25 Years of You (告白ー25年目の秘密ー)

My life has always been ordinary.

Something not even worth mentioning.

Whether I remember it or not,

it was never anything special.

No,

if anything,

it's full of memories I'd rather forget.

As a kid,

I never had the courage to stand up to the bullies.

A girl with a strong sense of justice just happened to pass by and save me.

And I fell in love for the first time.

But I couldn't even thank her.

In the end, I never worked up the courage to speak to her.

No matter how long.

I waited, the love of my life never came.

I was always just an observer.

That was my life.

And I thought I was okay with it.

But…

The day I met you…

My life…

Had changed.

We opened our directly operated Meguro store on the first of last month,

and we've added 13 new retailers.

We now have 62 locations...

We still don't have enough locations in central Tokyo.

What about a major shopping complex attached to a terminal station?

Is there any chance of getting into NEWoMan Takanawa?

We've approached them several times.

- It isn't so easy... - Whether Velel gets into that location

could change the company's overall sales by two or 3%.

IZUMI TAKEDA - MARIKO'S SECRETARY

- Are you saying you can't do it? - Oh, no,

I'll do my best.

- Please do. - Yes.

- She's scary… - Continuing…

TAKUMI SANO, SECOND BRAND DIVISION RYOKO HASHIMOTO, SECOND BRAND DIVISION

Please schedule a meeting with Ms. Hara from NEWoMan.

I'll speak with her personally.

Understood.

I'd like to discuss this with the branch's president.

Make sure you tell them that.

- I will let them know. - Did you hear?

Apparently, Mariko has seriously started

- looking for a husband. - What? Really?

- Excuse me. - I hear

- she's been on some dates already. - What? Seriously?

Another date that didn't go well?

Don't say "another".

So I was right.

I mean, we just had nothing in common.

He asked me what I do on my days off,

so I said I watch movies,

and from there, he spent the rest of the conversation talking about Top Gun.

He was trying to connect with you.

I've never even seen Top Gun.

When I told him that, he said, "Seriously?

You're missing out on life!"

Yes, I know that type of person.

- They're annoying, aren't they? - Yes, I know.

But this time, it's your fault.

What? Why?

Because you only watch Marvel superhero movies.

You don't watch movies on your day off.

You have to say Marvel movies.

That's why he brought up Top Gun.

Still, that's what dating for marriage is.

It's about figuring out each other's boring parts and weird quirks,

then finding someone you can compromise with.

That's marriage hunting.

Though I guess it's funny hearing that from someone who's divorced.

But it's okay.

My marriage gave me the greatest treasure of my life.

You don't seriously

expect to meet someone where you instantly click, do you?

You don't actually believe in destiny, do you?

Of course not. I don't believe in that.

Let me assure you.

There's no such thing.

Thank you for waiting.

Here's the daily lunch special.

Thank you very much.

- Thank you. - Sure.

VELEL BEGINS ITS SKINCARE DEPARTMENT

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT PROPOSAL FROM THE OTHER DAY?

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Credit card, please. - Okay.

That'll be 2,000 yen.

- Okay. - Thank you.

- Okay. - Just touch here, please.

- Ah, one more time, please. - Okay.

Sorry. I think the machine just broke.

Sorry, do you have cash?

I didn't bring any cash.

- I'm sorry. - Well then…

You can put hers together with mine.

No, you don't have to.

Together.

Thank you.

Okay then…

- All right, thank you. - Sure.

- Excuse me! - Yes?

- Thank you very much. - No, not at all.

I can send it back to you with a payment app.

That's okay.

I can't let a complete stranger pay for my lunch.

Would you rather have cash?

If so, I can send it to you later.

Just give me your contact information.

Um…

I'm not trying to do anything.

- I'm sorry. - I know.

You know?

GINJIRO NOSE MARIKO'S FATHER AND PRESIDENT

VELEL BEGINS ITS SKINCARE DEPARTMENT

Your cost estimates are too optimistic.

You should be able to lower the production cost further.

Understood.

The ingredients aren't that great either.

GOTA ASAI, GINJIRO'S SECRETARY

As it stands, I don't see how launching a skincare line under Velel

has much chance of succeeding.

I understand.

Revise it before the executive meeting.

Thank you very much.

It's been decided?

Pretty much.

- You did it! - You really did.

If we add skincare alongside makeup,

Velel could become the company's top brand.

I hope it sells!

It definitely will!

Stem cells are really popular right now.

Nothing has been decided yet.

We still have a lot of issues to solve.

I see.

So the ingredients need to be rethought as well.

Using PDRN as-is doesn't make us unique.

We need something original…

I heard.

Velel's starting a skincare division, huh?

Congratulations.

- Nothing has been decided yet. - It practically has.

People say you and the president don't get along,

but I guess he still has a soft spot for his daughter.

Doors are closing.

- I'm sorry. - Excuse me.

Sorry.

Sorry about that.

So you said "I know" because you're our employee?

Excuse me.

Oh, wait.

For lunch…

- Really, don't worry about it. - No.

There's no reason for you to buy me lunch.

- Thanks for helping me. - Okay then…

Oh, uh, this isn't mine.

SKINCARE MARKET RESEARCH

That's mine.

You did this?

There have been a lot of Korean products

using stem cell culture supernatant lately,

so I thought I'd learn more about it.

If we combine it with plant-derived stem cells,

I think we could develop something ourselves.

We could get ahead of the competition.

Ah, sorry, I shouldn't act like I know what I'm talking about.

Which department do you work in?

Going up.

These are the approval documents

for our current product development projects.

Who's that?

I think he's Yukimura from General Affairs.

SOTA YUKIMURA, GENERAL AFFAIRS

People in General Affairs say he's completely harmless.

The invisible type.

So why is this invisible guy joining our department?

If you have any questions, just ask.

Um…

Why was I transferred here?

Because Mariko believes you're someone who could come in handy.

Look, look. Mariko's here.

- Hey. - Yes?

Could you write a proposal after looking into whether we could use those

plant-derived stem cell ingredients you mentioned the other day?

Oh, uh, well, the papers I read didn't include

- any in vivo test results. - So you can't do it?

No, no.

I can if I have the data.

I ordered some. I'll send it to you later.

Thank you.

I understand.

Mariko is a bit scary, isn't she?

I couldn't even tell why she was angry just now.

Was she angry? I thought she was just giving me instructions.

Yukimura, are you one of those people who's weirdly immune to pressure?

I'm not sure.

I'm surprised.

So that's your type, huh?

- What are you talking about? - Yukimura.