Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! - Vol. 2 Ch. 14

[MangaDex]

 

[OkamiLeek006]

Poor Risa and poor Ayaka Sometimes you just can't fall for someone, even if they're super positive for you

 

[Takuo]

Being Risa is pain. Just like being Meguka is suffering. Being Risa is much pain.

 

[anideki]

Man...

 

[SrNevik]

Yeah that was predictable. Risa tried again and no harm in trying it but she has to have known it wouldn't work out after she was denied before. They need to talk but they should be fine. It's just a bit of shock. She shouldn't have tried to kiss her though. That was understandably desperate, holding her arm and all that. Yeah that'll earn you a push off. I do feel bad for Risa but Ayaka gets no blame. She's not responsible for someone else liking her. She's not obligated to like Risa back and she can't control her feelings. But at least they gave it a shot, even if it was mostly Risa pushing for it.

Hiroko really likes Ayaka, as much as she's fighting tooth and nail to maintain her rules about office romance and remaining closeted at work. She thought Risa would be a good substitution but she was clearly wrong. And I imagine Ayaka will now know for sure she has a unique attraction to Hiroko, since it couldn't work with Risa even though she tried. Now we'll get some needed context for what Hiroko's experiences at work have been. Can't imagine it went well for her in the past. Seems like she might have been open to office romance and got burned. Not an uncommon story for marginalized groups.

 

[komachi29]

holy shit this is painful
this is might be the worst sal jiang work i've ever read

 

[Kitsune_115]

Whatever just do the predictable I guess

 

[alienhands]

i love the bar patrons because they just say everything that the audience is thinking, also poor risa

 

[r4ch3ll]

more than glad the author is going this route, hopefully this shuts up all the people who were begging for risa to be some type of replacement; as if that’s how feelings work in the real world at all.

this manga has provided such an interesting narrative of internalized homophobia and the reality of being queer in a conservative culture, of which isn’t explored much in gl. i think many commenters expect this to be some fairytale story when it’s definitely going on a more realistic path. of course it follows common themes and tropes, but it still manages to explore taboo topics and just how hard it can be to go through internal conflict about your own sexuality. hiroko has obviously had poor experiences. even if she’s not going about it in the most healthy manner, she’s going about it in a human way.

the characters in this story are great, and this has to be one of my favorite stories to date. i get over excited every time it updates and refresh the page every chance i get. the people in it feel real, at least compared to many other stories of this same genre. i think it’s opening discourse to underrepresented topics and i can always appreciate that. other than a few commenters, the others in these forums all feel…. weird. i get that many want a feel good love story where everything goes right and the characters are confident in themselves and their qualities, but it can’t always be like that; and this author does it in a way that’s not overbearing or trying to be edgy. i love it, and hopefully those who hold resentment come to understand the complexities of it all.

 

[Kaoru_suga]

Ayaka just like me, getting rejected by older woman. She said that i'll meet someone better than her, but I don't think i can(for now). If only i have someone like Risa....... 😔

 

[Serenata]

Now everyone is unhappy! yaaaayyy ... but yeah, is sad but it had to be done this way I suppose? also I don't think we needed a last minute trauma reveal

 

[Ninoren]

Man.. I feel bad for giggling when she said 'It's not like I'm against it', it felt like she was about to shove someone off a bridge and just shout while that person is falling 'It's not like I'm against it!!!', being Risa gotta hurt sadge e_e Hope she'll be happy eventually

 

[Rockets]

Spiritually, we are all in that bar shouting at Hiroko.

 

[hanapino]

thank you so much for the translation 🥰

y'all knew this would happen with Risa though?? like it was super duper one sided from the beginning. no one should have expected a good romantic relationship between these two at this point and time.

this is sal jiang, im so excited to read what comes up next. It's never a fairy tale, but it's a good story.

 

[Gustbk]

There was probably a more tactful way to flashback to Hiroko’s trauma. Maybe doing that earlier or at least leaving more hints of it.

But everything else is expected, really — Risa can’t force Ayaka to love her the way she wants to, they should’ve just talked about the heartbreak first instead of Risa’s desperate attempt to be a rebound.
— Hiroko really isn’t that concerned about the workplace ethics like some theorized might be the case. She just has a bad trauma regarding coming out/being lead on. So I guess that explains her leaps in logic to excuse Ayaka as straight.

 

[SrNevik]

There was probably a more tactful way to flashback to Hiroko’s trauma. Maybe doing that earlier or at least leaving more hints of it.

But everything else is expected, really — Risa can’t force Ayaka to love her the way she wants to, they should’ve just talked about the heartbreak first instead of Risa’s desperate attempt to be a rebound.
— Hiroko really isn’t that concerned about the workplace ethics like some theorized might be the case. She just has a bad trauma regarding coming out/being lead on. So I guess that explains her leaps in logic to excuse Ayaka as straight.

Yeah I think the flashback works for me, since we're are at reset point. Hiroko (temporarily) turned down Ayaka and now Ayaka has turned down Risa (again). So everyone is in a state of flux which means you can squeeze in some more context for Hiroko that wasn't there before. Then come back for the final act, etc. Plus, with her bar friend bringing up this idea of her lying to herself, Hiroko has a natural segue into reminiscing about what it is that's making her act in denial.

 

[outinthegardener]

So Hiroko's zany behavior was because of a past love gone wrong. Perhaps she was in Ayaka's shoes once and got burned. It's making more sense now why she's been so insistent on pushing her feelings aside. Showing us her trauma now is the start of the third act of this story; escalating tension and resolution. I expect Hiroko to face her past, maybe share it with Ayaka, and then our Office Lesbians can get together.

PS RIP Risa, but I think she's got a better head on her shoulders than Ayaka and Hiroko put together. She'll be ok.

 

[rollerschuh]

Risa best girl lets date instead

 

[wlftchtr82]

Big booba lesbian cougar is right. She’s currently best girl after bar owner.

But now that we learned that there’s some trauma…
Hiroko really does have her reasons huh.

Oh and bad move, Ayaka, should have said you are not ready. Trying to mend a broken heart like that is almost always a recipe to failure and I am sure Risa knew it as well

 

[wlftchtr82]

holy shit this is painful
this is might be the worst sal jiang work i've ever read

Isn’t this their first/only series?