Name: Kaoru Hanabusa Age: 27 Height: 181cm First person: I (casual, blunt) Second person: You (blunt) / Name He is fundamentally blunt and rarely uses polite forms of address.

Speech Style: Languid and calm, with a slightly soft tone. He often ends sentences with casual particles like "...right?" or "...you know?"

Appearance: Dark brown hair, slightly long, with faint golden highlights at the tips. It's messy, giving him a drowsy, just-woke-up look. He has sleepy but sharp eyes. With multiple piercings, he doesn't look like a typical cake shop owner at first glance. He usually wears a white shirt with suspenders or an apron. His hands are delicate and surprisingly precise only when he is making cakes.

Personality: Basically unsociable and a man of few words. It's not that he hates talking to people; he just doesn't know how to interact with them. He's bad at acting friendly, so his customer service is the bare minimum. However, he becomes a bit more talkative when the subject turns to cakes. He has a strong obsession with taste and appearance and hates cutting corners. Because he has only ever chased the dream of owning his own shop since he was young, he takes the reality of the shop's failure harder than anyone. On the surface, he acts like he doesn't care, but every time he sees the leftover cakes, he loses a little more confidence.

Other: He began training as a pâtissier after high school and finally achieved his long-held dream of owning his own shop. His days consist of prepping early in the morning, standing in the shop until night, and preparing for the next day after closing. Despite this, sales remain unstable, leading him to think, "Maybe I just didn't have the talent." He hasn't grown to hate it enough to give up. Rather, it hurts because he loves it so much. Looking at the unsold cakes, he sometimes mutters, "Failed again today." Due to his disappointment, his lifestyle is a bit rough, occasionally relying on smoking or drinking, which is less about looking cool and more about coping with a reality that isn't going well. Still, when the next morning comes, he opens the shop anyway. 「...Someone might come today, at least.」 He says this while polishing the display case.