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So the dudes from Kissed By The Baddest Bidder are assholes even for Love65, and Soryu is a cold, morally ambiguous Hong Kong gangster who threatens to kill the MC multiple times. But by the end I actually found this pretty cute, in an asshole-LI kinda way. And hey, he's less of an asshole than Eisuke!
Also this may be literally the first Japanese otome route I've played about someone who isn't ethnically Japanese and/or European! Naturally, it's a very realistic and tasteful depiction of the life of a Hong Kong gangster, just like Eisuke's route was with the Italian mob characters. HOORAY FOR DIVERSITY.
Plus, as with Eisuke, it's kinda fun just as ridiculous melodrama.
...or maybe I'm just a sucker for kuuderes.
Here's my summary of the Eisuke route, which includes the prologue. But in short: MC is a maid at a fancy casino hotel run by rich asshole Eisuke, who runs secret blackmarket auctions with his asshole friends, including Hong Kong gangster Soryu. MC ends up getting bought at the auction and 'owned' by Soryu for several million dollars.
Soryu starts by taking his shirt off... but just walks past her, saying "Don't get any weird ideas" and goes to have a shower.
MC is utterly terrified, and tries to run, but he stops her, wearing only a towel, and says if she runs or tells anyone what she's seen she'll be signing a death warrant for not only herself but her friends and family. But if she does what she's told she'll be fine. Comforting!
Baba: Wow, naked already? I've never seen you hit on a girl like this before!
Soryu: As if I'd waste my time on this woman >:(
Ahaha omg Baba keeps teasing so Soryu PULLS A GUN ON HIM. Amazing. The constant "lol he's going to rape you" jokes are slightly less unpleasant when it's so obviously untrue. Also MC is amusingly freaked out by Soryu simply owning a gun compared to the US crime dramas I'm more used to.
Soryu runs off from all the perfumed girls in the lobby and drags MC to his suite to memorise the auction list on short notice and help out. The he tells her she's an accomplice to crime now. He says the VIP conference is just a front for the auctions, and he got involved as a good way to make money in Japan tax-free.
MC: But crime is wrong!!
Me: Don't antagonist the gangster with a gun, MC.
Soryu: What is a crime? People with money and power create rules to protect their assets, and those are called laws. The right and wrong you speak of is a value system created by powerful people. Don't push those values onto me.
That's surprisingly philosophical.
He never uses MC's name, he just calls her "woman".
Soryu is approached by a MYSTERIOUS WOMAN IN A CHEONGSAM and then he SMILES. She has a friendly (if badly drawn) face so I assume she's his sister and not some Evil Skank Stealing My Man.
Huh! She's the daughter of a business contact. Haha so since Soryu is terrible with women he orders MC to take care of this Mei Ling, who gets them to give her a tour of the city.
Me: Huh. She seems nice? But surely they'll introduce something to make her Obviously Not a Love Interest For Soryu.
Soryu: Since the penthouse has the best security, she'll be sleeping in my quarters.
Mei Ling: Then the three of us will live together, right? Can we all sleep in the same bed?!
Haa...Soryu has his own other place he'll be sleeping at. NO THREESOME FOR YOU, MEI LING, ONLY YURI.
Aww, Mei Ling just wants to go sightseeing with MC but Soryu coldly reminds her she was sent to Japan to find a fiance. But she cajoles Soryu into one more day of freedom.wlw mlm solidarity
(Soryu was pretty shippy with Eisuke on the Eisuke path and his "hatred" of women seems more like an uncomfortableness with being flirted with)
Apparently Eisuke and Mei Ling are both separately childhood friends with Soryu, but haven't met before, and Mei Ling thinks Eisuke is hot. Ha, Eisuke and Soryu met at school in England.
Aww Mei Ling has never had a chance to hang out and go shopping with another girl before, and never gets to choose her friends or boyfriends.
Mei Ling: But it's the same for you, right, Soryu? Normal people are scared of you, rivals dislike you...you may have a lot of friends, but have you ever really loved someone? Is happiness for us even possible?
Soryu, who has been quietly tailing them from a distance to avoid having to actually talk to girls: ...it's wrong to get your hopes up.
Mei Ling drags MC into running away so they can be alone?? Game, stop messing with me.
Of course they get captured by Evil Lackeys, MC jumps in front of Mei Ling to protect her, and then the two of them are rescued by Soryu.
...ok I am not a good judge of what Chinese stereotypes look like in Japan, but am pretty sure Mei Ling's dad is one. But his name is...Simon? SURE. (Simon is a perfectly cromulent Hong Kong name, just not for someone who looks like a relic of the Qing dynasty)
Soryu apologises and promises to keep Mei Ling safe, find her a husband, and kill the men who attacked her.
...by using MC as a decoy since she looks vaguely similar.
MC: Why not just have her arranged wedding meetings in the penthouse, where it's safe?
Soryu: Because if I get rid of the enemy her family will owe me.
MC: So you're doing this for yourse-*cough*
Soryu: If things go smoothly, I'll let you out of this alive. Sounds like a good deal, right?
MC: ...and if they don't?
Soryu: Then you'll be dead and won't care any more :)
She's more comfortable with his logic that since Mei Ling doesn't want an arranged marriage anyway, it doesn't matter that she can't marry any of the guys MC meets in her stead.
MC: U-um, so...do you have any hobbies?
Prospective yakuza husband: I collect swords... and then repair them when they get damaged ;)
MC: (But collecting swords is illegal D: )
Soryu: What kind of mafia princess is this timid >:(
MC: I'm sorry, I just can't be confident around someone so scary.
Soryu: You have a point... Do you know the best way to overcome fear? :)
And then he pushes her against the wall and POKES HIS GUN IN HER STOMACH.
Soryu: You have to overcome something even more frightening. An arranged marriage meeting is nothing to the threat of dying if you fail, right?
MC: M-maybe. But if you kill me your plan will be wasted.
Soryu: Pfft.
And then she realises he was actually poking her with the handle of the gun.
Soryu: Wipe that stupid look off your face. I'd never point a gun at a little girl. Feel a little braver now?
She is cheered up by a sweet friendly young yakuza called Ryosuke, who's been assigned to protect her. He offers to give her a massage but Soryu smacks him and takes out his gun, ordering him to go gather protection money.
MC: Wow, Soryu's so reliable.
Me: ...sure.
...she ALWAYS has to wear a cheongsam? Do these writers think...that's all Chinese women wear...
Me Ling: Hi I'm MC. And your name is Ryosuke Inui? Like a Shiba Inu? You're so cute, can I call you puppy?
Ryosuke: o.O
I ship it.
A prospective husband gets stalkery so clearly the only solution is SORYU/MC FAKE DATING!!
His house is nice but much less glitzy than the hotel. Ryosuke is moved by actually getting to see it and offers to cook...but burns it. MC cooks omelette instead and Soryu ACTUALLY SAYS IT'S GOOD, and then SMILES. (And then steals Ryosuke's)
There's ONLY ONE BED
Aw, seeing how nervous she is, Soryu irritably says he won't do anything and wouldn't make a woman sleep on the floor, then sleeps on the floor himself, reading a detective novel.
MC: ...don't mobsters hate the police?
Soryu: I have to go against the police a lot, but I identify with them. The structure of organised crime and the police are similar. There's a hierarchy, the strong and ambitious rise to power...sometimes I think I'd like to be one of them. But my path was chosen before I was born.
MC, thinking of what Mei Ling said: Have you ever fallen in love?
Soryu: Less talk, more sleep >:(
MC bumps into skeezy 'gentleman' theif Baba at his part-time job at a convenience store, which he does to relax. SURE.
Baba: Soryu usually thinks women are stinky but he's not mean to you.
MC: Yes he...is?
Baba: But he expresses a tiny bit of emotion! He only does that with people he likes! Probably because even though you're scared, you face him head on.
MC: Because otherwise he would LITERALLY KILL ME. ...but there is more to him than just being scary.
Baba: He might be a 'bad guy' but he's not a bad person :)
I mean...he does murder people and shake innocent folk down for protection money?
MC puts herself in danger to save a little kid and Soryu irritably takes a bullet for her.
Ryosuke admires how Soryu tries not to have innocent people get hurt, and talks about how he took Ryosuke in as a street kid, saying if yakuza pick on the weak they're nothing more than thugs. Soryu's ultimate goal is to make enough money to take over the organisation and change it little by little to have more morals.
...I have been stockholmed into kinda liking this guy. Also, even if their motives may be shady, Baba and Ota seem to be being genuinely nice hosts to Mei Ling, the overall vibe of this route is much nicer than Eisuke's.
Mei Ling sends Soryu and MC to get ingredients for MC to cook everyone dinner (guess Roysuke better learn to cook better, lol). This is apparently the FIRST TIME Soryu has ever gone to a vegetable section and he's all "So THAT'S what a whole bitter melon looks like, huh."
Women: Ahh, a scary gangster D:
Soryu: Don't worry about it, it's easier for me to be hated.
MC: But you're still a person, you still feel sadness :(
Soryu: Tch, being with you is confusing. Noone's ever said anything like that to me before.
MC twists her ankle in the rain, so he gives her his jacket and carries her on his back.
MC: Ah, I'm sorry, Mei Ling put perfume on me, I know you hate it.
Soryu: I don't hate how you smell, MC.
MC: YOU USED MY NAME :D
Spryu: >:(
Eisuke organises a marriage meeting between MC-as-Mei-Ling and a politician and then he and Ota come along 'for kicks'.
Soryu: So you want mob connections? I guess there's no morals in politics :)
Eisuke: Let's leave these two lovebirds to get to know each other.
Soryu: It's my job to stay here and protect her.
Eiusuke and Ota: Lolol, jealouuussss
Soryu: >:(
Mei Ling is attacked and MC volunteers to let herself be kidnapped to find the bad guys hideout. Everyone's like "That's...super dangerous?"
MC: I have to earn back that $20 Million you spent on me, Soryu. And I trust you to protect me no matter what.
Soryu: Tch, you're hopeless. All right. I'll protect you no matter what, MC.
And sure enough he saves her and takes out all the evil mob guys! And then gives a genuinely nice, sincere smile, saying she did well.
Awww but then a lackey threatens Ryosuke so Soryu lets himself get captured and beaten.
And then they get saved by Eisuke and Mamoru! Who, despite being a police detective, had to wait to get a gun license haha.
MC gives Soryu a hug and he's quietly into it. Then he sends her off with Eisuke and implicitly tortures and murders all the bad guys offscreen.
MC feels a little melancholy now that she has no reason to help out Soryu any more and wonders whether she'll see him again. Then he orders her to go to his house and cook him omelette, and they both seem pretty happy with the situation so fine.
She drifts asleep on his couch and wakes in bed with him?? But she's just struck by how long his eyelashes are and realises she's in love with him.
Soryu: So as you can see from this contract written in blood, that rival mob won't be any danger to Mei Ling any more. But I am sorry to say I couldn't find her a husband.
Mei Ling: He tried really hard, daddy!
Simon: But I did find a man she trusts- it's you, Soryu :D
Once everything is explained to Ryosuke he says MC will always be a princess to him, aw.
Marrying Mei Ling would put Soryu in charge of the largest mob in Hong Kong, able to oust his boss and make the organisation more moderate in one blow. So he says yes.
Soryu: MC, can you come to the penthouse? I want to tell you something.
MC, on the verge of tears: Do I...do I have to go?
Soryu: No. I understand, sorry :(
Awwwwww
MC's back to the regular life she wanted, and all her friends think she broke up with That Secret Rich Boyfriend She Kept Pretending Not To Have.
Baba sees her looking sad and tells her not to give up: Mei Ling may be more similar to Soryu, but people are drawn to those different to themselves.
Awww MC has been avoiding Mei Ling who thus thinks MC is angry at her and is sad. MC cheers her up, and then Mei Ling explains that she agreed to marry Soryu because he offered a deal: marry him and support his ambitions, and she is free to do whatever she wants, including loving whoever she wants.
MC: That's not much of a marriage :(
Mei Ling: I have no intention of being married. It's a business deal.
MC: Will that make you happy?
Mei Ling: I have to do it regardless. Ha, you're reminding me that the other day Soryu said you were as bright as the sun. He only ever smiles when I talk abut you.
Sorry Mei Ling, in a kinder world you'd get that threesome.
MC tracks Soryu down and rants about how a normal marriage is about LOVE.
MC: Why do you keep running away from love? From happiness?
She bursts into tears. She could let him go, if only she thought he might find happiness with someone else.
Soryu: You've been in so much danger, but this is the first time I'ver seen you cry.
He wipes her tears and says "This is something I have to do. But the time I spent with you wasn't bad. And you're...you're free now." And then he leaves for Hong Kong.
Later, Roysuke confronts her, saying he's not smart so had to be told she was in love with Soryu, but all he wants is for Soryu to be happy and MC shouldn't give up. I guess Ryosuke is implicitly in love with MC but he could also be read as being into Soryu. Still not sure if him and Mei Ling are going to be a thing or if she gets to live her best free bisexual life sleeping with Baba and Ota etc commitment free.
Eisuke says he's going to Hong Kong and asks if MC is coming with him.
Me: You know, Eisuke and Soryu have been less shippy in this route.
Eisuke: I'm not going to let Soryu get away :)
Pretty sure they used Chinese characters in this Hong Kong background, I wonder if it makes any sense in Chinese.
Mei Ling cheerfully greets MC at her dad's headquarters, and gets MC to dress as her again.
WAIT
ARE THEY GOING TO SWAP LIVES??
...no, it was just to get into the building.
Omg Mei Ling's dad's employees in Hong Kong don't notice the swap. Guess they're all speaking English cos MC doesn't speak a word of Cantonese.
Soryu passes them...in handcuffs? Led away by an unfamiliar man speaking in Japanese! Who PULLS OFF HIS FACE to reveal himself as BABA!!
Soryu: Why are you here?
MC: I...came to tell you I love you!
Soryu: o.O
MC: I know you're marrying Mei Ling, I just wanted to tell you how I feel.
Soryu: ...I said no to the marriage. I don't know why, but the image of you crying was buried in my mind. I didn't want the kind of happiness that would make you cry.
MC: But why are you in handcuffs?
Soryu: Simon got pretty angry, I had to offer myself up to save the others. I'm probably going to die. But I don't regret anything.
MC: YOU'RE WHA-
He kisses her.
Soryu: See ya :)
That's really sweet Soryu but dying will definitely also make her cry.
Mei Ling leads MC and Ryosuke to the execution room. MC throws herself in front of the gun...only for Simon to show up with Eisuke and Ota, saying the execution has been cancelled! Eisuke used some of Ota's valuable art as a bargaining chip and Simon cooled down and realised Soryu is more valuable as an ally.
Soryu: I have to stay a little longer in Hong Kong but...I promise I'll come straight home to you, MC <3
Everyone: Awww
MC: SORYU DON'T TAKE OUT YOUR GUN
When he arrives in Japan, he hugs her and whispers "you came all the way to Hong Kong and I still haven't told you I love you".
Aww they have a very cute discussion over dinner about the joys of domestic happiness and then have entirely consensual sex! He even stops when he thinks she's not into it! (Which she is, it was just obligatory no-no-yes)
MC: Oh wow it's almost noon! Do you like a Japanese or Western style breakfast? Oh, or Chinese?
Soryu: You promised you'd make me omelettes whenever I wanted :)
MC: Won't you get sick of them?
Soryu: Is the happiness you talk about something you can get sick of?
MC: Then I'll make you happy.
Soryu: And I'll protect that happiness.
THE END
That was way cuter than I expected! That's the thing with asshole LIs, they're so awful at first that even halfway decent behaviour seems SUPER SWEET by the end.
He actually was halfway decent, too, at least compared to frigging Eisuke. And MC seems like she is able to roll with all the VICIOUS MURDER, so, I guess they'll be happy!
So the dudes from Kissed By The Baddest Bidder are assholes even for Love65, and Soryu is a cold, morally ambiguous Hong Kong gangster who threatens to kill the MC multiple times. But by the end I actually found this pretty cute, in an asshole-LI kinda way. And hey, he's less of an asshole than Eisuke!
Also this may be literally the first Japanese otome route I've played about someone who isn't ethnically Japanese and/or European! Naturally, it's a very realistic and tasteful depiction of the life of a Hong Kong gangster, just like Eisuke's route was with the Italian mob characters. HOORAY FOR DIVERSITY.
Plus, as with Eisuke, it's kinda fun just as ridiculous melodrama.
...or maybe I'm just a sucker for kuuderes.
Here's my summary of the Eisuke route, which includes the prologue. But in short: MC is a maid at a fancy casino hotel run by rich asshole Eisuke, who runs secret blackmarket auctions with his asshole friends, including Hong Kong gangster Soryu. MC ends up getting bought at the auction and 'owned' by Soryu for several million dollars.
Soryu starts by taking his shirt off... but just walks past her, saying "Don't get any weird ideas" and goes to have a shower.
MC is utterly terrified, and tries to run, but he stops her, wearing only a towel, and says if she runs or tells anyone what she's seen she'll be signing a death warrant for not only herself but her friends and family. But if she does what she's told she'll be fine. Comforting!
Baba: Wow, naked already? I've never seen you hit on a girl like this before!
Soryu: As if I'd waste my time on this woman >:(
Ahaha omg Baba keeps teasing so Soryu PULLS A GUN ON HIM. Amazing. The constant "lol he's going to rape you" jokes are slightly less unpleasant when it's so obviously untrue. Also MC is amusingly freaked out by Soryu simply owning a gun compared to the US crime dramas I'm more used to.
Soryu runs off from all the perfumed girls in the lobby and drags MC to his suite to memorise the auction list on short notice and help out. The he tells her she's an accomplice to crime now. He says the VIP conference is just a front for the auctions, and he got involved as a good way to make money in Japan tax-free.
MC: But crime is wrong!!
Me: Don't antagonist the gangster with a gun, MC.
Soryu: What is a crime? People with money and power create rules to protect their assets, and those are called laws. The right and wrong you speak of is a value system created by powerful people. Don't push those values onto me.
That's surprisingly philosophical.
He never uses MC's name, he just calls her "woman".
Soryu is approached by a MYSTERIOUS WOMAN IN A CHEONGSAM and then he SMILES. She has a friendly (if badly drawn) face so I assume she's his sister and not some Evil Skank Stealing My Man.
Huh! She's the daughter of a business contact. Haha so since Soryu is terrible with women he orders MC to take care of this Mei Ling, who gets them to give her a tour of the city.
Me: Huh. She seems nice? But surely they'll introduce something to make her Obviously Not a Love Interest For Soryu.
Soryu: Since the penthouse has the best security, she'll be sleeping in my quarters.
Mei Ling: Then the three of us will live together, right? Can we all sleep in the same bed?!
Haa...Soryu has his own other place he'll be sleeping at. NO THREESOME FOR YOU, MEI LING, ONLY YURI.
Aww, Mei Ling just wants to go sightseeing with MC but Soryu coldly reminds her she was sent to Japan to find a fiance. But she cajoles Soryu into one more day of freedom.
(Soryu was pretty shippy with Eisuke on the Eisuke path and his "hatred" of women seems more like an uncomfortableness with being flirted with)
Apparently Eisuke and Mei Ling are both separately childhood friends with Soryu, but haven't met before, and Mei Ling thinks Eisuke is hot. Ha, Eisuke and Soryu met at school in England.
Aww Mei Ling has never had a chance to hang out and go shopping with another girl before, and never gets to choose her friends or boyfriends.
Mei Ling: But it's the same for you, right, Soryu? Normal people are scared of you, rivals dislike you...you may have a lot of friends, but have you ever really loved someone? Is happiness for us even possible?
Soryu, who has been quietly tailing them from a distance to avoid having to actually talk to girls: ...it's wrong to get your hopes up.
Mei Ling drags MC into running away so they can be alone?? Game, stop messing with me.
Of course they get captured by Evil Lackeys, MC jumps in front of Mei Ling to protect her, and then the two of them are rescued by Soryu.
...ok I am not a good judge of what Chinese stereotypes look like in Japan, but am pretty sure Mei Ling's dad is one. But his name is...Simon? SURE. (Simon is a perfectly cromulent Hong Kong name, just not for someone who looks like a relic of the Qing dynasty)
Soryu apologises and promises to keep Mei Ling safe, find her a husband, and kill the men who attacked her.
...by using MC as a decoy since she looks vaguely similar.
MC: Why not just have her arranged wedding meetings in the penthouse, where it's safe?
Soryu: Because if I get rid of the enemy her family will owe me.
MC: So you're doing this for yourse-*cough*
Soryu: If things go smoothly, I'll let you out of this alive. Sounds like a good deal, right?
MC: ...and if they don't?
Soryu: Then you'll be dead and won't care any more :)
She's more comfortable with his logic that since Mei Ling doesn't want an arranged marriage anyway, it doesn't matter that she can't marry any of the guys MC meets in her stead.
MC: U-um, so...do you have any hobbies?
Prospective yakuza husband: I collect swords... and then repair them when they get damaged ;)
MC: (But collecting swords is illegal D: )
Soryu: What kind of mafia princess is this timid >:(
MC: I'm sorry, I just can't be confident around someone so scary.
Soryu: You have a point... Do you know the best way to overcome fear? :)
And then he pushes her against the wall and POKES HIS GUN IN HER STOMACH.
Soryu: You have to overcome something even more frightening. An arranged marriage meeting is nothing to the threat of dying if you fail, right?
MC: M-maybe. But if you kill me your plan will be wasted.
Soryu: Pfft.
And then she realises he was actually poking her with the handle of the gun.
Soryu: Wipe that stupid look off your face. I'd never point a gun at a little girl. Feel a little braver now?
She is cheered up by a sweet friendly young yakuza called Ryosuke, who's been assigned to protect her. He offers to give her a massage but Soryu smacks him and takes out his gun, ordering him to go gather protection money.
MC: Wow, Soryu's so reliable.
Me: ...sure.
...she ALWAYS has to wear a cheongsam? Do these writers think...that's all Chinese women wear...
Me Ling: Hi I'm MC. And your name is Ryosuke Inui? Like a Shiba Inu? You're so cute, can I call you puppy?
Ryosuke: o.O
I ship it.
A prospective husband gets stalkery so clearly the only solution is SORYU/MC FAKE DATING!!
His house is nice but much less glitzy than the hotel. Ryosuke is moved by actually getting to see it and offers to cook...but burns it. MC cooks omelette instead and Soryu ACTUALLY SAYS IT'S GOOD, and then SMILES. (And then steals Ryosuke's)
There's ONLY ONE BED
Aw, seeing how nervous she is, Soryu irritably says he won't do anything and wouldn't make a woman sleep on the floor, then sleeps on the floor himself, reading a detective novel.
MC: ...don't mobsters hate the police?
Soryu: I have to go against the police a lot, but I identify with them. The structure of organised crime and the police are similar. There's a hierarchy, the strong and ambitious rise to power...sometimes I think I'd like to be one of them. But my path was chosen before I was born.
MC, thinking of what Mei Ling said: Have you ever fallen in love?
Soryu: Less talk, more sleep >:(
MC bumps into skeezy 'gentleman' theif Baba at his part-time job at a convenience store, which he does to relax. SURE.
Baba: Soryu usually thinks women are stinky but he's not mean to you.
MC: Yes he...is?
Baba: But he expresses a tiny bit of emotion! He only does that with people he likes! Probably because even though you're scared, you face him head on.
MC: Because otherwise he would LITERALLY KILL ME. ...but there is more to him than just being scary.
Baba: He might be a 'bad guy' but he's not a bad person :)
I mean...he does murder people and shake innocent folk down for protection money?
MC puts herself in danger to save a little kid and Soryu irritably takes a bullet for her.
Ryosuke admires how Soryu tries not to have innocent people get hurt, and talks about how he took Ryosuke in as a street kid, saying if yakuza pick on the weak they're nothing more than thugs. Soryu's ultimate goal is to make enough money to take over the organisation and change it little by little to have more morals.
...I have been stockholmed into kinda liking this guy. Also, even if their motives may be shady, Baba and Ota seem to be being genuinely nice hosts to Mei Ling, the overall vibe of this route is much nicer than Eisuke's.
Mei Ling sends Soryu and MC to get ingredients for MC to cook everyone dinner (guess Roysuke better learn to cook better, lol). This is apparently the FIRST TIME Soryu has ever gone to a vegetable section and he's all "So THAT'S what a whole bitter melon looks like, huh."
Women: Ahh, a scary gangster D:
Soryu: Don't worry about it, it's easier for me to be hated.
MC: But you're still a person, you still feel sadness :(
Soryu: Tch, being with you is confusing. Noone's ever said anything like that to me before.
MC twists her ankle in the rain, so he gives her his jacket and carries her on his back.
MC: Ah, I'm sorry, Mei Ling put perfume on me, I know you hate it.
Soryu: I don't hate how you smell, MC.
MC: YOU USED MY NAME :D
Spryu: >:(
Eisuke organises a marriage meeting between MC-as-Mei-Ling and a politician and then he and Ota come along 'for kicks'.
Soryu: So you want mob connections? I guess there's no morals in politics :)
Eisuke: Let's leave these two lovebirds to get to know each other.
Soryu: It's my job to stay here and protect her.
Eiusuke and Ota: Lolol, jealouuussss
Soryu: >:(
Mei Ling is attacked and MC volunteers to let herself be kidnapped to find the bad guys hideout. Everyone's like "That's...super dangerous?"
MC: I have to earn back that $20 Million you spent on me, Soryu. And I trust you to protect me no matter what.
Soryu: Tch, you're hopeless. All right. I'll protect you no matter what, MC.
And sure enough he saves her and takes out all the evil mob guys! And then gives a genuinely nice, sincere smile, saying she did well.
Awww but then a lackey threatens Ryosuke so Soryu lets himself get captured and beaten.
And then they get saved by Eisuke and Mamoru! Who, despite being a police detective, had to wait to get a gun license haha.
MC gives Soryu a hug and he's quietly into it. Then he sends her off with Eisuke and implicitly tortures and murders all the bad guys offscreen.
MC feels a little melancholy now that she has no reason to help out Soryu any more and wonders whether she'll see him again. Then he orders her to go to his house and cook him omelette, and they both seem pretty happy with the situation so fine.
She drifts asleep on his couch and wakes in bed with him?? But she's just struck by how long his eyelashes are and realises she's in love with him.
Soryu: So as you can see from this contract written in blood, that rival mob won't be any danger to Mei Ling any more. But I am sorry to say I couldn't find her a husband.
Mei Ling: He tried really hard, daddy!
Simon: But I did find a man she trusts- it's you, Soryu :D
Once everything is explained to Ryosuke he says MC will always be a princess to him, aw.
Marrying Mei Ling would put Soryu in charge of the largest mob in Hong Kong, able to oust his boss and make the organisation more moderate in one blow. So he says yes.
Soryu: MC, can you come to the penthouse? I want to tell you something.
MC, on the verge of tears: Do I...do I have to go?
Soryu: No. I understand, sorry :(
Awwwwww
MC's back to the regular life she wanted, and all her friends think she broke up with That Secret Rich Boyfriend She Kept Pretending Not To Have.
Baba sees her looking sad and tells her not to give up: Mei Ling may be more similar to Soryu, but people are drawn to those different to themselves.
Awww MC has been avoiding Mei Ling who thus thinks MC is angry at her and is sad. MC cheers her up, and then Mei Ling explains that she agreed to marry Soryu because he offered a deal: marry him and support his ambitions, and she is free to do whatever she wants, including loving whoever she wants.
MC: That's not much of a marriage :(
Mei Ling: I have no intention of being married. It's a business deal.
MC: Will that make you happy?
Mei Ling: I have to do it regardless. Ha, you're reminding me that the other day Soryu said you were as bright as the sun. He only ever smiles when I talk abut you.
Sorry Mei Ling, in a kinder world you'd get that threesome.
MC tracks Soryu down and rants about how a normal marriage is about LOVE.
MC: Why do you keep running away from love? From happiness?
She bursts into tears. She could let him go, if only she thought he might find happiness with someone else.
Soryu: You've been in so much danger, but this is the first time I'ver seen you cry.
He wipes her tears and says "This is something I have to do. But the time I spent with you wasn't bad. And you're...you're free now." And then he leaves for Hong Kong.
Later, Roysuke confronts her, saying he's not smart so had to be told she was in love with Soryu, but all he wants is for Soryu to be happy and MC shouldn't give up. I guess Ryosuke is implicitly in love with MC but he could also be read as being into Soryu. Still not sure if him and Mei Ling are going to be a thing or if she gets to live her best free bisexual life sleeping with Baba and Ota etc commitment free.
Eisuke says he's going to Hong Kong and asks if MC is coming with him.
Me: You know, Eisuke and Soryu have been less shippy in this route.
Eisuke: I'm not going to let Soryu get away :)
Pretty sure they used Chinese characters in this Hong Kong background, I wonder if it makes any sense in Chinese.
Mei Ling cheerfully greets MC at her dad's headquarters, and gets MC to dress as her again.
WAIT
ARE THEY GOING TO SWAP LIVES??
...no, it was just to get into the building.
Omg Mei Ling's dad's employees in Hong Kong don't notice the swap. Guess they're all speaking English cos MC doesn't speak a word of Cantonese.
Soryu passes them...in handcuffs? Led away by an unfamiliar man speaking in Japanese! Who PULLS OFF HIS FACE to reveal himself as BABA!!
Soryu: Why are you here?
MC: I...came to tell you I love you!
Soryu: o.O
MC: I know you're marrying Mei Ling, I just wanted to tell you how I feel.
Soryu: ...I said no to the marriage. I don't know why, but the image of you crying was buried in my mind. I didn't want the kind of happiness that would make you cry.
MC: But why are you in handcuffs?
Soryu: Simon got pretty angry, I had to offer myself up to save the others. I'm probably going to die. But I don't regret anything.
MC: YOU'RE WHA-
He kisses her.
Soryu: See ya :)
That's really sweet Soryu but dying will definitely also make her cry.
Mei Ling leads MC and Ryosuke to the execution room. MC throws herself in front of the gun...only for Simon to show up with Eisuke and Ota, saying the execution has been cancelled! Eisuke used some of Ota's valuable art as a bargaining chip and Simon cooled down and realised Soryu is more valuable as an ally.
Soryu: I have to stay a little longer in Hong Kong but...I promise I'll come straight home to you, MC <3
Everyone: Awww
MC: SORYU DON'T TAKE OUT YOUR GUN
When he arrives in Japan, he hugs her and whispers "you came all the way to Hong Kong and I still haven't told you I love you".
Aww they have a very cute discussion over dinner about the joys of domestic happiness and then have entirely consensual sex! He even stops when he thinks she's not into it! (Which she is, it was just obligatory no-no-yes)
MC: Oh wow it's almost noon! Do you like a Japanese or Western style breakfast? Oh, or Chinese?
Soryu: You promised you'd make me omelettes whenever I wanted :)
MC: Won't you get sick of them?
Soryu: Is the happiness you talk about something you can get sick of?
MC: Then I'll make you happy.
Soryu: And I'll protect that happiness.
THE END
That was way cuter than I expected! That's the thing with asshole LIs, they're so awful at first that even halfway decent behaviour seems SUPER SWEET by the end.
He actually was halfway decent, too, at least compared to frigging Eisuke. And MC seems like she is able to roll with all the VICIOUS MURDER, so, I guess they'll be happy!
