Make some comments, but instead, she immediately picked up the second chapter and continued reading without saying a word.
At that moment, Ren began to understand. The tension in his chest slowly eased.
If she found the story boring, she wouldn't be dedicating so much time to it.
The other person waiting outside the meeting room, the girl in the pink tracksuit, looked at a frosted glass window for the hundredth time. The blurred silhouettes inside showed the editor and the boy still talking. Their conversation hadn't stopped for ten minutes… and he'd already been inside for half an hour.
The girl removed a breathing mask, revealing a beautiful and delicate face: a small nose, cherry-red lips, clear, elongated eyes like those of spring, and fair, soft skin, slightly reddened from being covered by the mask for so long.
"What did he bring that was uninteresting?" she wondered, a glint of curiosity in her eyes.
She understood perfectly well that if his work were uninteresting, no editor would waste so much time talking to him.
But the longer she waited, the more she waited.
Her imagination ran wild with all the possible scenarios in which her own manuscript would be harshly rejected. She had mentally rehearsed at least a dozen scenes of the editor tearing her work apart.
Back in the room…
"So, your problem is that you dedicated too much space to describing Futaba. It's obvious that the two main characters of 'Ao Haru Ride' are Futaba and Kou, but where is the detailed description of Kou? After reading the first three chapters of the novel, I was deeply moved by the image of Futaba as a sensitive and vulnerable girl who loves Kou and longs to reconnect with him three years ago, a girl whose bond, once broken, has been restored."
She put down the pages and looked at Ren.
"But what about Kou? He's basically a mysterious sketch. I don't have a clear idea of his appearance, height, relationship with his classmates, or whether he treats Futaba differently from the other girls. These details are important. Yes, the heart of a shoujo romance is a heroine, but if the male protagonist isn't clearly defined, don't expect readers to feel immersed in the story."
Ren tilted her head slightly, listening attentively to each point.
"And here, here, here… and here." She circled several points with her pen. "Give Kou more space. Also, expand the scenes with Futaba's close friends. Honestly, those friends are perfect for creating conflict."
She carefully gathered the pages.
"After these revisions, please bring the manuscript back to me tomorrow or, at the latest, the day after tomorrow. Here's my card, just give me a call."
Ren accepted it with both hands.
"I'll accept your submission for now. Remember to contact me directly after you've revised it. Don't try your luck with other publishers. Romance is a core genre at Red Violet. The fact that you chose our company for your first submission suggests you did your research." Her voice softened at the end.
"So that means…?" Ren asked cautiously.
"At least this job passed my test," said Miyuki, smoothing a strand of hair behind her ear.
She slid a final sheet of paper toward him. "In three days, our company will hold a routine meeting to discuss filling vacancies in our already completed romance magazines." "Therefore, your revised manuscript needs to be delivered to me by the day after tomorrow."
Her meaning was unmistakable.
She believed Ao Haru Ride had potential, but whether it would actually get a serialization slot depended on the meeting. No single editor could make that decision.
For Ren, the outcome would determine whether he would receive the royalties for the manuscript. For Red Violet, each serialized work affected the publisher's credibility among romance readers.
"I understand."
A spark of amusement ignited in Ren's chest. Passing the editor's review meant the work would be submitted to the serial publication meeting. This situation was progressing more smoothly than expected.
And since Miyuki had explicitly asked him not to submit it to other publishers, but rather to revise it and deliver it to her immediately.
He thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and nodded. After a brief exchange of polite farewells, he left the reception room.
As she left…
The girl in pink, who had been waiting for Ren outside for forty minutes, finally passed him as he emerged from the meeting room, wearing a mask. As they crossed paths, she looked at his face, her eyes half-closed with curiosity.
Then, she entered the reception area.
Of course, out of courtesy, she removed her mask; after all, she only wore a mask to avoid acquaintances seeing her handing in her work, which could generate gossip at school.
"Shiori Haruki, right? I'm editor Miyuki," she said, checking the form the girl had filled out and then looking at her again.
A young and beautiful romance writer. A rarity!
"And you're also a student at Yokohama Minami High School?" Miyuki raised an eyebrow.
"How funny, someone from your school was just here. Did you two come together?"
"Someone?" Shiori blinked. "Who?"
"Ren" Miyuki said casually.
"…I don't know him," Shiori replied coldly.
"Ah? Then forget what I said."
But while Miyuki ignored her, Shiori didn't.
Another student from Minami High School?
"Ren…?"
Shiori looked again at the text information on the first page of the stack of romance novel manuscripts on the table.
The first page read: Ao Haru Ride - by Ren.
In an instant, she understood what the editor meant.
So he's… a classmate.
Shiori lips curved slightly. She feared that a mere high school student wouldn't focus on his studies and would be criticized for handing in light romances, which was why she wore a mask to submit her work.
But now she knew… She wasn't the only "irresponsible" one.
How convenient.
"Ao Haru Ride, huh?"
"What a horrible title."
"Yesterday's Starlight." Miyuki looked at the title of Shiori's manuscript and couldn't help but shudder inwardly. The name didn't suit her taste, but she said nothing. Personal preference didn't determine market value.
She began to read.
Seven minutes later, Miyuki raised her head again, this time with a noticeably more serious expression.
This one was interesting too.
What was happening at Minami High School? Since when had that school started producing promising young authors?
Meanwhile…
Ren left the Red Violet publishing house building, looked at the neighboring publishing houses, and sighed. He had planned to send his manuscript to several publishers. But, since Miyuki had already offered guidance and demonstrated a clear intention to cooperate, he felt it would be shameful to betray that trust.
Besides, Red Violet Literary was the ideal publisher for a shoujo romance like Ao Haru Ride. If he could get it serialized with a publisher like that, it would be the best-case scenario.
No risks. In the worst-case scenario, if Miyuki's proposal for serialization failed, Ren could submit it to another publisher, losing a few more days.
If the serialization request failed at the meeting, he would try elsewhere. Losing a few days wasn't the end of the world.
It was already noon. He went to the bus stop and took the bus home.
(End of Chapter 5)
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