The chapter opens with the narrator's first sexual encounter with a "deserving" young man. The narrator is in his mid-20s and has just returned from his first day of work at the office. He asks his supervisor, the committee chairman, if something has happened between him and his co-worker, souichi. The committee chairman tells him nothing has happened, and the narrator is shocked to learn that the two men have not yet broken up. The two men tease each other about the fact that they do not know each other's secrets, and they both realize that they are "like a mismatched set." The narrator asks if he wants to see the young man's smile in a year's time, and he says he does, but that if he keeps everything to himself, he will not be able to see it. The young man says that he has to work extra hours today, so he cannot pick him up, but he does not mind if he does his best at work