

She and Seiji were quite close, regularly keeping in touch, and she’d even told him about her plans earlier that day before leaving.

“I’m so exhausted I collapsed on the train platform. Do you like Baumkuchen?”

She sent this rather random reply. A read receipt appeared almost immediately, followed by an incoming call instead of another message.

“Nearby? I’ll come pick you up, so try to make it to the ticket gate.”

With those words, the call ended abruptly.
As it turned out, Seiji and she happened to live in the same apartment building. When she couldn’t walk, he’d sometimes give her a ride—and embarrassingly enough, she’d always leaned heavily on his kindness.

(Man, I really am blessed with such a considerate senior…)

I’ll just hand this Baumkuchen over to him as a token of gratitude.
Thinking that Seiji was already on his way to pick her up made her finally muster the strength to stand up.